# 見えない人、どんなひとですか？



## John_Doe

> 見えないあなた
> 聞こえないあなた
> 触れないあなた
> あなた　あなた
> 十一の怪　紅涙乙女


I'm sorry I cannot provide much context for these lines because they are from an obscure 次回予告. The question: who cannot do things, the speaker or あなた? The speaker's name is 影夕子 and あなた is probably 夕子。 Shadow Yuuko is a vengeful spirit of Yuuko, manifesting her negative emotions, and Yuuko always pretends not to notice the existence of her Shadow.

I assume that 聞こえないあなた → あなたが見えない (_ can't see you). So a person himself cannot seen by someone, he is an invisible man of sorts. The same goes for 聞こえない and 触れない. I have no idea why Shadow cannot see Yuuko all of sudden (the things were always opposite), but I'm fine with it if my interpretation is right from the point of view of grammar.

I started googling just in case and came across a question on chiebukuro


			
				http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1343442743 said:
			
		


			幽霊を見える人と見えない人の違いはなぜですか？ この理由を説明しろと質問...
		
Click to expand...


"What's the difference between those who can see a ghost and those who doesn't", right? Shouldn't it be 見られる instead of 見える?

Next, the title of a book, 見えない人こそよくみえる. Judging by the cover, the book is about blind people. I'm at a loss to understand it. Maybe, in this particular case 見えない人= 目が見えない人? So "I really can see (notice) blind people" or something like that._


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## Tonky

John_Doe said:


> "What's the difference between those who can see a ghost and those who doesn't", right? Shouldn't it be 見られる instead of 見える?



Both 見られる and 見える are correct as potential forms of 見る, but since 見られる can also be used as passive and honorific, people tend to prefer 見える. And 見られる also means "to be able to *watch*" instead of "to (be able to) *see*", as the English "to see" and "to watch" work differently. 
この映画館でテルマエロマエ2が見られます。You can watch THERMAE ROMAEII in this theater.
*この映画館でテルマエロマエ２が見えます。You can see THERMAE ROMAEII in this theater.
窓から富士山が見られます。 You can see Mt. Fuji from the window.
窓から富士山が見えます。You (can) see Mt. Fuji from the window.

幽霊が踊るのを見られます　You can watch the ghost dancing.
幽霊が見られます You can see a ghost.
幽霊が見えます You (can) see a ghost.



John_Doe said:


> Next, the title of a book, 見えない人こそよくみえる. Judging by the cover, the book is about blind people. I'm at a loss to understand it. Maybe, in this particular case 見えない人= 目が見えない人? So "I really can see (notice) blind people" or something like that.


見えない人こそよくみえる means "[Those who can't see] see well/better", and it talks about what the blind people see without sight, it is a book on guidelines for eye health workers and blind helpers, or anyone who are interested in such assisting works, on what they can or should do or be aware of when they work for the blind and visually impaired. The last part of the sentence みえる is not seeing physically, but how they can sense, feel, and understand when they aren't looking at people or the environment around with their eyes. That is why みえる in the title is written in red Hiragana instead of kanji like the first 見えない.

As for the first question, I'm sorry but my guess is as unsure as yours, and I hope someone else can answer for you.


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## John_Doe

> As for the first question, I'm sorry but my guess is as unsure as yours, and I hope someone else can answer for you.


The purpose of my question was to confirm if there is ambiguity in the meaning of 見えない人. I figure there is.



> 見えない人こそよくみえる means "[Those who can't see] see well/better", and it talks  about what the blind people see without sight, it is a book on  guidelines for eye health workers and blind helpers, or anyone who are  interested in such assisting works, on what they can or should do or be  aware of when they work for the blind and visually impaired. The last  part of the sentence みえる is not seeing physically, but how they can  sense, feel, and understand when they aren't looking at people or the  environment around with their eyes. That is why みえる in the title is  written in red Hiragana instead of kanji like the first 見えない.



