Glossary entry

Japanese term or phrase:

唯一

English translation:

merely, solely, only

Added to glossary by Roddy Stegemann
Feb 19, 2007 12:53
17 yrs ago
Japanese term

唯一

Japanese to English Medical Biology (-tech,-chem,micro-) biochemistry - hypocalcemia
This occurs in a text describing the endocrine disease that causes hypocalcemia and how it affects the workings of the PTH hormone:
D欠乏症のみがPTH作用低下以外に唯一低Ca血症を引き起こす内分泌疾患である。
My problem here is the combination of nomi, which I suppose has the usual meaning ("only vitamin D deficiency") with yuiitsu. Is there such a term as "sole (or whatever the word should be) hypocalcemia"?
Proposed translations (English)
4 merely
4 +3 only
5 FYI

Discussion

Roddy Stegemann Feb 19, 2007:
Having gone to sleep and reawakened I can see that I have erred. The term 唯一 refers not to である, but to 引き起こす. You should be wary that 唯一 can serve as either an adjective or an adverb, and that it serves here as an adverb -- not an adjective.
Roddy Stegemann Feb 19, 2007:
The term 唯一 has no direct grammatical connection with 低Ca決病, rather it is used to modify the verb phrase である telling how many 低Ca血症を引き起こす内分泌疾患 there are.

Proposed translations

10 hrs
Selected

merely

I am not a medical expert and will not attempt to translate your sentence. I can, however, remark on the grammatical interpretations of のみ and 唯一 in your sentence. In effect, there are two ways to interpret their use, and you must choose which one is correct based on their implied medical implication.

Firstly, in both cases のみ refers to D欠乏症 as the sole agent.

Secondly, the use of 唯一 can be redundant as you suggest, or it can have a meaning all of its own.

Case One (No Redundancy):

「D欠乏症のみが」「PTH作用低下以外に唯一低Ca血症を引き起こす内分泌疾患」である。

In this phrase 唯一 refers to the mere effect of 引き起こす

Case Two (Redundancy):

「D欠乏症のみがPTH作用低下以外に唯一低Ca血症を引き起こす」内分泌疾患である。

In this case 唯一 reinforces the idea that D欠乏症 is the only active agent.

Concluding remark: In general, I give authors the benefit of the doubt and assume that they know their own language better than I -- in effect, that they would not be redundant unless there were an important need for emphasis.
Note from asker:
Thanks, Hamo. You help me take this sentence apart.
Further inquiry has provided clarity: whereas other diseases cause hypocalcemia in combination with other afflictions, vitamin D deficiency is the only one that can cause it all on its own. Therefore, as you suggested might be the case, there is no redundancy. Thanks again for your help.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+3
1 hr

only

In this sentence there shouldnt really be both のみ and yuitsu. Double usage. Both are referring to D欠乏症. So just choose one of them and translate.

Vitamin D deficiency is the only endocrine disease that causes hypocalcemia other than low functioning by PTH (pls check correct translation for PTH作用低下).




--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2007-02-19 14:13:55 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

唯一 can be placed before PTH作用低下 or even before 内分泌疾患(in that case it would be 唯一の内分泌疾患) 。 Even used like that, it would be referring to D欠乏症
Note from asker:
Thank you, Koan, for your answer. The sentence then turns out to mean that it is the only disease [...] which, apart from decreased PTH activity, solely causes hypocalcemia.
Peer comment(s):

agree casey
27 mins
agree KathyT
3 hrs
agree yumom
8 hrs
Something went wrong...
1 day 2 hrs

FYI

In addition to low PTH level, Vitamin D deficiency is the only endocrine disorder that causes hypocalcemia alone.
Something went wrong...
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