As I mentioned in my article “Beware of Fake Amazons,” the verb しまう is a pretty interesting one.
Adding it to the end of a て-form verb gives the feeling of having “completely” or “totally” done whatever the previous verb suggests. Note that the main verb always takes the て form and that tense is expressed by しまう・しまった. For instance:
- 酔ってしまう [よってしまう] – to get completely drunk
- 酔ってしまった [よってしまった] – “I got shitfaced”
しまう is more likely to be heard in “proper” conversation. However, if you’re listening to people speak informally, you may be more likely to hear てしまう spoken as ちゃう. This is because it rolls off the tongue nicely (and is, perhaps, a bit cooler-sounding). Using the previous drunken examples:
- 酔っちゃう [よっちゃう] – to get stinking drunk
- 酔っちゃった [よっちゃった] – “I got totally hammered”
Do you see how the て+しまう morphs into ちゃう? Notice also that the っ in 酔って, which doubles the sound of the next consonant (i.e. turning -te into -tte), remains unaffected.
Just remember: て+しまう = ちゃう and て+しまった = ちゃった, and you should be fine.
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Amazonからのメールを装った詐欺メールに注意
SANS Internet Storm Centerによると、amazonからの注文の確認メールを装った詐欺メールが大量に出回っているようである。
その詐欺メールは、amazonからの注文確認メールと似せて作られており、本文の最後に「ORDER INFORMATION」と書かれているリンクがある。このリンクをクリックすると、複雑なJavaScriptやマルウェアが仕組まれたページに繋がっ てしまうというので、ご注意を。
Beware of scam emails made up to look like they are from Amazon
According to the SANS Internet Storm Center, there are a large number of scam emails floating around that have been made up to look like order confirmations from Amazon.
These emails, made to look like order confirmations from Amazon, have the words “ORDER INFORMATION” at the bottom, and contain a link. If the link is clicked, the user is taken to a page which contains a complex contrivance of JavaScript and malware. Please use caution.
[http://news.ameba.jp/weblog/2010/03/59608.html]
Vocabulary:
- 装った [よそおった] – to dress up; to pretend; to give the appearance of
- 詐欺メール [さぎ] – fraud; scam; swindle
- 注意 [ちゅうい] – caution; be careful; warning!
- 確認 [かくにん] – confirmation; validation
- 大量に [たいりょう] – large quantity
- 出回っている – to appear on the market; floating around
- 似せて作られており [にせてつくられており] – have been made up to look like
- 本文 [ほんぶん] – text or body of a document or letter
- 最後に [さいご] – at the end
- 書かれている [かかれている] – is written
- 複雑な [ふくざつな] complex; complicated (adjective)
- 仕組まれた [] – contrived; structured
- 繋がって [つながって] – to be connected
- しまう – is a verb that means “to finish” or “to do something completely.” As this is a fairly interesting construct in and of itself, I will cover it in more depth next time.
As a side note, the Japanese news article is very different from the original English language release: http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=8344
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本拠地 [ほんきょち] – stronghold; base; headquarters
- 本 [ホン・もと] – book; main; real
- 拠 [キョ・よる] – foothold
- 地 [チ・ジ] – ground; earth
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山岳救助隊 [さんがくきゅうじょたい] – mountain rescue unit
- 山 [サン・やま] – mountain
- 岳 [ガク・たけ] – peak; mountain
- 救 [キュウ・すくう] – save; rescue
- 助 [ジョ・たすける] – help; assist
- 隊 [タイ] – squad; regiment; unit
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“Onomatopoeia” is one of my favorite words in English and also happens to be one of my favorite subjects in Japanese. First, for those who don’t know what the word means, here’s a definition from Merriam-Webster: “the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it (as buzz, hiss).”
There are three main words in Japanese that describe onomatopoetic constructs:
擬音語 [ぎおんご] – onomatopoeia
- 擬 [ギ・まがい・もどき] – mimic; imitate
- 音 [オン・おと] – sound; noise
- 語 [ゴ・かたる] – word; language
Examples:
- ドキドキ – being nervous, excited, or surprised; a heartbeat (“pitter pat”)
- ガチャン – breaking glass
- ドカン – an explosion or crash
擬声語 [ぎせいご] – onomatope (i.e. imitative or onomatopoetic word); phonomime
- 擬 [ギ・まがい・もどき] – mimic; imitate
- 声 [セイ・こえ] – voice
- 語 [ゴ・かたる] – word; language
Examples:
- ワンワン – dog (“bow wow”)
- メーメー – sheep (“baaaaa”)
- ブーブー – pig (“oink”)
Strictly speaking, only 擬音語 (onomatopoeia) and 擬声語 (phonomimes) are onomatopoeia as the word is used in English, as they mimic sounds that are actually made by animals, people, and things.