I'm sorry for asking apparently very basic stuff, but just in case... 見えない人こそよくみえる ⇒ 見えない人こそ*は*よくみえる. Since 見えない人 are 'experiencers' or 'owners of their (in)capabilities', they should be marked by the topic particle. If the sentence was 見えない人*が*よくみえる, they would be objects of perception (I understood the original sentence just like that). Besides, it seems こそ works with only the former structure (見えない人こそは), so は can be safely omitted without causing ambiguity. Am I wrong?



> 幽霊が見られます You can see a ghost.
> 幽霊が見えます You (can) see a ghost.


Is it possible to omit が? Like 幽霊、見える! I think it's not the case with 見える、幽霊が！


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## Tonky

John_Doe said:


> I'm sorry for asking apparently very basic stuff, but... 見えない人こそよくみえる ⇒ 見えない人こそ*は*よくみえる. Since 見えない人 are 'experiencers' or 'owners of their (in)capabilities', they should be marked by the topic particle. If the sentence was 見えない人*が*よくみえる, they would be objects of perception (I understood the original sentence just like that). Besides, it seems こそ works with only the former structure (見えない人こそは), so は can be safely omitted without causing ambiguity. Am I wrong?


こそ is a topic marker, a much stronger one than は and it stresses the word. It can work both ways with は and without は. It can also work with が too with certain limited context.
今度こそは！＝今度こそ！ (This time for sure, I'll manage/succeed, ~)
愛こそはすべて (Japanese title of the Beatles song, "All you need is love", LOVE is all you need.)
頭が悪い人こそ、大学へ行って、たくさん勉強するべきだ。(It is those not-smart people who should go to college and study hard.) 
http://jlpt.u-biq.org/koso.html
あいつこそがテニスの王子様 (HE is the prince of tennis, not anyone else.)


> Is it possible to omit が? Like 幽霊、見える!


Yes, it is. 
(By the way, 幽霊*を*見える is grammatically incorrect in the above quote, but speech errors often happen.)


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## Tonky

I was going through more examples, but there seems to be a rule as to when it allows you to say こそは and when it doesn't.
見えない人こそはよく見える sounds somewhat awkward, and 見えない人こそがよく見える sounds better, and 見えない人こそよく見える sounds the best as the title of the book. Unfortunately, I'm sorry but I cannot see the rule at the moment. (I sort of have one in mind, but I should probably check with more examples before I say anything.)

edit
Yes, I understand what you were wondering with が of が見える part. I need to organize myself before I can explain without confusing you.


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## SoLaTiDoberman

（私には）幽霊が見える。　＝　Ghosts are visible (for me).


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## Jackyquah

Tonky said:


> こそ is a topic marker, a much stronger one than は and it stresses the word. It can work both ways with は and without は. It can also work with が too with certain limited context.


こそ from your interpretation is different from this intepretation (http://www.renshuu.org/index.php?page=grammar/individual&id=318)
which is written that こそ marked a strong reason or cause. so  見えない人こそよくみえる means can see well because those who cannot see.
which one is true ? こそ is a strong topic marker or a strong reason or cause marker ?


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## Tonky

Jackyquah said:


> こそ from your interpretation is different from this intepretation (http://www.renshuu.org/index.php?page=grammar/individual&id=318)
> which is written that こそ marked a strong reason or cause. so  見えない人こそよくみえる means can see well because those who cannot see.
> which one is true ? こそ is a strong topic marker or a strong reason or cause marker ?


Maybe I shouldn't have called it a topic marker so easily. It stresses the word, but it does not mean "can see well because those who cannot see". It is not giving a strong reason.
I'll explain again later, but wanted to mention it before anyone misunderstands. (I do not have time to do it now.)


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## natrium

Hello, John Doe!

I don't know about 紅涙乙女 at all. So I have no background. I think this makes me help answer what 見えないあなた means without context.

As you write in #3, there is ambiguity in 見えないあなた. It can be both "あなた can't see" and "can't see あなた".
This ambiguity is mainly cleared with context, not grammaticall, I think.

およげる（can swim） is an intransive verb, and we can say 泳げないあなた, which means "あなた can't swim" only, because nobody can swim you!


