# なんか重みがないから成仏できなさそうだな﻿



## Bakamono

I've recently read this thread concerning the term なんか but I must say I can not yet figure out the meaning of that word in this sentence:

*なんか*重みがないから成仏できなさそうだな。﻿                     

According to this:



Flaminius said:


> *Nanka* is an adverb that emphasizes negation.



is なんか in that sentence, emphasizing 重みがないから?

If so, the whole meaning of the sentence could be:

"_As it has *no* importance [for you], it is improbably [for you] to be able to enter Nirvana_"?

I found the sentence in a comment under a quite creepy video of Youtube, in which an anime character was chanting the "Han Nya Shin Gyō" sutra. I'm sorry, but I can't give further background. 

Thanks in advance for your help!


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## Wishfull

Hi.
なんか of this context is dfferent thing from previous post.
In this context, なんか means "somewhat, somehow."

I don't know the background of the sentence, but when I read that sentence, my translation would be;

*Somehow, as (the gravestone) doesn't seem to heavy, (the dead person's spirit) doesn't seem to be able to go to the heaven.*

Does this translation make sense to you?


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## Bakamono

Wishfull said:


> Hi.
> なんか of this context is dfferent thing from previous post.
> In this context, なんか means "somewhat, somehow."
> 
> I don't know the background of the sentence, but when I read that sentence, my translation would be;
> 
> *Somehow, as (the gravestone) doesn't seem to heavy, (the dead person's spirit) doesn't seem to be able to go to the heaven.*
> 
> Does this translation make sense to you?



Well, yes. Although opposite in meaning, it could be another possibility. The background is so confusing that I really don't know for sure what the user wanted to express...

Thanks a lot, *Wishfull*-san!


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## Wishfull

Bakamono said:


> Well, yes. Although opposite in meaning, it could be another possibility. The background is so confusing that I really don't know for sure what the user wanted to express...
> 
> Thanks a lot, *Wishfull*-san!


 
Hi.
I found that the subject of 重みがない would be his hannnya shinkyo's sutra, instead of the gravestone.
So my new version;

*Somehow, as my sutra is not heavy (well skilled one ), the spirit of the dead body couldn't seem to go to heaven.*

He said that his sutra seems not effective, not powerful enough, because he didin't trained it well.
A skilled priest's hannnya shinkyo's sutra has dignity and profoundness, which we say "heavy" or 重みがある。

And with this context, なんか　might be "something"
*As my sutra is something cheap, the spirit couldn't seem to go to the heaven.*

I think both works here.


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## Bakamono

Wishfull said:


> Hi.
> I found that the subject of 重みがない would be his hannnya shinkyo's sutra, instead of the gravestone.
> So my new version;
> 
> *Somehow, as my sutra is not heavy (well skilled one ), the spirit of the dead body couldn't seem to go to heaven.*
> 
> He said that his sutra seems not effective, not powerful enough, because he didin't trained it well.
> A skilled priest's hannnya shinkyo's sutra has dignity and profoundness, which we say "heavy" or 重みがある。
> 
> And with this context, なんか　might be "something"
> *As my sutra is something cheap, the spirit couldn't seem to go to the heaven.*
> 
> I think both works here.



Mmm... good point, I presume...Makes more sense, but in this way (I'm just modifying your sentence in order to match what I could recall from the video and its comments):

*As the sutra* is something cheap, the spirit couldn't seem to go to the heaven.*

(*chanted in that creepy way)

(The video was made using a software for synthetic singing, and the song was the sutra)

But are you suggesting that なんか is the old good 何か?

Thank you!


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## Wishfull

Bakamono said:


> Mmm... good point, I presume...Makes more sense, but in this way (I'm just modifying your sentence in order to match what I could recall from the video and its comments):
> 
> *As the sutra* is something cheap, the spirit couldn't seem to go to the heaven.*
> 
> (*chanted in that creepy way)
> 
> (The video was made using a software for synthetic singing, and the song was the sutra)
> 
> But are you suggesting that なんか is the old good 何か?
> 
> Thank you!


 
Hi.
I read your post for several times, but I couldn't understand "*But are you suggesting that なんか is the old good 何か?"*
Could you ask me in a different way?
I don't understand *the old good.*
Thanks in advance.


