s BASIC JAPANESE through comics Lesson 36 * Mono (Part 2) In part 1 we presented examples of the word mono used to mean “person” or “thing,” to add emphasis, and to indicate that an explanation is being offered. This time we'll explore how ‘mona is used in combinations and idioms, but the full range of mono’s usage is wide, and our coverage is by no means exhaustive. We found more uses in our manga searches than we could hope to illustrate even in several installments, but with these lessons as a start, you should be able t0 catch on to the other uses of mono as they come up. If you'd like more sources 10 enhance your understanding, the following should be helpful; + A Handbook of Japanese Usage, by Francis G. Drohan (Tuttle, 1991), + All About Particles, by Naoko Chino (Kodansha, 1991), + Any comprehensive I-E dictionary. We use Kenkyusha’s New Japanese-English Dicto. nary at the Mangajin office. It provides a good selection of the idiomatic uses of mono, although the Japanese examples are given with no rOmaji or furigana, Mono in combinations: Tabemono = “Food” ‘Mono sometimes combines with verb stems to form nouns. Two of the most common ‘examples are rabemono (“food”), from zaberu (“eat”), and nomimono (“{a] drink”), from nomu (Cdrink”), The girl inthis scene from Yawara! has been on a diet, but can't take it anymore. Gir BO.) BEM Re Onegai... / nanike tabemono 0 pee“ rething food (ab) Please ... (give me) something to eat 23) + her sentence i eft unfinished. implying some: thing ike nana tabemono o (dasa. © Ureaen Naoki! Yawort, Shopokukan Nomimono = “Beverage” Natori has just found out that he failed his college entrance exam, so Izumi takes him out to drink and forget. Waiter: BAA bo ik? O-nomimono wa? "Your drink?” “What would you like to drink?” (PL3-4) Tumis (2 w & CHEE Hai” Biiru 0 kudasa es (obj) pleas sve “(Ves beer please.” (PL3) + the hog o= in Font of omiana a pina baa water would almost always ase i with a customer + Tzum's ha does not really mean “yes” but simply indicates tht she heard the waiter and is going to respond. See Basi Japanese #25. Hosisto Mochira/Ribingu Gin, Shopsbkon 38 MangainTsukemono = “Pickles” The woman inthis scene is picking up a few things atthe local vegetable stand. and [ F~ 2 ay an afterthought decides she wants some Japanese pickles (isukemono) as well, | 7. A The word tsukemono is from the verb ift17 2 tsukeru (*soak/pickle") te ie th z Customer: 22.0 itty od BEL Ba 33 iz Koko no sukemono wa ashi! wa 3 Rie” "S sapnece pts ator ‘taty em Bt § "SThe tsukemon here sure are good, aren 6 : Shopkeeper: 7 GA RK FARLTS HH “A ? tla) atest msthten ae taking care of case (og) iS ‘Hla ha ha, after ull, G's because) we take good eare of them.” (PL3) 5 + tsukemono is often ranstted as “pickles.” but that alone canbe misleading. Tsukemona z an be made fom many diferent vegetables a pcinghases. The ed esi requenty 4) =| E bear le resemblance to what Westerers think of asa pickle Te a | + nance is colloquial variation of nanishiro, “anyhow afer all g 4 E : hat the shopesperw ayn words, since tre sun i writen . oe He sicking her hand in the arcel inthis a mL pression ntely idiomatic, however, and e-ue suru reais none of Hs Ht aft? sukemeno connoisseur tell tha he fukn base requires equent St Pa ‘maintenance, so good nkemtono require a1 of hard Work, ll i Otoshimono = “Something dropped” Many other verbs can be made into mono nouns. In this e otosu, “drop,” which becomes oteshimono, “(a) dropped object.” nple, the verb is Kacho: 236. #L Ge 01. > oroshimono hey _ dropped bjs "Hey, (it's a) dropped object.” “Hey, you dropped something.” (PL2) + his incomplete sentence suggests," otashimono {desu} "ts there st's a) dropped abject" Tis possible tophrase this sentence something like, "noni orosita so" "(you) dropped something” ut in Japanese ts prob- Aly more common to cal atenion to the dropped object the way he does here. + orisan abrupt way of ting someone's tention. Akizuki Risa /OL Shinkaron, KOdansha Namakemono “Lazybones” W's also possible to form nouns from verb stems com that means “person,” giving the meaning of “someone that/who is...” In this seene from Dai-Tokyo Binba Seikarsu Manyuaru, Kosuke's landlady ‘wants him to give her a hand in the garden. Landlady: 80 oi “Hey, lazybones!