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© 2021 Richard Hunter

The Road to Understanding Japanese Volume 2

My Ongoing Studies

Richard Hunter

Buy the full book at gobooks.com

This book is a work in progress. Rather than delaying publication for years until it becomes a polished finished product, I decided to follow the approach of software apps, which are initially released when good enough to be useful and then updated over time. That is a major advantage of electronic books over paper books. Updates for the Go Books apps for iOS and macOS are seamlessly pushed out to existing buyers free of charge rather that being reissued as a separate printed edition that previous buyers are unlikely to pay for. New ePub editions need to be downloaded manually.

The contents of this book are currently aimed at helping me in my ongoing study of Japanese. If you have similar goals to me, then you may, and indeed I hope you will, find it useful too. I intend to add content over time and correct errors that I notice or see reported.

As shown in the free sample, study items are presented first as go problems that you can try to solve first or just move straight on to the Japanese text. The study item is presented in a single sentence. The following pages discuss the study item, provide the context, and give more examples.

Other Volumes in this Series

Volume 1: Planned for the future (i.e. not yet published)
I aim to write Volume 1 in future to bridge the gap from JEJ3 to RUJ2.

Volume 3: Planned for the future (i.e. not yet published)
I have ideas in mind for Volume 3.

Copyright Page

© 2021 Richard Hunter

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.

Photograph of Richard Hunter by Louise Bremner.

Table of Contents

The Road to Understanding Japanese Volume 2

Copyright Page

Introduction

SECTION ONE: PARTS OF SPEECH

1–1: Verbs

1–1a Simple Verbs

Index of Simple Verbs

1–1b: Tricky Verbs

Index of Tricky Verbs

The chapters in gray are included only in the full book.

1–2: Nouns

Index of Nouns

1–3: Adjectives

1–3a: i-Adjectives

Index of i-Adjectives

1–3b: What is a ki-Adjective?

Index of ki-Adjectives

SECTION TWO: GRAMMAR POINTS

Introduction

Index of Grammar Points

2–1: Imperative Form

2–2: Some Forms of Suru

2–3: Sentences That Are Hard To Parse

SECTION THREE: EXPRESSIONS and PROVERBS

Introduction

Index of Expressions and Proverbs

3–1: Expressions

3–2: Proverbs

APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Advice

Appendix 2: External Resources

Appendix 3: Indexes

About the Author

Buy This Book

About Go Books

Introduction

I study Japanese almost every day. My initial goal was to become able to read and understand the large number of books that I brought back from Japan. I would like to be able to read Japanese just like I do English. I am not interested in translating. I have expanded my scope to include listening to and understanding spoken Japanese, which may feature in Volume 3. I am not interested (at present) in writing by hand or composing Japanese text myself. While I do speak aloud when studying, I seldom speak to anyone else in Japanese.

Errata and Comments

Please report any errors, mistakes, typos, etc. and make requests or comments. A book review would be welcome too. Use Life in 19x19 and/or Sensei’s Library. SL is better for errata as I can move the reports to an archive page (for eventual deletion) after fixing the problems. Life in 19x19 is better for requests and comments as more people are likely to read them, and it might generate interest and stimulate more buyers, which would in turn encourage me to put more effort into things that other people want rather than what I want for myself.

SECTION ONE: PARTS OF SPEECH

This section currently covers verbs, nouns, and adjectives that attracted my interest.

Chapter 1–1: Verbs

Verbs are the key component of Japanese sentences; the engine driving the train. Every sentence logically ends in a verb, an adjective, or a form of the copula, though in practice the copula is often omitted and even verbs and whole clauses can be omitted if the author decides that the reader will grasp what is missing.

This section has two chapters. The first looks at simple verbs that are easy to look up in a dictionary. Learn the kanji, the reading, the meaning, and usage patterns. The second chapter discusses tricky verbs that can be difficult to use or understand.

Each verb begins with a go problem. The text states where the verb appears, e.g. in the text for the problem, correct answer, or failure. That gives you the chance to solve the problem if you want before seeing an answer diagram. However, it is fine to move straight on and look at the answer. Some of the problems are difficult. I chose them for the text not the problem level.

Abbreviations

(v1t) ichidan verb, transitive
(v1i) ichidan verb, intransitive

(v5t) godan verb, transitive
(v5i) godan verb, intransitive

〇〇 is a placeholder used in text that means ‘something’. I generate it by typing まるまる. It corresponds to
なになに【何々, 何何】ⓐ such and such (when being vague, placeholder, etc.), this and that

Technical term used in this book

okurigana: hiragana following kanji
攻める verb
攻 kanji
める okurigana

Chapter 1–1a: Simple Verbs

This chapter introduces verbs that I wanted to learn. They are common or important verbs that I have encountered multiple times in go problem books. I have arranged them so that the first ones use kanji that were introduced in the JEJ series. Most of these were introduced in compounds that used the ON readings, whereas the verb forms here use the kun readings. The second example uses the kanji 失 of 失敗, which is one of the most important and frequently occurring words in books of go problems. The verb 失う is less common in go problem books, but it does appear and I wanted to learn it. The third example 定める uses the kanji 定 of 定石【じょうせき】, which is a common go term often spoken in English. When I encounter unfamiliar words while reading, I add text notes into my dictionary app, which is how I gathered the large collection of examples that I can search. I can study and review these notes, but displaying them together with diagrams in a Go Book makes them easier to remember.

