Re: japanese particles (Was: Chinese writing systems)

> On Thu, Nov 07, 2002 at 09:42:16AM -0500, Steg Belsky wrote:
>
>> I think i learned "ni" for that kind of construction... |daigaku ni
>> kaerimasu| "i go back to college".
>
> "ni" usually carries more of an "at" implication.  Of course, "to" and
> "at" can have fuzzy boundaries depending on the language.
>
> "kaerimasu" can't take "he", though, can it?  It sounds weird to me.
> So maybe it *has* to take "ni" by default.  I wonder if this is like in
> Russian where "na" and "v" are distributed according to whether a place
> can be entered...
>
> Amanda
Also mention that _ni_ can be used in the passive construction to mean _by_
or also in the sense of _by (means of)_ --> especially if you add _te_ to
form _nite_ where it = the colloquial particle _de_.  For instance,

  Kareshi'nchi NI* iku no wa, chali DE+ daitai 20pun sika kakaran'yo.
  (it only takes about 20mins BY+ bike to go TO* my boyfriend's place)
  NB. very colloquial Jpn, not the text-book form

  Nanji NI kuru'tte (itte'ta)?
  (AT what time did he say he'd come?)
  NB. very colloquial Jpn, not the text-book form

  Nikko Shoken no jidouteki touroku-shisutemu NITE*,
  sakuya hitori DE+ kabu wo katte okimashita.
  (I purchased stock BY+ myself last night BY (MEANS OF)*
  Nikko Securities' automated registration system.)

  OMC Puraza NI hakkousareta saiken wa ichiban anzensei no aru mono deshou.
  (Probably the most stable investment (lit. "thing" - in this context ok)
  would be a bond issued BY OMC Plaza.)

  Kihonteki NI* wa jyouki no yotei wa amari osusume-dekimasen.
  (Basically, we really cannot recommend the aforementioned schedule.)
  *NB. here, _ni_ is not even translated!

I have no input about Russian as I do not know anything about that
language.

M.E.S.