同一言語形式

English translation: semanteme

07:01 Apr 14, 2015
Japanese to English translations [PRO]
Linguistics
Japanese term or phrase: 同一言語形式
このように見ると、名詞につくčuŋも形容詞につくčuŋも同一言語形式であるといえる。

I'm translating a paper about Tibetan predicates from Japanese to English.

I know there is a linguistic term to cover this, but "same form" or "identical form" doesn't work because this is not a question of form but a question of meaning. Both units express the same meaning when used with nouns and adjectives, so they can be regarded as ???.

このように見ると、名詞につくčuŋも形容詞につくčuŋも同一言語形式であるといえる。

What I want to say is ...regarded as the same morpheme. But I'm not sure if it will capture the whole nuance.

Thanks for your help!
Nicholas Hallsworth
Japan
Local time: 08:13
English translation:semanteme
Explanation:
You might like to consider this term, if it serves your interpretation, but it's a far cry from what the Japanese term used here normally denotes.

"Semanteme definition : one of the minimum elements of lexical meaning in a language."
Selected response from:

Marc Brunet
Australia
Local time: 09:13
Grading comment
Thanks for carefully considering my question. It was really helpful. Also thanks to others for your suggestions.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4The same linguistic form
Milind Joshi
2 +1the same particle / the particle with the same function
Port City
3semanteme
Marc Brunet


Discussion entries: 8





  

Answers


56 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
The same linguistic form


Explanation:
The sentence can be translated as "If we look in this way, the prefix / suffix čuŋ for the noun and the prefix / suffix čuŋ for the adjective also, may be said to have the same linguistic form."


    Reference: http://translate.weblio.jp/
Milind Joshi
Local time: 04:43
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in MarathiMarathi
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you, but please read my explanation. This does not seem to be a question of form. I've already checked the online dictionary weblio. Nick

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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +1
the same particle / the particle with the same function


Explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_particle
Please see the sections on nouns and adjectives in the link below:
http://www.oocities.org/tibetanlanguage/Tibetan_language.pdf
The document below lists 14 types of particles in 5.4.
http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic464661.files/Less...
Depending on the context, the term may mean "the particle with the same function." Apparently, they "look" the same. So, what the author wants to say may be that they have the same function. (Since I don't know Tibetan, it's just my guess. )


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Note added at 6 hrs (2015-04-14 13:05:37 GMT)
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The above suggestion was made assuming the word doesn't conjugate. If it does, maybe it means "the same inflectional form" or "the same declension."

Port City
New Zealand
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Chrisso (X)
13 hrs
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
semanteme


Explanation:
You might like to consider this term, if it serves your interpretation, but it's a far cry from what the Japanese term used here normally denotes.

"Semanteme definition : one of the minimum elements of lexical meaning in a language."


    Reference: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/semanteme
Marc Brunet
Australia
Local time: 09:13
Native speaker of: French
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Thanks for carefully considering my question. It was really helpful. Also thanks to others for your suggestions.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you for your discussion entry. Yes, it's possible. The part of speech here is an auxiliary verb. They can have different meanings when attached to adj, nouns, verbs, etc. But the author is showing that although adj noun use seems different, the essential meaning within the morpheme itself is the same. This particular example thata certain object or state beffel the speaker and was not a restult of his intention

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