jieunstudydiary

[jieunstudydiary]

In Japanese language, describing a third person’s emotion is different from describing a first person’s emotion: in English, the sentences "I am happy" and "He is happy" are grammatically structured in the same way. However, in Japanese, this direct equivalence is not possible: you can say "私は嬉しいです" (Watashi wa ureshii desu), but you can't simply say "彼は嬉しいです" (Kare wa ureshii desu).

This is due to cultural and linguistic nuances that emphasize the acknowledgment of another's internal state as somewhat inaccessible. In fact, Japanese typically employs expressions that convey a level of inference or indirectness, such as:

Using observational phrases: one might say 「彼は嬉しそうです」 (Kare wa ureshisō desu), which translates to "He seems happy" or "He/she looks happy." This phrasing respects the notion that one can only observe outward signs of emotion, not definitively know another's internal state.

Adding "ようだ" or "みたい": these suffixes add a sense of speculation. For example, 「彼は嬉しいようだ」 (Kare wa ureshii yō da) or 「彼は嬉しいみたいです」 (Kare wa ureshii mitai desu), both meaning "He appears to be happy."

Using conditional clauses: Another approach is to use conditional forms, like 「彼が嬉しければ」 (Kare ga ureshikereba), meaning "If he is happy," which implicitly acknowledges the uncertainty of truly knowing his feelings.

One characteristic of Japanese syntax is its extreme sensitivity to epistemological considerations based on the ego/nonego distinction or the distinction of I/the other. Our knowledge about the mental state of another person must necessarily come from our interpretation of external evidence, and this is well reflected in the Japanese language.

Source material: http://human.kanagawa-u.ac.jp/gakkai/publ/pdf/no157/15712.pdf

[jieunstudydiary]

みんなさんこんにちは！✨

自己紹介したいと思います。

ジェシカと申します。

ジェスって呼んでいるもOKです。

よろしくお願いします。😊

私は東京に住んでいるオーストラリア人です。

JET Programme に英語の先生として働いています。

趣味は言語の勉強です。特に日本語。

でも、フランス語とスウェーデン語とアイスランド語と韓国語も勉強します。最近は日本語とスウェーデン語とアイスランド語を勉強しています。

言語の勉強以外に自然なところに行くのが好きです。写真を撮るのが好きです。

My hobby is languages, whether that be foreign ones or learning about my own or also linguistics in general. That also includes old languages too. It's all interesting to me. I mostly study Japanese these days, but I also speak French fluently (though I'm a bit rusty these days as it has been a while since I've spoken in French regularly). I've studied Korean intermittently since 2013 (please don't take that length of time as an indicator of my level lol it's been very sporadic so my level is not as high as it could be). I also study Swedish (this is a fairly new language I've added to my roster but I've been interested in it for many many years (since about 2008 or 2009?) But back then there were very few resources available to me so it held me back a bit. And recently I've added Icelandic just for fun haha. I'm also trying to improve my knowledge of English, especially grammar, to help me better explain concepts and nuances to my students and to my Japanese co-workers whenever they have questions for me about such things.

TLDR; These days I mostly study Japanese, but my other languages include: French, Korean, Swedish, and Icelandic.

I post in Japanese and English. I do this to help me practice my writing skills in Japanese, I am sure there are often errors so just understand that I am learning and that is inevitable.

Outside of languages, I also enjoy going to places full of nature (living in a city will do that haha), and I enjoy photography, journalling, stationery, writing, reading. So if you do too, feel free to reach out :)