AdamSmith Posted February 17, 2015 Posted February 17, 2015 The Japanese have many specific words that name -- and, just by calling attention to, give exquisite insight into -- many different, very specific aspects of human behavior. 'Tsundoku', I learned just now, means the act of buying books and then leaving them lying around unread. Etymology 積む (tsumu, to pile up) + 読 (doku, to read), punning on “積んでおく” (tsundeoku, to leave piled up) Noun 積ん読 (hiragana つんどく, romaji tsundoku) (informal) the act of leaving a book unread after buying it, typically piled up together with other such unread books http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%A9%8D%E3%82%93%E8%AA%AD In somewhat similar vein, an American friend who studied the Japanese language intensively for several years informs me there is a particular verb form specifically designed to mean, for any verb expressed in that form, that the action was done to oneself by someone else in such a way as to make oneself a victim of the act. Quote
AdamSmith Posted February 17, 2015 Author Posted February 17, 2015 In somewhat similar vein, an American friend who studied the Japanese language intensively for several years informs me there is a particular verb form specifically designed to mean, for any verb expressed in that form, that the action was done to oneself by someone else in such a way as to make oneself a victim of the act. Found it! Passive sentences ( Genki II Chapter 21) Passive Sentences When you are inconvenienced by something somebody else has done, you can express your dissatisfaction using the passive sentence. Basic make up of a passive sentence: 私はともだちにくるまをつかわれました。 (victim)は (villian)に (evil act). I had my car used by a friend. The victim is affected by an event. Marked with the particle は or が. The villian preforms an action which causes the suffering. Marked with に. The evil act is described with the passive form of a verb. Forming passive verb forms: ru-verbs: Drop the final -ru and add -rare-ru :食べる -> 食べられる u-verbs: Drop the final -u and add -are-ru : はなす -> はなされる irregular verbs:する -> される くる -> こられる Passive forms of verbs conjugate as regular ru-verb. http://wp.stolaf.edu/japanese/ressource-projects/genki-i-ii-grammar-index/passive-sentences-genki-ii-chapter-21/ Quote
