Well of course it works much better with more closely related languages such as French. I've been using it for French and it is a lot more correct. The structure of Japanese is really not in its favour.
I think just replacing nouns would be a lot more use, definitely not grammatical particles because of the bad placement. I'm not sure what dictionary, if any, the author used. Also perhaps my choice of text was not very natural, I suppose any other context of 'father' would warrant a 'chichi'.
Later versions will iron out some kinks perhaps. A version which could only replace verbs or only replace nouns or something like that would be better for Japanese.
Here's some Alice in Wonderland for your consideration.
------------------------ Japanese only
`Then you should say what you mean,' the 3月 Hare went on.
`I do,' Alice hastily replied; `at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the 同じ thing, you know.'
`Not the 同じ thing a bit!' said the Hatter. `You might just as well say that "I see what I eat" is the 同じ thing as "I eat what I see"!'
`You might just as well say,' added the 3月 Hare, `that "I like what I get" is the 同じ thing as "I get what I like"!'
`You might just as well say,' added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, `that "I breathe when I sleep" is the 同じ thing as "I sleep when I breathe"!'
`It is the 同じ thing with you,' said the Hatter, and here the 会話 dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute, while Alice thought over all she could remember about ravens and writing-desks, which wasn't much.
The Hatter was the 最初の to break the 静寂. `What day of the 月 is it?' he said, turning to Alice: he had taken his watch out of his 彼のポケット, and was looking at it uneasily, shaking it every now and then, and holding it to his ear.
----------------------------------- Japanese Plus English
`Then you should say what you mean,' the 3月[march] Hare went on.
`I do,' Alice hastily replied; `at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the 同じ[same] thing, you know.'
`Not the 同じ[same] thing a bit!' said the Hatter. `You might just as well say that "I see what I eat" is the 同じ[same] thing as "I eat what I see"!'
`You might just as well say,' added the 3月[march] Hare, `that "I like what I get" is the 同じ[same] thing as "I get what I like"!'
`You might just as well say,' added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, `that "I breathe when I sleep" is the 同じ[same] thing as "I sleep when I breathe"!'
`It is the 同じ[same] thing with you,' said the Hatter, and here 会話[the conversation] dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute, while Alice thought over all she could remember about ravens and writing-desks, which wasn't much.
The Hatter was the 最初の[first] to break 静寂[the silence]. `What day of 月[the month] is it?' he said, turning to Alice: he had taken his watch out of 彼のポケット[his pocket], and was looking at it uneasily, shaking it every now and then, and holding it to his ear.
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I like the idea of the '3月 Hare'.
Last edited by phauna (2009 April 22, 1:54 am)
