What does に at the end of a sentence mean? For example, "どうして恐れちゃった小さいトマトに？“

Question

hiro_01 · Accepted Answer

The sentence about which you is a part of a lyrics. It means 「どうして、（someoneは）小さいトマトに、恐れちゃった（のか）？」but this usage of 「～に」is grammatically incorrect. 「～に恐れる。」should be replaced with「～を恐れる。」

However, in lyrics, many phrases can be omitted. For example, the sentence can be 「どうして、小さいトマトに（向き合ったときに、何かを）、恐れちゃったのか？」"Why were you scared by something, when you faced the small tomato?" or "Why did you scare when you faced the small tomato?".

ttmto · Answer

It's an inverted sentence. Normally you would write どうして小さいトマトに恐れちゃった？ However, when you want to emphasize what you're saying (in this case how little and tiny the tomato is that you're scared of), you move the part you want to emphasize to the end of the sentence.

ttmto · Answer

Not sure grammar-wise, but a quick googling shows multiple examples of に恐れる.

敵は鳥の羽音に恐れたのである.
https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E6%81%90%E3%82%8C%E3%81%9F

これに恐れた家康は幸村に、調略をもちかけますが、幸村はこれを拒否。
https://bs.tbs.co.jp/rival/bknm/14.html

天平年間に百済からきた白山権現が乗っていた虎の猛威に恐れた村人がその首を切り落とした
https://www.town.hisayama.fukuoka.jp/soshiki/kyoiku/gyomu/rekishi_bunkazai/iseki/752.html

「まこと、常は里までも下りて人の命を奪う奴めが、このような所まで我等がやって来たのに害を為さぬのは、てっきり宣旨に畏れたか、ご主人の威勢に恐れたからであろう ...
https://www.togakushi-jinja.jp/seiryuden/bottom/smatogakushiwoaruku/gendaigodeyomutogakushidenshou/gendaigodeyomutogakushidenshou3.html

この中で頼朝は、まず平氏が都を落ちたのはわが威勢に恐れたが. 為と胸を張り
https://hosei.repo.nii.ac.jp/index.php?action=pages_view_main&active_action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=19419&item_no=1&attribute_id=22&file_no=1&page_id=13&block_id=83

hiro_01 · Answer

@ttmto

Yes, as I wrote, 「～に恐れる」can be seen in literary works like lyrics. All of your examples are literary and appear in old stories.

I wrote

> However, in lyrics, many phrases can be omitted. For example, the sentence can be 「どうして、小さいトマトに（向き合ったときに、何かを）、恐れちゃったのか？」"Why were you scared by something, when you faced the small tomato?" or "Why did you scare when you faced the small tomato?".

All of your examples can be interpreted in the same way as the above interpretation for the present sentence. In fact, you are just supporting my interpretation of 「～に恐れる」。

Besides, it is needless to say that "only several" hits over the "world-wide web" does not change the fact that the usage of 「～に恐れる」is grammatically unusual. I checked my dictionaries, which give many examples of 「～を恐れる」but no example of 「～に恐れる」。

ttmto · Answer

>「どうして、小さいトマトに（向き合ったときに、何かを）、恐れちゃったのか？」
I feel like this is a bit too far fetched though, the sentence itself is too simple for it to leave any room for omission, and pretty sure none of my examples would be interpretated that way, at least from my humble knowledge of Japanese. And again, I'm completely in the dark about the grammar side of things so I'll leave it to ya.

hiro_01 · Answer

I do not understand the reason why ttmto objected, because my point is quite simple: We never say 「～に恐れる。」in everyday conversation. Indeed, all of my three standard dictionaries do not give any example sentence with 「～に恐れる。」. They give many examples of 「～を恐れる。」

If we do not reject the phrase 「～に恐れる」, we need to add something omitted. I just proposed one possibility: 
「どうして、小さいトマトに向き合ったときに、何かを恐れちゃったのか？」, 
which can be 
「どうして、小さいトマトを見たときに、そのトマトを恐れちゃったのか？」, 
which is equivalent to 
「どうして、小さいトマトを恐れちゃったのか？」

The interpretation depends on what the writer intended, which the reader must guess as we do for other literature.

ttmto · Answer

I don't think you need to add anything for the sentence to make sense. Think of it as a fusion of を恐れる and に恐れをなす, that's how に恐れる was born I suppose. It's quite simple, no need for mental gymnastics.

hiro_01 · Answer

For unknown reason, Mr. ttmto seems to try to ignore the fact that true native Japanese speaker never say 「トマトに恐れる。」. He may not want to admit the fact he did not know correct Japanese grammar about the word 「恐れる」. Whatever his reason is, I do not recommend you to use 「～に恐れる。」, which is unusual. Furthermore, if you believe him, you will miss the nuance of the lyrics. The author has an intention to express a nuance when he/she uses unusual words.

ttmto · Answer

So you're saying all of my examples were written by "fake" native Japanese speakers? That's totally nonsense.

