# とみられる



## KaleNovice

北海道・七飯町で行方不明となった7歳男児とみられる少年を発見.

This is a title of yahoo news. What does “とみられる” mean in the context above? I looked it up and it seems to have different meanings and was said to be followed by verb, which is not the case in the sentence above. Then this 発見 also bothers me. Shouldn't it be 発見した ? Is it meant to be shortened in a title to save space? And となった means? I knowなった but that "と" confuses me.

Sorry for asking so many questions ! Thank you in advanceeee!


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## karlalou

KaleNovice said:


> 北海道・七飯町で行方不明となった7歳男児とみられる少年を発見.
> 
> This is a title of yahoo news. What does “とみられる” mean in the context above?


This is the use of 自発（じはつ） (spontaneous mood or voice(?)) done by adding （ら）れる such as 思（おも）われる, 感（かん）じられる, 見（み）られる, 悔（くや）やまれる. The form is the same as those of 'potential' and also 'passive'.

This 見られる of 自発 literally means that "a thought like (this) comes up (to generally anyone) (as though by itself)".

This expression is suitable for an objective writings such as news castings or research papers. For a personal feeling, it might useful to hide a personal emotion, but depending on the context, it can be rather cold expression.

It can be used after a noun or a verb, just like アメ*という*なんとか or 何かをする*という*なんとか: クモ*と見られる*なんとか or なにかすると*見られる*なんとか. I guess also なんとかと見られるとする is possible.



KaleNovice said:


> Then this 発見 also bothers me. Shouldn't it be 発見した ? Is it meant to be shortened in a title to save space?


The way ending the title with a noun like 発見 is common for a news title. I think you can think it's a contraction of 発見する, but I think titles can exist as incomplete sentences.



KaleNovice said:


> And となった means? I knowなった but that "と" confuses me.


We sometimes use と in place of に.
行方不明となった＝行方不明になった
This と might sound a little more formal than に. I think it suits news castings. に is good enough though.


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## Flaminius

karlalou said:


> This is the use of 自発（じはつ） (spontaneous mood or voice(?)) done by adding （ら）れる such as 思（おも）われる, 感（かん）じられる, 見（み）られる, 悔（くや）やまれる. The form is the same as those of 'potential' and also 'passive'.


It's not 自発 (spontenuity) but regular passive.  Spontenuity according to the link you provided is:
動詞の表現様式で、行為・動作を人が積極的意志を持って行うのでなく、自然にあるいはひとりでに実現する現象・作用のようにいう表現である。​In short it says that spontenuity is an expression for an action unfolding by itself, without or against the will of the person involved.



karlalou said:


> This 見られる of 自発 literally means that "a thought like (this) comes up (to generally anyone) (as though by itself)".


Notice that the headline spells out the word in hiragana.  This is often done when the word is used in an extended or a metaphorical sense; it does not refer to actual seeing by using the eye.

みられる is used for expressing a fact that needs further confirmation.  A boy is found and says he has been missing.  Good that a minor without a guardian is now safe with the police, but they are yet to make 100% sure that he is the exact boy they have been searching for.  News pieces often resort to みられる for reporting almost established facts like this.


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## frequency

KaleNovice said:


> 北海道・七飯町で行方不明となった7歳男児とみられる少年を発見.





Flaminius said:


> みられる is used for expressing a fact that needs further confirmation.  A boy is found and says he has been missing.  Good that a minor without a guardian is now safe with the police, but they are yet to make 100% sure that he is the exact boy they have been searching for.  News pieces often resort to みられる for reporting almost established facts like this.



Yes, 少年―みられる. He appears/seems XX. XX? = 北海道・七飯町で行方不明となった7歳男児.


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## karlalou

Flaminius said:


> It's not 自発 (spontenuity) but regular passive.


I wasn't able to go to that much far to care for the difference of 見る and みる, but I think this helps you to understand that if you see this みられる in OP's sentence is interchangeable with 思われる or 考えられる.

