3.2. FURTHER INFLECTIONS 111
In addition to this idiomatic use, can also be used to specify
that one will perform an act that requires leaving, and that after performing
this act, one will return again:
verb meaning verb meaningreturn (to some place) to come back
fly to come over by plane
afix, pair with come along, accompany
buy go buy (and then come back)Special conjunctions:
This construction signifies a semi-formal request, something which we will
look at in more detail when treating verbs for giving and receiving in the
chapter on language paĴerns. For now it suffices to say that using +
turns a verb into a polite command:
”Please open the window.””Please eat (this).”Special conjunctions:
The construction + is a very interesting construction. The clos-
est English translation is ”[completed verb action], sadly.” such as ”I fin-
ished reading ’the Lord of the rings’, sadly” implying you wish you hadn’t
(maybe you wanted to read more, or maybe you didn’t like it and didn’t
want to know how it ended, who knows). In Japanese, this actually uses
a verb, , which indicates verb completion, and connotes that the
speaker wishes it hadn’t been performed to completion.
......
”Ah, now (you)’ve said it...”
literally: ”Ah, you’ve said it (even though it would have been beĴer
if you hadn’t)”
One can expect to hear something like this when you’ve pointed
out something that everyone knows, but no one dares say because of the