1

does
"たけしみたく、「５月病」にかかっている。"
mean:
"Just as Takeshi appears to, I have 'May Sickness.'" ?

In this context, does _"たけしみたく、..." mean:

  1. Takeshi may, or may not, have "May Sickness". Since I'm not Takeshi I don't know, but he appears to.
  2. Takeshi most certainly does have "May Sickness". I know that I have "May Sickness". And Takeshi's looks like how I am feeling. So, he (99% chance) must have it as well.

If #2 were true, then does "Takeshi and I are similar" become implied and would this also be a good translation:
"Takeshi and I are similar in that we both have 'May sickness.'"

red shoe
  • 639
  • 4
  • 14
  • Did you come up with this sentence yourself? –  May 02 '15 at 16:43
  • @snailboat yes. – red shoe May 02 '15 at 16:45
  • 1
    In Standard Japanese [みたい（だ）](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%BF%E3%81%9F%E3%81%84%E3%81%A0) doesn't inflect like a 形容詞, although [some people do say みたく](http://okwave.jp/qa/q1605265.html). –  May 02 '15 at 17:58
  • @snailboat I guess what I was trying to do was imply "私" into the sentence as strongly as possible. I was primarily concerned about my technique for doing this. Anyway, I was so surprised by the origin of "~みたく、". thanks! – red shoe May 02 '15 at 20:53
  • @snailboat I just found out why "みたく" sounded natural to me. It was because of "形シク" words such as "同じ" ---> "同じく". anyway.... – red shoe May 10 '15 at 17:33
  • There are no other words like 同じ in Japanese. It's unique. –  May 10 '15 at 23:40
  • A description of 同じ won't fit in a comment, but let's look at some of it briefly. Since, as you point out, it was a 形容詞 with シク活用 long ago, it should have become 同じい in Modern Japanese. But it was turning into a 形容動詞 while the language underwent these changes, so we ended up with an irregular set of forms. We got 同じ (when modifying 体言), 同じく・同じように・同じに (modifying 用言), and 同じだ・同じです (predicatively), among others. As you can see, some of these forms resemble a 形容詞 and others a 形容動詞. Note that 同じく isn't 若者言葉 like 〜みたく is. –  May 11 '15 at 00:51

1 Answers1

3

First, regarding the word 「みたく」, it is dialectal and fairly slangy. The majority of us native speakers do not use it actively. Those who do use it would tend to be from around Kanto and "not very old". If a J-learner wanted to use it, I feel s/he should use it knowing it is indeed that type of word so that it will not be used at the wrong places.

「みたく」 means 「みたいに」 or 「のように」, and not 「みたいな」 or 「のような」.

does "たけしみたく、「５月病」にかかっている。" mean: "Just as Takeshi appears to, I have 'May Sickness.'" ?

Strictly speaking, no, it does not. At least, that is not how the more careful speakers would use 「みたく」.

Unless it was said as a joke, one would need to know for sure (100%) that Takeshi has it to say that Japanese sentence because not many would appreciate being taken for a mental illness patient if they are not. How Takeshi apppears to you should not matter. It is different from a situation where you might be saying "Just like Takeshi, I have a broken arm."

If #2 were true, then does "Takeshi and I are similar" become implied and would this also be a good translation: "Takeshi and I are similar in that we both have 'May sickness.'"

I myself would not call that a good translation because it is more a paraphrasing than a translation. The subject of the original is definitely the unmentioned first person; Takeshi is no part of it. In that "translation", it is "Takeshi and I". It would be a very free translation.

  • To express "Takeshi appears to have 五月病" could I say something like: "たけしは、五月病にかかっているそうです。"? – red shoe May 03 '15 at 00:21