(2016-04-29, 11:37 pm)FlameseeK Wrote: Question 1
レベル:総合的な能力の高さを示す値
Is 値 supposed to be read as あたい here? I don't think it could be considered a suffix here because it's right after a verb, but I've never seen this word before so I'd like to make sure.
Question 2
How do you know the pronunciation of certain kanji in compounds when the word isn't in the dictionary?
For instace, I know that 版 is はん and that sometimes it's also read as ばん in compounds, e.g. 劇場版. But I've seen words not included in the dictionary, such as PC版, and I have no idea which reading is correct. My gut feelings tell me it's ばん just like in 劇場版, but the jisho.org only lists it as a noun and not a suffix, so logically it should be はん in my opinion.
I've seen other cases like this before, but I just can't recall them. I always get confused when this happens.
EDIT: Just found yet another word not in the dictionary: 基礎力. Since 力 is considered a suffix, I guess it should be きそりょく.
However, sometimes a lot of words are put together in Japanese, that is to say, in a sequence of kanji without any hiragana connecting them - e.g. 装備重量 rather than 装備の重量 or something. So technically, I guess ちから is also a possibility? I mean, I don't know what other reason would there be for 基礎力 not to be listed in an online dictionary, other than the fact that these are 2 separate words as opposed to 力 being used as a suffix. Or is it just normal for Japanese to go around putting compounds together and coming up with new words whenever they feel like doing so? Confusing...
1 would be read あたい ; the structure has to be a verb modifying a noun, and the other possible reading ね is strictly used for monetary worth, leaving only あたい.
2 PC版 is read ピーシーはん ; I'm not sure I've heard the phrase spoken, but I would expect 基礎力 to be きそりょく.
Generally speaking, the term appearing in the dictionary as a 'suffix' or 'prefix' can be freely added to other nouns without any intervening particles or other grammatical glue. Such words should take the reading as it appears in its entry as a prefix or a suffix.
If a compound term like that becomes extremely common, acquires pronunciation shifts (like はん to ばん), or acquires a meaning that is not strictly what is expected from adding the prefix or suffix to the base noun, then it's going to start appearing in dictionaries. There are, however, a lot of times when prefixes and suffixes are added to nouns on the fly.
基礎の力 on the other hand, would be read きそのちから.
As for 装備重量, it does appear in at least some dictionaries,
http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/srch/all/%E8...87%8F/m0u/
Of course, at some point somebody takes to words and makes them into a compound for the first time. Generally this is done only with ON-reading words. If the meaning isn't flat out obvious, and there's no dictionary entry for it, then there will surely be a chiebukuro entry discussing the correct meaning. It's rarer to stick kun-readings together, but it does happen. It almost never happens that kun and ON readings get stuck together ; there is a smattering of words like that in the language, but it's not something you expect of a newly coined compound.
Meanings are usually explained when people are coining a new compound or using an uncommon compound. Some compounds, of course, only appear in specialized dictionaries and you may not be able to easily find a dictionary entry in free web-based resources, so that can be tough if you get into jargon-heavy reading material at a level where the author will assume the reader already knows the jargon or has access to specialized dictionaries.