121 Ordinal numbers 4.2.5 Number + counter with ellipted noun
Where the context makes it clear which noun they refer to, number + counter can be used without the noun they count.
a 精密なイラストは •••息をのむほど美しい。一枚を仕上げるのに 一カ月〱らいかかるそうだ。
Seimitsu na irasuto wa . . . iki o nomu hodo utsukushii.
Ichi-mai o shiageru no ni ikkagetsu kurai kakaru sn da.
The accurate illustrations . . . are breathtakingly beautiful. Apparently it takes about one month to finish one.
122 4 Numbers and counters
一番 ichi-ban ‘the first’
一番目 ichi-ban-me ‘the first one’
第一番目 dai-ichi-ban-me ‘the first one’
a 毎月第一、三、五月曜日が定休。
Maitsuki dai-ichi, -san, -go getsuynbi ga teikyo.
They’re closed on the first, third and fifth Monday of each month.
b ベ一ト一ベン「交響曲第一番」などを演奏する。
Bltnben ‘Knkynkyoku Dai-ichi-ban’ nado o ensn suru.
They perform Beethoven’s First Symphony and other [works].
Note – (mazu) dai-ichi ni, dai-ni ni, dai-san ni, etc. are also used in the sense of ‘firstly’, ‘secondly’, ‘thirdly’ when lining up arguments, etc. (example c, see also 24.7).
c まずリベラルと片仮名英語を使うのはなぜか。三つの理由が想像 できる。第一に、何とな〱イメージがいい。第二に、日本語訳 の自由主義は•••長い間、マルクス主義との関係を清算できな かった社会党にとっては抵抗があったのだろう。第三に、•••
Mazu riberaru to katakana eigo o tsukau no wa naze ka.
Mittsu no riyo ga snzn dekiru. Dai-ichi ni, nan to naku imlji ga ii. Dai-ni ni, Nihongo-yaku no jiyo shugi wa . . . nagai aida Marukusu-shugi to no kankei o seisan dekinakatta Shakai-tn ni totte wa teikn ga atta no darn. Dai-san ni, . . .
To begin, why do they use riberaru [liberal] in katakana English?
One can imagine three reasons. Firstly, the image is somehow good.
Secondly, the Japanese translation jiyoshugi was not acceptable to the Socialist Party, which for a long time was unable to get rid of its association with Marxism. . . . Thirdly, . . .
Dai-ichi is also used to introduce a statement that qualifies (often with a negative form) what has been said before ‘to begin with’, ‘for a start’.
d 第一、す〲れた人材が政界を目指さな〱なる。
Dai-ichi, sugureta jinzai ga seikai o mezasanaku naru.
To begin with, able people will not aspire to politics any more.
e 愛知県内では三十ー番目の「市」。
Aichi-ken-nai de wa sanjoichi-ban-me no ‘shi’.
It’s the 31st ‘city’ in Aichi prefecture.
f ー番目の仮説は、•••
Ichi-ban-me no kasetsu wa, . . . The first hypothesis is . . .
123
Fractions and percentages 4.4 Fractions and percentages
Fractions are expressed by X-bun no Y (Y = number). Literally, the mean- ing is “Y out of X parts”. (see 2.3.1.5)
a 三分の二
sanbun no ni two-thirds
b 十分の一
jobun no ichi one-tenth
c コップ半分の水を「半分しかない」と考えるか「半分もある」
と思うか。
Koppu hanbun no mizu o ‘hanbun shika nai’ to kangaeru ka
‘hanbun mo aru’ to omou ka.
Whether to think of half a cup of water as ‘only half’, or to feel that
‘there’s as much as half’.
For percentages, pfsento (per cent) can be added to a number, but for units of 10 per cent it is also usual to attach the suffix –wari, which can be followed by –bu to indicate percentage points. The prefix yaku- can be added to indicate the idea of ‘approximately’.
a ラケットの約六〇パーセントが日本製だ。
Raketto no yaku rokujup-pksento ga Nihonsei da.
Approximately 60 per cent of the rackets are made in Japan.
b 組織の兵士の三割は女性。
Soshiki no heishi no san-wari wa josei.
30 per cent of the organization’s soldiers are women.
c （出荷が）昨年より一割五分少ない。
(Shukka ga) sakunen yori ichi-wari go-bu sukunai.
(Shipments) are down 15 per cent compared to last year.
•
124
Chapter 5
Demonstrative/interrogative words and pronouns
When used to point at things, demonstrative words/pronouns make a three-way distinction, which is based on proximity to the speaker or listener: ko- ‘this’ (near speaker), so- ‘that’ (near listener) and a- ‘that over there’ (distant from both). The endings attached differ according to whether what is referred to is a thing or place, is used by itself like a noun or to modify a noun, etc.
However, demonstrative words/pronouns are also used to refer to previous or following context, where the above three-way distinction does not apply in quite the same way – refer to the examples in 5.2.
Question (or interrogative) words + pronouns (beginning with the syllable
‘do-’, which is equivalent to English ‘wh~’) share the same endings as the ko-/so-/a- series (see 5.2, 18).
Table 5.1 ko-so-a-do sets of demonstrative pronouns and question words
ko- so- a- do- meaning (ko-/do-)
N-equivalent kore sore are dore ‘this/which (one)’
kochira* sochira achira dochira ‘this/which (direction)’
‘this/which (one) of two’
‘this/which (person)’
(konata) (sonata) anata donata ‘you/who (polite)’
koko soko asoko doko ‘this/which (place)’,
‘here/where’
koitsu soitsu aitsu doitsu ‘this fellow’
[male informal use]
N-modifying kono sono ano dono ‘this/which N’
kniu sniu kiu dniu ‘this/what kind of N’
knitta snitta kitta dnitta ‘this/what kind of N’
konna sonna anna donna ‘this/what kind of N’
125
Demonstrative words and pronouns
Others include dare ‘who’, dochira ‘which’, dore ‘which’, itsu ‘when’, ikura
‘how much (money)’, nani ‘what’ (see 5.2 and Table 5.2).
One of the differences between dore and dochira is its use in comparative sentences, where dochira refers to a choice of two items, and dore of three or more (see 6.7).
5.1 Demonstrative words and pronouns