Thursday, October 6, 2011

In search of SAE BA

We're going to address this grammar form using my favorite singer, Miyavi (how many times have I said this in this blog?). Until I moved from Japan, I did have his complete discography, but the bastard had to keep making music after I left. What is up with that?

Anyway, Miyavi is a former visual kei singer. It's hard to say what he is now, because... he definitely has the visual element, but it's nothing like what you would see with L'arc~en~Ciel, or Gackt [except for his genderbending in Itoshii Hito]. Did I just name two old school VK bands? Yes, I did. I'm twenty-six! What do you want from me? I guess I could mention Kaya, and get some cool points. I can get even more by saying I've seen him in concert. I've also seen Gackt in concert too. Boo-yeah!

Wait.. what was I talking about? Oh yeah, Miyavi.

He was formally of Due le Quartz where he was the lead guitarist. After that, he went solo, got drugged out a lot, married, and now he has two girls. That is pretty much his life in nutshell. Okay, there is a little more, but I need to get to grammar so I'll make it quick. He is of Korean origin (which as you know tends to make you an instant pariah in Japan) and was raised by a single mother (more pariah-making circumstances). This is probably why, a.) he's better than most Japanese guitarists and b.) he has such an unusual look fashion-wise.Then, he had an injury playing soccer, and he was so bored in bed that he learned how to play the guitar and started to write music. There it is. Consider the nutshell closed.

In any case, the grammar point is going to be from one of my favorite songs from one of the most brilliantly musically satirical albums of all time, POPS.



Would you believe I can actually karaoke this song without having memorized the lyrics first? It was my proudest moment, and it was then that I knew that this reading thing, I can do it. Also, if you're wondering: yes, I do find Miyavi beyond attractive.

He is also an incredibly talented guitarist:


Okay, so where is this SAE  BA in that mess of words in Kimi ni Negai wo?

でも神様なんていない
君が星になった時そう誓ったんだ
僕には神様なんて要らない。そこに君が、君さえ居てくれれば。
Demo kamisama nantenaiKimi ga hoshi ni natta toko sou chikattanda.Boku niha kamisama nannte iranai. Soko ni kimi ga, kimi sae itekurereba.
[NANTE functions like NADO in this sentence. You can find an explanation in this blog post about NADO]

I don't really get why Miyavi uses kanji in his lyrics that aren't usually used in those contexts(居 and 要) , but there you go.

You use SAE BA to say "as long as" or "only if"

For example:


  • あなたは私のこと愛さえすれば、私もあなたを愛してる。
  • Anata ha watashi no koto ai sae sureba, watashi mo anata wo aishitieru.
  • As long you love me, I'll love you.
  • 暇さえあれば寝るよ!
  • Hima sae areba neru yo!
  • I'll sleep as long as I have free time.


Now making these sentences is actually kind of hard. If you want to use just a noun with something like a DESU, then you need to use AREBA for the BA form. If you need to use a verb before the BA, you use a pre-MASU form of the verb, and then use SURU for the BA so it looks like SUREBA.  Like this:


  • 道が込みさえしなければ、駅までタクシーで10分ぐらいだ。
  • Michi ga komi sae shinakereba, eki made TAKUSHII de jyupun gurai da.
  • As long as you don't go down that road, the station is about 10 minutes away by taxi.


Oh, I was tricksy in that, wasn't I? I put it as a negative. Well, it can be done! Now you know! Okay, so let's get back to Miyavi, mostly because he's far too pretty to be ignored.

Translation:

But things like god don't exist,
I swore that on you when you became a star.
But to me, I don't need things like god. As long as you would be here with me (for me).
I'm going to try and explain this in a little bit different way.

  • WHAT + SAE + VERB + BA + WHAT HAPPENS
  • YOU + SAE + BE WITH ME ....

I'm not sure if Miyavi made the last line and inverted sentence, meaning that he doesn't need a god as long his lover is with him, or if he left it as implied, unfinished sentence, though I'm relatively certain it's the former rather than the latter. But, it shows that you only really need to say half the sentence if you were, say, answering a question.



Boom: Hey, Miyavi. How long you plan on not needing a god?
Miyavi: As long as you're here with me.


I would like to point out before I go that there is something more interesting in the last lyric. He changes midform, did you see that? He was starting off as "if you are here", but he changed it to "as long as you're here" in the middle. It's a lost more powerful of a change in Japanese, because SAE is very emphatic word. I almost think it would translate as "if only you were here with me", but I'm not sure.


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