よつばと! Vol 9 Discussion Thread (Yotsuba&! Reading Club)

[Kazzeon]

Join the よつばと! Reading Club!

よつばと! Volume 9 (Chapters 56-62) Discussion Thread

Current Chapter: 62

Reading Schedule

Start Date	Reading	Jump To Discussion
June 10	Chapter 56	link
June 17	Chapter 57	link
June 24	Chapter 58	link
July 1	Chapter 59	link
July 8	Chapter 60	link
July 15	Chapter 61	link
July 22	Chapter 62	link

Reminders for Discussion:

1. Feel free to discuss grammar, vocabulary, comprehension questions, as well as interesting plot or character development.
2. Include references (page, panel, character speech bubble, etc.) so that others can help you.
3. We’re all here to learn and read together, so share your thoughts and ask questions!

Resources

• Jisho: An online dictionary with words by Wanikani level, radical search, etc.
• Romaji Desu: An online dictionary that allows you to look up by romaji, even for conjugated verbs.

[Kazzeon]

Yotsuba’s back, baby!

Discussion of Chapter 56 starts here.

• Opening Post
• Bottom of Page

Let’s see what the new volume is about.

[Belthazar]

Oh, we’re starting right away. Gimme some time to read the chapter and I’ll get back to you.

[ChristopherFritz]

Having just finished volume one recently, I have to say, chapter 56 was soooo much easier than anything in volume 1! The first time I tried to read Yotsuba in Japanese some years back, I should have jumped straight to volume 9.

Even though I’ve read the whole series in English, it’s been quite a long time since I read through volume 9, so chapter 56 was “all new” to me. Didn’t remember it one bit.

I read most of the chapter on the bus. Due to seating elevation differences, I could easily see the smartphone screen of the person sitting lower in front of me, and the person sitting higher behind me could have easily seen my tablet screen if they wanted to. Why mention this? Because, imagine the feeling of looking up 「おしり」 and 「まるだし」 and wondering, is the person behind me looking at my screen?

My mental image of the person sitting behind me.

I like that Yotsuba used the word 「がまん」 a couple of times, because 1) I learned it in iKnow over a year ago and had yet to encounter it in the wild, and 2) I don’t think I would recognize the kanji (even though there’s furigana), so it was nice seeing it used kana-only.

I did find something missing from Yotsuba's dream, though.

I was confused for a moment when Yotsuba proclaimed it was already 1:03. Thankfully her father cleared that one up for me.

My favorite new words are 「よていどおり」 (“as planned”) and 「いつもどおり」(“as always”, “as usual”). I’ll probably forget them by tomorrow, though…

All the まわす and まわる remind me I’m starting to have trouble keeping these words apart (as I just encountered 回す in a lesson the other day). I’ll have to re-read the last page and make certain I understand which word has which meaning.

On the last page, what does Yotsuba’s first acorn introduce itself as? 「じゃがやま」 makes me think “potato mountain”. A Google Image search failed me as it seemed to include many potentially NSFW images in the first screen of results (even though I keep Safe Search enabled).

[Belthazar]

@ChristopherFritz

On the last page, what does Yotsuba’s first acorn introduce itself as? 「じゃがやま」 makes me think “potato mountain”.

At a guess, I’d be willing to hazard that it’s じゃがいも and やまいも combined. Perhaps?

[Kazzeon]

@ChristopherFritz

Even though I’ve read the whole series in English, it’s been quite a long time since I read through volume 9, so chapter 56 was “all new” to me. Didn’t remember it one bit.

Yeah, it’s pretty cool being able to read something again as if it was new.

Great images, by the way!

@Belthazar

At a guess, I’d be willing to hazard that it’s じゃがいも and やまいも combined. Perhaps?

That sort of makes sense, but I think it’s just Yotsuba giving the acorn a name that has nothing to do with acorns, so it’s じゃが for potato and やま as a name ending?

[ChristopherFritz]

I just realized, there’s an official English translated release that can be checked. Except…my comics are in storage right now, and I haven’t rebought all of Yotsuba in English digital yet, so I’m not able to check. Anyone with this volume in English able to check what Yotsuba’s line is? Final page of the chapter, middle panel, right-most dialogue balloon.

[Kazzeon]

Don’t know if it’s the official translation, but:

[Belthazar]

@Kazzeon

That sort of makes sense, but I think it’s just Yotsuba giving the acorn a name that has nothing to do with acorns, so it’s じゃが for potato and やま as a name ending?

Shall we count the number of times that Yotsuba has given something a name that’s actually related to what the thing is? Go head, I’ll wait.

@ChristopherFritz

Anyone with this volume in English able to check what Yotsuba’s line is?

Fortunately, I’ve got my copy on me, and I’ve already checked. It says “Hello, my name is Jagayama”.

