Questions tagged [personification]

4 questions
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What are some well known exceptions for 居る (いる) and 有る (ある)?

Today I heard 人形がいる, so I googled around because I thought 居る was only for living things, but I found many examples of this usage. Many for 人形がある as well. Are there other exceptions for いる/ある?
Louis Waweru
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Can 達 be used to pluralize inanimate things?

インターネットを見ていて、「これは便利だと思ったiOSアプリたち」という記事を偶然読みました。「たち」は人間など[有生]{ゆうせい}のものを指している名詞にしか付かないと思っていましたが、このタイトルは反例ではないとは思えません。 「たち」をこういう使い方で使うのは本当に普通ですか。複数性を強調する場合、有生でないものには「等{ら}」を付けるのが普通だと思っていましたが…
永劫回帰
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5
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Can desire be expressed for entities that do not hold volition?

We can personify things. By using "want" with an inanimate object, it is personified: An object with inertia wants to maintain its state of motion. (Question) First, is it possible in Japanese for this kind of desiderative sentence to be…
Flaw
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How do you identify the point of view in Japanese (for novels)?

Since subjects are very often ommited, I find it hard to identify whether I'm reading a segment in the first person or the third person. What are the patterns to look for to identify one or the other? Is it common to jump between the two or are they…
Simon
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