Now let me explain with 泳げない人. I hit upon 泳げない人こそ海へ行くべき (Those who can't swim should go to the seaside.). This is a possible sentence ( I don't know why they should go there, though.).

You can change the sentence into 泳げない人が海へ行くべき, in which 人 is not an object (please remember no one can swim no one.) . So I'm afraid that が doesn't work to distinguish an object and an subject.

About こそ, I don't know well about grammatical words, but it works to emphasize the meaning of what comes just before こそ. Reason or cause can be strong with こそ. But the function of こそ is more than that.(http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/こそ) This site would be helpful.

からこそ (in renshuu) shows reason or cause, but からこそ is から+こそ. and it is から that shows reason or cause. こそ just strengthen the meaning から.

By the way, reading your comment, I realized a subject followed by こそ can naturally omit は.

(1)見えない人こそよく見える
(2)見えない人こそはよく見える
(3)見えない人こそがよく見える

(1) sounds the most natural. (2) seems to me unnatural. (3) is better than (2), but sounds to me too much.

I don't know why, sorry.


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## YangMuye

Before Tonky-san posting a great elaboration, I would write some of my observation.

I always have problems figuring out whether は or が is omitted after こそ before こそ seems to have a dual function of が and は.
e.g. if you say ◎◎こそ□□, こそ can be used to draw *attention* to ◎◎, which is the function of が. It also contrast ◎◎ with a group of some similar things (e.g. ○○, ●●, ◎◎) and implies ◎◎ is *remarkable* among them. This is the function of は.

I think the common usages of こそ are:

1. a concessive conjunction
It can be replaced by は. It appears in the same position as what I called 否定を表すハ
　　年*こそ*若い*が*、功老を経ている

2. to negate other alternatives
は can't be used to mark new/unknown information. が has a similar function, but it does not negate other alternatives and needs some context to enable the “comparative” reading.
　　こちら*こそ*よろしく (as opposite to あなた)
　　見えない人*こそ*よく見える  (as opposite to 見える人)
　　彼*こそ*真の男だ (as opposite to someone else)

3. ◎◎こそ□□, ◎◎=<time>, □□=<wish, command, volition>
◎◎ must be words meaning “the future”, such as 今度, 次, 明日, etc. □□ is some kind of declaration or admonishment.
こそ can be replaced by は, but I still find some examples like 今こそ which cannot be substitute by 今は. (今 must be a very special adverb. When it's followed by は, it's strongly contrastive.)
　　今*こそ*団結しなければならない
　　今度*こそ*許さないぞ

4. ◎◎こそ□□, when the listener might be concerned with “??が□□”, you use こそ to give a surprisingly obvious answer.
　　君こそ僕の生きがい
　　仕事こそ私のすべて

5. ◎◎こそ□□, you want draw the listener's attention to ◎◎ because of □□. The □□ part states how awesome ◎◎ is.
I actually think both が and は can be used.
　　我こそ神なり
　　太陽こそあらゆる生命の源泉


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## lingyang

Hi dear Chinese friend can you help me to translate ?


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## Tonky

YangMuye said:


> I always have problems figuring out whether は or が is omitted after こそ before こそ seems to have a dual function of が and は.
> e.g. if you say ◎◎こそ□□, こそ can be used to draw *attention* to ◎◎, which is the function of が. It also contrast ◎◎ with a group of some similar things (e.g. ○○, ●●, ◎◎) and implies ◎◎ is *remarkable* among them. This is the function of は.


This is a very good point. I rely on my native Japanese sense too much to decide that, indeed.
We really need to take some cognitive approach to reach any form of answers to this.

First of all, let's try to clear up the question John_Doe has. Allow me to quote it again.


John_Doe said:


> 見えない人こそよくみえる ⇒ 見えない人こそ*は*よくみえる. Since 見えない人 are 'experiencers' or 'owners of their (in)capabilities', they should be marked by the topic particle. If the sentence was 見えない人*が*よくみえる, they would be objects of perception (I understood the original sentence just like that). Besides, it seems こそ works with only the former structure (見えない人こそは), so は can be safely omitted without causing ambiguity.


