Japanese Diary 39: Having Something Stolen

[steepholm]

To learn Japanese (or any language) is also, of course, to learn one's own. I think this was first　borne in on me at primary school, when I realised that "new" could be translated as "neuf" or "nouveau" depending on whether it was "brand new" or "new to me." A bit later, the difference between "aber" and "sondern" in German made me look at "but" in a whole new way (it's the difference between "I'm tired but happy" and "I'm not tired but happy").

And, of course, I've had many similar experiences in Japanese, for example with distinctions that don't exist in English ("watasu" versus "tsutaeru" for "convey," depending on whether the object is a thing or a message, for an example that came up very recently), or indeed ones that don't exist in Japanese ("ashi" means both "leg" and "foot," to take one of the more mind-blowing ones).

Today my friend Mami was telling me how someone had stolen her friend's bag when she was travelling. I can't remember what she said, but it was slightly off, grammatically, and I corrected it to "Your friend had her bag stolen."

This confused her, as well it might, since the construction looks exactly like the one we use when we purposely arrange for someone to do something to something for us, e.g. "I had my kitchen rewired." I'd never noticed the similarity before. Indeed, it only works when referring to the subject's own property: "I had your bag stolen" sounds as if it's spoken by a criminal mastermind.

Are there are any other verbs that allow a similar construction to "I had my bag stolen" (i.e. someone stole my bag)? I can't think of any right now.

Comments

[thistleingrey]

I want to say that "need" and especially "let" can double that way sometimes, but now I'm stuck for examples. Regional/colloquial, perhaps (or I have too many non-native speakers of English in my childhood's formation of good usage).

"Tari" is both leg and bridge in Korean. One's the literal sense, the other the obvious figurative extension--and the latter is everyday, not poetic.

[gillo]

Slightly different, but 'got' perhaps? Nigel Farage got a milkshake in his face. Bill got a milkshake for his sister.

[steepholm]

That's a very good example.

[ashkitty]

The one I always think of is the difference between (in German) wissen and kennen, which is similar to Welsh gwybod and nabod, in knowing a thing or fact, and knowing a person.

[ashkitty]

(I don't mean that as a verb difference the way you're thinking, just as a distinction that doesn't turn up in English the same way.)

[steepholm]

Ah yes, I remember that one too!

One thing I still find confusing in Japanese is the plethora of words that in English would simply be "life." For example:

jinsei - an individual human life
inochi - a life (e.g. in a computer game)
seikatsu - a way of life (e.g. life as a farmer)
kurashi - much like seikatsu, but with more of a 'life circumstances' vibe
seimei - life in an abstract sense

I'm not confident even of those definitions, and suspect there are more. Words that could be translated "money" are even more numerous.

[shewhomust]

I had my wrist slapped for suggesting...?

And, for the list of words that don't match one-to-one, colours and relations are classic examples.

[steepholm]

“I had my wrist slapped” Is excellent!