ことのこと
A Quora Deep Dive - How to Japanese - February 2021
This is How to Japanese, a monthly newsletter with something about Japan/Japanese, something about booze, and a dash of いろいろ.
日本・日本語： Dissecting the definition of こと
Longtime readers may remember the brief “How to Engrish” experiment. This was one of my first attempts to expand the How to Japanese universe by writing in Japanese about English. The site crashed and burned. I didn’t have the bandwith to write two blogs, my written Japanese wasn’t strong enough to warrant a website, and more than anything I just didn’t have the same insight into my own language as I did into Japanese.
So much of the English I do I do unconsciously, and all my material comes from that additional awareness I have with Japanese. I’d even say that my secret (mostly useless) skill as a writer and a language learner is that I have a Spidey sense for “wrinkles” in the Japanese language. The wrinkles that have Japanese asking questions about their own language.
I remember this as far back as my very first Japanese course — why was I hearing 場合 pronounced ばわい (bawai) when it is clearly written ばあい (baai)?
The interesting thing about these wrinkles is that there’s an incredibly robust support system for finding answers in Japanese. I’ve previously mentioned Mayonez and Tap-Biz in JT articles, but there’s also Eigobu (apparently now known as “WURK”?), Goiryoku, and a number of others. There are a few sites like Merriam-Webster and the Grammarly blog in English, but I’m not sure they are an exact equivalent.
These Japanese sites, along with Yahoo Chiebukuro, are among the first I expect to see when I start Googling answers to the questions I have.
For my latest article in The Japan Times, I wrote a guide to 告白 (kokuhaku, confessions/declarations of love) (blog bonus coverage). I didn’t have the space to address this in the column, but while writing I looked into another wrinkle I remember noticing early on in my studies: Why is there a のこと in the textbook 告白 phrase あなたのことが好きです (Anata no koto ga suki desu, I love/like you)? What role does it play and what does it mean?
I was not disappointed with what I found. There are a couple good posts on Yahoo Chiebukuro, including one that pointed me in the direction of the dictionary. こと has an extensive and detailed definition, but the section we are looking for is this one:
他の語句をうけて、その語句の表す行為や事態を体言化する形式名詞。
A 形式名詞 (formal noun) that takes other words and nominalizes/inflects the act or condition those words express.
I don’t know the exact linguistic terminology for some of these words, so you’ll have to forgive my translation, but I think it gets the idea across.
But あなた is already a noun, right? There’s additional sub-explanation underneath this noting how this works in our specific example:
心情や動作の向かっている対象。「君の事が好きだ」「家族の事を大切にする」
The object toward which emotions or an action are directed. 君の事が好きだ (Kimi no koto ga suki da, I love/like you) 家族の事を大切にする (Kazoku no koto o taisetsu ni suru, [I] take care of family)
Initially I thought I could file this use of こと under “get used to it.” This is the way that Japanese marks the object of emotions. Get used to it.
And to a certain extent I think that’s true. But then I found the most interesting discussion of Japanese grammar I’ve ever read: 日本語で「あなたのことが好きです」と言う場合の「こと」は何を意味しているのですか？ (What does the “こと” in “あなたのことが好きです” mean in Japanese?).
Over the past three years there have been over a dozen responses to this post on Quora. And this is Quora, so these aren’t one-sentence responses. It’s amazing to see Japanese discuss this topic with such intensity and in such depth. I hadn’t spent much time on Quora, but this has inspired me to create an account and dig around a little. It seems to be pretty active, and you can opt in to digest emails on topics you’re interested in.
Here’s a look at a few of the responses that demonstrate how Japanese speakers conceive of this phrase (and feel free to fast forward to the TL;DR at the end):
何も意味していません。
「こと」には、単体の言葉として意味のある「こと」と意味のない「こと」があります。後者は形式名詞と呼ばれています。
形式名詞は、修飾語のうしろについて、その言葉を名詞化します。ほかに「ところ」や「もの」などが形式名詞として使われます。
It doesn’t mean anything.
As a word by itself, こと can be こと with meaning or こと without meaning. The latter is called a 形式名詞 (formal noun).
形式名詞 come after a modifier and turn that word into a noun. Words like ところ and もの are also used as 形式名詞.
This is one of the older responses and tracks with what we saw in the dictionary. There is definitely an aspect of “get used to it.”
Japanese themselves aren’t putting too much thought into the phrase when they use it:
まず、一般の日本人はほとんど意識せず「こと」を入れていると思います。
特別な意味はない。
他の回答にあるように、無意識のどこかでは関係性を意図しているかも知れません。しかし、それはあくまでも無意識にです。
First of all, I think most Japanese add “こと” without realizing it.
