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a tale of two arimasu

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-eight years and a million words

The Japanese language is a many-barbed thing. For instance, I've learned recently that there are two words with identical pronounciation (and therefore identical spelling in hiragana), and nearly identical meaning but distinguished by the use of different kanji for the initial vowel.

The word is 'arimasu', which generally means 'to have', and also does duty in 'to exist' in some cases. Usually you'd use it for purposes such as asking if a store carries a certain product, or to announce that you've got something. The new doppleganger meaning that I've learned is "to hold" with regards to an event. "arimasu" (to hold) comes into use for events in exactly the same way as it does for statements/queries on possession.

Therefor, it's possible to use the "two words" in slightly different fashions, obliviously deploying different kanji when pronouncing the first 'a'. All in all, it's pretty meaningless but I take it as a hint of the complexity that I'm yet to face.

(The two kanji, by the way, are 在 and 有.)