よつばと! Vol 13 Discussion Thread (Yotsuba&! Reading Club)

Without looking at the page, I’m figuring this is the particle の + (なか), meaning “inside of いがいが” or “いがいが’s inside”.

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Thank you!

Nah, it was chapter 73, back in volume 11 - she goes out collecting chestnuts with Fuuka and Shimau.

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Another one I’ve not read! :crazy_face:

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Page 163

So, Yotsuba’s just drawn a picture. Gran wonders if it’s an octopus, but Yotsuba says it’s a black ghost, and it lives in the house. Gran then says: これがこの家におるんか

I think I’ve got it… “so, this lives in this house?”, but I’ve never come across おる, to exist, before! I know about いる and ある, for animate and inanimate existence, but what the heck is おる?

A quick search brought me to this article which is far too advanced for me, but it seems that おる is a humble form of いる when talking about oneself. Is that right?

And why is gran using it here? Any ideas?

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Yep, that’s one usage of it. But as you assessed, that’s likely not the case with Granny.

In her case, it’s simply the fact that in Kansai-ben おる is used instead of いる.

(the article also hints at it with “in many Japanese regions west of the Kanto line, oru is used in the simple sense of iru , with no implications of humbleness whatsoever.” but yeah, I also find the article’s writing style a bit stiff and somehow overcomplicating things :woman_shrugging:)

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Thank you so much!

(And yes, sorry, if I had finished reading that paragraph I would have found it! But, yes, I admit, I was just skim reading as it looked far too difficult - the Japanese - and too boring - the English - for me!)

Thank you so much Nicole!

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No worries, it was neatly stashed away behind this lengthy excerpt about contradictory politeness levels, and I wouldn’t have read it either if I hadn’t already known about 80% of what they said in that paragraph - this allowed me to make it to the end :rofl:

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Page 164

Dad says it’s bed time, Yotsuba replies:

なんとかならんか

Dad replies:

ならんな

Here’s all I can make of it:

なんとか - something / somehow
ならん - can’t help / must not / have to
か - question

ならん - can’t help / must not / have to
な - sentence ending particle

  • Is there some way I don’t have to (go to bed)?
  • Nope, you have to go to bed

I have no idea.

Any help much appreciated!

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Sounds good to me though :blush:

The Internet™ says 【なんとかならない】とはどういう意味ですか? - 日本語に関する質問 | HiNative which pretty much aligns with your understanding, I guess.

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Thank you so much! :+1:

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Jisho.org: Japanese Dictionary :slight_smile:

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Thank you too Kazzeon! :+1:

Page 165

Yotsuba’s just been told that soon she’ll have to sleep alone, and after a moment’s thought replies:

よつばはそういうのはいいや

よつば - Yotsuba (I/me)
は - topic particle
そういう - that sort of
の - thing (の standing in for a noun)
は - another topic particle
いい - good
や - not sure what this is doing here

Dad then says いやいや = no, no, no

Yotsuba: I’m good with that
Dad: no, no, no

There’s a joke here somewhere, probably around the いいや / いやいや, but I can’t figure it out. Does dad think she’s saying いや?

Once again, thanks for any help!

I don’t think there’s a joke there.

Yotsuba is saying she’s fine with sleeping by herself, but Dad says that it’s not just sleeping like she’s used to, but by herself, but that she’s getting a bed.

Also, や, like before, is probably Kansai dialect for だ.

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I see! Thank you so much! Much appreciated! :+1:

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Page 167

Yotsuba’s gone to bed and Gran is looking at Yotsuba’s books…

どれ持って行こかな

どれ - which
持って行こ - shall bring
かな - I wonder

“I wonder which [book] to bring [up and read to her]”.

I know that 持っていく means to take; to carry (something) away; to bear, and I guess here it is in the volitional “shall/let’s” form 持っていこう, but with the final う dropped (for reasons of slang, accent, etc). But if anyone could confirm that, that would be great! Thank you!

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Page 167

あんた車買うんやったら小春子にもろたらえんちゃうか

あんた - you
車 - car
買う - buy
ん - explanation particle
やったら - if do
小春子 - name
に - direction particle
もろたら - something with a たら, if, ending???
えんちゃう - no idea!!!
か - question particle

“If you are going to buy a car… to Koharuko …?”

Any ideas?


Page 169

So dad and gran have decided to say nothing to Yotsuba about gran leaving (I think), and then gran says:

黙っとこ

I see that 黙る, だまる, means to be silent; to say nothing, but what does っとこ mean?

Dialect again?

Any help much appreciated! Thank you!

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First post seems good to me. :slight_smile:

Then, I think…

あんた車買うんやったら小春子にもらったらいいんじゃないか。

とこ=ておこう

to leave something in a certain state; to keep something in a certain state​
Usually written using kana alone, after the -te form of a verb

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Thank you so much! :bowing_man:

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