™ (PL2) + mamakemon(oh is from the verb namakera "be lazyTsukaimono ni nari “Be something/someone useful” ‘Akagawa has pulled some strings to bring Ishii, friend from his college days, on as & bell-boy at the first-class hotel Platon. Ishi quit his job at a bank two years ago, and hasnt been able to hold down a regular job since. At the hotel, Ishii proves clumsy in both words and (0 understand why none of his oth jobs went wel ae bh ray Pow Prt noe Matsuda: 24 Being like that he isn't going to be ing like that, he’s not goi to work out!” (PL2) Akagawa: bioC£ Wakaate-mase versa + the long dash before Matsuda’s first word are indicates that this is ST know ..."(PL3) the comtinsation of sentence fom the previous Frame, where he is saying, "No matter how much ofa fiend Pe is ja ivacolloqal contraction of. de wa, "IF isuamone i nari contraction of sukaimono ni narana, 3 Set phrase Fa of no use/ won't do Tskaimono ("some thing useful) from the vores use") Mono ni naru= “Amount to something/be somebody” The example above, suskaiimono ni naranai “won't dovis of no use.” leads us to this next phrase, mono amount to something/prove successful.” The is yelling at his eldest son for botching a practice haircut on the younger son. He uses the negative Form, mono ni naranai, to mean “won't amount to anything, nar father in this scene owns a barber shop a Father: £076 a eT Marae Idina ytou nat! ee sterivompleey clesyhnail 3 eS tht ck be Mi br 2, te etn ot ting is however any wang (cag) ‘You sure are a clumsy goof! At & to anything no matter how many “Sound” FX: = 7 Gani gani (effect of scolding someone) < & B ai a + yrs is a lightly derogatory word fr “person.” Its often transtated uy/ellow. at has a harsher fel than such a ansation might s + jais aconttaction of de wa Suigan Rye Sar-chme no ah Soak naraneis a roughimascaline form of naruna “won't become. ce st roughimasculine particle which adds emphasis 40 ManganSono mon Sono mone, literally “that thing.” is used to express the idea of “per se” oF « problem at work, and goes on with the discus- {itself).” This woman has been talking abou Japan “Per se” the very thing sion without realizing that her friend has wandered off to look at some clothes. mit erfore problem ator company "* hs bk ni ame wake 90 ne. Ses PAIN SHHeaS BHT ert ra mondal wa Kaisha mo shisitema sono mone Tewari “So (the situat Taishita mono = “Quite somethin: The word taishita means “great/grand/important, nat) the problem is in ‘company’s system itself. In other words, (PL2) 1d taishita mono (dadesu) indicates ad miration, wonder, oF amazement. The old woman in this scene has taken a ride with a man ‘who accidently popped into her house in a time machine. After visiting prehistoric Japan and having a near miss with a dinosaur, she jumps 22 years ahead of her own time (1961) to 1983, and is amazed at all ofthe changes and progress. Old Woman: FLEE & M OLS uN Unga?" Terebi ni iro ka tsitoru wait! wow TW colo (ub) fetched (emp) “Wow! The television has color!” (PL2) KLEbA Le Tishita mon relly “That's really someth + suitor sa contraction of tsuite-onn, equivalent wo tite fine Older poople frequently use orm instead of fu her elements associated with the poech af