11.8) The ใ Particle [Part 1]
The last particle we should look at is ใ. I know that I basically started this blog off by talking about ใ, but it doesnโt hurt to refresh your memory, right? Hopefully this post can shed some new light on JUST how important the ใ particle really is. Here is your vocabulary for this post, served fresh!
ใCommunicating New Informationใ
The point of any language is to communicate new information. Different languages use different grammar to do this, but it is the basis of human communication. When it comes to Japanese, there are actually three different ways that the language communicates new information, and they all involve the ใ particle! Letโs take a look, shall we?
First is the typical way. The topic is introduced by ใฏโฆ Maybeย โintroducedโ isnโt the best word to use because itโs not actually new information. The topic will always be something that the listener / reader is already familiar with. Thatโs why I often useย โas forโฆโ orย โyou knowโฆโ in my translations. To some extent, the listener should already have a clue what the topic is. Itโs very similar to how we use the articleย โtheโ in English. If you randomly say,ย โI saw the cat yesterdayโ to a friend, they wonโt know what in the world youโre talking about unless you have talked about that specific cat before.
At any given time, this topic is floating above the conversation. As the conversation flows, the topic is constantly refreshed and changed. Things that are new information can quickly become the new topic. However, the speaker has to bring attention to this new topic first.
After you bring attention to the topic, you make a comment / comments about it until a new topic is brought up.ย These comments are where the new information comes in. Sometimes, the subject will be marked by ใ while other times there will be an invisible subject (when the subject and the topic are the same thing). We talked about this way back in this post. Here is a visual aide for you:
The second method of introducing new information is where ใ is used forย emphasis. In these kinds of sentences, the part of the comment that comes after ใ is NOT new information. The new information is what comes before ใ. When Japanese speakers ask questions, they often use this construction.ย Here is another visual aide to help you:ย
โ ๏ฝ่ชฐใ๏ฝ๏ฝใธใฅใผในใ้ฃฒใใ ๏ฝใฎ๏ผ
= Who? (as the subject) drank the juice. Also, explain.
= Who drank the juice? (the nuance is that the person asking wants details)
In example 1, it would already be known that someone drank the juice, right? The question (unknown information) is WHO. The answer will tell you who drank the juice, but in the meantime you use the question word ่ชฐ and mark it with ใ. It temporarily holds the place of the new information that you will receive.
The third and final method for introducing new information is sometimes called theย โnews ใ.โ There is no particular emphasis on what comes before or after the ใ. Itโs ALL new.
โก ๆใ
ใใใใจใใใซ๏ฝใใใใใใจใใฐใใใใ๏ฝ๏ฝ**ใใพใใ๏ฝใ
= Long long ago, an old man and woman existed.
= There once lived an old man and woman.
This example comes from the Japanese fairy tale called Momotarล and is typical of fairy-tale-style openings. Before we heard this sentence we didnโt know about the old man or woman. We also didnโt know that they lived (of course!). Since this is all new information, instead of ใฏ, the ใ particle is used.
โข ๏ฝๅฐ้ขจ๏ผ๏ผใ๏ฝ๏ฝๆธฉๅธฏไฝๆฐๅงใซๅคๅ๏ฝ
= Typhoon #12 (as the subject) change to a temperate cyclone
= Typhoon 12 (has) changed to a temperate cyclone.
Example 3 came from LINE (the most commonly-used messenger app in Japan) News. You would expect this to be a typical news article heading because it uses method 3, which is the news ใย (also because there is no verb, adjective or copula bundle at the end). News stories often use this third method to simply introduce information. As soon as you start reading the article, ใฏ can be attached to either ๅฐ้ขจ๏ผ๏ผ or ๆธฉๅธฏไฝๆฐๅงใซๅคๅ because they instantly becomeย โalready-known informationโ. In fact, the first line of the article says:
๏ผๆ๏ผ๏ผๆฅ (็ซ) ๏ผๆใซใๅฐ้ขจ๏ผ๏ผใฏๆฅๆฌๆตทใงๆธฉๅธฏไฝๆฐๅงใซๅคใใใพใใใ
= on Aug. 24th at 9 AM, you know Typhoon 12? at the Sea of Japan, (it) changed into a temperate cyclone
= On Aug. 24th at 9AM, Typhoon 12 at the Sea of Japan changed into a temperate cyclone.
Keep in mind that if a writer chooses to start a story or article with ใฏ, it is a deliberate choice. Sometimes writers want to throw us into the world of the story right away. Using ใฏ on purpose instead of this third method is a very common technique used in Japanese writing to immerse the reader as soon as possible.
ใTwo Versions of ใใ
Now might be a good time to mention that you have actually seenย two different versions of the ใ particle! There is the exhaustive ใ and the neutral ใ.ย
The exhaustive (or focus) ใ places emphasis on whatever itโs attached to. It assumes that the topic is information that the listener / reader already knows. ใ is the particle that marks the new information. This ใ is what you saw in methods 1 and 2.
On the other hand, the neutral (or news) ใ spreads out the emphasis to the whole sentence. This makes the whole sentence new information. This ใ appears in method 3.
Itโs very subtle, but in spoken conversation you can sometimes actually hear the difference in stress between the two ใ particles! Since one of them places emphasis on something, and the other doesnโt, native speakers do distinguish between the two (even if they are not aware of it).
In this post we looked at the Japanese languageโs 3 ways of introducing new information. In my first few posts I stressed that the ใ particle always marks the subject of the sentence. While this is true, now I can tell you that even more importantly, ใ is always associated with marking new information.
I have one last post about the ใ particle coming up next, so keep a look out for that. In the meantime stay safe, and keep those likes, questions, mentions and reblogs (with really funny hashtags!) coming, I REALLY appreciate them and I appreciate YOU. Remember, when it comes to Japanese, never stop learning!
** Some versions of Momotarล use ไฝใใงใใพใใ instead of ใใพใใ. I even came across some versions that used ใใใพใใ, which is just another way to say ใใพใใ.ย
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