As the linked page is bringing up 思われる （「瓜を食べれば、（食べさせてやりたいと）子供たちのことが*おもわれる*、栗を食べればなおさら偲ばれる」） as an example of 自発, the verb like 思う is also considered an action here. Please try to feel the usage of 「おもわれる」 in this excerpt. It's not the person's active action, but rather the action maker is the phenomenon. The phenomenon like such a 'thought' comes to the person as itself.

I don't see why this みられる is not 自発.

The passive voice is like 私はよく未成年に思われます／見られます.

Also from the linked page: 特に*主観的な考え・感覚などを示す動詞*に用いられる。例えば、思う→思われる、悔む→悔まれる、偲ぶ→偲ばれる、感じる→感じられる、見る→見られる。


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## ktdd

I would go with Flaminius.
From my experience doing transcription exercises using Japanese news items, みられる stood out to the eyes and would indicate that it's used in an extended sense. (Some Japanese news agencies, such as NHK, have quite strict and consistent house rules regarding spelling. Because of technical restrictions, I had to make sure my words were spelled out exactly the same way as the original articles.) And it's a fairly common usage that after a few encounters I would have no problem understanding without resorting to some advanced/esoteric grammar rules. Basically みられる = seen as.



KaleNovice said:


> 北海道・七飯町で行方不明となった7歳男児とみられる少年を発見


A possible translation:
Boy believed to be the missing 7-year-old in Hokkaido found

==========
Edit: Found several links on the web, for example this:


> *Meaning:* to be regarded as; to be expected to; to be believed to


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## karlalou

Sure, English doesn't have this grammatical tool, so they usually translate using 'seem'.

In my opinion, 'seem' is very close to 自発.
行方不明の７歳男児とみられる more directly translates "A boy *seems *to be the missing 7-year-old".

[Edit to add]
You can't translate this with 'seem' because this is passive voice and not 自発:
私はよく未成年に見られます. (I _am _often _taken_ as if I am under age.)


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## ktdd

It's *'seen*', not '*seem*'. I think there's a difference.
People see/regard this boy as the missing 7yo.
=> This boy is seen/regarded as the missing 7yo.
=> This boy is believed to be the missing 7yo, or, This boy is taken as the missing 7yo.
Seems quite straightforward to me.


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## karlalou

ktdd said:


> It's *'seen*', not '*seem*'. I think there's a difference.
> People see/regard this boy as the missing 7yo.
> => This boy is seen/regarded as the missing 7yo.
> => This boy is believed to be the missing 7yo, or, This boy is taken as the missing 7yo.
> Seems quite straightforward to me.


発見 can be translated as 'seen', but とみられる is not 'seen', but 'seem'.
This とみられる is saying と思われる and 'seem to be', and neither 'be taken as' nor 'be seen'.


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## ktdd

karlalou said:


> 発見 can be translated as 'seen', but とみられる is not 'seen', but 'seem'.
> This とみられる is saying と思われる and 'seem to be', and neither 'be taken as' nor 'be seen'.


Well, it's your opinion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion I guess.
と見られる means 'to be regarded as; to be expected to; to be believed to', is a test preparation site's opinion. (They didn't translate it using 'seem' as you seemed to suggest in #7.)
'Be taken as' is a natural extension of 'seen', is my opinion. For me, it explains OP's とみられる sufficiently well, and coincides with said site's opinion. So I'll just stop here, no more back and forth trying to convince anyone.
発見 means 'be found', by the way, it has nothing to do with either 'seen' or 'seem' in any meaningful way in our context.


