I forgot what that grammar point is called but you got it right, it’s not a possessive but, uh, attributive? I suppose “Leefa of the pandas” is a handy way to look at it :) I struggle to come up with a good example, I think the go-to one when I started learning was 友達の武さん tomodachi no takeshi-san, which does not mean “friend’s Takeshi” but “(my) friend Takeshi”, because “tomodachi no” describes Takeshi. 黄色の花 ki’iro no hana is not “a flower of the colour yellow” but “a yellow flower”. 風の谷のナウシカ kaze no tani no naushika is not “Nausicaä who belongs to/is owned by the valley of the wind” but “Nausicaä who lives in/comes from the valley of the wind” (the Ghibli movie is called “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind” because that happens to also work in English but it’s not a possessive). I hope that helps.
The red text is an evil, evil trap for learners ;D The word isn’t loaned from English but (I’m assuming) German “Profil” [pro feel]* meaning, unsurprisingly, “profile” in English. While there are loads of loanwords from English, German also provided a fair share.
* (or maybe French “profil” or some related language but I’m biased towards German)
Thanks for the insight! Now that you mention the Ghibli movie, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen anime titles using this form as well. Next time I’ll be able to put the pieces together.
Loaned words are way harder than they have a right to be! I never know if they’re from a language I don’t speak, or if I just botched the pronunciation. I remember having a hard time remembering アルバイト until I learnt it came from German.
I forgot what that grammar point is called but you got it right, it’s not a possessive but, uh, attributive? I suppose “Leefa of the pandas” is a handy way to look at it :) I struggle to come up with a good example, I think the go-to one when I started learning was 友達の武さん tomodachi no takeshi-san, which does not mean “friend’s Takeshi” but “(my) friend Takeshi”, because “tomodachi no” describes Takeshi. 黄色の花 ki’iro no hana is not “a flower of the colour yellow” but “a yellow flower”. 風の谷のナウシカ kaze no tani no naushika is not “Nausicaä who belongs to/is owned by the valley of the wind” but “Nausicaä who lives in/comes from the valley of the wind” (the Ghibli movie is called “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind” because that happens to also work in English but it’s not a possessive). I hope that helps.
The red text is an evil, evil trap for learners ;D The word isn’t loaned from English but (I’m assuming) German “Profil” [pro feel]* meaning, unsurprisingly, “profile” in English. While there are loads of loanwords from English, German also provided a fair share.
* (or maybe French “profil” or some related language but I’m biased towards German)
Thanks for the insight! Now that you mention the Ghibli movie, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen anime titles using this form as well. Next time I’ll be able to put the pieces together.
Loaned words are way harder than they have a right to be! I never know if they’re from a language I don’t speak, or if I just botched the pronunciation. I remember having a hard time remembering アルバイト until I learnt it came from German.