さりげなく。

習字の先生　also taught me a new word—that is, she used it to describe one of my strokes in tensho and, when I asked what it meant, suggested I ask 日本語の先生 about it. The word was さりげなく, which seems to mean that I wasn't paying enough attention to the ending of my stroke. That sounds like me; I tend to keep thinking about the next stroke, rather than "being in the moment" with the stroke I'm actually doing. (One of the many reasons why studying shuuji is good for me.)

さりげ contains two kanji, first 然る and then 気. 然り気ない、然り気無い、然り気無く。 The dictionaries translate it as "nonchalant(ly)". Unconcerned; in a casual manner. I admit I sometimes become impatient when kanji have many strokes. Kaisho is like that; sometimes I dread even starting a page of characters, because it'll be dozens of strokes before I've finished, each presenting a fresh opportunity for total failure. In most examples of 鳥 in tensho there are multiple "feathers" that descend from the right side in parallel—nowhere near as dynamic as sousho or even kaisho! But not being 然り気無い is something I need to work on, like not rushing my strokes.

(I wondered where I'd seen 然. Probably in 全然! Zen-zen is like "not at all", the first kanji being "everything" and the second, さる, being something like "-like".)

申し訳。(moushiwake)

Another "click" happened this morning—a lame one, probably, but all progress is progress ね.

Polite formula 申し訳ありません moushiwake arimasen: used as an apology to superiors.

申す mousu: humble form of "to speak". 木の陰と申します = kinokage to moushimasu = (humbly) They call me Kinokage. (They don't, but it's just an example.)

訳 is one I usually use as ヤク YAKU, translating/translation:

この難しい日本語のテキストを訳してくれない？
kono muzukashii nihongo no tekisuto o yaku shite kurenai?
won't you translate this difficult Japanese text for me?

But 訳 is also わけ wake, a reason or explanation:

そういうわけで宿題をできなくちゃったんです。
sou iu wake de shukudai wo dekinakuchatta n desu.
That's why I couldn't do my homework. Sorry.

(I've never used わけで before, so I'm picking up that usage from Kotonba, though with a slightly changed example. I'm definitely not sure of できなくちゃった, but that shouldn't affect.)

So 申し訳ありません/ございません ≈ there is no call/reason to speak? I have nothing to say for myself?

Now I need to think about そう言う訳 and whether that links to 申し訳. It may be just a coincidence of usage that in both instances 訳 is preceded by a speech verb; そう言う may be there for other reasons, as in そう言うこと.

に付いて?

今日は涼しくて晴れて素晴らしい。いい天気ですから、散歩しましょう。

Thinking about について, ni tsuite, "about". Do you suppose it's derived from 付く (tsuku)? I can see a rationale for it. Tsuku is one of those verbs that keep appearing where you don't expect them, like kakeru. (Depending on kanji, kakeru can be about running, hanging, telephoning, betting, flying....) Generally tsuku is about sticking or attaching, 林檎についての質問がある。I have a question attached/connected to apples. I suspect tsuku is also behind the "included" sense of "one night, two meals" in hotel vocabulary.

Of course, depending on kanji, tsuku can also be about stabbing, haunting, immersing, pounding rice....

ADDENDUM: Reviewing vocab from Genki ch. 17. Turns out かける can also mean getting a perm. There's just nothing that verb can't do.

Murray book delivers.

すばらしい。 Just a few weeks ago I was thinking that every language textbook should include, as early as possible, a lesson on expressing things you don't know the word for. Eg, you want to say "crow"—a thing, an animal, a type of animal (making flying motions with arms)—ah, yes, そうです, 鳥ですね, 黒い鳥ですね。。。。 Well, this Murray book has one! He divides his examples into things, places, actions, people, and other, and he successfully (IMO) expresses non-Genki concepts like murder, baldness, sharks, an aqualung. (Of course, given Genki's philosophy of vocabulary, any of those terms could appear anywhere.) Essential. Moreover, he has a sense of humor, like Jay Rubin.

Murray recommends these substitutes:

• things: 物　もの　mono


• actions: 事　こと　koto


• states: 状態　じょうたい　joutai


• places: 所/場所 ところ/ばしょ　tokoro/basho


• people: 人　ひと　hito


• misc. nouns: a vehicle that... 車　　a book that.... 本

I think the only one of those I didn't know was 状態, but seeing it in a book builds confidence. 僕は日本語を勉強している人で、「生徒」か「学生」と言う人だね。

More on the -おう form.

Turns out that, whatever it is, the same thing that's happening with 有難い・ありがとう is happening with おめでとう (愛でたい/目出度い) and おはよう (早い). So why don't we say おありがとう?

And now we have めでたい. Per Kotoba, the kanji for めでたい　is 愛! お愛でとうございます。 Kotoba also lists two ateji forms of めでたい, 目出度い　and 芽出度い.

Well, one more: オフレコ, a mash of off the record.　僕は日本語が上手じゃないけど、オフレコだよな。

New (to me) Giles Murray book.

夕べ友達にいろいろな日本語の本を貰った。　（———さん、ありがとう！）　

友達の———さん has given me some fantastic Japanese-language books. The first I'm reading is this one, by the author of Breaking Into Japanese Literature (which I have) and Exploring Japanese Literature (which I've wanted but can't justify buying until I've made more progress with the books I have).

I'm only a few pages in, but already I've found something I love: 脱サラする, to escape from the life of the サラリーマン, the salaried employee. 僕も脱サラしたいんだね。