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## SoLaTiDoberman

『北海道・七飯町で行方不明となった7歳男児とみられる少年を発見』の「とみられる」は受動態を用いていると思われるので能動態にすると、
『北海道・七飯町で、*我々が/警察が/当局が*行方不明となった7歳男児と*みた（みなした・判断した・考えた・思った）*少年を発見』となりますよね。能動態にしても成立しますよね。だから、私もこの「とみられる」というのは受動態だと思います。でも、能動態で言うと、少しニュアンスが失われるように感じませんか。

（今回の文脈はハッピーエンドでしたが、
『富士山の樹海で、２０年前に行方不明となっていた当時２２歳のOL*とみられる*白骨遺体を発見』というようなネガティブな文脈でも使われます。
ので、以下はネガティブな文脈の時も含めて考察したいと思います。）

なぜ、能動態で書くのではなく受動態で書くのかと言うと、*自然にそう思われる、そう考えるのが妥当である、その蓋然性が高いためそう考えるのが自然である、そう考えたくなくても嫌でもそう考えざるを得ない*といったニュアンス・効果を示すために受動態にするのだと思います。そういった使い方を「自発」というのだと私は理解していましたので、私はkarlalouさんの一連のopinionに賛成します。
『スタイルは受動態で、意味は「自発」』だと解釈した次第です。　あるは、『自発表現として受動態を用いている』。
この解釈は可能でしょうか。
もし、「自発」は能動態である、という定義があるのなら、「受け身」か「自発」の二者択一なら、迷ってしまいます。


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## frequency

KaleNovice said:


> 北海道・七飯町で行方不明となった7歳男児とみられる少年を発見.


Who considers/judges the boy so? For example, police do (I don't mean that the police is really doing so in the sentence).

警察が行方不明となった７歳男児とみる少年

Then let's omit the police to focus on the boy. Use the boy as the subject: the verb has to be the passive.
行方不明となった７歳男児とみられる少年
See 警察―みる and みられる―少年.

That sentence is just the passive.




ktdd said:


> Well, it's your opinion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion I guess.
> と見られる means 'to be regarded as; to be expected to; to be believed to',


I agree. But I humbly suggest you:
オカマに見える
オカマとみられる
In the first _sb_ looks like a drag queen.
In the second that people regard _sb_ as a drag queen.
Visual appearance vs people's judgement.



SoLaTiDoberman said:


> もし、「自発」は能動態である、という定義があるのなら、「受け身」か「自発」の二者択一なら、迷ってしまいます。



Agree. About 自発, I agree on the explanation 4 mentioned in this page


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## karlalou

ktdd said:


> Well, it's your opinion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion I guess.
> と見られる means 'to be regarded as; to be expected to; to be believed to', is a test preparation site's opinion. (They didn't translate it using 'seem' as you seemed to suggest in #7.)
> 'Be taken as' is a natural extension of 'seen', is my opinion. For me, it explains OP's とみられる sufficiently well, and coincides with said site's opinion. So I'll just stop here, no more back and forth trying to convince anyone.
> 発見 means 'be found', by the way, it has nothing to do with either 'seen' or 'seem' in any meaningful way in our context.


How do you make a sentence with two elements of 'be seen' or 'be found' and without any 'seem' element. Besides, the boy is not yet confirmed to be exactly the one.


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## ktdd

karlalou said:


> How do you make a sentence with two elements of 'be seen' or 'found' and without any 'seem' element. The boy is not yet confirmed to be exactly the one.


See my translation at #6. Or I can redo it here with some improvement:
　北海道・七飯町で行方不明となった7歳男児とみられる少年を発見
　[Boy believed to be missing 7-year-old] found [in Hokkaido]
The omission of articles and linking verbs is standard headlinese. 'Believed' is a past participle used adjectivally and conveys the passive meaning. There is no 'seem' element because とみられる is not 'seem' and frankly 'seem' does not belong in journalism. But there is a 'believe' element: The authorities believe the boy is the missing one they are looking for, but haven't been able to establish his identity yet, and reporters must report as such -- 'believed to be' but not confirmed.


