Wednesday, September 7, 2022
Previous senryu
- 子は鬼滅 夫婦は亀裂 おうち時間
こはきめつ・ふうふはきれつ・おうちじかん
Husband and wife, / cleaved by home time with / demon slayer child
Notes:
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Minor tweaks to @weaverZ 's excellent submission. The shorter 4-5-5 meter seemed to sound and parse a little better than the 5-7-6 original.
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For those as confused as myself, there is a manga called 鬼滅之刃 or “Demon Slayer”. Apparently, to pass the first part of his training, the protagonist has to split this enormous boulder in a single strike, i.e., it is a seemingly impossible task. It’s a thing. This senryu is a play on that premise.
Current senryu challenge
Volume: Husbands
- 「私には夫います」と妻寝言
This one made me laugh! Seems pretty straightforward, but the には was interesting grammatically.
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that the に acts as sort of an intensifier or “exclusifier” for introducing a topic. That is, I’d normally translate 「私は」 as, “as for me, …”. But I’d translate 「私には」 as, “in regards to me, …” or “regarding me in particular, …”.
It seems like a slightly stronger way of emphasizing a specific topic.
Remember to please use the spoiler tag with your translation attempts! Also, please include the reading in kana with your submission.
Everyone is encouraged to participate, no matter your level! Questions and comments are as valued as translation submissions.
Please try not to be disappointed if your translation isn’t selected or if you disagree with the daily choice: the judge isn’t terribly consistent with his grading (and has awful taste!).
Online tools like dictionaries, sentence databases, and even AI translation engines are fair game and can be extremely helpful. Yomichan is particularly handy if you use the Chrome or Firefox browser. The 語源由来辞典 is also an excellent resource for researching the etymology of various words and expressions.
Here are the links to the 356 Japanese originals (spoiler free) and to the the spreadsheet with all the upcoming senryu as well as the translations to date.