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## Bakamono

Wishfull said:


> Hi.
> I read your post for several times, but I couldn't understand "*But are you suggesting that なんか is the old good 何か?"*
> Could you ask me in a different way?
> I don't understand *the old good.*
> Thanks in advance.




I 'm sorry *Wishfull*!!!, I maybe used an inappropriate expression for referring a term that is very well known by any elementary Japanese student. (as in every textbook you can see the quartet:　*何、何か、何も、何でも *).

So, I reformulate my question: "*are you suggesting that なんか is 何か?"


*(For "old good", let me ask in the "Spanish-English" forum for proper reference of the expression. Maybe I used it wrongly)

本当に御免なさい！*
*


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## lrosa

Maybe you meant "good old"?


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## Bakamono

lrosa said:


> Maybe you meant "good old"?



YES, *Irosa*! I mixed up the words! My bad!!! 

Thank you!


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## Wishfull

Bakamono said:


> なんか is the old good 何か?


 
Hi.

なんか
＝なにか
＝何か　（something, what, somehow, somewhat)

or

なんか
＝なんだか
＝何だか (somehow, somewhat)

I think there is no doubt about the kanji version is 何.
BUT there is still room for argument about the usage of it.

The sutra seems *somehow* surperficial. The mechanical voice was apparently produced by some machine, not by a priest of high virture.
So the spirit can't seem to go to the Heaven.
or
The sutra seems *something* surperficial. The mecha...........

I think it can be interpretted in both ways.

And now I wonder if there should be a big difference between the two English or the two Japanese.
Perhaps there might not be big differences anyway. 
Both convey us some kind of *uncertainty*.

What do you think about it?

PS) Thank you for "good old" or "old good". I didn't know that anyway. Now I understand about it.


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## Bakamono

Wishfull said:


> 1) What do you think about it?
> 
> 2) PS) Thank you for "good old" or "old good". I don't know that anyway. Now I understand about it.



1) Excellent! ^_^ Thank you very much, *Wishfull*-sama!!!

2) PS) Dō itashimashite; actually, we should also thanks *Irosa*-sama for his help!


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## Hiro Sasaki

The setence may need more contexts.

1.  成仏する　can be negative and positive.   成仏しろ　means "Die and 
go to hell".

2. なんか　（なにか　）somehow, in a way or other.

３．　重み　importance dignity . I believe that Spanish "peso" has the same 
meaning, 

Hiro Sasaki




Bakamono said:


> I've recently read this thread concerning the term なんか but I must say I can not yet figure out the meaning of that word in this sentence:
> 
> *なんか*重みがないから成仏できなさそうだな。﻿
> 
> According to this:
> 
> 
> 
> is なんか in that sentence, emphasizing 重みがないから?
> 
> If so, the whole meaning of the sentence could be:
> 
> "_As it has *no* importance [for you], it is improbably [for you] to be able to enter Nirvana_"?
> 
> I found the sentence in a comment under a quite creepy video of Youtube, in which an anime character was chanting the "Han Nya Shin Gyō" sutra. I'm sorry, but I can't give further background.
> 
> Thanks in advance for your help!


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## Bakamono

Hiro Sasaki said:


> The setence may need more contexts.
> 
> 1.  成仏する　can be negative and positive.   成仏しろ　means "Die and
> go to hell".
> 
> 2. なんか　（なにか　）somehow, in a way or other.
> 
> ３．　重み　importance dignity . I believe that Spanish "peso" has the same
> meaning,
> 
> Hiro Sasaki



Hi Hiro Sasaki, thanks for your comments!

Of course it needs more context, but what I've written is only what I can say about it. I can't paste the url of the video 

1. Interesting! At first I guess that meaning because the tool I use for reading japanese online (and other programs with dictionaries included such as JWPCE and WAKAN) gives for  成仏: _"enter Nirvana, become a Buddha, go to heaven, rest in peace, die (peacefully) <dEDICT>" 

_2. Yes.

3. Yes, you're right. おもみ:  _importance, weight, dignity, emphasis <dEDICT>_ = _importancia, peso, dignidad, énfasis._ (literal translation from english...)

Nevertheless, I could venture that the explanation given by *Wishfull* suits quite well what I've read (a comment for a video with an creepy anime cartoon chanting Han-nya-shin-gyō synthetically).


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