Postby seanolan » December 26th, 2006 12:16 am
wakaru literally means to understand and also to BE understood. The more common form I always see is 分かる, which means to be understood (to understand is 判る, and I almost never see this). Ok, so if you use "be understood", then the subject is always the thing that is understood, not the being that does the understanding.
The literal translation of something like これが分かりました is not "I understood that" but rather "that is understood". So that is the reason you use "ga" with "wakaru".
We often see (only in lessons! nobody talks like this!) the phrase "Watashi wa _____ ga wakarimasu" or some such, and since we translate this as "I understand _______" we think "I" is the subject, especially since we used "wa" as the particle. However, in this sentence, "wa" is actually replacing "ni", the indirect object or target of the verb. "Watashi NI ________ ga wakarimasu." "________ is understood/understandable BY me." But of course, we don't talk like this so it becomes "I understand _________".
This usage is VERY understandable when you think about how Japanese culture has caused the language to be constructed...whenever possible, the Japanese language eliminates the first person (and second person also) as a subject...it is not proper to refer to one's own accomplishments in most ways; rather, "credit" is given to the action, not the person performing the action. "That is understood" rather than "I understand that".
I suspect "wo" would be fine if you used 判る, but this is not used usually.
Sean
ETA: I just spoke with one of my Japanese teachers, and he confirmed that they almost never use 判る and he says he THINKS "wo" would be ok with it, but that it would sound funny, because they never say it (and it would sound like an incorrect grammar construction). So even with 判る they would likely use "ga" even though it is not technically correct (he thinks).
