輪 (RIN, wa: ring, circle, loop)
私たちは先生の回りに輪になって集まった。
Watashitachi wa sensei no mawari ni wa ni natte atsumatta.
We formed a circle around the teacher.私たち (watashitachi: we)
先生 (sensei: teacher) ahead of + scholarI wanted this breakdown to be ahead of + life, as in, “someone who is ahead of you in life.” But Halpern equates this use of 生 with “scholar.”
回り (mawari: circle)
集 (atsu(maru): to assemble)お父さんは煙草の煙でたくさん輪を作れる。
Otōsan wa tabako no kemuri de takusan wa o tsukureru.
Dad can blow many smoke rings.Hmm. I’m not too impressed with Otōsan at this juncture. But I do like the way 煙 appears twice here with different yomi. The first time, it’s part of the ateji word tabako. And the second time, it means “smoke” and is pronounced kemuri.
お父さん (otōsan: father)
煙草 (tabako: cigarette) smoke + grass煙 (kemuri: smoke)
作 (tsuku(ru): to make)彼らは輪になって小さい黒いウサギと小さい白い
ウサギの結婚の踊りを踊りました。
Karera wa wa ni natte chiisai kuroi usagi to chiisai shiroi
usagi no kekkon no odori o odorimashita.
They danced in a wedding circle around the little black rabbit and little white rabbit.I have no idea about the origin of this sentence, which I found on Breen’s site. But I like the rōmaji rendition, because the “wa wa” looks like a typo but isn’t.
彼ら (karera: they)
小 (chii(sai): small)
黒 (kuro(i): black)
ウサギ (usagi: rabbit)
白 (shiro(i): white)
結婚 (kekkon: marriage) to unite + to marry
踊 (odo(ri): a dance; odo(ru): to dance)
