The Parallel Particle や
Back in Lesson 27, we learned about the parallel particle と, which is used to conjoin noun phrases to create a finite list that is contained within the elements linked. In other words, if one wishes to say “N1 and N2,” one may say:
i. N1とN2
Consequently, however, i inherently implies that there is no N3.
Similarly, the parallel particle や also links nouns in much the same way, but with a catch. Instead of there not being a N3, the presumption is that there might be a N3—avoiding the exclusivity inherent with と.
ii. N1やN2（など）
Oftentimes, the final element of an incomplete list created by や is concluded with the adverbial particle など, which serve the function of “etc.”
Terminology Note: “N1,” “N2,” etc. stand for “Noun 1,” “Noun 2,” and so on.
Incomplete Lists with や
The primary function of the parallel particle や is to list things incompletely, and most importantly, in situations where speakers wish to refrain from imposing the strict exclusivity that the parallel particle と would. The implication of this wording will become more important as we move forward in this discussion, but for now, let’s look at simple sentences with や in action. Note that, when translating it into English, the word “and” is still often employed out of necessity.
1. ピクニックには、お菓子や飲み物を持ってまいりました。
We brought candies, drinks, etc. to the picnic.
2. うちの家は電車やバス停に近くて、とても便利なところに位置しています。
My home is close to the stations, bus, train, etc., located in a very convenient place.
3. 牛や馬が、向こうの青々とした草むら1で草を食んで2いる。
Cows and horses are grazing in the lush green meadow over there.
4. 東京や韓国へ行く時や、飛行機で行きます。
Whenever I go to Tokyo, Korea, etc., I go by plane.
5. 何やか3や言っては両親にお金をせびる。
To say this and that to get money out of one’s parents.
Sometimes, や is more akin to “or,” which is evident in the following:
6. 火事や地震が起こったら、避難してください。
Please evacuate if a fire or earthquake occurs.
It would be fairly odd for someone to be told to only evacuate in the cases of just fire and earthquake. Whether there is just a fire, just an earthquake, or both a fire and an earthquake at hand, Ex. 6 remains valid. Even so, や may also correspond to the “or” in “one or the other” relationships.
7. 私の結婚相手の条件は東大や京大を出ていることですわ！
My (one) condition I have for the person I’m going to marry is that they be a graduate of the University of Tokyo or Kyoto University!
What makes や an incomplete enumerator even in this context is that [東大] and [京大] are both prestigious schools, so if a guy from another unenumerated school wishes to court the speaker, he may still have a shot. The real question that ought to be posed, however, is whether the speaker necessarily considered other schools when they made this statement.
Before diving into how “incomplete” lists made with や are,
8. 遼平は毎日、ラーメンやうどんを食べた。
Ryohei ate (things like) ramen and udon every day.
Ryohei ate ramen or udon (or the like) every day.
9. 遼平は毎日、牛乳やヨーグルトを飲んだ。
Ryohei had (things like) milk and yogurt every day.
Ryohei had milk or yogurt (or the like) every day.
It is both plausible that Ryohei ate ramen and udon (and things of that vein) daily or that he alternated between those things, and the same goes for whether he had milk and yogurt daily or switched between the two or also went for similar dairy products. It is worth noting that this level of ambiguity is also possible in English.
Not So Incomplete Lists with や?
It turns out that many errors made by learners when distinguishing between と and や is not due misunderstanding the basic functions of these particles but the implications behind choosing one over the other. First, consider the following example.
10a. 日本には神社とお寺がたくさんあるが、そういうところは結婚式や葬式のための施設でしかないと考える人が意外と多いようだ。X
Intended: Japan has a lot of shrines and temples, but it seems that there are quite a few people who view those places as nothing more than venues for weddings and/or funerals.
10b. 日本には神社やお寺がたくさんあるが、そういうところは結婚式や葬式のための施設でしかないと考える人が意外と多いようだ。◎
Japan has a lot of shrines and temples, but it seems that there are quite a few people who view those places as nothing more than venues for weddings and/or funerals.
