Missing piece

[afuna]

This request? is driving me mad. Because I figured out what's wrong, and I think there's a possible solution, but I don't know why I thought the problem was with the Japanese language layer.

See, process happened something like this: Check support board just before heading out for work, discover easy-looking request, check that it's not the user's customizations, figure out which layer the problem text/setting is coming from, temporarily switch layouts to confirm, and then IC with preliminary diagnosis. (Eight minutes! Not bad, since I was brushing my hair and my teeth and throwing on clothes and grabbing breakfast while waiting for the relevant pages to load :))

My problem is that the only reason I figured out what had happened so quickly was that an image flashed through my mind of someone saying something about pluralization in language layers, or maybe pluralization in Japanese. And I cannot figure out who, where, what, why. I have the feeling that I read it very recently (maybe within this past week), but it could have been posted any time before then. And it is driving me crazy that I can't figure out where the image came from.

I wasn't aware of the bug before, so it couldn't have been that, but... gah. *flails*. What is the missing piece, and where did it come from? I know I should just leave it alone, because the request itself is done, but, but. But! It's like when a passage from a book runs through my mind, and I touch and poke and prod and analyze until I can figure out which book it is. (Or when a snatch of song just starts playing through my brain, and it nags at me until I can get someone else to figure it out.)

So you lovely people on my friendslist! I have a question: Do any of you remember talking about Japanese these past few days? :D


Update:
This request (S1, pluralization, no internationalization) might have had something to do with it. I could have sworn that there was a discussion about Japanese somewhere, though.

Comments

[raphaelcentauri.livejournal.com]

Well, it's not that they're nonexistant, but there's no "s" equivalent; for instance "two apples" is pretty much said in the form and word order, "ringo o futatsu" or "apple x2",and "lots of apples" is "ringo o takusan" or "apple x'lots'"... (Here endeth the lesson)

Anyway, I don't remember addressing plurals in the chat specifically, but it might've happened, I can't be bothered to sift through all my logs. :)

[afuna]

True that, but no plurals for the purposes of using in a comments link *G*

PS. Is it "ringo o futatsu" or "ringo wa futatsu"? "o" is the object marker, so you'd need a verb, but I'm not sure whether you dropped the verb for purposes of demonstration or used the wrong particle.

[raphaelcentauri.livejournal.com]

No, "ringo o futatsu" is correct. "ringo wa futatsu" means "apples are two items" :D

[raphaelcentauri.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh, wait a minute, I see what you mean. It would indeed be a very strange thing to walk up to someone and randomly say that like that. Yes, it was just for demonstration.

If I were saying, "these two apples cost 300 yen", then yes, I would say:
"kono ringo wa futatsu 300en desu."
Or, more literally, "these apples are 300 yen for two".

Otherwise, if the apples become the object as I had fixed in my brain, like in "I bought two apples"

"Watashi wa ringo o futatsu kaerimasu"

[afuna]

\o/

I get it now! That was what I was wondering!

(errrrr "kaimasu" I think, not "kaerimasu" (go homeXD))

[raphaelcentauri.livejournal.com]

Crap. >_<

I'll shut up now.

[afuna]

No :( Don't shut up :(

[afuna]

"apples are two items"

- which is what I thought you were trying to say *G*

(Oh, actually what I thought you wanted to say was "ringo ga futatsu arimasu")