Theoretically, as in, generative grammar thinking, this sentence should be
① 見えない人*に*よくみえる (original)
↓
② 見えない人*にこそ*よくみえる (adding こそ for attention/stress)
↓
②’ 見えない人*こそ*よくみえる (deleting に)

① 見えない人*に*よくみえる (original)
↓
①’ 見えない人*には*よくみえる (adding は for comparison)
↓
①’’ 見えない人*は*よくみえる (deleting に)
↓
②’ 見えない人*こそ*よくみえる (adding こそ for attention/stress) *Let me skip why "は" is dropped here for now.

As you pointed out, 見えない人*が*よくみえる should mean "to be able to see those who cannot see", as みえる takes が to bring its object of perception as the basic syntax rule. However, let's look at the famous phrase, 目が見える. 目 is not the object of perception, but it is a body part that experiences perception. The same goes with 耳が聞こえる and 耳. 

Here is an article about the combination of ガ格(が-case) + adjectives
http://www001.upp.so-net.ne.jp/ketoba/keiyoushinotorukaku.htm
(見える is a verb and not an adjective, but please forget that part for now. Or you could regard it as "visible" in a cognitive sense just like SoLaTiDoberman posted above.)


> ８　感覚を感じる場所の結びつき
> 感覚を表す形容詞は主体のガ格名詞の他に別のガ格名詞（身体の部分を表す）と組み合わさって、その感覚が生じる場所を示す。「頭が痛い」「体が痒い」「目が眩しい」等。
> 
> ９　感覚を生じさせる対象の結びつき
> 同じ感覚を表す形容詞が「傷が痛い」「傷痕がむず痒い」「太陽が眩しい」等となるとガ格名詞は感覚を生じさせる対象の結びつきとなる。


8 talks about the connection with the body parts that "feel", such as "my head hurts", "my body itches", "my eyes are dazzled".
9 talks about the connection with the object that causes the "feeling", such as "the cut/wound _hurts?_", "the scar _itches?_", "the sun is dazzling".

awww, time's up. I'll continue later.


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## YangMuye

Tonky said:


> However, let's look at the famous phrase, 目が見える. 目 is not the object of perception, but it is a body part that experiences perception. The same goes with 耳が聞こえる and 耳.
> Here is an article about the combination of ガ格(が-case) + adjectives http://www001.upp.so-net.ne.jp/ketoba/keiyoushinotorukaku.htm


I used to think it's a kind of 道具・方法主語.

ナイフが切れる　＝　ナイフ（で切ってみれば）（簡単に）切れる
目が見える　＝　目（で見てみれば）（はっきり）見える
商品が売れる　＝　商品（を売ろうとすれば）（たくさん）売れる

Incidentally, I regard “potentiality” as just a special case.
富士山が見える　＝　富士山（を見ようとすれば）（うまく）見える

They basically have the same patter: if you try ..., you will get/find ...
I think ～が～できる is a contraction/shortcut to express semantically the same some.
When the verbs are put in the past form, they become the actual outcome of your efforts, e.g. ナイフで切れた, 目で見えた, 商品が売れた, 富士山が見えた.

I think when people frequently compare one thing with another, e.g. このナイフが切れるか、あのナイフが切れるか, people begin to put は after it and move it to the front of the sentence. This enables a better separation of premise and conclusion. Then people begin to drop the original particle before は and replace は with が.

　　このナイフでは、よく切れる
　　このナイフは、切れる
　　このナイフなら、切れる
　　They are all semantically the same thing: このナイフ→切れる

I think this kind of は/が actually implies higher level/importance. [目で][見える] does not give 目 enough importance, while [目が[見える]] implies 見える is attribute of 目, that is 目→見える. Different 目 may lead to different conclusions, e.g. 左目は見える, 左目は見えない.

I think ～の方が is another such example. I think ～の方が is often placed in the front of a sentence and is much more common than ～の方に, ～の方で, etc, for the same reason.


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## Tonky

John_Doe said:


> The purpose of my question was to confirm if there is ambiguity in the meaning of 見えない人. I figure there is.