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## Flaminius

karlalou said:


> I wasn't able to go to that much far to care for the difference of 見る and みる, but I think this helps you to understand that if you see this みられる in OP's sentence is interchangeable with 思われる or 考えられる.


No, they aren't interchangeable.  The version with みられる has a separate assessor/believer (the AGENT) from the speaker, whereas 思われる and 考えられる describe the experience of the speaker.  These constructions make it seem that an idea occurs to the speaker after a chain of thoughts.  It's a style favoured in academic writing because the lack of an explicit thinker renders the sense of objectivity.

The one who "almost identifies" (みられる) the found boy is not the one who is reporting the event. It's the police that first discovered the boy and asked him if he was the missing one.  Then news agencies do their job to publicise the event.  This is how we know of the headline.  Like *frequency* said it first, 男児とみられる implies that the authorities are responsible for identification.  News agencies shrewdly avoid the responsibility. [Of course journalists identifying with the source, especially those with power, is a big problem, though]  ;-)



> As the linked page is bringing up 思われる （「瓜を食べれば、（食べさせてやりたいと）子供たちのことが*おもわれる*、栗を食べればなおさら偲ばれる」） as an example of 自発, the verb like 思う is also considered an action here. Please try to feel the usage of 「おもわれる」 in this excerpt. It's not the person's active action, but rather the action maker is the phenomenon. The phenomenon like such a 'thought' comes to the person as itself.


This is indeed an example of spontaneity.  The poet experiences his thought going over to his children.



> I don't see why this みられる is not 自発.


Not all 思われる are spontaneity and not all みられる are interchangeable with 思われる. There may be spontaneity sentences with みられる but みられる does not necessarily mean spontaneity.  (mark)



> The passive voice is like 私はよく未成年に思われます／見られます.


These are on par with the sentence under discussion.  They include an idea of those who think you younger than your age, i.e., a lot of people who meet you.  If these are passive, so too is 男児とみられる.

Here are two more sentences with みられる:
a. この蝶は本州に多くみられる。 [A lot of butterflies of this kind can be seen in Honshu.]
b. 患者はすっかり回復したようにみえる/*みられる。 [The patient looks fully recovered.]

Sentence a. is passive.  No one is experiencing seeing a lot of butterflies.

Sentence b. is a spontaneity sentence when みえる is used.  The recovery is assumed by the speaker, clearly.  When みられる is used, the sentence becomes unacceptable.  Both 受動態 (a.) and 自発態 (b.) can do without an explicit AGENT, so you need to sort out their meanings very carefully.



> Also from the linked page: 特に*主観的な考え・感覚などを示す動詞*に用いられる。例えば、思う→思われる、悔む→悔まれる、偲ぶ→偲ばれる、感じる→感じられる、見る→見られる。


See above for the part with (mark) at the end.

参考
小川誉子美「受身文と自発文の連続性に関する考察: 関与者無表示の受身文をめぐって」『横浜国立大学留学生センター紀要』第05号 (1998年)、15-20ページ。
http://kamome.lib.ynu.ac.jp/dspace/handle/10131/1156


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## ktdd

Flaminius said:


> The one who "almost identifies" (みられる) the found boy is not the one who is reporting the event.


Yeah, this assessor / reporter distinction is insightful. I knew that 'seem' doesn't belong, just couldn't pin down why. 長知識了。


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## KaleNovice

Ah.. I didn't expect such a seemingly simple question from me could have sparked so much of a debate! Anyway thank you for all the detailed explanation, but I guess I will need some time to digest all this


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## karlalou

Hi Kale,
I don't have the slightest change in what I need to say.


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## karlalou

ktdd said:


> frankly 'seem' does not belong in journalism


I would like to hear the confirmation of this statement. For example, you can ask the English natives at English Only forums right here in WR, and good luck on your journey to find the answer.