older people wg?” (PL2) andj instead of da ("ian le mh [far |e er SIE Fae Ped see Sloe iis ( et Jeol. ¢ eye) a pr LLIN SG by ek \ mA EE te bu CG a fd Mangajin 41Narration: 42 Mangajn ‘most common of these “intensified” words is monosugoi (“tremendousincredible” ‘sugoi (“amazingherrific”), In this scene, Yawara is in the middle of an intense jad bout. ‘The winner will advance tothe final, gold-medal match of the Barcelona Olympics, but so far, neither contestant has been able to get the upper hand =sBase Sb Sct wo Wena waa no Teh? Monosugot sup Technnuc "s regume incredible peed edible speed!” (PL2) Sound F Haha aha (sound of heavy breathing) ous thematch, isthe moves and “Sound” FX: Ba! (effect of « sudden movement; quickly standing up in this case) Monotarinai = “Something lacking’ i intensifier is monorarinai, “not quite enough/have ‘Something lacking” from tarinai, “insufficientlacking.” Kosuke had some old newspapers stacking up. so he decided to use them to clean the windows of his apartment building. He Found the task somehow satistying, a THe ho WE O49 IY ck GOYA oO = KE OR OHFIRY AMA Mt Hor: ERE ES age ee ae Sem “Doing jon the wits fe hala of the apartment ft B2oF ine waiting edo moreso went todo the ondlady’s win tg towsas wah) Pe Reo awo deo bao 3 Kyu! fou! ky! kyu tc Fereaking sound A poihg glass with newspaper asing verb sem here mga rom mig, “poset psd S ee mite pte mateo i mee Sel © Mackavea Toukasa / Dai-Tokya Bins Seikarsu Mmvuaew, KedanshaBasicsJapane . mono ka = “No way" Strictly speaking, adding mono ka after a verb makes a question (“is it such a thinglsituation that T would ...2°), but the phrase actually functions asa strong defiant assertion that one will rot do the action in question, In this scene from the final episode of Yawara’, the awards ceremony where Yawara is to receive the National Medal of Honor has been thrown into disar- ray. Yawara wants to make a quick exit with Matsuda, the young teporter she is secretly at- tracted to. Unfortunately, Matsuda gets clabbered by a mob of people who think he's a trouble~ maker out to disrupt the proceedings. Kazamatsuri has feelings for Yawara, and yells out at the downed Matsuda, Kazamatsuri Sad! Rt oH a-omira!? So kantan ni Yawara-san 0 watast mono ka? * ourieh that cay” fnameon } (ob Band over "ow ua get? There's no way I'll give up Yawara 2 (PL2) Rik, FR ARKO LE AtODETH Yawara'san, ima boku ga ‘anatano moro e mairimasu!! Gamerton) now Mine @h,) your bareace to will go “Yawara, (now) Pm coming to you!" (PL3-4) ima o miro, it. “look ausee the predicament,” isa phrase meaning Serves you rightfnere'sce whal you ge?" * + ana no motos erally "your plcelbase.” but means, “the area’ place) where you a + Imairimasris the PLS form of mairu, a bumble equivalent of ku Osa ck sti, snc (Ce or ara ("some") In this ease the Japanese equivalent i ku "zc he il be moving tard et, Bt he Engh s more 2b Ue DR 20 tb me aq R Mono o iu = “Carries weight/has effect” something, ng to impli ‘Mono o iu literally means. has significance.” Here, someone is but it means “carries weigh foreign minister Sakaki ina scandal by exposing past tlations he had with a female terrorist. His col ApEn Teague Ogura takes iin stride. p z Ogura: Hoke kkbot, Mio fc Lim ot ‘ Below,” “iow nina A y co ‘ros a \ ew} Se A Ama ROR Lt te \ to is posh Pashia zen shi tui a Kee stetaon to doc "rte aie ECE! » 6 fap apermeting ERR RRS \— es Se nen defnsive what happened happened ana | 7822 > \ ALA what did" didn’ attitude says alle” (PL2) greent | & + hashiranu san cquvalem of hasirana nepsive of anima” SB TEE | AN Thengaemaeywone-miehacone creat ems FEE «BE ES Kane ge mono ou Moneytalk) is another inter Eas exing appa of ths om * 33 Kawaguchi Kai / Medusa, Shogakalan Mangan 43