(Also slight beef: her timetable sheet for “bring in the washing” reads “11:??” in the English version, because the number of minutes is obscured by her head in Japanese. But… why translate it like that? Just make the font big enough that the minutes are obscured by her head in the English too.)

[Kazzeon]

@Belthazar

But… why translate it like that?

Because

I’m still mad about the 翻訳家 joke being lost a bit.

[Kazzeon]

Finally! Time to read Chapter 56.

The face of pure evil.

It’s interesting that she wrote, よていおつくる.

That ending.

[ChristopherFritz]

@Kazzeon

It’s interesting that she wrote, よていおつくる.

I only read some of what she wrote, so I completely missed that one. I do remember trying for a good half second to think of what いじ is before I realized it’s １１じ (off to the right).

[_Marcus]

@Kazzeon

It’s interesting that she wrote, よてい お つくる

Oh, well spotted!

Great to be reading Yotsuba again (though in the break I went back and - with Kazzeon’s amazing help) filled in a gap I’d left back in volume 4. Just finished that and now straight in to volume 9!

My focus has recently shifted somewhat (more on that later) but I do love Yotsuba, so here are my questions (well, the main ones!) from this chapter! Thank you for any help anyone can offer!

Page 10 - panel 1: なんでにこってした? - “why にこって did?”. I guess (and this took me hours to figure out!) that にこって is a form of にこり. But what is the って? Quotation particle? Linking device? “Why are you smiling?” - but I’m a bit lost with the grammar.

Page 10 - panel 2: I’m having real problems with なの today, but it’s pretty clear in this sentence. の is the explanatory particle, and な has to come between that and a whatever kind of word ぺこぺこ is. My question is… what is the で?

Page 14 - panel 5: No question, just an observation, about how many times I’ve also had to apologise in my life for things that I’ve done in Ikumi’s dreams! Funny!

Page 18 - panel 18: Plans + quotation particle + how + do + question particle? “How do you make plans?”

Page 19 - panel 5: まだよめねーか. Dad sees that Yotsuba’s telling of the time is about as advanced as my reading of Japanese and says some about "still + read + grammar + か”. What is that 読めね?

Page 19 - panel 6: You know me, I can’t remember Japanese words to save my life, but I’ll always recognise セリフ! It’s ingrained forever on my brain from the pain and frustration of day one of reading volume 1, chapter 1, (on page 11) when Jambo says どこで おぼえた そのセリフ about something Yotsuba had said. (But still, two years later, I had to look up おぼえた! Crazy, isn’t it?!)

Page 26 - panel 5: 今日来る予定, okay, I understand “today + come + plan” and I guess it means “was it in the plan to come today?”, but there seems to be no grammar here. Any ideas how this fits together?

Page 28 - final panel: Okay, this is my third read-through and I’ve just noticed…! It’s the same line as page 10! And it was here that I figured out that のこって must have something to do with にこり, but any help with the grammar much appreciated!

Thanks again everyone, and thank you @ChristopherFritz for your amazing contributions to the thread! So nice to see a new face!

my new project

Ah, that didn’t last long! It was taking up far, far too much of my time!

[Kazzeon]

@marcusp

Page 10 - panel 1: なんでにこってした? - “why にこって did?”. I guess (and this took me hours to figure out!) that にこって is a form of にこり. But what is the って? Quotation particle? Linking device? “Why are you smiling?” - but I’m a bit lost with the grammar.

I didn’t know about にこり (adverb and suru verb, so it wouldn’t be conjugated as a normal verb), so I went with ニコ (from smile)って (from と #4).
So, “Why did you smile?”

@marcusp

Page 10 - panel 2: I’m having real problems with なの today, but it’s pretty clear in this sentence. の is the explanatory particle, and な has to come between that and a whatever kind of word ぺこぺこ is. My question is… what is the で?

To be fair, it’s a different なの
In this one, it’s (な)ので and the one in your post is nominalization, right?
無線がONなの(を) - That the radio was on
忘れてた - I forgot
I hadn’t thought how to answer your other question, but I think this is it.
(If I’m wrong, please halp.)

I’m almost certain I’m wrong for some reason, but I’ll leave it there anyway.
Never mind, I was right, and I knew it all along.

@marcusp

Page 14 - panel 5: No question, just an observation, about how many times I’ve also had to apologise in my life for things that I’ve done in Ikumi’s dreams! Funny!

Did we finally get the resident expert’s name drop?

@marcusp

Page 26 - panel 5: 今日来る予定, okay, I understand “today + come + plan” and I guess it means “was it in the plan to come today?”, but there seems to be no grammar here. Any ideas how this fits together?

Hmm…

There is grammar, it’s 来る予定
The translation is basically what you said.
“Was that planned to arrive today?”

