![]() It appears that people's readiness to accept changes has grown along with the continued evolution of the Japanese language.Īnd the language changes with the times. Twenty years ago, 85 percent of respondents felt the language was going downhill, but the number fell to 66 percent in the most recent survey. In that sense, it is quite interesting that there is a gradual decline in the number of people who feel the Japanese language is being corrupted, according to a survey by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. Whenever it may have started, using zenzen before affirmative words has somehow become the mainstream, blurring the line between the correct and the incorrect. In his novel "Botchan," Soseki Natsume (1867-1916) used zenzen with the affirmative phrase "warui desu" (it is bad). "Zenzen daijobu" is fully accepted today, and its usage is apparently not entirely wrong.Īccording to "Nihonjin mo Nayamu Nihongo" (The Japanese language that puzzles even the Japanese people) by linguist Shigehiro Kato, the usage of zenzen with an affirmative word was already in evidence during the Edo Period (1603-1867), and was not rare during the ensuing Meiji Era (1868-1912), either. However, once I became accustomed to this phrase, I had to admit this was rather interesting. Now, if this isn't the ultimate example of the misuse of language, what is? ![]() ![]() "Zenzen" is an adverb that modifies negative verbs and various other types of negative words and phrases, as in "zenzen shiranai," which means "don't know at all."īut "daijobu," which stands for OK, or fine, is an affirmative word, not negative. ![]() I still remember the shock of hearing the phrase "zenzen daijobu" for the first time about 20 years ago. Today's column is titled " Different use of ‘zenzen’ fails to annoy Japanese language police" (9/29/29). Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on of The Asahi Shimbun. ![]()
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