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jonkear
12 Dec 2017

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Question about Japanese

How do you say this in Japanese? "Sinking Cities" (i.e. cities that are physically sinking)

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stayalldayinthe_sun
12 Dec 2017

  • Japanese

水没都市
すいぼつとし
Suibotsu toshi

mimimarie
12 Dec 2017

  • Japanese

沈みゆく街

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Highly-rated answerer
mizuki6588
13 Dec 2017

  • Japanese

しずんだまち
sizunda machi

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angelina_white
14 Dec 2017

  • Japanese
I have some (possible) choices to your question. "水没都市" The word itself means cities that: - are physically sinking - have sunk (in at least a portion/part of it as in the case of Mexico City that has sunk about 30 feet since the 19th century) - have sunk completely However, without any context, the word often recalls or suggests the last one because the Kanji "没" itself has a nuance of "gone" or "disappear". "沈んでいく街" This suggests that a city or cities is/are sinking but has not yet completely sunk. "Sink" is "沈む" in Japanese and its present progressive form is "沈んでいる" or "沈んでいく". You can use in a bit lyrical manner as "沈みゆく". They also include cities where "subsidence" occurs. (Subsidence is "沈下" or "地盤沈下," and the word "沈下" means the process by which an area of land sinks.) On the other hand, "水没" means "sink/sunk IN WATER". This means that you don't use "水没都市" for cities that are sinking in sand, mud, etc. We can say "砂に沈んでいく街" or "砂に沈みゆく都市" for cities sinking in sand, but not "砂没都市". Cities are usually either "都市" or "街", depending on the context. I think you can also say "消えゆく街" instead of using a variation of the "沈む". "消える" in this context means "disappear" and "消えゆく" literally means "going to disappear." However, you don't have to indicate in which (e.g., in water, in sand, etc) the cities are sinking when you use the "消えゆく街" or "消えゆく都市". Hope this helps you.

I have some (possible) choices to your question.

"水没都市"
The word itself means cities that:
- are physically sinking
- have sunk (in at least a portion/part of it as in the case of Mexico City that has sunk about 30 feet since the 19th century)
- have sunk completely

However, without any context, the word often recalls or suggests the last one because the Kanji "没" itself has a nuance of "gone" or "disappear".


"沈んでいく街"
This suggests that a city or cities is/are sinking but has not yet completely sunk.

"Sink" is "沈む" in Japanese and its present progressive form is "沈んでいる" or "沈んでいく".
You can use in a bit lyrical manner as "沈みゆく".
They also include cities where "subsidence" occurs. (Subsidence is "沈下" or "地盤沈下," and the word "沈下" means the process by which an area of land sinks.)

On the other hand, "水没" means "sink/sunk IN WATER".
This means that you don't use "水没都市" for cities that are sinking in sand, mud, etc.


We can say "砂に沈んでいく街" or "砂に沈みゆく都市" for cities sinking in sand, but not "砂没都市".

Cities are usually either "都市" or "街", depending on the context.

I think you can also say "消えゆく街" instead of using a variation of the "沈む".
"消える" in this context means "disappear" and "消えゆく" literally means "going to disappear."

However, you don't have to indicate in which (e.g., in water, in sand, etc) the cities are sinking when you use the "消えゆく街" or "消えゆく都市".


Hope this helps you.

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