This question is from a more cultural perspective, than a purely linguistic one.
Recently I came across an article describing how various cultures describe time differently. It could be linear like many western cultures, flowing in one direction. It could be cyclical, constantly repeating like many Indian cultures.
But even in these, the flow can be different. In english the future lies ahead of me, the past behind me. In some places it’s the opposite, the future is behind you because you can’t see it, the past in front because you can.
Does Japanese work this way, I’ve noticed how 前 is both before and front. 先 is both previous and ahead.
Both 先週 and 前週 can mean previous week, but as far as I understand, both 先 and 前 can mean the future as well?
I don’t know exactly how to phrase my question, but in essence I’m trying to understand how Japanese describes time? Is the past in front or or top or bottom? What about the future? Or do these things don’t matter and there’s a different perspective altogether?!
Would love to hear your thoughts!
Ps let me know if this kind of post is allowed here!
9 comments
> In english the future lies ahead of me, the past behind me.
“Before” literally means “in front of” (before = by fore), doesn’t it mean that the past is in front of you in English ?
>Does Japanese work this way,
Yes, Japanese works the same way. There might be some slight differences, but the general past and future is the same. The language can sometimes use the past and future forms in different ways though.
>I’ve noticed how 前 is both before and front. 先 is both previous and ahead.
If we use your English “before”.
“I ate before”(past), “You can go before me”(future). Is the same as 先食べた(past) and 先どうぞ(future). Both Japanese and English can use “before” to mean past and future in a sense.
The “before” itself, isn’t stuck in a time, but just says something is before something else. Weather that is in the past future or present doesn’t matter, neither in English or Japanese.
It’s both in both. The other guy explained before. After also literally means “behind”, same as 後, but then you have phrases like “looking forward” and これから。It’s just inconsistent.
A note on 前 from dictionary.goo.ne.jp:
> 使い方によっては「過去」にも「未来」にもなる言葉。
> Depending on how it’s used, “mae” can refer to the past or the future.
The word 未来 (future) means something like “hasn’t yet come” if you look at the individual kanji, and 過去 (past) uses the same kanji as 過ぎ去った (to pass; to pass by). 未来 and 過去 are both of Chinese origin.
I don’t know how good your Japanese is but the YouTube channel ことラボ just went over this in his latest video 「前」と「後ろ」が分からないとき見る動画
Anecdotal evidence.
I believe Japanese language “sees” time along both the X and Y axis. Usually, but not always, writing and art sometimes reflect how speakers see time.
Japanese tend to “read” art from right to left, which is reflected in their art. English speakers tend to do the opposite.
When ordering events (say on index cards), Chinese speakers tend to order it too to bottom, while English speakers tend to lay them out left to right. When ordering events, however, Japanese tend to follow the English speakers. However, I’ve also seen a lot of vertical flow charts in Japan.
I’m vocabulary and writing, we have words like 以前 (aforementioned, previous), 以降 (hereafter – notice how it has the meaning of “go down”), 以上 (the above) and 以下 (below, as in “policies are dictated as below”).
This is a great topic. This is called a spatial metaphor. Japanese and English both use roughly the same spatial metaphors for time where “in front of” means the future and “behind” means the past. Another metaphor that both languages use for time is flowing (like a river). As you pointed out, is by no means guaranteed across every language; it’s probably a coincidence since this is very intuitive.
There are other spatial metaphors that Japanese and English share, such as “high” being respected/noble and “low” being humble/subservient. However there are important spatial metaphors that Japanese and English do not share that can also be an insight into the culture. For example, in English the sequential “first” often implies authority/ownership/greatness/ability/quickness and “last” implies the opposite. In Japanese, however, “last” can often imply authority/finality/wisdom/nobility, and “first” is often less emphasized. For example, Japanese meetings/ceremonies are designed so that the most noble person sits in the deepest part of the room such that they are the last one to exit, and the second most noble person would be second to last, etc. It is important when addressing a letter (or even when entering email addresses in the “to” line) to always put the highest ranking person last on the list. Note that as a spatial metaphor for first/last, the Japanese language and (especially modern) culture have many exceptions. It is still polite to hold the door for someone and say to go ahead, お先にどうぞ (おさきにどうぞ). It is also a business custom to wait to leave the office until after your superiors have already left (in case they have more work to give you.)
My native tongue is Bengali, and we have a direct correlation in our language to the 前 and 先 thing. In Bengali, the word ” আগে” (“agey”) can be used to mean both “ahead” and “behind” depending on the context (this can refer to both direction and time.) I understood the similar interchangeable meanings of 前 and 先 in relation to আগে when I first learnt them
I’ve been curious about it in terms of left and right, and up and down. And how it might relate to vertical script, the meaning and evolution of kanji and radicals of directions, etc.