JAPANESE FOR BUSY PEOPLE 9 docx

PZZ Have you heard the term sakura zensen? The flower typifying spring in Japan is, undoubt- edly, sakura, the cherry blossom. As spring approaches, people predict the day the cherry (trees) will blossom and agree with friends on a day to go blossom viewing. Japan is an island country extenàing in a long (line) from south to north. Kyushu, Shikoku, Honshu, Hokkaido-there's quite a difference in temperatures, so the day the cherries blos- som àiffers somewhat, too. In the southern part of Kyushu the cherries bloom around the end of March, but in Hokkaido they bloom around the beginning of May. Thus, the cherry blossom "front," a line starting in the south of the Japanese archipelago and (moving) north, shows the state of the cherry trees' blossoming. This takes as long as forty days. In adàition to the cherry blossom front there are other flower fronts, such as the apricot blossom front and the azalea front. Apricots start in Kyushu a whole lot earlier than the cherry trees, but they reach Hokkaido at almost the same time (as the cherries). Therefore, if (you) travel to Hokkaido in early or mid May, (you) can see (various) spring flowers at the same time. On the other hand, when it gets to be auturnn the autumn leaves front makes its way from north to south, dyeing the trees in the mountains crirnson or yellow. With flower viewing in the spring, maple (leaf) excursions in the autumn and so on, people enjoy each season (in turn). 9 Vocabulary cherry blossom front front word typify, represent representation undoubtedly people approach predict prediction, estimate (cherry) blossom viewing well, incidentally extend, stretch, postpone island country Shikoku (place name) Honshu (place name) quite (air) temperature difference differ, be different IlovpX, L L i QLvph Gai -71'4 -1; southern part end beginning, first thus, in this way way, manner about archipelago be (in the process of ) blooming state, circumstance, appearance line show, express in addition to apricot, Japanese plum azalea such as and so forth a whole lot, al1 the tirnelway almost therefore (same as f:d' b) first third of the month second third of the month d'l? 7 from . . . to . . . auturnn (lit. "red") leaves trees red yellow dye be advancing maple leaf excursion maple excursion, hunting season enjoy dP? 2 2 6 VOCABULARY Supplemental vocabulary 4~Lta LO? a species of cherry MXH r)i,d'O day of blooming i\?li+;iT a species of maple ZiLiv: day the leaves turn I. &a#&, z i L i q#& 5 i h+!Liih iihrih These i%,@ are analogous to warm and cold weather fronts, so perhaps it is not surpris- +?Lei ing that information on their progress comes from the 3 L L i S L i , the Meteoro- logica1 Agency. Arnong its weather-related functions are predicting the harvest time of fruits, but predictions and reports on the $i and Z i L i are the most eagerly awaited. *<h The harbinger for the many varieties of cherry blossoms is the species known as -T- id> \\L LD,andformaplesitis \\/;li $\%T'. 2. $2 ?<h i L L 0 only blooms for a very short period, from five to ten days. If it rains or is windy, which is typical spring weather in Japan, the blossoms may al1 fa11 overnight. 3.mY 5-376 'i h More literally this means "No matter what anyone says . . ." The particle 'L here emphasizes the number of days the cherry blossom front takes as it moves from the south to the north of Japan. This use of 'L reflects the speaker's feelings of "so many" or "so much." 5. 11 V -* \ 7 T \ < o (llit.) "The flowers bloom progressively." Iitd Adding i < , which means "to go," to the 7 form of verbs indicates the continuous progress of the action. ex. 1 i 108 "i; Y tLTi13 3Bo ,,89 *t* "Swallows fly (lit. "go flying") south in October." 6 &I: %O xdT Chd'L607'$o i'& C li ZI li 'a D TB is equivalent to L TB but less colloquial. (See p. 117.) NOTES 227 - -A 7. *k -i -i The kanji h indicates the repetition of the syllable(s) coming immediately before it, sometimes with a phonetic change. Nouns in Japanese are generally written and pro- nounced the same whether singular or plural (as noted in Characteristics of Japanese Grammar in Book I), but this is one way of specifying plurality. Other examples: E h. l1 '4 li'& "flowers"; E! h , "countries"; &h, "islands"; LL h, "mountains"; +k h , "we." (See Book 111, ( f: < ': LJ L* ?'Z ?'it htt hil Lesson 1.) Words made plural with suffixes are comparatively few and must be learned as they are encountered. ;k> +d~ 7': 27, for example, is one way of pluralizing "you." From familiar to d t: formal, there are a number of words for "we," such as If < i;, $h 7': S (the most com- mon) and $h 'f' t (humble/formal). hi:(oL hi: L 8. SI: ia , i a t A L +<i) i1 6 11'. i h l When things are listed or enumerated, it is sometimes permissible to omit predicates and, in fact, this can create a dramatic effect. I Read this lesson's opening passage and answer the following questions. QUIZ [...]... collect, assemble, 1 59 h Y /'?& rest, 63 h Y T/'?&T afterward, 99 later, 7t3 2 A announcement, 153 h o &er, 28 T /T- b apartment, 56 U" 6 bathe, 34 $5 i:'' i dangerous, 120 A h 2 ') not very, 198 $5 dj / 'I% rain, 89 h 4 Oh! (women's speech), 99 h 4 i /#t i wash, 34 h 4 h % /& % show, express, 226 h k L k / g 1 ~ ~ e a c e o f m i n d ; L A-6 6, '$(C% 6 be relieveci1 relaxed, 39 h kt! A / * S safe,... I f k d j i \ a s h a r d a s o n e c a n , 5 9 i -> 7 2 i \ 'I 2 % good-bye, 99 i i :'7 ti < -e i i i i i ' -> T 6 any-/sometime, 135 -> 7 4 -> L r i good-bye, 99 ' -> /a"\ full, 146 6 always, 153 \ ,,' dog, 171 2 0 i 6 l-/+n it's too late, 62 -> / i i 6 1- right away, before meaning, 214 (Q) horrible, nasty, unwelcome, 198 i' 4i i 4 -> L r 6 (polite form of i request, commission, 178 < , ' T< , /%... 2 6 i: choose, 80 z L ? iperformance, recitai: X X, ? if 4 perform, l92 2 pencil, 104 2 1 reserve, restraint, diffidente; 2 L 1 ?i without hesitationlreserve, 147 2 2 2 2 < k; L < 7 how old (for a person), 58 k; k; L \ / 9 L many, much, 86 k; k;+k \ hordesllots of people, 86 f - k / 4 motorcycle, 2 19 f - f - OB (old boy), alumnus/i, 153 ' k; k; A ? -h\ last day of year, 191 k; -h\ 6 5 2 k; 5 2 (someone... chocolate; 5 l ) (sense of) obligation, 141 ? 6 cut, 79 ? 5 /%6 wear, put on, 44 ? L strong box, safe, vault, 197 ? L L" I //&& neighborhood, 192 * = how old (for a person), 58 'If I Q / Y l f Z flower arranging, 34 f (-7li) \ i L" 4 d . excursions in the autumn and so on, people enjoy each season (in turn). 9 Vocabulary cherry blossom front front word typify, represent representation undoubtedly people approach predict prediction,. appearance line show, express in addition to apricot, Japanese plum azalea such as and so forth a whole lot, al1 the tirnelway almost therefore (same as f:d' b) first third of the. The harbinger for the many varieties of cherry blossoms is the species known as -T- id> \L LD,andformaplesitis \/;li $\%T'. 2. $2 ?<h i L L 0 only blooms for a very short