Page 107
It’s not midnight yet, but I haven’t done all this hard work just to be pipped at the post, … so here goes…… (sorry Micki!)!
Sentence 1 :
モスク (イスラム教の おいのりを する たてもの) なのですが, なんと どろで できているのです
モスク - mosque
イスラム教の - Islamic…
お - honorific prefix
いのりを - prayer + を (direct object particle)
する - to do
たてもの - building
なの - explanation particle (and preceding な)
です - is this a です (polite copula) in the middle of a sentence?
が, - but
なんと - what; how; whatever
どろで - 泥で, of/with mud
できている - 出来る, to be made, in ている form
の - explanation particle
です - polite ending
“It is a mosque (a building for Islamic prayer) but surprisingly it is made of mud”.
Question: I’m a bit confused by the です in the middle, but I suspect it has something to do with the fact it comes after の. Any ideas?
Sentence 2 :
マリの ジェンネは, 広大な サハラ砂漠に ある ふるい 町です
マリの ジェンネは, - Djenné in Mali + は
広大な - vast; extensive; immense (な-adjective)
サハラ砂漠に - Sahara Desert + に, in
ある - there is
ふるい - 古い, old
町 - town
です - polite copula
“Djenné in Mali is an old town in the vast Sahara Desert”.
Question: I don’t understand why ある is in the middle of the sentence rather than at the end. Any ideas?
Sentence 3 :
この 町の 中心に たつ モスクは, どろを かためて つくられ,「どろのモスク」として 有名です
この 町の 中心に - in the centre of this town
たつ - 立つ, to stand (or possibly 建つ, to be erected, to be built?)
モスクは, mosque + は
どろを mud + を
かためて - 固める, to harden, in てform
つくられ, - 作る, to make, in passive form (not too sure about this)
「どろのモスク」- mud mosque
として - as
有名 - famous
です - polite copula
“In the centre of this town stands [a building] made of hardened mud, famous as the “Mud Mosque””.
Question: What is the grammar in つくられ? The full passive is 作られる, but here the final る has been dropped. Is it acting like a connective て form?
Sentence 4 :
この モスクは とても きみょうな 形を しています
この モスクは - this mosque
とても - very
きみょうな - 奇妙, strange (な-adjective)
形を - shape + を
しています - has
“This mosque has a very strange shape”.
Question: しています literally means “is doing”, right? I don’t think I’ve ever seen it used as “has” before (though with my memory, anything is possible!). Is this a common pattern?
Thank you everyone!