It has no special meaning.
As other responses have noted, it perhaps unconsciously refers to the relationship. However, even that is, in the end, unconscious.
(This person does go on to note that adding こと makes the phrase more musical than it otherwise would be.)
The following response might provide the clearest explanation of the “relation/relationship” meaning mentioned above (the phrase is slightly different here because they seem to be referring to asking someone if they like you rather than telling someone that you like them; also, I think there’s an error in the sentence):
「私のことを好き」は私とあなたの関係性を含めて、今まで過ごしてきた時間を含めての総合評価を求めている。つまり、「こと」を付加することで、物質的、や「私」に限定せずに、二人が培ってきた良かった＋悪かった経験を汲み取って「私たちの関係性」について聞いていると考えられる。
私のことを好き includes your and my relationship and is asking for an overall evaluation that includes the time we’ve spent together to this point. In other words, I think adding “こと” is asking about not just “me” myself but “our relationship,” taking into account the good and bad experiences we’ve had as a couple.
So we’re starting to venture into an area where こと functions as something more than just a nominalizer.
The grammatical explanation here is that のこと essentially means という存在, and の functions as a 同格 (apposition) rather than 属格 (genitive case). Translating this into non-linguistic English (and again, apologies if I butcher the linguistics): の doesn’t describe possession as it often does (ダニエルのビール, Daniel’s beer) but rather equates the person and こと. Thus, the の could be replaced by という in this phrase. (ダニエルというビール doesn’t work in the same way.)
Another function of こと is that it creates a more indirect expression, which is echoed in other developments with the language:
90年代末あたりから、日本語の日常会話において「婉曲表現」の一種と思われる奇妙な「言い回し」が急増しています。初期には、「ご注文 "のホウ" お済みですか？」「お皿 "のホウ" お下げします」という奇妙な "のホウ" が、「コンビニ・ファミレス方言」などと話題になりました。 "" 内が日本語として全く不必要であることは、声を出して読めば明らかです。
最近では、「あの練習が良かった "カナ" と思います」「上手くできた "カナ" と思います」という "カナ" が、特に芸能人やスポーツ選手のインタビューなどで氾濫していて、非常に耳障りです。この "カナ" は前述の "のホウ" と違って、明らかに自分自身の見解・発言を敢えて曖昧にしようとする、自分の言葉に対する自身の責任を回避しようとする表現だからです。
で、「あなた "のこと" が好きです」の話に戻るのですが、何か似ていませんか？という訳です。とにかく直接的な表現から逃げたいという "見えない力" が働いた結果、 "のこと" を加えてしまっているのに過ぎない、というケースもあるのではないかと思うのです。
このまま行くと、「あなたのことが好きかな、と思うので・・」なんてことになるかもしれません。
From the end of the 90s, there’s been a rapid increase of strange “phrasing” in everyday Japanese that can be considered “roundabout expressions.” First there was the strange “のほう” appearing at convenience stores and family restaurants:
ご注文 "のホウ" お済みですか？
お皿 "のホウ" お下げします
The Japanese in quotation marks above is completely unnecessary, which is clear if you read the sentences out loud.
Recently, we’ve been inundated with “かな” in interviews with celebrities and athletes:
あの練習が良かった "カナ" と思います
上手くできた "カナ" と思います
It’s painful to hear. This “かな” differs from “のほう”because it’s an intentional attempt to make the speaker’s own opinions/expressions more vague and to avoid responsibility for one’s own words.
So returning to the question of あなた "のこと" が好きです, doesn’t this seem somewhat similar? At any rate, I think there are cases in which a speaker only adds “のこと” due to the “unseen force” of avoiding direct expression.
If this keeps up, we might end up with: あなたのことが好きかな、と思うので・・
Another commenter notes that Japanese is fundamentally a “self-centered” language; the point of view is always with the speaker. Thus,
質問された例文はおそらく告白する場面だと思います。告白する前に、その人は自分にとってまだ自分のサークルにいる人間じゃないです。ですから、[こと]を介して、その距離を示すわけです。
The person who asked the question is likely going to confess their love. Before they confess, the person isn’t within their circle. So they use こと to express that distance from them.
And yet another commenter suggests that こと implies recognition of someone’s personhood:
そして、あえて「あなた」で切らずに「あなたのこと」と表現した時には、その裏の深層心理に、あなたは私にとって「もの」ではない存在なんですよという気持ちが込められている。
So, when someone says あなたのこと instead of leaving it at あなた, subconsciously that includes the idea that your existence to them is not a もの.
