s BASIC JAPANESE through comics Lesson 46 *» Commands—part I Politeness can be a powerful tool. One of the most common ways to make a command in colloquial Japanese comes from the honorific verb nasaru, which is the PL4 equivalent of suru (“do/make”). When a command form of this verb, nasai, is added as a suffix to the -masu stem of verbs, the original polite verb takes on a whole new personality—expressing authority rather than deference. When said in a sharp tone, -nasai can be quite forceful. Most of the time. Lis used as a relatively gentle command, and sometimes it makes more of an invitation or suggestion than a command, There are also a num: ber of everyday colloquialisms in which -nasai no longer carries any impera- tive meaning at all, such as oyaswmi nasai (“good night”) and okaeri nasai (welcome home’ Even at its sharpest, -nasai has a more refined tone than the abrupt com= ‘mand forms we will cover in our next installment of Basic Japanese. We'd say it falls between PL2 and PL3 on the Mangajin scale of politeness levels. In other words, in spite of its origins, it’s generally not appropriate in a situa tion where PL4 speech is required, because one does not normally go about issuing commands to one's social superiors. Nasai(1) ‘The night before, Hamasaki had been looking forward to an intimate evening with his wife after putting their son to bed. The boy became sick, however, putting an abrupt end to Hamasaki's plans. New, the next morning, Hamasaki isin a foul mood and scolds the boy when he ties to leave the table without finishing his breakfast. Hamasaki: eA fos S4s0! Chant“ tabenasal! Eat Gur breakfast) like you're supposed tor" nish your breakfast” Sound FX: 9 Garsu gateu gas (effect of eating quickly) * (PL2-3) + chanto has a wide range of meanings Cduly/prop ferly/pertectlyineatly/successtullylsately”) but here essentially means “as you're supposed to. + tabenast som tabera et") Yamashi Kita Tori Baka Nish Shogakakan 98 MangalBastcwsa Nasai (2) Takeda is normally a quiet reserved man, but aflera night of excessive drinking he loses his cool and gets into some trouble Policeman 1: pei LS Shicuka ni shinai eae (command) “Settle down!” (PL2-3) Takeda: oe—7, 16 Cruse! i enyhius op fol tn aw, shut up, you jerk! You idiot!” (PL1) Policeman 2: Lk Renis shia “Let's haul him in!™ (PL2) + shisuka ="quiet." and size mi shinai rom Shizuka mi sur, "be + unue is uline corruption of ras, which Titeatly terse” bu suse like the English expression “Shut up” + bards sured contraction of baka yaa (it. “fool ‘iot” + "guyffellow”), which when directed a person means “you idioVS.0.8 /ierk"—oF worse, + renka shia ste volitional ets) Ton of renk Sur which refers to taking a person somewhere fore iby. I's heard most often im connection with the police {aking someone into the sation, butt doesn't imply formal “arrest” (the verb for which staiho sur ay © Yamasaki & Rita / Tar ka Ns, Sopakokan Nasai (3) Kosaku and Kaga are reporters for « sports newspaper. Kaga usually takes the pietures, but Kosaku thought she wasn’t going show up today, the day of Yawara’s championship judo mateh at Barcelona, because of a raging hangover from the night before. Kage oo, Kamera “vokoshinasat 0 a (oh) hand over-crarnand) cp ive me the camera,” (PLS) “Kaga!” (PL3) + yokoshinasa is from yokosw Chand over [10 mel’) + Shar i more Failiar equivalent of san (MriMs", Among poets ts used many by mals, but a superior may address or refer to either male or female subordinates with ‘un, and tore rately 8 male will address or referto' female peer singin Mangaiin 99A suggestion/invitation ‘Nasai can sometimes be more of a suggestion or invitation than a command. The woman answering the door here recently discovered that her husband used her valuable NTT stocks to make an investment. Mr. Hame, the man at the door, is from the company that handled the transaction, He has come to explain the situation, Choro “airinasat “yo Me. Ha sab att ff HL i - SAUD. wastine oer & WLES BMS | Keine tt duc Hee mina E'S | “Gooden im Home rom rine Proc BA an, GR) MT aoe 2 z lie _erer(command) (mph) “Why don’t you come (PL3) + ariigokuisliteally “ant bel” the Japanese name for an “an lion! ‘doodlebug"—aota very likely name for a company in eal ie but ‘obviously intended toe us something about the way the company in this manga conducts business Bussan,Iteally meaning "jx uct/commodiies,” is used in the names of many Japanese compa nies, including those that deal mainly or exclusively in inane products + moshimacsis fom moe, PLA humble word for in *sayfbe called”), © AokI Yoji Noniwe Kin’ yd, Koanshs «+ airinasai is fom hairu (“enter”) 40 Mangain Nakamori, on the right, is explaining to Sasaki tha h Offering advice: “You'd better. . .” s Very lucky, for no matter who i promoted as the next president of the company, it seems that Sasaki will still be promoted to the position of senmu, “executive director.” He