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Lesson 20: Directional Words

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Today we're going to talk about the Japanese system of directional words which use ko-, so-, a-, do-.

This is commonly called the ko-so-a-do system and initially it simply marks physical locations, but it then expands out to more subtle and metaphorical uses.

This is common because all languages use physical metaphors to express abstract concepts.

And fortunately these means of expression are often similar across languages because the conceptual world maps to the physical world in certain quite predictable ways.

So let's take the most basic meaning and use of ko-so-a-do, and that is actual physical locations.

The most basic location use is "koko", "soko", "asoko", "doko".

"Koko" means "here".

If you know the Japanese word "kokoro" - "heart" - it's here, right where I am, right where my heart is.

That's not the etymology of the word, but it's a mnemonic.

"Soko" means "there".

Now, often "koko" means the speaker's place and "soko" means the place of the listener.

"Asoko" means "over there" and it often means distant from both the speaker and the listener.

So the a-word means over there, somewhat in the distance, so it's a bit far away, you have to aaaah - shout - to be heard over there.

"Doko" means "where", so that's a question word.

So, ko-words mean here, possibly near to me, the so-words mean there, often near to you, the a-words mean over there, and the do-words form a question.

So, in anime or manga you'll often see someone saying, "koko wa doko?" - "Where is this?"

Literally, "Speaking of this place, where is it?"

And that seems to be the most usual way for a Japanese person to ask that question finding herself suddenly in an unknown location.

The English way of asking it is more likely to be ---- "Where am I?" but the Japanese way is "Where is this place?"

"Koko wa doko?" - "As for this place, where?"

Now, that's quite simple, I think.

And now we're going to look at something that does occasionally confuse people, and that's because when we come to the re- and the no-group, in English we express both with the same word.

But we do have the distinction, so let's look at those.

The re-group is "kore", "sore", "are", "dore".

And the thing here is that the -re means "a thing".

Ko- means a place, a location, and it can actually be written with the kanji for "tokoro" - "place".

-Re is related to "aru".

It's one of these things that's related to the fundamental "aru", the mother of verbs.

And "aru" means to "be"; this -re means "a being".

When we say "a being" in English we usually mean a sentient being, an animal or a person or something, but this means any kind of a being, anything that exists.

So, "kore" means "this thing/this being"; "sore" means "that thing/that being"; "are" means "that thing over there/that being over there", and "dore" means "which being/what thing?"

Now, what these can get confused with is the no-group: "kono", "sono", "ano", "dono".

Now, -re means a being and refers to a thing.

-No, as we know, is used to make adjectivals or descriptors.

So if we say, "Sakura-no doresu", we're saying, "Sakura's dress".

If we say, "densetsu-no senshi", we're saying, "legendary warrior/warrior that belongs to the class of legend".

Now, this is the same -no that we see in "kono/sono/ano/dono".

So if we take a very basic textbook phrase like "kore-wa pen da", we're saying, "this - this being - is a pen."

But if we say, "kono pen-wa akai" - "This pen is red".

"Ko-no pen" - the here pen, the pen that belongs to the class of things that are here.

"Sore-wa pen da" - "That thing over there or the thing you're holding is a pen".

"Sono pen-wa akai" - "That pen, the pen that belongs to the class of things over there, is red".

Now, in English we can say "this" or "this pen" and there's no distinction between the words.

We're using "this" in both cases.

So, once we've got used to how they work, I think those are very straightforward too.

Now, the next group is "konna","sonna", "anna", "donna".

Now, in this case we are using -na.

And -na, as we know, is the form of the copula that turns an adjectival noun into an adjective that you can place before something else.

And this is exactly what's happening here.

So, "konna" means "like this/this kind of"; "sonna" means "that kind of", "anna" means "that kind of over there/the further-away kind of".

And I'm not going to go into the details of this, but whether we use "sonna" or "anna" is going to depend on... sometimes the literal position of something but very often on how far these things are from what we are talking about, from the present circumstance, from something we associate with ourselves.

So, we could say, "Konna tabemono-ga suki desu" - "I like food like this".

"Sonna koto-ga hidoi" - "That kind of thing's unkind".

And in fact you'll often find in anime or manga that someone just says, "Sonna!"

And when it's said in that kind of a complaining or accusing kind of way, it's short for saying "that kind of thing."

You're saying, "that kind of thing", and it would mean something like "that kind of thing is unkind/ that kind of thing is mean/ that kind of thing is something I don't like."

"Sonna!" - "That you said such a thing!"

So "sonna" is essentially a comparing adjectival: we're describing what something is like by comparing it to something else that we're referring to, something that's here, something that's over there or something that's way over there, either in physical space or conceptually.

"Donna" is asking what kind of a thing something is.

Literally, what would we compare it to?

Now, when we use ko-so-a-do on their own and lengthen them with -u (or in the case of a-, with an extra -a) so they become "kou", "sou", "aa", "dou", then we are talking about the way something is or happens.

So when we say "sou desu ne?" we're saying, "That's right, isn't it?"

So what we are really saying is "sou da/sou desu" - "It is like that".

If we say, "sou suru" we mean "do like that"; if we say "kou suru" we mean "do like this": do in that way/do in this way.

If we say "dou suru", we say "do like how?" and we often say "dou sureba ii?"

Now, "sureba" is the conditional form of "suru".

Saying "do sureba ii?" means "how if I do will be good?"

And we often find these combined with "iu" meaning "say".

It's another example of the wider application of the concept of quotation in Japanese, which we discussed recently.

And this is often used in relation to things that are not physical, concrete things - in other words, the kind of things which we call "koto" rather than "mono".

And we're going to hear an awful lot "sou iu koto", "kou iu koto" and "dou iu koto".

We also hear "aa iu koto".

It's less commonly used than the others, but it is used.

So what do we mean when we say "sou iu koto" - "a thing of that kind"; "kou iu koto" - "a thing of this kind"; "dou iu koto" - "what kind of a thing"?

Why do we mean "what kind of a thing"?

This kind of a thing/that kind of thing, what kind of a thing?

What we're actually saying is "how-said thing/ how-said circumstance/ how-said condition".

In other words, in what way do we describe this condition/ what kind of a description does this circumstance or condition have?

And we often hear as a kind of exclamation, "dou iu koto!?" and it means "what's going on here?/ what is this? / what description of thing is this that's happening?"

And it can also mean "what are you talking about/what are you getting at/ what are you saying here?"

"Do iu koto!?"

And the thing to understand here is that the "iu" there is not referring to the fact that the person has just said it.

"Do iu koto" meaning "What do you mean/ what are you driving at/ what are you talking about here?"

The "iu" is not refer to the fact that you're saying it.

The "iu" refers to the description of the thing.

So "dou iu koto" is in this case short for "dou iu koto wo iu?" - "how-described thing are you saying?"

So we see the ko-so-a-do system works both in terms of literal location and in terms of metaphorical location.