Simple verbs: Learn the kanji, the reading, the meaning, and usage patterns.

The index that comes next shows the verbs without the readings. There is a fuller index in the appendix that does include the readings.

Index of Simple Verbs

Verbs with familiar kanji
Verb 用いる
Verb 失う
Verb 定める
Verb 見えすく
Verb 味わう
Verb 絶える
Verb 疑う

Verbs with kanji not covered in the JEJ series
Verb 怠る
Verb 補う
Verb 戒める two examples
Verb 訴える links to relocation in tricky verbs
Verb 養う
Verb 伴う
Verb 促す
Verb 惜しむ two examples
Verb 富む
Verb 求める
Verb 犯す
Verb 奮う
Verb 乱れる
Verb 拒む
Verb 葬る
Verb 屠る
Verb 貫く
Verb 異なる
Verb 重ねる
Verb 眺める
Verb 招く
Verb 嘆く
Verb 従う
Verb 及ぶ
Verb 扱う two examples
Verb 誇る
Verb 縫う
Verb 兼ねる main verb
Verb かねる suffix
Verb 襲う
Verb 就く
Verb 諦める
Verb 締める
Verb 塞がる
Verb 控える two examples
Verb 瀕する
Verb 阻む
Verb 掲げる
Verb 塗る
Verb 織り交ぜる
Verb 腐る
Verb 灯る
Verb 築く

The example verb appears in the text of the second (final) sentence for the correct answer diagrams.

用いる

正解１、２、３
4: takes; 5 at 3

…。白２はこの一手ですから黒３と捨て石を用い、白４と黒三子を抜いて黒５と取り返すまで。

用いる【もちいる】

Notes

The kanji 用 should be familiar. It appeared many times in JEJ3 in compounds using the ON reading. Here, the verb uses the kun reading. In the example sentence, we see the masu stem acting as the continuative form.
白２はこの一手ですから黒３と捨て石を用い、白４と黒三子を抜いて黒５と取り返すまで。
用いる dictionary form
用います masu form, polite form
用い、…。 masu stem (continuative form here)

⤴ 用いる【もちいる】 (v1t)
ⓐ to use, to make use of, to utilize

The meaning is straightforward.

Usage pattern: 〇〇を用いる
捨て石を用いる

Compounds of 用 seen in go books:
常用【じょうよう】habitual use, daily use
利用【りよう】 use, utilization, utilisation, application
用意【ようい】 preparation, arrangements, provision, getting
活用【かつよう】 practical use, application
採用【さいよう】 use, adoption, acceptance

Context

問題図　微笑
すばらしい小品です。
正１ 正２ 正３
正解１、２、３　黒１が見逃しやすい手筋。白２はこの一手ですから黒３と捨て石を用い、白４と黒三子を抜いて黒５と取り返すまで。
１図（失敗）
本問は盲点になりやすい形で、普通は黒１、あるいは初手を黒３と抜いてしまうかもしれません。しかし、いずれもコウです。

More Examples

The verb 用いる is common in go problem books, but I only noted down one example. That is because I knew this verb and understood the meaning. I just wanted to practice its reading. I may add more examples if I remember to take note when I come across them as I am reading.

Update log

This log records typos and corrections to the Japanese text. It also mentions significant changes and relocations.

It does not include corrections to English spelling mistakes, additions to More Examples, and improvements to the layout, etc.

The verb 訴える has been moved from simple verbs to tricky verbs and its notes and More Examples have been expanded.

Several new verbs have been added. For details, see the ends of the indexes.
Two new sentences have been added to Hard to Parse.

Japanese typos

儀打でコウを避ける typo
犠打でコウを避ける corrected

About the Author

Richard Hunter is a British go player currently living in the UK. He was introduced to the game by his elder brother, Derek (then British Go Association Secretary), and began playing at Birmingham University Go Club and then at Oxford University, where he served as club secretary and president. He attended the opening of the (first) London Go Centre in 1975, where he met Iwamoto Kaoru 9 dan and Magari Reiki 9 dan and later lost a 9 stone game to Magari in Bristol. He bought his first Japanese go book in the London Go Centre in the mid 1970s.

He lived in Tokyo, Japan, from 1980 to 2008. This allowed him to take lessons from Iwamoto and some of his disciples, and he eventually managed to get to four stones against Iwamoto and three stones against Magari. He was a regular contributor to the British Go Journal from 1991 to 2006. He received a UK 4 dan certificate in 1991 but currently plays as 1 dan. Prior to the pandemic, he regularly played in British tournaments and he hopes to again in future. He has in the past played in several European Go Congresses, most recently Dublin 2001, and one US Go Congress (Washington DC, 1994). While in Japan, he enjoyed browsing through second-hand book stores in Tokyo and buying Japanese go books. He now has a large bookcase full of them in his workroom.