My bad, I thought I had replied to this but I might have missed copy-pasting that part from my editor.
Yes, there is, just as natrium has replied back to you above that it is contextual. Just like how 私が好きな人 can mean either "the person I like" or "the person who likes me" depending on context. 
However, in the case of 見えない人, it is mostly "those who cannot see" and not "the person I cannot see". The latter "the person I/you cannot see" requires certain limited context, and the only example I can think of is used as a slang term on internet (and/or among young people), otherwise, we would most likely call this invisible person 透明人間. 
On the other hand, in this case of 見えないあなた, you have to watch 次回 to understand what it actually meant. It is totally ambiguous. 人 is an indefinite noun while あなた is definite (or possibly indefinite specific), there is only one person.

Now, back to the tidbits.



YangMuye said:


> I used to think it's a kind of 道具・方法主語.
> 
> ナイフが切れる　＝　ナイフ（で切ってみれば）（簡単に）切れる
> 目が見える　＝　目（で見てみれば）（はっきり）見える
> 商品が売れる　＝　商品（を売ろうとすれば）（たくさん）売れる
> 
> Incidentally, I regard “potentiality” as just a special case.
> 富士山が見える　＝　富士山（を見ようとすれば）（うまく）見える
> 
> They basically have the same patter: if you try ..., you will get/find ...
> I think ～が～できる is a contraction/shortcut to express semantically the same some.
> When the verbs are put in the past form, they become the actual outcome of your efforts, e.g. ナイフで切れた, 目で見えた, 商品が売れた, 富士山が見えた.


It is indeed very interesting, but,
望遠鏡が見える　≠　望遠鏡（で見てみれば）（はっきり）見える
望遠鏡は(～が)よく見える　＝　望遠鏡が＜よく見える状態を作る＞　→望遠鏡で(～が)よく見えた

So,
ナイフが切れる　＝　ナイフが＜よく切れる状態である＞　
目が見える　＝　目が＜よく見える状態である＞
商品が売れる　＝　商品が＜よく売れる状態である＞
Those potential verbs are talking about each "subject"'s attribute, just as how adjectives work, and 富士山 of course does not have the attribute of the potential verb, and I'm afraid I'll have to put it into a different category.

切れるナイフを使ってください。
見える目はどちら(左右)ですか。
売れる商品を探しています。
×見える富士山はどこですか。(Unless there is 見えない富士山 )



YangMuye said:


> I think this kind of は/が actually implies higher level/importance. ...


Now I'm afraid we are derailing too much, let me link to an interesting thesis (which may as well be deeply related with your point)!
「いわゆる“対象のガ格”の正体を求めて ─認知文法の観点から─」
http://www.i.hosei.ac.jp/odani/hakuba_2001.pdf
It is a bit too academic to read on, but it is basically explaining how ガ works by cognitive approach. I'm going to skip the whole point of the thesis, including all the technical terms and explanations on his theory because it would only suffer us (and I can't even explain it in English anyways), and I'll just pick up the only interesting part.


> (20) ｛僕は／?僕が｝背後霊が見える。
> (21) ｛僕は／?僕が｝あいつが好きだ。
> (22) ｛僕は／?僕が｝ワインが飲みたい。_taken from page 8_


I'm sure most of us can agree to "?" to 僕が above. But let's see the next examples.


> (23) A: 背後霊が見えるというのは誰ですか？ B: ｛??僕は／僕が｝背後霊が見えます。
> (24) A: 背後霊が見える人，誰かいませんか？ B: ｛??僕は／僕が｝背後霊が見えます。


Yes, indeed, in this context, ～が～が can definitely occur.
"僕" now has this born-from-context attribute "背後霊が見える", just like how 目 has the attribute of "見える", functioning like "noun + が + adjective". (「足が速いのは誰ですか？」「私の妹[が、足が速い]です」）

This is probably why 見えない人こそ*が*みえる means "it is [those who cannot see] that can see better/well", but never "I can see those who cannot see", and why 見えない人こそ*は*みえる sounds awkward. This sentence as a book title alone with its paradoxical meaning gives us the unmentioned question "who can see (the truth/what's going on) well, and who cannot?"