So, TL;DR:
- こと has no meaning; it simply serves as a nominalizing 形式名詞 that marks the object toward which emotions are directed.
- こと creates a more expansive meaning, referring not just to the person, but also the person’s existence/relationship with the speaker.
- The rhythm of the phrase is better with こと.
- こと creates a more roundabout expression that’s more comfortable for Japanese speakers.
- こと maintains a distance with the person before “allowing them into your circle.”
- こと recognizes someone’s personhood.
Pretty interesting! I think some of these effects/meanings overlap, and I’m sure we’d get another handful of responses if we asked a dozen more Japanese speakers. I think the key thing to remember is that あなたのことが好きです is just the most natural phrase in this situation. Don’t think too much about it; I’ve already done that for you.
ラム酒： Clairin Sajous
If you’ve stuck with me this far, あなた気に入ったぜ！ Or maybe that should be あなたのこと気に入ったぜ？ (I am very curious to know more about the Instagram interaction that resulted in this question.)
I’ll keep the booze section to a short recommendation this month: one spirit and one activity.
The spirit: Clairin Sajous
I was inspired by Tuesday Pints, an acquaintance from my time in Japan, to explore rum and tiki drinks last year. I joined a Facebook group, started following a subreddit, read a book or two, and grew my home bar.
At first I was blindly buying recommendations and classics, but I’m starting to develop more particular tastes. I alluded to this in the December newsletter, but rum has felt far more accessible than other spirits. However, knowing what I like doesn’t mean I know how to describe it, and Clairin Sajous is a Haitian rum that I still don’t have words for beyond vague superlatives like stunning, complex, and challenging.
It clearly has “funk,” a word that gets thrown around to describe Jamaican overproof pot still rums, but there are buttery, briney, and grassy notes not present in the Jamaican rums I’ve tried, and Sajous has less banana. Just trust me: Pick up a bottle and make a daiquiris. It’s so refreshing and colorful at a time when Chicago has been sealed in ice for the past month like that SUV in the Texas parking garage.
If you’re looking for other rums, the single most helpful resource for me has been this thread on Reddit. I was thinking about picking up another Clairin before seeing this thread, but now I’m planning to wait until I’m able to try smaller portions before committing to any bottle other than Sajous. I’m also convinced that Hampden Estate Overproof, Rum Bar, and Rum Fire will be on my shopping list later this year.
The activity: Virtual spirits tasting
Ahead of the holidays, I packaged up mezcal and rum samples for family and shipped them around the country. We got together via Zoom on Christmas Eve to taste through the mezcals and just last week for my mom’s birthday to taste the unaged and aged versions of Clairin Sajous. The tastings give us an activity to do while on Zoom that isn’t just staring at each other and talking about everything we can’t do.
In order to hold a virtual tasting, you’ll need the following:
- Spirits
- Bubble wrap
- Boxes
Most of the glass bottles will include a small funnel to help divvy up the spirit. The bottles I’ve purchased have felt like they seal well, but I still tape them with electrical tape. Bubble wrap them and pack tightly in a box before shipping away.
Remember that it’s illegal to ship alcohol via USPS. I recommend UPS or FedEx, but I believe they have the right to refuse shipment. I haven’t had issues. My strategy has been to pay online, print the shipping label, and drop off the box at the store. I dropped off all my boxes on December 13, and the staff were grateful I had everything ready to go after waiting on a long line of customers, many of whom didn’t have things packaged yet.
As long as you split the cost of spirits, this activity is affordable. And that’s another benefit of rum: It’s still relatively cheap, especially compared to bourbon.
いろいろ
I regret to inform you that I have started making TikTok videos: Follow me at @howtojapanese. I haven’t made anything too fancy or silly (yet), but they are a lot of fun, and I think a potentially effective way to teach some Japanese. I used the first one to demonstrate my nattō technique.
Two good threads from @SarahKTranslate this past month: Interesting thread about translating -san -chan -kun, etc. with some good strategies. I do wonder if leaving them in at times is the equivalent of providing a “subtitled” translation rather than a “dubbed” translation, if that comparison makes any sense:
Fantastic tweet about what translation even is, man (replies are worth a read):
Helpful tweet about manga translation rates:
My January JT article about the 創作漢字コンテスト (Created Kanji Contest) came out after the January newsletter along with this bonus blog coverage. They put together this very cool image of the kanji I made up!
