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Can somebody please help me understand the following sentence:

なにをするにも、「おそい」ということはないのじゃから。

I am having trouble with the part that I've bolded (じゃから).

I think so far that it means "What ever you do, it doesn't mean ???? "slow".

macraf
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Teresa S-j
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  • I am not certain on this, but it could just be a corruption of だから. – Reveiller Oct 18 '16 at 14:07
  • I have wondered if that were the case. How would you translate it if that were so? – Teresa S-j Oct 18 '16 at 14:15
  • The copula じゃ is not a 'corruption' of だ. Both copula forms じゃ and だ are derived from である. –  Oct 18 '16 at 14:49
  • So, do you think that it's a negative, as in じゃない　or　じゃありません？ – Teresa S-j Oct 18 '16 at 15:20
  • じゃ in じゃない is a contraction of で+は, while じゃ in じゃから is a copula. For more about じゃ as 老人語 / 役割語(role language), you could refer to these posts: http://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/11134/9831　・　http://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/34196/9831　・　http://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/12129/9831 – Chocolate Oct 18 '16 at 23:12

2 Answers2

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のじゃから is the exact same as のだから; in certain dialects, the plain copula is じゃ rather than だ. This is also used in fictional 'role language' to mark a character as elderly or rural.

Angelos
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Related answer: https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/39624/16344

The following list is great & comprehensive -- its stated focus is on recent Anime characters (キャラ語尾, kyara-gobi, Character-suffix)

じゃ == often used by 老人キャラ (old(er) folks)

http://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/%E8%AA%9E%E5%B0%BE%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%80%E8%A6%A7

じゃ == 老人キャラがよく使う語尾。

容姿が若くみえるキャラでも、設定上用いるケースもある。元ネタは中国地方東部の方言。
中国地方では、現在でも老若男女でこの語尾を当たり前のように使用している。

  • 中国地方 has nothing to do with China. 中国地方 includes Hiroshima, Okayama, etc.
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HizHa
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