@Jackyquah,
As for the meaning of こそ, I hope others' replies have already answered your question.
Personally, I like using this English expression of "it is ~ that ~", to bring an attention/stress to the part of the speech, but I cannot always apply that in every case. After all, it is in general the most important part of the message from the sentence that the speaker/writer wants to put a stress on.


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## John_Doe

God, there's too info much to take in at one go )



Tonky said:


> My bad, I thought I had replied to this but I might have missed copy-pasting that part from my editor.
> Yes, there is, just as natrium has replied back to you above that it is contextual. Just like how 私が好きな人 can mean either "the person I like" or "the person who likes me" depending on context.
> However, in the case of 見えない人, *it is mostly "those who cannot see"* and not "the person I cannot see". The latter "the person I/you cannot see" requires certain limited context, and the only example I can think of is used as a slang term on internet (and/or among young people), otherwise, we would most likely call this invisible person 透明人間.
> On the other hand, in this case of 見えないあなた, *you have to watch 次回 to understand what it actually meant.*



I just did. As you said, it's anata who cannot see, hear or touch.


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## Tonky

John_Doe said:


> I just did. As you said, it's anata who cannot see, hear or touch.


No, I didn't say that, I said it is totally ambiguous because あなた is NOT indefinite, there is only one あなた existing!

I think it is made ambiguous on purpose as an advertisement for the next episode, to draw your attention more and makes you wonder, "oh wait, what? what is happening at the next episode?!" And surely enough, it did work on you it seems


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## John_Doe

Tonky, you are just being nitpicky. You said "見えない人, it is mostly "those who cannot see", so I guess I could use it as a good rule of thumb when other 見えない誰か appears. That's what I meant.


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## Tonky

Hmm, sorry but let me take back my reasoning that 人 being indefinite makes 見えない人 mean "those who cannot see". I just ran across another word 見えない敵 which almost always means "the enemy you cannot see"...


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## John_Doe

You're doing it on purpose, aren't you? Confusing me ) Anyway, it's kind of predictable that 見えない敵 means that. It's just more the matter of semantics, than of grammar. That's why あなた is highly ambigious—it's a deictic word.


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## YangMuye

Tonky said:


> ナイフが切れる　＝　ナイフ（で切ってみれば）（簡単に）切れる
> 目が見える　＝　目（で見てみれば）（はっきり）見える
> 商品が売れる　＝　商品（を売ろうとすれば）（たくさん）売れる
> ×見える富士山はどこですか。(Unless there is 見えない富士山 )


富士山 is a definite noun. I should have added この before ナイフ and 商品 to make them definite.
×見える右目はどちらですか
○富士山は見えますか
○見える山はどの山ですか


Tonky said:


> It is indeed very interesting, but,
> 望遠鏡が見える　≠　望遠鏡（で見てみれば）（はっきり）見える
> 望遠鏡は(～が)よく見える　＝　望遠鏡が＜よく見える状態を作る＞　→望遠鏡で(～が)よく見えた


In fact, this kind of は has some kind of obscurity and this obscurity may be what we expect, otherwise it will be a little annoying to have to choose the accurate wording every time.
To understand this kind of sentence, we actually need both *grammatical* knowledge and *common* knowledge. Since common knowledge is always needed, it doesn't matter if we omit the original particle or other information. e.g.
　　○（あなたは）今日はきれいですね
　　×（あなたは）今月はきれいですね
　　×（あなたは）ここはきれいですね
The common knowledge implies people may wear different clothes each _*day*_, not in each _place_ nor each _mouth_.

It may also explain why 見えない敵 and 見えない人 are understood differently.


Tonky said:


> Now I'm afraid we are derailing too much, let me link to an interesting thesis (which may as well be deeply related with your point)!  「いわゆる“対象のガ格”の正体を求めて ─認知文法の観点から─」http://www.i.hosei.ac.jp/odani/hakuba_2001.pdf


This must be the most intuitive paper I have ever read! Most parts of the theory agree with my own and now I'm considering doing a degree in Linguistics.


