Everyone says that the Japanese language is vague and imprecise. The Japanese say yes when they want to say no, or refuse to express their opinion clearly and unequivocally, it is often said. But this is wrong. Japanese is actually an incredibly accurate language.
No topic indicated does not mean any topic
It is true that the Japanese do not like to refuse outright; The Japanese can say that something is “difficult” when what they mean is “it cannot be done”; and Japanese sentences often omit the subject. For example:
Kinou, shiryou-o itadakimashita.
Yesterday I received (or we received) the documents.
The subject of the sentence I (or we) is not stated, but is understood in Japanese by the choice of the verb itadakimashita. That verb is a more polite form of moraimashita, which means to receive, but more than courtesy, itadakimashita Fast Kenjou, or humility, towards the listener. As such, it can only be used when you (the speaker) or your group are receiving something, never when talking about someone else.
Hai in Japanese it doesn’t mean yes
Also is true that hai (yes) doesn’t always mean yes. When learning Japanese, a better translation to memorize is “I heard what you said.” In fact, a Japanese who accepts an invitation will not say hai absolutely:
TO: Ashita-no paatii, ikimasen ka?
Are you going to the party tomorrow?
B: Ikimasu.
Yes (literally, “go ahead”).
From this linguistic culture, Westerners like to think of Japanese as a vague and recordable language.
Japanese themes can be omitted, but that does not mean that the theme does not exist. Word choice and sentence structure allow a Japanese speaker to skip the topic without loss of understanding.
While it is true that the Japanese, for a variety of historical reasons, tend to speak indirectly, it is not true that they speak loosely. The Japanese could not have built a world leading economy with imprecise language. On the contrary, Japanese is a language of great precision.
Japanese is super accurate
In English, the same word often has many different meanings. Even the word “Japanese” can refer to the Japanese or the Japanese language. Most of the time in Japanese, a word has a meaning.
For example, the English word “factor” (meaning element or cause) can be translated as you join gold you’re so, but these two Japanese words do not have the same meaning. you join means “contributing factor as cause”, while you’re so means “element in the composition of something.” In English, “factor” includes at least those two meanings, related but not the same. Separate Japanese words are more precise equivalents. As you learn Japanese, use the English translations as a guide, but it is also important to understand how the original Japanese word is used.
Japanese onomatopoeia is unique
Japanese onomatopoeia (gitaigo) is an intricate system of conveying the nuance of emotion or situation, and has no equivalent in English. A pebble that falls down the street rolls “korokoro, “while a rock that falls cascading from the movement of a mountainside is”gorogoro. “These words alone convey an image that fits each situation precisely and succinctly, while the English equivalent requires at least a sentence or two.
Hundreds of years ago, the Japanese incorporated thousands of Kango (Chinese origin words) and more recently imported thousands of mainly English words like gairaigo (foreign loan words).
The beauty of learning Japanese
These words of foreign origin, along with the native language itself, give the Japanese language a richly nuanced vocabulary. One beauty of learning Japanese is appreciating the subtleties of Japanese vocabulary and Japanese culture.
