My correspondent thought those were my “final answers.” Here’s what he had to say about my efforts:
貴方がお書きになった回文の適応漢字は７０点です。
Anata ga okaki ni natta kaibun no tekiō kanji wa 70-ten desu.
You get a 70 for your conversion of the palindrome into kanji.
貴方 (anata: you) precious + person
This is ateji, because the first kanji doesn’t typically have the yomi of a.
お書きになる (okaki ni naru: honorific form of ka(ku): to write)
A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, p. 358, says, “In ordinary circumstances, o-Vmasu ni naru is used when the speaker describes someone’s action or state with respect. However, if a social norm requires the speaker to talk in honorific speech, the honorific form is used, even if the speaker does not respect the person he talks about.” 🙂 I choose to believe that the first explanation applies to my correspondent’s use of this structure!
By the way, the reference to Vmasu means a verb in the “pre-masu” form. That is, the -masu form of 書く (kaku: to write) is 書きます (kakimasu). The pre-masu form, then, is 書き (kaki).
回文 (kaibun: palindrome) to go around + words
適応 (tekiō: adaptation, accommodation, conformity)
to fit + to respond (to a situation)
漢字 (kanji) Chinese + characters
点 (ten: points)
He had a little more to say about my results, as you’ll see at the link if you care to take a detour.
Further Comments on My Performance …
Otherwise, you can go on to Step 5.