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## YangMuye

John_Doe said:


> I'm sorry I cannot provide much context for these lines because they are from an obscure 次回予告. The question: who cannot do things, the speaker or あなた? The speaker's name is 影夕子 and あなた is probably 夕子。 Shadow Yuuko is a vengeful spirit of Yuuko, manifesting her negative emotions, and Yuuko always pretends not to notice the existence of her Shadow.
> 
> I assume that 聞こえないあなた → あなたが見えない (_ can't see you). So a person himself cannot seen by someone, he is an invisible man of sorts. The same goes for 聞こえない and 触れない. I have no idea why Shadow cannot see Yuuko all of sudden (the things were always opposite), but I'm fine with it if my interpretation is right from the point of view of grammar.
> 
> I started googling just in case and came across a question on chiebukuro
> 
> 
> "What's the difference between those who can see a ghost and those who doesn't", right? Shouldn't it be 見られる instead of 見える?
> 
> Next, the title of a book, 見えない人こそよくみえる. Judging by the cover, the book is about blind people. I'm at a loss to understand it. Maybe, in this particular case 見えない人= 目が見えない人? So "I really can see (notice) blind people" or something like that._


_
I've just realized that I have watched this anime. I didn't watch the last several episodes because I don't like its plot. (such as 人柱) But I think 見えないあなた means “you cannot be seen (by me)”. Even if you don't know the plot, you can still guess the meaning because it's parallel to “触れないあなた”. あなた is probably 夕子 (both 夕子 and 影夕子, they are actually the same person/spirit).
I think it may be worth mentioning that the *narrator* (語り手) in a novel or song does not need to be *me* (私, 一人称, first person).

In English, “can see” is active and “can be seen/visible” is passive. In Japanese, both are passive. (人に物が見える)
In English, participles and verbs in modifying clauses must be strictly put in the proper voice. In Japanese, it's actually a little complicated.

EDIT: Odd as it may seem, it seems that the spirit sudden became unable to see, hear and touch? I can't give a confident answer before watching it. But I feel that the あなた may refer to 貞一, the only human who was able to see 夕子, and now the only human who cannot be seen by 夕子. 見えないあなた might mean “I can't see you (貞一)”. 見えないあなた、聞こえないあなた、触れないあなた might mean あなたに会いたい、あなたの声が聞きたい、あなたに触ってほしい



黄昏乙女×アムネジア　第１１話の感想
幽霊が人間を見れなくなるという訳のわからない展開になってましたね。普通逆だろ、という感じです。
		
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TVアニメ「黄昏乙女×アムネジア」公式サイト
少年が見えない。誰も私のことを意識しない。誰も私を見ない。誰も私の声を聞かない。誰も私に触れない。 会いたい。さみしい。顔が見たい。声が聴きたい。触ってほしい……もういいの……思い残すことなんて。
		
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_


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## John_Doe

> I've just realized that I have watched this anime.


What a coincidence. I watched it before, but I forgot what plot twist was used in the 11th episode. Hence, this discussion.



> 見えないあなた might mean “I can't see you (貞一)”. 見えないあなた、聞こえないあなた、触れないあなた might mean あなたに会いたい、あなたの声が聞きたい、あなたに触ってほしい


I can confidently say that あなた is Yuuko. The narrator of previous announces was mostly Yuuko, but that time it was Kage Yuuko. The voice actor is the same apparently, but the manners of  speaking differ from each other. I.e. a different character announces new episode and it's worth our attention. Technically, at that point あなた was either Yuuko or Teiichi.

Teiichi relives the death of Yuuko, and then we learn that he becomes like Kage to  Yuuko because of that. He can see her, but she can't see him. Anyway, this is of no importance, because the announcer was Kage. This plot twist served only to show us *what it is like to be Kage.*

Kage was by Yuuko's side all the time, getting visible only on rare occurences. And all that Kage cared for was to be accepted by Yuuko. She wanted Yuuko to accept overwhelming *emotions and memories Yuuko cannot bear to "see", "hear" or "touch*" and had been thrusting on her for 60 years. It's the whole point of this series: Kage is Yuuko's neglected memories, emotions and pain. There you have it.

