More on 野望

野望 (yabō: ambition; aspiration; designs; treachery)     wild + to aspire to

When I saw the negative last definition here, I thought I must have misunderstood the nuances of 野望; I wondered whether the “ambition” were the type related to malevolent scheming. But no, look at the perfectly positive connotation in this sentence:

仲間達が私に野望を果たすよう励ましてくれた。
Nakamatachi ga watashi ni yabō o hatasu yō hagemashite kureta.　
My comrades encouraged me to fulfill my ambitions.

仲間 (nakama: colleague; circle of friends)
     personal relations + between
-達 (-tachi: plural suffix)
私 (watashi: I, me)
果たす (hatasu: to accomplish, fulfill, achieve)
励ます (hagemasu: to encourage, cheer)

This is not the -masu form of the verb; 励ます is a verb whose dictionary form ends in す, as is the case with 話す (hanasu: to talk). It just so happens that, in 励ます, there’s a ま before the す. It also happens that the ま in this word is not covered by 励. Very confusing!

And then look at the connotation in these sentences:

野望のために彼は殺人を犯した。
Yabō no tame ni kare wa satsujin o okashita.
Ambition drove him to murder.

彼 (kare: he)

This kanji repeats on this page. I won’t keep defining it.

殺人 (satsujin: murder)     to kill + person
犯す (okasu: to commit (e.g., crime))

反乱軍の兵士が政権を打倒する野望を隠していた。
Hanrangun no heishi ga seiken o datō suru yabō o kakushite ita.
The rebel concealed his ambition to destroy the regime.

反乱軍 (hanrangun: rebel army)
     rebel + rebellion + army
兵士 (heishi: soldier)     soldier + soldier
政権 (seiken: (political) administration; political power)
     political administration + power to control
打倒する (datō suru: to overthrow, defeat)
     to hit + to overthrow

Halpern defines this 打 as used in verbal compounds to add euphony, but that’s a bit obscure to me.

隠す (kakusu: to hide, conceal)

彼の野望は権力を手に入れることだ。
Kare no yabō wa kenryoku o te ni ireru koto da.
His ambition is to gain power over others.

権力 (kenryoku: (political) power; authority; influence)
     power to control + power
手に入れる (te ni ireru: to obtain)     hand + to insert

This literally means “to get in hand.”

彼は世界に君臨しようという野望に取り付かれている。
Kare wa sekai ni kunrin shiyō to iu yabō ni toritsukarete iru.
He is possessed with the ambition to rule over the world.

世界 (sekai: world)     world + world
君臨する (kunrin suru: to reign)
     ruler + to be present at
取り付かれる (toritsukareru: to become obsessed with)
     emphatic verbal prefix implying that the action
     is performed thoroughly + to perform an action
     vigorously

The original meanings of 取 and 付 are, respectively, to take and to attach.

Ambition and treachery may seem worlds apart, but not so to the Japanese. Here’s how a native speaker explained it to me: “You know that 野 in 野望 means ‘wild.’ The wildest of wild ambitions is to conquer and rule the world. And if you are a samurai, you must betray or even kill your boss to achieve the goal—becoming number one and ruling the world.”

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