Flaminius said:


> karlalou said:
> 
> 
> 
> The passive voice is like 私はよく未成年に思われます／見られます.
> 
> 
> 
> These are on par with the sentence under discussion. They include an idea of those who think you younger than your age, i.e., a lot of people who meet you. If these are passive, so too is 男児とみられる.
Click to expand...

Once again,
*行方不明となった７歳男児とみられる少年*を発見 translates as "*A boy seems to be the missing 7-year-old*" because this is 自発, while

私はよく未成年に見られます translates as "I _am _often _taken _as under age".
"I seem to be easily taken as under age" is still passive voice, and I don't know how to write it not as a passive voice.


Now, I didn't find the point in Flaminius-san's #3 in the argument against my post saying


Flaminius said:


> It's not 自発 (spontenuity) but regular passive.


other than this:


Flaminius said:


> it does not refer to actual seeing by using the eye.


but did you forget to write the very point of your argument in #3? And now are you saying in #15 that 'The patient looks fully recovered' is "a spontaneity sentence"? And in your opinion, 行方不明の７歳男児とみられる can't be translated with 'seem', just like ktdd-san says? Are these correct?


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## karlalou

Flaminius said:


> b. 患者はすっかり回復したようにみえる/*みられる。 [The patient looks fully recovered.]
> 
> Sentence b. is a spontaneity sentence when みえる is used. The recovery is assumed by the speaker, clearly. When みられる is used, the sentence becomes unacceptable.


If the speaker is actively seeing the patient's recovery, then it can't be called 自発, but it's potential form or simply it's an intransitive verb.

Once again, 自発 is not a person's active action, but a phenomenon such as 'thought' or 'feeling' comes to generally everybody.



Flaminius said:


> a. この蝶は本州に多くみられる。 [A lot of butterflies of this kind can be seen in Honshu.]
> Sentence a. is passive. No one is experiencing seeing a lot of butterflies.


I started wonder, though I assume that this "No one is experiencing seeing ..." is a mistake since you just said "[A lot of butterflies of this kind *can be seen* in Honshu.]", but am I right?

I still don't understand very well what the point of Flaminius-san's argument.


Flaminius said:


> it does not refer to actual seeing by using the eye.


and 'it' is not 自発? I think there's a contradiction in what Flaminius-san is saying.



I think this is an easier example. 出かけるところを見られた (I was seen (by someone) when leaving.). This is the passive voice.

On the other hand, the boy is thought to be the missing 7 year old, and in other words, he seems to be the missing boy. ７歳児とみられる is not saying the boy is seen by somebody.


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## frequency

（自発）・・・「自然とそうなる」の意味
（例）「子どものころが思い出される。」「意気込みが感じられる」
Does the boy naturally provoke feelings in people or police that he is the missing boy when they see him?
No.


（受身）・・・他から動作・作用を受ける意味。
（例）「猫に足をかまれる。」「お膳をさげられる。」
Police or people consider/judge the boy is the missing boy. ―passive→ The boy is believed/thought to be the missing boy.

「自発」がちょっと難しいかもしれませんが、「思う」とか「感じる」とか、人の心の作用に関することに使われるので、その点に気をつけましょう。

No emotional or psychological effect in


KaleNovice said:


> 北海道・七飯町で行方不明となった7歳男児とみられる少年を発見.




みる　[1] 【見る】
The OP's みられる（みる） is 7・ア, not 1.


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## Flaminius

I begin by categorizing the sentences that have been mentioned so far into lists of passive and spontaneity sentences.  For the spontaneity list, I have added two more sentences (2d, e) to make pairs with 2b and c.  I will come back to the sentences for which my judgment has been contested.

