Situation focus

Japanese has often been characterised as a situation- focused language. This is evident, for instance, in a
preference for intransitive verbs, which describe states (events happen, rather than people making them
happen). Intransitive constructions of the type X が(… に)なる and X が Y によって(…)なる are basic patterns.
The agent is not stated explicitly or is expressed merely as a reason or cause (Y によって). Involuntary
actions such as 思われる and the usual practice of not including personal pronouns except for special
emphasis are other manifestations of this lack of person focus— a lack that is regarded as facilitating
interpersonal relations.
By contrast, English has been characterised as a person- focused language, where situations are viewed as
the result of people’s actions. Transitive constructions of the type X does something and X does something to
Y are basic patterns in English.

… 確かだ (situation focus)

In English, even inanimate entities can serve as the subject of verbs indicating an intentional act (The
phone woke me up). A common pattern is [inanimate subject + transitive verb + object], where the subject
represents the cause, reason, condition or instrument and the predicate represents the result or consequence.
Such constructions do not occur naturally in Japanese, where this idea is usually represented by an
adverbial phrase or clause expressing the cause, means or reason in combination with an intransitive verb or
the passive form of a transitive verb (電話で起こされた).

The extreme example of inanimate entities as subjects— and a reflection of the noun orientation of
English— is use of the dummy subject It. Japanese 形容詞 and intransitive verbs with an implied human
subject can be replaced by English constructions with the inanimate subject It:
•It …:
苦しい: It hurts.
•It + that- clause:
… と思った; 気が付いた: It occurred to him that
… とみえる: It appears that
… の可能性がある: It is possible that
•It + to (…は成し遂げられそうにもなかった):
な と

It seemed impossible to

Japanese intransitive verbs can be translated by various constructions, such as inanimate subject + verb
expressing a cause- effect relation, a variation or a change; transitive verb + verbal noun as object (take
a rest; make a mistake); transitive verb + reflexive pronoun (遊ぶ: amuse oneself; 現れる: present itself); a
passive form (e.g. X が Y によって…なる: 魚の骨が酢の作用によって柔らかくなる: Fish bones are softened by vinegar);
orThere is + noun. The best approach is to focus on the meaning without even thinking
about grammatical forms.
Another difference is that Japanese tends to focus on a single aspect— e.g. the body or
part thereof, the person’s actions, mental state, abilities or qualifications— while English
tends to look at the entire person.
むね

胸がむかむかする。
I want to throw up.
骨が一本折れている。
He’s broken a bone.
僕は彼女の顔をまじまじと見つめた。
I stared at her intently.
あいつの言うことなんか聞いちゃだめだよ。
Pay no attention to him!

Process orientation
The Japanese language has also been described as process- oriented rather than goaloriented. Whereas it
highlights the becoming (reflected in the frequency of なる- based expressions), English tends to focus on
the result. Compare, for example, 大きくなった (process) with is (now) bigger (result). Because of this
difference in focus, translators need to be wary of automatically rendering constructions such as となる, に
なる, ことになる, になっている and 形容詞+くなっている as some variant of becomes or has become. Often
a simple is or another expression that focuses on the result is more appropriate:

段ボール 2 箱分になりました。
This was equivalent to two cardboard boxes.
海外でも、ずいぶん日本語が通じるようになった。
Japanese is now widely understood overseas.
このため年間 100 憶円のコストアップになっている。
This represents a 10- billion yen increase in annual costs.

The processual aspect of phrases such as 最近になって and 今になってみると is also best converted to a result-
oriented translation— recently and now.

近代になると、人間は賢くなっており、…
People are smart today.

The auxiliary verb くる is another indication of the Japanese process orientation. In its sense of begin to,
くる is attached only to verbs that suggest steady or gradual change.
Literal rendition as come results in unnatural English. So わかってきた, for example, can be translated as
(have) realised rather than came to know/ understand. Similarly, the function of くる in … と思えてくる is to
show that a conclusion has been reached. This can be translated as it seems to me. Similar considerations
apply to the auxiliary verb いく. Often the best approach is to omit any overt reference to these
auxiliaries. The widespread use of 化 is another manifestationof the Japanese concern for process.

Exercise
Translate the following, paying special attention to くる and いく.
し てき はん ろん

1 また、文書で問題点を指摘すると、以下のように反論してくることがあります。
ささ しょ じょう けん ともな こん ご ぎょう かい さい へん ふ じょう きょく めん

2 現在の国内メーカー 11 社を支えてきた諸 条 件の変化に 伴 い、今後は 業 界再編問題が浮 上 してくる 局 面が予想される。

3 きつい仕事に見合わない安い賃金が嫌われ、1 年間で 5 人に 1 人が辞めていく。

4 これを機に「お座敷離れ」、すなわち伝統的な芸者宴会の衰退へとつながっていった。