私：マレー語の特徴はね、同じ言葉の繰り返しが多いことです。たとえば散歩のことはジャラン、ジャラン。
学生：先生は、何でも良くご存じですね。
私：いいえ、ほんの耳学問ですよ。
Mimi-gakumon
(Mareshia de)
Watashi: More go no tokuchoo wa ne, onaji kotoba no kurikaeshi ga ooi koto desu. Tatoeba, sampo no koto wa 'jalan jalan.'
Gafeusei: Sensei wa, nan demo yoku gozonji desu ne.
Watashi: lie, hon no mimi-gakumon desu yo.
(In Malaysia)
Me: One of the characteristics of Malay is that there is a lot of repetition of words. For example, 'jalan jalan' means 'walk or stroll.'
Student: You seem to know about everything.
Me: No, no. It's just a little something I picked up.
* * *
Mimi-gakumon refers to knowledge or information obtained or picked up from someone else or by listening to others. Literally, the expression means to get gakumon (learning) through or by one's mimi (ears).
We were on our way to Malaysia from Tokyo. Though the traditional Malaysian costumes worn by the stewardesses were certainly beautiful, I was more intrigued by the Malaysian on-board announcements. Each seemed to begin with what sounded like two words being repeated-'Tuan tuan, puan puan.' Though I didn't know what the words meant, I was struck by the obvious repetition of sounds.
After briefly introducing myself to the Malaysian woman sitting next to me, I said, "There certainly is a lot of repetition in Malay, isn't there?" "Really? I'd never thought about it before. Please give me an example?" She smiled when I mentioned the words at the beginning of the announcements.
"Now that you mention it, I guess you're right.
'Tuan' means a man," she explained. "When the word is repeated twice as in 'tuan tuan' it becomes plural." It immediately became clear to me. What I'd been hearing was the Malaysian way of saying, "Ladies and Gentlemen.,.." Feeling quite happy with this new bit of information - it was just something I'd picked up by keeping my ears alert (mimi-gakumon de eta chishiki) - I immediately passed it on to the students I was traveling with. They too started paying attention to the announcements.
"When traveling with you," one said, "I always learn so much." It was just something I'd picked up (mimi-gakumon ni suginai) and I felt embarrassed at her remark.
I asked the woman to tell me more about repetition in Malay.
'Jalan' means 'to walk'; repeated twice as 'jalan jalan' it means, 'a walk or stroll.' 'Budak' means baby; the plural form is 'budak budak.' 'Barang' refers to an article, a thing or a good; it's plural form is 'barang barang.' " She added happily, "Thanks to you, I now see my own language in a new light." I then went on to explain how Japanese has a similar sort of repetition - hito becomes hito[b]ito (person/persons) and kuni becomes kuni[g]uni (country/countries).
"Mimi-gakumon ni sugimasen ga, Mareshia ni iku mae ni Maree-go ga sukoshi wakatta yoo na ki ga shimashita (Though it had just been something I'd picked up [while talking to the woman], I somehow felt I'd learned a little something about Malay before out arrival). "