Place Words

Seite 1

Place Words

Words like saki, mae, usiro, mukoo, and aida are nominals which designate location.

saki refers to an area up ahead, on the same road or path or route. It is regularly preceded by a modifier.

mae may refer either to the front part of something or the area in front of something, depending on context.

usiro may refer either to the back part of something or the area behind something, depending on context.

mukoo refers to an area on the far side, or beyond, a designated point relative to the location of the speaker. It may also refer to 'over there' in the sense of abroad/out of the country.

aida refers to the space between two entities or two groups of entities.

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Nominal X + No + Nominal Y

Remembering that nominal X + no + nominal Y is a kind of Y described by X, consider the following phrases:

eki no mukoo beyond the station

mukoo no eki the station beyond

biru no mae (in) front of the building

mae no biru the building in front

eki no mae no biru the building in front of the station

deguti no mukoo no aida no toire (in) back of the kiosk beyond the exit

Tanaka-san no usiro in back of (behind) Mr(s). Tanaka

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Nominal X + To + Nominal Y + No + Aida

Keeping the previous structure in mind, and remembering that in nominal X + to + nominal Y, the to is of similar meaning to the word and , consider the following phrases:

deguti to baiten no aida between the exit and the kiosk

watasi to tomodati no aida between my friend and me

baiten to denwa no aida no toire the toilet between the kiosk and the telephone

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Ga vs. Wa

Observing the usual functioning of the particles in question, we note:

Mukoo ga eki desu ka. Is over there the station? (I'm looking for the station)

Mukoo wa eki desu ka. Is over there the station? (I'm trying to determine what is over there)

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Contractive No + Connective No

We know that connective no + nominal no is contracted into a single no.

However, nominal no + connective no and contracted no + connective no do not contract.

Thus:

Mukoo no eki desu --> Mukoo no no desu --> Mukoo no desu

It's the station beyond --> It's the one beyond

Ano siroi biru no mukoo desu --> Ano siroi no no mukoo desu

It's beyond that white building --> It's beyond that white one

Mukoo no eki no mae desu --> Mukoo no no no mae desu --> Mukoo no no mae desu

It's in front of the station over there --> It's in front of the one over there

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Relationals

Relationals are a subclass of nominals whose meaning reflects possible division by degree.

For example, we can speak of something that is "farther ahead" or "top-most" but not "farther book" or "most station".

These degree-able nominals (relationals) occur not only in regular nominal patterns, but also may be directly preceded by quantity expressions without an intervening particle.

Compare:

eki no saki up ahead of the station

sukosi saki a little ahead

motto saki farther ahead

mit-tu saki three ahead (depending on context this may refer to traffic lights, intersections, etc.)

Quantity expressions can also be expanded to moo + quantity (quantity in addition) within such patterns. Thus:

moo sukosi saki a little farther ahead