What's with that と?

[attwad]

I was wondering what means "と" at the end of sentences like " ******* とゆいみ" I don't know if that's the correct writing I recognize this by ear that's all i got... From what I can deduce it's used to quote or something like that no? please tell me the different usages of と so I can understand thanks!

[jiashen]

haha I've been wondering about that myself too. It's actually と言う意味 (といういみ), 'iu' is to say and imi is meaning. I think it means "means [whatever preceding it]". but I really don't know haha. Did you hear it in the intermediate podcasts? They alway say that, but it's just about the only thing I can pick up haha.

[attwad]

yes it's often said in the intermediate podcast when they explain a part of a sentence... Please Sakura-san you're the one who say it the most so if you see this post we need your help ! ^^

[Jason]

The construct is Xと言う意味. It means "means X/has the meaning of X."

-「リブート」と言う言葉はコンピュータを再起動すると言う意味です。
-「リブート」と言う言葉はコンピュータを再起動すると言う意味しています。


Both of these mean "The word 'reboot' means to restart a computer."

In general, とうい can be used to define things in addition to quoting speech.

[jkeyz15]

Yes, and for an encompassing, not so informative, but generalizing statement; you could say that という　can refer to the actual statement itself, and it 'generalizes' things.

For the part about toiu refering to the statement/word itsel, Tae Kim, as always, has an article on this in his GuideToJapanese. It was encorporated from his blog entry at nihongo.3yen.com

[attwad]

わかりました！ありがとうございます！

[attwad]

Yes, and for an encompassing, not so informative, but generalizing statement; you could say that という　can refer to the actual statement itself, and it 'generalizes' things.

For the part about toiu refering to the statement/word itsel, Tae Kim, as always, has an article on this in his GuideToJapanese. It was encorporated from his blog entry at nihongo.3yen.com

By the way thanks for the great link GuideToJapanese I learned a lot (and I'm still not finished) about small but essential points! (like the fact that だ isn't the plain form of です) very informative!

[jkeyz15]

Da is and isn't the plain form of desu. Hard to explain, and this will most be learned from just using the language and advancing in your studies. You will see many cases of how desu can be used but not da, etc, etc..