@marcusp

my new project

Like I say, I love Yotsuba and will keep reading, but my focus has shifted a bit. I’m producing an Instagram page of Gundam manga translations! Of course I am the LEAST qualified person in the universe to do such a thing, but I’m only choosing easy sentences, checking each translation on Hinative, and then checking with the resident expert too. I’m not claiming to be an expert and if any errors do get through, they’ll hopefully be picked up and corrected. It’s totally non-commercial and designed just for study!

I saw! It’s pretty interesting. Good luck on that!

[Belthazar]

@marcusp

Page 19 - panel 5: まだよめねーか. Dad sees that Yotsuba’s telling of the time is about as advanced as my reading of Japanese and says some about "still + read + grammar + か”. What is that 読めね?

This kinda seems to be the one that trips you up most frequently. It’s not 読めね, it’s 読めねー. Which is to say, 読めない in casual speech. Maybe you should stick a note on your bathroom mirror where you’ll see it every day, or something.

@marcusp

Page 19 - panel 6: You know me, I can’t remember Japanese words to save my life, but I’ll always recognise セリフ! It’s ingrained forever on my brain from the pain and frustration of day one of reading volume 1, chapter 1, (on page 11) when Jambo says どこで おぼえた そのセリフ about something Yotsuba had said. (But still, two years later, I had to look up おぼえた! Crazy, isn’t it?!)

I remember セリフ from 恥ずかしいセリフ禁止！

@marcusp

It’s the same line as page 10!

Aye, it’s basically the chapter’s punchline. It’s the dream! The dream is happening again! Kinda thing.

[_Marcus]

Thank you again Kazzeon and Belthazar for all your help!

@Kazzeon

Did we finally get the resident expert’s name drop?

Whoops! Indeed! いくちゃん！

@Kazzeon

Good luck on that!

Thanks so much!

@Belthazar

Maybe you should stick a note on your bathroom mirror

Not a bad idea. All my notes got directly onto the page in Yotsuba, and as I never seem to find time to get round to re-reading them - they just gather dust. I do need to review much, much more often!

@Belthazar

恥ずかしいセリフ禁止！

Is that an actual sign somewhere?!

Thanks again so much! Now I’d better get a head-start on next week’s chapter while I’ve still got some time off! Thanks guys!

[Kazzeon]

@marcusp

Is that an actual sign somewhere?!

I think that’s an Aria.

[ChristopherFritz]

Much of this has been covered already, but I wanted to add a few notes. There may be overlap with other comments.

@marcusp

Page 10 - panel 1: なんでにこってした? - “why にこって did?”. I guess (and this took me hours to figure out!) that にこって is a form of にこり. But what is the って? Quotation particle? Linking device? “Why are you smiling?” - but I’m a bit lost with the grammar.

I read にこ as being short for にこにこ, but I could be wrong. And with that as smile, I read って as the quoting particle. “Why did you say (smile)?” “Why did you smile?” (Note the past tense in した.)

@marcusp

Page 10 - panel 2: I’m having real problems with なの today, but it’s pretty clear in this sentence. の is the explanatory particle, and な has to come between that and a whatever kind of word ぺこぺこ is. My question is… what is the で?

As mentioned by @Kazzeon, this would be ので, which at the end of a sentence is equivelant to the English “because”, and states the preceeding clause as a reason. According to JapanesePod101, ぺこぺこ is a mimetic word. While onomatopoeia makes words out of sounds, mimetic words are ideophones, which “are words that evoke an idea in sound, often a vivid impression of certain sensations or sensory perceptions, e.g. sound (onomatopoeia), movement, color, shape, or action”.

Thus, ぺこぺこ is a mimetic word for “the feeling of hunger”.

The word order means I may be wrong on this part, but I believe since ぺこぺこ is a noun which becomes an adjective when you add な, that ぺこぺこな is describing おかな. Maybe there’s a dropped が in there (おなかがぺこぺこなので)?

Edit: As per @Kazzeon, I believe I’m wrong about the adjective part. Since a noun and ので require a な between them, that would be the reason for な (perhaps).

[Kazzeon]

@ChristopherFritz

The word order means I may be wrong on this part, but I believe since ぺこぺこ is a noun which becomes an adjective when you add な, that ぺこぺこな is describing おかな. Maybe there’s a dropped が in there (おなかがぺこぺこなので)?

Yeah, it’s implied that it’s おなかがぺこぺこなので.

Does it become an adjective, though? .-. I don’t think that’s exactly it.
Apparently, it’s already a な-adjective.
But even then, I don’t think nouns have to become adjectives for them to be applied in different grammar structures.

[ChristopherFritz]

@Kazzeon

Does it become an adjective, though?

I’m probably wrong there. “stomach is hungry” does suggest noun. But since following a noun with の would be (for example) possessive (よつばのおとうさん), a な has to separate the noun and ので, thus ぺこぺこなので. (I think.)

Edit: I was mistaken on my mention of nouns. If I’m now right, ので is the て form of のだ, and のだ is the explanatory の + だ. And a な-adjective must end in な before this の.