   1. Passive
a. 私はよく未成年に思われます/見られます。
      b. この男児は、行方不明になった男の子とみられる。​-Sentence a. adopted from *karlalou* #5 with modification

   2. Spontaneity
a. 瓜を食べれば、子供たちのことがおもわれる。
      b. この蝶は本州に多くみられる。
      c. 患者はすっかり回復したようにみえる。
      d. LGBT差別に批判の声が聞かれる。 [Criticisms are heard for discrimination against LGBT.]
      e. 三時の鐘が聞こえる。[The three-o'clock bells can be heard.]​-Sentence a. adopted from *karlalou* #5 with modification
-Sentence b. re-categorized from passive after *karlalou* #20


I presume sentence 1b being a passive sentence is the most hotly debated point in this thread.  I listed it as passive because みる is a willful act of a specific agent, that is, the police.  It is not an involuntary forcible reaction like 2a, nor is it an observation that naturally follows from an external fact like 2b.

In newspaper articles, とみられる often collocates with 調べによると, which alludes to conscious efforts paid before arriving at the conclusion suffixed with とみられる.  It is such an established formalism that novelists can readily copy it. In the following quote from a crime novel you can see how a mocked newspaper article presents facts as established by police investigation.


> 田沢湖署の調べによると、この女性は…関根真琴さん(20)で、…下宿先を出たまま行方不明になっていたものである。
> 付近の湖岸に関根さんのものとみられるバッグ等があり、…警察では自殺と見て、原因や背景を調べている(内田 1989:233)*。


For all the statements above, it is meticulously made clear that the police were responsible for establishing the facts.  Inter alia, a handbag and a few items were identified as Ms. Sekine's (関根さんのものとみられるバッグ等).  Similarly, I expect that 行方不明となった7歳男児とみられる is the result of a careful deliberation by the police, which is a willful act.  Newspaper readers and TV viewers are often made into believing that news reporters do fact-checking for crime and accident reports, but in reality, they are often barred from contacting sources themselves.  Later on the reporters must have had a chance to interview the missing boy in Hokkaido, but the first contact was exclusively made by the authorities.  The headline was written on that occasion.


As Ogawa (_op. cit._) observes, a spontaneity sentence can be derived by attaching _-(r)areru_ to a verb that can be executed with little will of an AGENT.  The active forms of the verbs in sentences 2a-e are all of this type.  Sentence 2a hardly gets more will involved when re-written with the active verb: 瓜を食べて子供たちのことをおもった。
This does not mean the poet performed two willful actions in sequence.  It tells the first event triggered the second.  Attaching _-(r)areru_ only emphasizes how inevitable the reaction was for him.


As I mentioned above, *karlalou* #20 made me rethink the categorization for 2b.


karlalou said:


> I started wonder, though I assume that this "No one is experiencing seeing ..." is a mistake since you just said "[A lot of butterflies of this kind *can be seen* in Honshu.]", but am I right?



I must admit that it took me a while to realize that it is a spontaneity sentence.  The intent of sentences 2b,d boils down to that of an existential sentence.  Their verbs are executed almost  independent of anyone's will or intercession.  These verbs together with the suffix _-(r)areru_ introduce entities into discourse (conversation or text).  みられる is used in 2b because the entities are made aware by vision.  聞かれる is used in 2d because the entities are made aware by hearing.  In my last post (*Flaminus* #15) I made a wrong call by saying, "No one is experiencing seeing a lot of butterflies."  Human will is little involved in this sentence.  The role of perception is small and experience is far less relevant.  Perception itself is quite metaphorical in 2d and almost completely so in 2b.  You can read an email and say, "I heard a protest from someone."

In order to explore how experience is involved, I should have devised an example at least as concrete as 2e.  So here it is:
2f. この薬品を投与したグループには、顕著な体重の増加がみられた。​This is a spontaneity sentence all right and the speaker is the primary observer.  For 2b, the speaker may not be in the central position but then again there seems no centre at all.  At least his involvement is as good as anyone's. I am not going to dig deeper.

In passing I wonder if English expresses an idea similar to spontaneity with _can_ and a passive verb.  If this is what you suggested by bolding my *can be seen*, it is something that you and I can agree on.


