Sentences, Phrases and Words
Text (文章 bunshō) is composed of sentences (文 bun), which are in turn composed of phrases (文節 bunsetsu), which are its smallest coherent components. Like Chinese and classical Korean, written Japanese does not typically demarcate words with spaces; its agglutinative nature further makes the concept of a word rather different from words in English. The listener identifies word divisions by semantic cues and a knowledge of phrase structure. Phrases have a single meaning-bearing word, followed by a string of suffixes, auxiliary verbs and particles to modify its meaning and designate its grammatical role. In the following example, phrases are indicated by vertical bars:
- 太陽が｜東の｜空に｜昇る。
- taiyō ga | higashi no | sora ni | noboru
- sun | east | sky | rise
- The sun rises in the eastern sky.
Some scholars romanize Japanese sentences by inserting spaces only at phrase boundaries (i.e., "taiyō-ga higashi-no sora-ni noboru"), treating an entire phrase as a single word. This represents an almost purely phonological conception of where one word ends and the next begins. There is some validity in taking this approach: phonologically, the postpositional particles merge with the structural word that precedes them, and within a phonological phrase, the pitch can have at most one fall. Usually, however, grammarians adopt a more conventional concept of word (単語 tango), one which invokes meaning and sentence structure.
Read more about this topic: Japanese Grammar
Famous quotes containing the words phrases and/or words:
“A man in all the world’s new fashion planted,
That hath a mint of phrases in his brain.
One who the music of his own vain tongue
Doth ravish like enchanting harmony.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The word infant derives from Latin words meaning “not yet speaking.” It emphasizes what the child cannot do and reflects the baby’s total dependence on adults. The word toddler, however, demonstrates our change in perspective, for it focuses on the child’s increased mobility and burgeoning independence.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)