2011年3月30日水曜日

開く(aku) - 開く(hiraku)

As you all know, we had strong earthquakes in north-east Japan on March 11.
The resulting tsunami struck many cities and there were many victims. This is very sad.
Even now, in the cold weather, evacuees and victims are having to live with a shortage of food, electricity and water or living without these necessities altogether. This is a very difficult situation.
Besides that, there have also been the continuing troubles of the nuclear power plants in Fukushima and all Japanese are worried about it. I can’t stop checking the news either.
I am praying that the situation for evacuee and victims will improve even a little and that the radiation problem will not get worse.
                                                                                      
The sakura (cherry blossom) season which Japanese love will be coming soon, but this year it may be hard for us to simply enjoy it. I can’t get in the mood for ohanami (going outside to appreciate the cherry blossoms). Nevertheless, I think the beautiful sakura will make our heavy Japanese hearts a little lighter. Sakura has started blooming in Tokyo on March 28th.  The forecasted day of first bloom for north-east Japan is from the middle of April.
The “forecasted day of first bloom” is literally predicting literally “the day the flower will open out” being predicted. “The flower opens” (開くhiraku) is the same meaning as “the flower blooms”.  It is not 開く(aku), but 開く(hiraku).

The kanji is the same and the meaning is the same verb “open”, but what is the difference? To begin with, let’s look at “hiraku”. Please imagine when a flower blooms. The bloom opens from the center and outward. This has the feeling of gradually being able to see the center. It is moving toward more than two angles.

  • hana ga hiraku: Flowers open
  • te ga hiraku: Hands open
  • hon ga hiraku: Books open
  • jido door ga hiraku: Automatic doors open
  • mado ga hiraku: (French) windows open

Next, “aku” is to open by moving a thing like a key or lid that blocked a passageway. And, the movement is in one direction.
  • door ga aku:  (Swing/push type) doors open
  • mado ga aku: (Sliding) windows open
  • bin ga aku: Bottles open 
Given that there are situations when both “hiraku” or “aku” can be used, the above difference is not necessarily clear cut.
  • me ga hiraku/ aku: Eyes open
  • kuchi ga hiraku/ aku: Mouths open

Therefore, the grammatical difference is that “hiraku” is both an intransitive and a transitive verb. “aku” is an intransitive verb, and“akeru” is its transitive verb counterpart. The above example of “hiraku” is the case of the intransitive verb. The next example is the case of the transitive verb.
  • kasa o hiraku: Open an umbrella.
  • hon o hiraku: Open a book.
  • mise o hiraku: Open a store. (meaning “open a new store, start a business”)
When using the other transitive verb “akeru”, the meaning changes:
  • mise o akeru: Open a store. (meaning “open a store during opening hours everyday, open for business for that day”)
“hiraku” “aku “and “akeru” are quite complex, aren’t they?  I think it is good to remember the fundamental rule and then check the rule every time you see a real-life example.
Finally, for everyone who is in Japan, these continue to be highly stressful days, but when we see the cherry blossoms, let’s greet spring with a slightly more cheerful spirit. I refer to my favorite waka poem about cherry blossoms:

harukaze no hana o chirasu to miru yume wa

sametemo mune no sawagu narikeri   [Saigyo]

(Even after awakening from my dream of flowers scattered by a spring breeze, I'm feeling unesasy.)


hisakata no hikari nodokeki haru no hi ni
shizugokoro naku hana no chiruram     [Tomonori Kino]
(In the gentle light of a spring day, the flowers scatter without sincerity.)

 

If you change the boldfaced “no” to “ga”and read it, I think the meaning becomes easy to understand. Also, “flower” here means “cherry blossom”.