*karlalou* #20 is against calling みえる spontaneity in 2c:


karlalou said:


> If the speaker is actively seeing the patient's recovery, then it can't be called 自発, but it's potential form or simply it's an intransitive verb.


If 2c appears as if it involved an AGENT "actively seeing the patient's recovery," here is a clearer example:


> (クサフグの仔は)口がとがっていて、生意気に見える(池澤 2014:29)**。


The protruding snout of the fish gave the narrator an impression of being cocky.  They were not actively looking for a sign of cockiness.  Similarly, a patient's recovery can be instantly recognised by a few signs such as brighter cheeks and vibrant laughter.  That the speaker of 2c was convinced of the recovery was not necessarily the result of a willful act.  It can happen totally out of their conscious control.



> but it's potential form or simply it's an intransitive verb.


I agree that the line between potential and passive is tricky but the quoted portion seems to suggest that spontaneity and intransitivity are mutually exclusive.  This is wrong because they address different aspects of a verb.  The distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs is how many arguments are necessary for a verb to complete its meaning.  A transitive needs two; the subject and the object.  An intransitive needs only one.  Spontaneity is a measurement of how much will (or desire, power, energy) is needed for the verb's action to take place.  A willful intransitive such as 立つ assumes more involvement of the subject than intransitives like 割れる.  I don't see problems for applying the term spontaneity for the latter class.  The Japanese Wiki entry treats verbs in 2b-e as spontaneity too.


Contrast the above みる (2b) and 聞く (2d) with 見る in Uchida's excerpt.  I will quote it again:


> 警察では自殺と見て、原因や背景を調べている


Uchida, the author, describes how the police reasoned Ms. Sekine's suicide from available facts.  For instance her belongings were found near-by, and that makes robbery less likely.  This 見る involves much more will than みる in 2b and 聞く in 2d.  Like I noted above, the latter two with suffix _-(r)areru_ are almost existential sentences like "there are butterflies/criticisms."

Rewriting 2b (回復したようにみえる) with とみられる further illustrates my point:
2b'. 患者はすっかり回復したとみられる。​This sentence entails more careful assessment than was enough for the original 2b.  Also noteworthy is that the speaker's commitment is now considerably reduced.  As he recounts the statement without reservation, for some readers he may look as if he has an indirect part.  Yet, he doesn't look responsible for making the judgment.

*karlalou* #19 has asked why it is important to know that this みる is not "actual seeing by using the eye (*Flaminius* #3)."  Here is an answer.  This みる denotes a judgment by a specific AGENT and attaching _-(r)areru_ does not allow others to participate in forming it.  The AGENT is now hidden or at best implied just like for 1a, but it is quite obvious in the framework of news reporting.


In case the above does not make up for an answer to the following, I will separately comment on them.


karlalou said:


> Once again, 自発 is not a person's active action, but a phenomenon such as 'thought' or 'feeling' comes to generally everybody.


The matter is who this person is.  True, the speaker of 行方不明となった…とみられる少年 has no active part in the boy's identification (or the news agency by which the speaker is paid).  The job was done by the police.  I have shown how みる in this usage is a willful action.  This is a  passive sentence.  Contrast it with 2a that has no "active action" in it.



karlalou said:


> Once again,
> *行方不明となった７歳男児とみられる少年*を発見 translates as "*A boy seems to be the missing 7-year-old*" because this is 自発


I don't think you can omit the relative pronoun here, so it translates into "a boy that seems to be the missing (...)".  As this is not 自発, the difference in translation does not matter.  Still, it can be translated with other expressions as proposed in *ktdd* #8, #10 .


Reference
*内田康夫『恐山殺人事件』東京、角川書店、1989年。
**池澤夏樹『エデンを遠く離れて』東京、ボイジャー、2014年。
Several points I raised here are related with a discussion that I participated in while writing this post: 待たされる vs. 待たれる (from #15 and on)


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