From the English alone, as a learner yourself, you may wonder what is so wrong with Ex. 10a. The speaker is specifically talking about temples and shrines, and it is those places that Japanese people view in peculiar ways. Even so, we see that even the learner is naturally hesitant to limit these institutions to [結婚式と葬式], thus the use of [結婚式や葬式], but why [神社やお寺]?
In the Japanese wording for “those places,” we see that そういうところ is employed, but unlike its English counterpart, this Japanese phrasing is naturally vague and would be better translated as “those sort of places.” This phrasing coupled with the use of や in [神社やお寺] indicate a strong tendency of avoiding absolutes as well as the general observation that if そういうところ is not absolute in nature, its referents ought not be absolutes either.
While そういうところ strongly flags [神社とお寺] as being ungrammatical in the context of the overall sentence, what if we were only looking at 日本には神社やお寺がたくさんあるが]? Even still, the use of や would prevail, even if both 神社=N1 and お寺=N2 were the sole things on the speaker’s mind. This is an instance of the not-so-incomplete や, and to get to the bottom of how it functions (or if it is even warranted to distinguish it from や’s basic understanding), there are several factors that we will need to explore:
- The qualities that N1 and N2 possess—[N1やN2].
- How the list relates to the predicate, especially verbal predicates.
- The emotional state of the speaker.
- The nature of the information being given via the list: “old” vs “new” information.
The qualities that N1 and N2 possess—[N1やN2]
First, let’s look at a healthy number of pairings made via や in isolation.
iii. 人権や自由
Human rights and freedoms
iv. 法律や宗教
The law and religion
v. 茶道や華道、剣道や弓道
The Way of Tea and The Way of Floral Art; The Way of the Sword and The Way of the Bow
vi. 電車やバス (and so on)
Trains and buses
vii. カナダやメキシコ
Canada and Mexico (and so on)
Something that these pairings all demonstrate is that N1 and N2 are of the same vein. They may be particular instances of whatever overarching theme being discussed, but the relationship between the two words ought to be uncanny, obvious, and in line with common sense.
In contrast, N1-N2 pairings conjoined by と maintain a high level of independence for the nouns involved, making と perfect for juxtaposing finite, distinct entities. As such, the use of と is heavily used, for instance, in the titles of books and movies, but in the phrasing “in the titles of books and movies,” one would expect や to appear.
vix. 罪と罰
Crime and Punishment
ix. 父と子
Father and child
x. 火と汐
Fire & Tide
xi. 美女と野獣
Beauty and the Beast
xii. 日本語の文法とその指導
Japanese Grammar and Its Instruction
xiii. 本や映画（など）のタイトル
Titles of books, movies, etc.
Although it is not to say that や cannot exist in certain pairings, once it is used instead of と, the “independence (独立性)” of each entity is significantly lowered. This also helps us explain how や can also be interpreted as “or,” as we saw earlier.
11. 罪や罰は償う事が出来る。
Sins and punishments can be atoned for.
12. 三位一体の表現に「父」や「子」を使わないところってあるの？
Are there any contexts in which the terms “Father” and “Son” are not used to express the Trinity?
13.「美女」や「野獣」のような一般的な語句や、単純にそれを組み合わせた語句は登録できません。
Common terms—such as “Beauty” or “Beast”—or simple combinations thereof cannot be registered.
To further verify the succinctness of と and the lack thereof of や, consider the following:
14a. きのう行ったのは、浅草と秋葉原です。〇
14b. きのう行ったのは、浅草や秋葉原です。??
14c. きのう行ったのは、浅草や秋葉原であって、日本橋ではない。〇
14a. The places I went to yesterday were Asakusa and Akihabara.
14b. As for where I went to yesterday, I went to Asakusa and Akihabara. (Intended)
14c. As for the places I went to yesterday, that would be Asakusa and Akihabara, not Nihombashi.
Given how weak the independence of N1 and N2 are with や conjoining them, we see that in Ex. 14c that the focus of the sentence is not so much on what や conjoins than it is on the comment that occurs afterward.