But Japanese also has another word to describe mimesis:
擬態語 [ぎたいご] – mimetic word; a word that mimics something that does not make a sound; phenomime
- 擬 [ギ・まがい・もどき] – mimic; imitate
- 態 [タイ・わざと] – attitude; condition; appearance
- 語 [ゴ・かたる] – word; language
Examples:
- しいん – silence; quiet (My ex-girlfriend used to say this to me any time one of my jokes bombed in Japanese. In the US, we will sometimes make cricket noises.)
- ばらばら – scattered about
- たっぷり – plenty
Finally, there’s also something called 音喩 [おんゆ] (sound-metaphor) which is used to describe made-up sounds and actions in 漫画 [まんが] (manga – Japanese comics) that don’t exist in standard Japanese.
In the future, I’ll introduce you to other onomatopoeia under the category 擬音語.
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吊り橋 [つりばし] – suspension bridge
- 吊り [つり] – hanging; suspended; sling
- 橋 [キョウ・はし] – bridge
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雛祭り [ひなまつり] – Girls’ Festival
- 雛 [スウ・ひな] – doll; duckling
- 祭り [サイ・まつり] – festival; ritual; celebration
Today (March 3rd) is 雛祭り! Excited? Me too.
Platforms are covered with red carpeting and a set of dolls called 雛人形 [ひなにんぎょう] are displayed. The dolls represent the Emperor, Empress, and their court, and all are dressed in the traditional clothing of the 平安時代 [へいあんじだい] or Heian period.
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四字熟語 [よじじゅくご] – four-character idiomatic compound
- 四 [シ・よ・よん] – four
- 字 [ジ・あざ] – character
- 熟 [ジュク・うれる] – ripen; mature
- 語 [ゴ・かたる] – word; language
As you can see, an idiom is a “matured/ripened word.” 四字熟語 are among my favorite things in Japanese. In the future, I intend to bring more 四字熟語 to your attention, but in the meantime, here are a few examples:
一日千秋 [いちじつせんしゅう] – One-Day-Thousand-Autumn - To wait impatiently; each moment seeming like an eternity.
七転八起 [ななころびやおき・しちてんはっき] – Seven-Fall-Eight-Rise – Always picking oneself up despite repeated failures.
以心伝心 [いしんでんしん] – By Means Of-Heart-Transmit-Heart - telepathy; direct heart-to-heart communication
一期一会 [いちごいちえ] – One-Time-One-Meeting – a once-in-a-lifetime encounter. (Interestingly, “Forrest Gump” was titled 一期一会 in Japan.)
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恐れ入る [おそれいる] – to be sorry; to feel small; to be grateful; to be amazed; to be filled with awe
- 恐れ [おそれ] – fear; anxiety; concern
- 入る [いる] – to go into; to set in
The most common version of this that I have seen is 「恐れ入りますが」which roughly translates to “please excuse me, but…” or something along those lines. This example just goes to show you that a literal translation doesn’t always cut the mustard.
恐らくis another example that proves this point. It uses the same character 「恐」but means “perhaps.”
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今時 [いまどき] – nowadays; recent(ly)
- 今 [コン・いま] – now
- 時 [ジ・とき] – time; hour
You might see this compound used in my personal favorite phrase that uses this compound: 今時の若者 [いまどきのわかもの] or “kids these days.” You might even translate it as “these darn whippersnappers” if you really wanted.
So, why isn’t this word pronounced こんじ or even いまとき? As for the former, I’m not really sure. I’m guessing it may be because it sounds too much like 今次 [こんじ], which also happens to mean something similar (present time; recent). But, it’s not like a good homonym (or 30) has ever gotten in their way before. So I’m not really sure. I’m certain there’s some arcane rule of when to pronounce what how, but it eludes me. I learned my Japanese the hard way: hear it, remember it, make mistakes, get laughed at, hear it again, try harder to remember, forget anyway.
But as for the second, it’s because of euphony. Long, long ago, in a Japan far, far away, the folks who figured this stuff out decided that いまどき rolled off the tongue easier than いまとき. (Give it a shot and see if you agree.) You’ll see this a lot in the language.
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