warns him, however, to stay on the good side of both candidates, Nakamori: 215, RENUUG SU k Dage, “io tsukenasai yo. but be cretul(conmmand (cng) “But you really better be careful.” (PL3) Hoi “Yes, sir." (PL3) + aga is «conjunction like dakedo (“ut”), only more formal ‘+o teukenasai is from ko sker, which means ake earefbe careful”Abbreviated to na ‘Takumi’s younger brother is upset because the price of the notebooks he usually buys just ‘went up, and he doesn’t have enough money to buy one. Takumi urges him to ask their parents fora raise in his allowance to compensate for inflation, Takumi: be 8 ia a, nthar cseon (olog)sllowance LITT boi £ ‘agete moraina ve. fe them] ase (comand (cng) “Then you should get them to raise your allowance.” (PL2) + j'isa contraction of the conjunction dew. in that casethen/ well agete is the te form of ageru (rase"), and ‘moran is an abbreviated morainasa, rom ‘moran ("receive") te morau implies “have Someone/get someone (0 (do the action). “Thee mas stems pls na Ta abbreviation oF the pasa con mand form (agete moraina = agete morainasai="have them Some Shops Tuise™). Note tht this difer fom the dictionary form plus © Kubo Kiko / made ina which is a negative command (agete mora na = "don"t | fave them raise") J In dialect ‘The Empire Finance Co., a shady loan-sharking company. is about to Finalize its loan to the failing Takahashi Construction Company. When Mr. Takahashi makes a mistake on the paper- ‘work, Kuwata hands him afresh form and tells him to take his time Kurata: HE, BROWT, wo69 Shacks, cits,” yubhurt forges. calmcomposed-and slowly ween fakinahare ya ‘wie commana) le.) "Mr. Takahashi, calm yourself and write slowly. “Please relax, Mr. Takahashi, and take your time.” (PL3-K) $hENK, bra smmahen ey moc (apo) “I'm terribly ‘sorry. (PL3-K) (© nok VOR Nan Ry Kasha + ochtsut isthe te form of ochitsuku (“setleclaxTbecome cal” {Kali is the stem form of Kalu ("write") and -nohare isthe Kansai dialect eq form of -nasa (sil occasionally heard in certain dialects). + jars used (typealy inthe Kansai dialeet) at the end of commands, suggestions or requests to emphasize the speaker's deste thatthe action be done. + Graibascally means “admirable/worthy of praise and respect." but here the wor i being used as an emphasing a eth to modify saumaher (ialet for sniimasen, “Tm sory”) “I'm teribly sorry. valent of -nasare, which isthe od Mangain 41Nori-chan is explaining to her friend Kirita that her baby, who recently learned to cravd rr) ry aiming this camera (at ob TO POLAR NOS See OP porrps ae + Lamaete is from kamaer, which means hold postion’ when the dict object implies "hold it a the ready,” 50 with + oss shite kure comes cha toss suru Crashlcharge of equal or ower status in nasal 8 appropri Gomen nasai Sabur® has just proposed to Sayuri. At first she i flat drunk and decides she can’t tos his sincerity Watashi kucrimasi Tall go home Thave to go home.” (PL3) (La) + kacrimasu isthe PL3 f return home"). Wa t0 mark warashi asthe topic of this sentence, hs been om + “cham isa diminutive equivalent of -xan (Me MS"). Tis mont typical bute wn Ry hes Wavate mo Una, ShogakkanOkaeri nasai Yohei has been living in Tokyo enjoying a carefree, fast-paced lifestyle as a college student and rock musician. His mother now welcomes him home to their small temple in the countryside. Bi) EU, HHS A. Otaeri masai, spluburcu san ttecome home wordy persombon) “Welcome home, man of the world.” Mother: + cokubutsu refers toa “wordy /vulgr so i's ot a Nery nice name (rsa lighthearted reterence to the fact has been pursuing worldly rather than religiows pursuits Racrinasai, from kaera: Pretuen home") would make a command, “Go home.” but okaeri na With the honorific prefix os the standard preet Ing given when a person arrives home:"Weleome home/Welcome back" ‘©-Orane Rete / Fancy Dance Shopakukan Oyasumi nasai Tokiko has had a fight with her husband and is spending the night at her former boyfriend Fawa’s place. The situation is alittle awkward since Taumi is now living with is only one bed in the apartmer (© Woshisato Mochira/Ribingu Gera, Sbopakukan ‘Ovasuni nasal (shortened 0 opasun in informal Situations) isthe standard good night: can Be tsed both for “good night” at bedtime and for ‘oodbye” when paring with fiends late a night. sie nakya is 3 cont rnemurenai ts the Fuwa, and there Tokike: iL fom Leese Atashi hidarikkawa ja nakya Hie este ts its Men bo Bi BS be. hemurenai kara sai ni noborw Gar'tsiegy, 30" head climb upccalog) Lean't fall asleep unless I'm on the left side, so F'Il climb up first, OK?" (PL) Leb b, BETA ta ey ovasumi Ire hen (cl) good ph “Well, good night.” (PL2) BETAG EM, Oyasun nasa NGood night" (PL3) Fuwa: hidarikkawa is «colloquial hidarikawa (or hidarigana): “ef side.” tion a de nakereba "iF is 100" oF “unless ts ive of nemun “sleep asleep Sak ni implies doing the ation “in advanesfahead of something/some Mangaiin 43