Re: [OT] Sometimes Yes means No in Japanese

In article <9i3rxvl0ixic.1gkpaw3947ow4.dlg@xxxxxxxxxx>,
Phil Yff <phil.yff@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Fri, 06 Apr 2007 23:37:41 +0800, Jim diGriz wrote:

I was watching Music Station (on Animax) last Friday and the presenter
asked one of the J-Pop idols a question and she started her reply with
"Hai!". The subtitles translated this as "No." which in the context of
the question/reply was actually a sensible translation.

Watching the english lyric subtitles on this weeks Music Station I
wonder if the translations are actually wonky or if the japanese lyrics
actually don't make sense in japanese either. After reading some of them
I've decided that I enjoy j-pop more when I don't understand what they
are actually singing about.

In Japanese, you generally answer yes or no to a negative question the
opposite way that you do in English. Japanese uses negative questions more
frequently than English does especially in formal or polite language. This
can get one in trouble.

English speaker: Don't you understand?
Japanese speaker: Yes.

Here the English speaker assumes the Japanese understands. The Japanese
speaker, however, is agreeing with the negative - yes, I don't understand.

English speaker: Kono hen ni yuubinkyoku ga arimasen ka? (Isn't there a
Post Office in the vicinity).
Japanese speaker: Hai. (Yes)

The English speaker assumes there is a post office in the vicinity and
proceeds to search for it. Nevertheless, the Japanese was agreeing with
the negative - "Yes, there isn't a post office in the vicinity."

It's advisable, therefore, in cross cultural communication to give full
answers to questions.

Mata ato de,

Phil Yff

And to make matters worse, polite questions can be phrased as negatives:

Namae wo kanji de kakimasen ka -- literally, Will you not write your
name in kanji? -- is a request to do so.

(Note to purists: I left out the kurimasen for simplicity)
.

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