[KineJapan] Naruse's "Aki tachinu"

[Susan Klein]

Dick is correct that there are two "nu" in Classical Japanese, one 
indicating negation (following the mizenkei, /tatanu/) and one 
indicating completion (following the renyokei, /tachinu/). So this has 
to be completion.

The confusion in the translation may come from the fact that the 
completion nu is not necessarily past tense -- it could be "began," 
"begins," or "will begin" -- it simply indicates completion of the act. 
So without context, the translation could be "Autumn has begun/arrived" 
(Autumn has Already Started) or "Autumn begins/arrives" (The 
Approach/Arrival of Autumn). The latter translated title nominalizes the 
verb, but that is just the translator taking license.

Note also that the underlying sense of /tachinu/ used with seasonal 
phrases is often that you have just realized that the seasons have 
changed. If used with autumn, metaphorically this will often be linked 
to a realization that old age is creeping up, etc. etc.

This does not answer the question of which translated title better fits 
the film, only that it is possible to see how the translators would have 
arrived at their translations using nu as completion, not negation.

~~Susan


Susan Blakeley Klein
Associate Professor of Japanese Literature and Culture
HIB 479
Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures
University of California
Irvine, CA 92697-6000
email: sbklein at uci.edu

On 10/6/13 3:07 AM, Dick Stegewerns wrote:
> Dear Michael,
>
> My classical Japanese classes are quite some time ago, but since this 
> is the verb '/tatsu/' you would need 'tata-' (/izenkei/ or /mizenkei/, 
> forgot which one) to make a negation (modern /tatanai/, or slightly 
> older /tatanu/), while this more archaic form where -nu is added to 
> 'tachi-' (probably /renyokei/) is affirmative and thus should mean 
> that something has come about. Although '/tatsu/' can also mean 'to 
> leave'...
>
> Best,
>
> Dick
>
>
>
> Op 6-10-2013 6:46, Michael Kerpan schreef:
>> I think this may have come up before...
>>
>> The former standard translation of this film's tile seems to have 
>> been something like "The Approach of Autumn" (and something similar 
>> in French).  IMDB now lists the English title as "Autumn Has Already 
>> Started".  Apparently the -nu in tachinu can indicate either negation 
>> or that something is starting...  How on earth does one figure out 
>> which is the correct meaning?
>>
>>
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>
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