How the List Relates to the Predicate
If by using [N1やN2] the focus is not so much placed on the conjoined complements but whatever statement that follows, one might expect not-so-incomplete instances of や used to open up conversation on a given topic but direct the listener’s attention to what they have to say which would naturally follow.
15. 初詣は新年に行う重要な伝統行事で、[全国の神社や寺院]に、多くの人々が足を運びます。
Hatsumōde is a significant traditional custom observed at the start of the New Year, during which large numbers of people visit [shrines and temples across the country].
16. 将来の紛争については、36%のミレニアル世代が、人間に制御されていない自律型の[ドローンやロボット]が[戦争や武力紛争]で「民間人の犠牲者を増やす」と回答しています。
Regarding future conflicts, 36% of millennials believe that autonomous [drones and robots]—operating without human control—will “increase civilian casualties” in [wars and armed conflicts].
17. 夜遅くまで開いている店や24時間営業のコンビニエンスストア等4は、[ヨーロッパやアメリカの先進国]ではなかなか見られない光景だ。
Shops that remain open late into the night, as well as 24-hour convenience stores, are a sight rarely encountered in [developed nations in Europe and the United States].
In this same vein, we find that や is often followed by ～のような. Although incomplete lists are certainly possible, what with ～のような meaning “like,” but when N1 and N2 are not so incomplete, the use of や and ～のような can bring about a euphemistic tone.
18. 剣道や弓道のような武道では首や胸元、腕から見える刺青やモヒカンのような奇抜な髪型はどのような扱いですか？
In martial arts such as Kendo and Kyudo, how are visible tattoos—specifically those on the neck, chest, or arms—and unconventional hairstyles, such as mohawks, generally treated?
19. 僕もラファエル君やローサ姉さんのように頑張りたいと思う！
I, too, want to work just as hard as Raphael and Rosa!
20. ロシア連邦政府が伝統的価値観とみなし、人権や自由のような普遍的価値観とどこで乖離しているのか、その輪郭は先の文章で見ることができる。
The preceding text clearly outlines the contours of what the Russian Federation government regards as “traditional values,” and reveals precisely where these diverge from universal values such as human rights and individual freedoms.
We also see that its euphemistic tone also makes it fit well with allowing complements of a negative predicate to not sound so blunt and jarring.
21. 中国や韓国は論外だ。
China and South Korea are out of the question.
22. マスコミや専門家はあてにならないので、私なりに考えてみる。
Since the media and experts cannot be relied upon, I try to think for myself.
Speaking of the nature of the predicate, let’s now consider what these predicates, largely verbal, have in common. We find that in many cases, predicates which follow や tend to be far more wide-reaching in scope as opposed to be localized/finite, fitting the overall theme of や.
23. 彼は彼自身の背中や尻尾や腹に、ついに苔が生えてしまったと信じた。
It came to believe that the moss had finally grown onto its own back, tail, and belly.
From 『山椒魚』.
24. 山椒魚は、杉苔や銭苔を眺めることを好まなかった。
The salamander did not care for gazing at the cedar moss or liverwort.
25. 電車やバスを乗り継いで訪れた。
I traveled there by taking connecting trains and buses.
In Ex. 23 the event of the moss growing seemingly everywhere fits more in line with the use of や. We can get a much stronger sense of how widespread the event is taking place and that it is not localized to the spots mentioned in the list marked by や. In Ex. 24, the act of [眺める] encompasses the various mosses that dominate the salamander’s world. If と were to be used instead of や, that world which the salamander is not so fond of becomes limited and weakens the overall message substantially. In Ex. 25, while it is more perceivable, if not a given, that the agent visited by making connections on trains and busses—refraining from mentioning “by car” —the verb 乗り継ぐ itself hints at the various shifts in transportation made, so whether other forms of transportation are truly part of the “list” or not, や facilitates a more natural tone to highlight the transitions made.
The Emotional State of the Speaker
One thing that seems to be ever clearer as we investigate what is really meant by や is that the speaker feels inclined to avoid speaking in absolutes even when the entities enumerated by it are, for all intended purposes, the only things being discussed. Moreover, if the speaker wanted to clearly state that any given list made with や is unequivocally incomplete, they can employ など to taper things off.