You even admitted the phrase can actually be found in literary works:
>Yes, as I wrote, 「～に恐れる」can be seen in literary works like lyrics. All of your examples are literary and appear in old stories.

Of course を恐れる would be more common but you can't deny the fact that there's a certain amount of people using に恐れる depending on context, some of which are from an online dictionary (Weblio), as well as the official websites of temples/shrines and academic papers, not from unreliable sources like blog posts or Twitter. That's all I'm saying.

ttmto · Answer

Here are some other examples from various dictionaries. If it's really grammatically incorrect and "true" native speakers never use it, then why do these dictionaries use it? I have no idea.

畏怖　読み方：いふ
物事に恐れ、たじろぐこと --- from 実用日本語表現辞典 
https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%84%E3%81%B5

読み方：しょうふく
［名］(スル)勢いに恐れてひれ伏すこと。 --- from デジタル大辞泉 
https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E6%87%BE%E6%9C%8D

英語圏の人々がどんな事柄・現象に恐れ、喜び、希望を感じ取ってきたかがよくわかる。英米文化の背景理解に書かせぬ１冊。--- from 英語迷信・俗信事典
https://www.taishukan.co.jp/book/b197589.html

hiro_01 · Answer

Mr. ttmto seems to find some examples in which the combination 「に恐れる」exceptionally occurs by google search, but please note that those exceptions do not change the fact that true native Japanese speakers NEVER say「トマトに恐れる」. Depending on the context the combination 「に恐れる」can occur, but 「トマトに恐れる」is still quite unusual. The author of the lyric must intended to express a subtle nuance by using 「～に」instead of 「～を」.

Besides, his examples support my interpretation of the usage of 「に」 in the present sentence 「トマトに恐れる」. The word 「に」in「物事に恐れる」expresses the reason of the action similar to「によって」; hence the resulting complete sentence is「ある物事に向き合ったことによって（何かを）恐れる。」. That is why I interpreted 「トマトに恐れる」as 「トマトに向き合ったことによって何かを恐れる。」

Interestingly 「勢いに恐れる。」means, for example, 「勢いに（圧倒され）、負かされる／破壊されることを恐れる。」 and so on. Hence, 「勢いに恐れる」has different meaning from「勢いを恐れる。」

For your information, I shall give examples from one of my dictionaries: 
「暴君を恐れる」
「夜が来るのを恐れる」
「冷害の発生を恐れる」
「失敗を恐れる」
「神を恐れないしわざ」
In all the examples, you cannot replace 「を」with 「に」, which results in strange sentences. Indeed, the dictionary does not give any example of 「～に恐れる」。

hiro_01 · Answer

@ttmto

Did you delete your interesting advice?

hiro_01 · Answer

@ttmto

Mr. ttmto, do you say 
「小さいトマトに恐れる。」
instead of 
「小さいトマトを恐れる。」.

Please answer, Yes or No.

hiro_01 · Answer

@cohozuna You are welcome!

ttmto · Answer

And these tweets are posted from 2022 late august to the present, which clearly shows how many people use this phrase in such a short amount of time period. Japanese is broader and more flexible than you might think. Read more books and expand your vocabulary.

What does に at the end of a sentence mean? For example, "どうして恐れちゃった小さいトマトに？“ See a translation

I don't think you need to add anything for the sentence to make sense. Think of it as a fusion of を恐れる and に恐れをなす, that's how に恐れる was born I suppose. It's quite simple, no need for mental gymnastics.

@ttmtoDid you delete your interesting advice?

@ttmtoMr. ttmto, do you say 「小さいトマトに恐れる。」instead of 「小さいトマトを恐れる。」. Please answer, Yes or No.

@cohozuna You are welcome!

And these tweets are posted from 2022 late august to the present, which clearly shows how many people use this phrase in such a short amount of time period. Japanese is broader and more flexible than you might think. Read more books and expand your vocabulary.

What does に at the end of a sentence mean? For example, "どうして恐れちゃった小さいトマトに？“

@ttmto

Did you delete your interesting advice?

@ttmto

Mr. ttmto, do you say
「小さいトマトに恐れる。」
instead of
「小さいトマトを恐れる。」.

Please answer, Yes or No.