[Naruse Japanese/English Translation Course] Language and Cognition (26) The Essential Difference in 'Dynamic Understanding' in SENTENCES

(Continued from above)

In terms of first reading chunks of meaning, understanding that meaning within the flow, and then predicting the next chunk of meaning, 'dynamic understanding' is the same for both Japanese and English.

So, where do Japanese and English differ?

The most important point is that in English, you can grasp the overall meaning step-by-step by reading the chunks of meaning in order from the front, whereas in Japanese, you cannot fully grasp the overall meaning until you have read the sentence to the very end.

Let me explain in a little more detail.

First, let's look at the 'dynamic understanding' of English sentences.

Please try reading the following sentence.

Many of the grammatical rules that some among us like to invoke are not linguistic fact, but classroom folklore, invented by eighteenth-century grammarians out of whole cloth, repeated by editors unwilling to determine whether those rules comport with reality, taught by teachers who teach what textbooks tell them, and ignored by the best writers everywhere.

It is a very long sentence, but

if you look closely, you can see that the meaning can be determined without reading it to the very end.

For example, if you read the first part, 'Many of the grammatical rules that some among us like to invoke are not linguistic fact,' the meaning is self-sufficient up to that point. It would be possible to put a period here.

The subsequent 'chunks of meaning' can be said to be supplementary explanations for 'Many of the grammatical rules that some among us like to invoke are not linguistic fact.'

Also, phrases like 'invented by eighteenth-century grammarians out of whole cloth' and 'repeated by editors unwilling to determine whether those rules comport with reality' are also structured so that the following chunks of meaning supplement the preceding ones, so you can still grasp the meaning in order from the front.

☆☆☆

On the other hand, in Japanese dynamic understanding, the overall understanding remains up in the air until you have read the entire sentence, 'You have already acquired the mindset for reading Japanese.'

You haven't finished reading until you reach the final period.

This is because if there is no period, you can continue adding chunks of meaning indefinitely after this point.

☆☆☆

In this way,

in the case of English, you can grasp the chunks of meaning in order from the front.

In terms of grasping the meaning,

there is no need to read the entire sentence.

In contrast,

In Japanese, one cannot definitively grasp the meaning of a sentence until it has been read to the very end.

This is the greatest difference in dynamic understanding between Japanese and English.