In search of TSU TSU ARU

I am beyond surprised at the moment. Here I was, reading that comic I suggested to you yesterday, and I find a phrase I never thought I'd be able to find. TSUTSU ARU... I've never seen it used except in my textbook, and I've certainly never heard it. My Japanese teacher told me no one uses it when they speak, and of course, my textbook says the same.

But there it is, in a really beautiful scene about omuraisu. 

The phrase in question is:

• あなたの子供になりつつある。
• Anata no kodomo ni nari tsu tsu aru.

TSU TSU ARU means to "continue doing something", and as I mentioned above, it's usually only used in written form. This, of course, indicates that it is a very formal phrase (which may be a very good indicatory on just how Mikako feels). JGRAM also wants me to say that it means "in the middle of doing something", but I'm not real sure about that seeing as my textbook doesn't even mention something close to that. The translation of the explanation my book give is "gradually doing something".

Helpful, right? Sort of...

The context of these scene is that when Mikako was first adopted, her new mother asked her what she wanted to eat, and she replied that she wanted omuraisu. When she goes to put ketchup on it, her mother exclaims something and Mikako thinks she's in trouble. Instead, the mother is just laughing about how childlike it is to use that much ketchup.  The last page is when Mikako is seventeen, and they are having omuraisu as they do every Saturday, and her mother starts laughing about how much ketchup Mikako uses. "You like that much ketchup?" she laughs, "like a child, huh?"

The Mikako narrates with our grammar point before the scene ends. We can divide the phrase like so:

• あなたの子供になる(I'll become your child)  + つつある (continue doing so)
• I'll continue being (becoming?) your child.

I think her use of formality here indicates a sort of contrary feeling to what she says, since it implies distance. Since I'm not Japanese, I can't say for sure, but I think I'm probably right.

How to make a TSU TSU ARU sentence:

• Pre-MASU verb+ TSUTSU ARU
• The NARU in this sentence became NARI

It it as easy as that!

But before I go, I thought I'd talk just a little bit about omuraisu which is, by far, my favorite food. Oddly, though, Japanese people tend to think it's an American food. Ask an American, and they'll say they've never heard of it.

The basic omuraisu is rice, ketchup and egg. There is usually some sort of meat in it (usually chicken, but I like bacon) and vegetables (like onions and what not), but those are not constant since every store makes them a bit differently. In almost all cases, the egg is fried into a thin sheet, and the rice/ketchup medley are mixed and then folded into the egg. It looks like this:

Image taken from: http://blog.omuraisu.net/archive/2006_03_15_omuraisu_archive.html

What it is, basically, is a Japanese version of an American Omellette (Omu standing for Omellette and Raisu being Rice). It may not look good, but I have to tell you, it is BRILLIANT. I crave it almost every other day... and I don't even like ketchup!

In search of KOTO HA NAI

This grammar point isn't really all that important, and frankly, it's usually more appropriate to say NAKUTE II when you're with friend, but since that isn't in my grammar notebook, we're going to with KOTO HA NAI!

You do need to be careful, though, since there is a grammar form that is exactly the same, only it uses the past tense TA form. What I mean is the grammar form to indicate you have had experience doing something.


Like...

• この歌を何回歌ったことがある。
• I've sung this song like a million times.

Oh, yeah, I forgot that it's done with a GA as well. Okay, so it might not trip too many people up, but I'm too lazy to delete what I've written so far, so let's keep going!


KOTO HA NAI is used when you want to tell someone or something that they don't have to/need to do something, but only if it is in this specific form:

• Dictionary form of verb + ことはない

So, what pop culture reference am I going to explore today? Sadly, none. I'm going to be a bit more serious and talk about Google Street View and the Touhoku Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011.

仮に震災後の状況が撮影されれば、ストリートビューはより新しい画像に差し代わることになるはずだが、過去の画像について徳生氏は、同サービスの原則として「画像データを消去することはない」と説明。

 Kari ni shinsaigo no jyoukyou ga satsuei sarereba, SUTORIITOPYUU ha yori atarashii gazou ni sashi kawaru koto ni naru hazu da ga, kako no gazou ni tsuite Tokuo ha, dou SAABISU no gensoku toshite "gazou DEETA wo shoukyo suru koto ha nai" to setsumei.

I've linked two other grammar points that we've already gone over to their correlated blog posts, and I'll talk about the TOSHITE a little bit later because it's a good phrase to use in normal life anyway. So, the article is largely about (NI TSUITE!) Google Crisis Response, and Google Street View.

The last paragraph pretty much sums up what they plan to do with the satellite images. I'll translate the whole sentence in a moment, but I'd like to go over the grammar point first. The sentence is:

• 画像データを消去することはない
• There is no need to get rid of the image data.

Easy enough, right?

Well, the whole sentence translates as this:

• For now, images will still be taken of the situation after the earthquake, and it's expected that the new images will change on Google Street View. But in regards to the older images, Mr. Tokuo explained that as a general rule for the service, "there is not need to get rid of the image data".

After this, they talk about how it's important historically and what not. I would have translated that a little bit prettier, but I wanted you to get an idea of what went where in a bit more stark terms.

But I would really translate it as this:

• For now, the satellite will continue to take pictures of the aftermath, and it is expected to be changed on Google Street View. But, in regards to the older images, Tokuo explained that as a general principle, "there is not need to get rid of the data."

And before I leave this post, I'd like point out this cool term:

• 原則として
• Gensoku means rule or principle.
• Toshite means "as".
• So it translates nicely as "as a general rule".

Catch ya on the flipside. Boom out.