If I understood Japanese better, I would've probably figured it out before actually watching the 11th episode. The answer was just there all the time )


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## YangMuye

I think you don't need to think too deeply. You can just understand it literally. The speaker is 影夕子, does not need to mean “あなた” must not be “影夕子” or 貞一. A narrator can speak on behalf of any characters in the fiction.

First, I think 見えないあなた, 聞こえないあなた, 触れないあなた means “you, whom I can't see”, “you, whom I can't hear”, “you, whom I can't touch”. Let's first ignore who “I” and “you” refer to.

見えない can be a contraction of 目が見えない, ものが見えない, 何も見えない. So is 聞こえない. But how about 触れない? I think it's uncommon to find such kind of people who 手が触れない, ものが触れない, 何も触れない. Thus 触れない is not a general attribute of a human (<人>に/が触れない). It's either a attribute of an object (<物>が触れない) or associated with a specific event, that is, <人>に<物>が触れない.

If it's a general attribute of an object, then あなた must refers to 夕子 or 影夕子 because they are not seen by all other people.
If it's associated with a specific event, it's usually 私にあなたが見えない, rather than あなたに私が見えない, あなたに？が見えない, ？にあなたが見えない. The latter two do not good because they are incomplete. The first one 私にあなたが見えない is preferred to あなたに私が見えない because the view point of the speaker usually takes higher priority when the context is not clear. e.g. 愛する人＝私が愛する人. (I actually think 私が好きな人 is more like the girl I like if the context is not clear. To mean the girl who like me, I would say 私を好きな人, 私のことが好きな人.)

Then, we have to make a choice between “nobody can touch you” and “I cannot touch you”. I prefer the latter, because the lines sound emotional, which again gives the view point of the speaker higher priority.

Finally, we have to determine what あなた refers to. I think it refers to 貞一. There are two reasons:
1. These lines sound lyrical and literary. In this kind of context, あなた is too soft and usually used by a women to address a men.
2. The 次回予報 is almost the same as the あらすじ.


> 次回予報：*見えないあなた*　*聞こえないあなた*　*触れないあなた*　あなた　あなた
> あらすじ：*少年が見えない*。誰も私のことを意識しない。誰も私を見ない。誰も私の声を聞かない。誰も私に触れない。 会いたい。さみしい。*顔が見たい*。*声が聴きたい*。*触ってほしい*……もういいの……思い残すことなんて。


少年が見えない means she suddenly becomes unable to see the boy (貞一), so she feels lonely and is missing him. So I think “I” is 夕子, “あなた” is 貞一.


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## John_Doe

> I think you don't need to think too deeply. You can just understand  it literally. The speaker is 影夕子, does not need to mean “あなた” must not  be “影夕子” or 貞一. A narrator can speak on behalf of any characters in the  fiction.


I remind you that the announcer was suddenly changed. It couldn't have happened for no reason.

Episode / Announcer
1st - Yuuko
2nd - Yuuko
3rd - Yuuko
4th - Yuuko
5th - Yuuko
6th - Yuuko
7th - Yuuko
8th - Yuuko
9th - Yuuko
*10th - Kage Yuuko*
11th - Yuuko
12th - Teiichi. The end.

It's just wishful thinking to say the shift doesn't matter.



> 2. The 次回予報 is almost the same as the あらすじ.


Obviously, the あらすじ presented at the site is Yuuko's words. So what? You cannot lump different pieces of information together and say the whole picture is consistent.



> Then, we have to make a choice between “nobody can touch you” and “I  cannot touch you”. I prefer the latter, because the lines sound  emotional, which again gives the view point of the speaker higher  priority.


Ok, anata is Teiichi. Who did the speaker announce the next episode on behalf of? Yuuko? Then why on earth didn't Yuuko do that by herself? It was always she who did it. So... you cannot convince me with a feeble argument like that while it was already established in this topic that the phrase is ambiguous and I got to elaborate a solid theory why it should be Yuuko.

I'm sorry if my reply sounds rude to you. Just got excited a bit over whole controversy.


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