26a. セス先生の机の上に、ペンやノートがある。
26b. セス先生の机の上に、ペンやノートなどがある。
26a. There are pens and notebooks on Seth-sensei’s desk.
26b. There are pens, notebooks, and the like on Seth-sensei’s desk.
27a. 彼氏は間違った歯磨き粉やブラシを買って普通に使っていた。
27b. 彼氏は間違った歯磨き粉やブラシなどを買って普通に使っていた。
27a. My boyfriend had bought the wrong toothpaste and toothbrush and has been using them on the regular.
27b. My boyfriend had bought the wrong toothpaste, toothbrush, and you name it, and has been using those things on the regular.
In both Ex. 26 and Ex. 27, N1 and N2 go hand-in-hand, and while it is not as realistic for [ペンやノート] to be the only things on someone’s desk, [歯磨き粉やブラシ] clearly go together, yet the speaker refrains from using と to conjoin them in Ex. 27a. By not speaking in absolute terms, the focus of the sentence can fall on the predicate that follows, as we have seen, which is how the agent has been using the as if nothing was wrong5. Even if the “wrong things” were, in fact, limited to just those two entities, や allows for the focus of the sentence to not be trapped to those two entities individually. Incidentally, Ex. 27b., while not ungrammatical, oddly begs the question as to what other things the speaker’s boyfriend buys by mistake and uses anyway as if nothing were wrong.
“New” vs “Old” Information
It must not be forgotten that the parallel particle と derives from a case particle, a case particle which introduces participants as its primary function. When used as a parallel particle, と introduces a pairing not just in a finite manner, but in doing so, it keenly shows up when “introducing” those complements for the first time as “new information.” To contrast this with how や functions, consider the following.
28. 岩屋の天井には、杉苔と銭苔が密生している。
The ceiling of the rocky cavern was densely overgrown with cedar moss and liverwort.
24. 山椒魚は、杉苔や銭苔を眺めることを好まなかった。
The salamander did not care for gazing at the cedar moss or liverwort.
29. 岩や天井の凹みには、一群ずつの黴さえも生えた。
Even clusters of mold had sprouted within the crevices of the rocks and ceiling.
It turns out that within the overall passage of 『山椒魚』, the mosses introduced prior to Ex. 24 are conjoined as [杉苔と銭苔], with と instead of や. When the mosses appear a second time, we see that や is used, which in addition the information now being “old,” it fits with the overall mood set by the negative predicate of the main clause as well as the wide-ranging implication of its immediate verbal head [眺める]. Later on in the passage, we even see [岩屋の天井] broken up as [岩や天井の凹み] to emphasize the wide-ranging extent of the underlining predicate [黴が生えた]. As such, while it is not always the case that や pertains to “old” information exclusively, we see that many of the implications borne in the contexts in which it appears are made possible by established context, bringing us full circle to the first point about nouns being linked with や being of the same vein.
【参照】
並立助詞「と」と「や」に関する一考察 by 市川保子.
- 草むら may also be spelled in kanji as 叢. ↩︎
- The verb 食む is a seldom encountered word meaning “to eat,” largely in the context of livestock eating grasses. Of course, in more colloquial conversation, it may be replaced by 食べる. ↩︎
- The か in this expression is an indefinite pronoun meaning “that,” and it is etymologically related to the word 彼, which was used to mean “that” before being repurposed as the third-person pronoun for “he.” ↩︎
- Whether it is read as とう or など, the use of “and the sort” when the statement is clearly about convenience stores that are open 24/7 is consistent with the use of the particle や thereafter in [ヨーロッパやアメリカの先進国] to ease one’s way into the substance of the main clause, which is that such stores are pretty uncommon in developed countries. ↩︎
- Of course, there is still always the open-ended conclusion to consider, in which “the things one may use to maintain one’s oral hygiene need not be limited to 歯磨き粉・ブラシ as some intrinsic pair. ↩︎