"Steak the First"
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[An essay I wrote a year and a half ago, but whose posting was interrupted by a long run.]
Enlightening article by Peter Backhaus in The Japan Times (6/9/23):
"Za grammar notes: How to properly handle the 'the' in Japanese"
Japanese seems to be able to assimilate any English word, including the ubiquitous definite article "the", which is unlike anything in Japanese itself.
If there’s something like a Murphy’s Law for syntax, the name of this restaurant near my school is a pretty good example of it. Reading “Steak The First,” it always makes me wonder how these three words came to be aligned in just that order. “The first steak,” “first the steak,” “the steak first” — all of these seem safe for consumption. But “steak the first”?
In order to understand what’s going on here, we need to appreciate the very specific way the little word “the” is used in Japanese, where it is normally pronounced ザ (za). Note that the reading may change to ジ (ji) when the following word starts with a vowel, as in the name of the invincible Japanese rock band The Alfee, which officially reads ジ・アルフィー (ji arufī).
But since Japanese is a language that normally gets along perfectly well without articles, it’s a bit challenging to understand what use it can make of ザ in the first place. Even more puzzling is that, more often than not, ザ shows up in places where English syntax wouldn’t want you to put an article at all.
Take the police campaign slogan ストップ・ザ・交通事故 (sutoppu za kōtsū jiko), which best translates as “Stop traffic accidents,” rather than “Stop ‘the’ traffic accidents.” So what exactly is ザ doing here?
ザ specialist Ayako Kajiwara, a linguist at Nagoya University, has collected a larger number of ザ expressions to flesh out the underlying rules of usage. One of the chief functions she identifies for ザ is to spotlight some sort of prototypicality in the word it is paired up with.
Take the phrase ザ・月曜日 (za getsuyōbi, “the” Monday). When someone says this to you, they do not simply want to inform you about the day of the week. What this means is it’s one of those miserable, most Monday-like Monday mornings that really have it in for you. Think sick kids, torrential rainfalls, train delays, etc.
Another example, from my own collection of ザ cases: A Japanese friend who had just changed jobs complained to me that the new work environment was really ザ・会社 (za kaisha, “the” company). Which was to say it was full of red tape, opaque procedures, cemented hierarchies and everything else one commonly associates with the unpleasant aspects of corporate life.
The stereotyping capacities of ザ also come to the fore when pigeonholing people. ザ・お嬢様 (Za o-jōsama, “The” Miss Princess), for instance, can be used to characterize someone who’s perceived as excessively posh, and ザ・サラリーマン (za sararīman, “the” salaryman) is for people who are, well, extraordinarily ordinarily salaryman-like.
But ザ also does a great job in extracting positive stereotypes. Two examples from Kajiwara’s data are ザ・トマト (za tomato, “the” tomato) and ザ・和食 (za washoku, “the” Japanese cuisine). The first one designates a particularly “tomatoic” specimen of the fruit, in terms of color, taste, juiciness, what have you, while the second evokes a textbook example of a classic Japanese meal. The washoku that out-washokus all others.
ザ’s power to highlight positive attributes may also be a factor in its frequent occurrence in commercial contexts, where we find (mostly romanized) phrases like “The Bargain” or “The Price Down.” And ザ also goes with adjectives, as in “The Strong,” which is a sparkling water brand, or “The Main,” referring to the central part of a well-known hotel complex in inner-city Tokyo. Seen in this light, our “Steak The First” from the opening now starts to make some sense, too.
Strange as it may seem, these ways of using ザ are not wholly a “made in Japan” thing. If we think of phrases like “play ‘the’ harp” (which one?) or “feed ‘the’ pigeons” (all of them?), we can see that the definite article in English often does remotely similar things. The resemblances become even stronger when we add denominations for people, such as “the” Celts or “the” Kardashians, and utterances like “How’s the wife?” or, quoting a former U.S. president, “It’s usually fun being The Donald.”
This goes to show that in English, too, the article can be manipulated to some extent. After all, the Beatles are technically just “Beatles” but who in their right mind would ever refer to them without a “the” in front. And what the Beatles can do, The Alfee can, too.
What “the” Japanese did, then, when importing the article, was not inventing something entirely new, but stripping it down to one or two of a greater number of tasks that the word normally does in English. We know this process of semantic narrowing, as it is called, from tons of imports of lexical items, such as ライス (raisu, rice), which refers only to cooked rice on flat plates, and ミルク (miruku, milk), normally meaning condensed milk only.
The difference, and what perhaps makes this all a bit more difficult to swallow, is that in the case of ザ, we are witnessing the semantic narrowing of an expression originally from the domain of grammar, and thus somewhat closer to the heart. But there’s nothing the Japanese language can’t swallow when eating its way through the English language. Not even the “the.”
Per Wikipedia:
Japanese has no grammatical gender, number, or articles; though the demonstrative sono (その, "that, those"), is often translatable as "the". Thus, linguists agree that Japanese nouns are noninflecting: neko (猫) can be translated as "cat", "cats", "a cat", "the cat", "some cats" and so forth, depending on context
Japanese may not have a definite article in its regular grammar, but it has one of sorts in its irregular grammar, since I would like to call the "za" we've been examining in this post a "hyperdefinite article".
The quintessential tomato, the ultimate salaryman, Japanese cuisine par excellence, the steak….
Before Backhaus's entertaining and informative article (not the grammatical one!), I never would have imagined that that little, triliteral, seemingly innocuous "the / za" could do so many things.
Selected readings
- "Za stall in Newtown" (10/30/13)
- "za ザ" (Wiktionary) — see especially the last reference
- "What is the logical form of that?" (6/8/23)
- "'That, that, that…', part 2" (8/28/20)
- "That, that, that…" (1/24/16)
- "A Chinese analog to English 'you know'" (11/22/19)
- "Why definiteness is decreasing, part 1" (1/9/15)
- "Why definiteness is decreasing, part 2" (1/10/15)
- "Tabudish and the origins of Mandarin" (5/2
[h.t. James-Henry Holland, June Teufel Dreyer, Don Keyser]
Vassili said,
February 11, 2025 @ 9:56 pm
This is probably to distinguish Steak the First from his son, Steak the Second.
Andreas Johansson said,
February 12, 2025 @ 1:37 am
@Vassili
And from his father Steak the Zeroth.
Peter Grubtal said,
February 12, 2025 @ 4:56 am
This "prototypicality" use of the definite article and variations on it will strike L1 English learners of, for example, German and Spanish: to take the "play the harp" example, in German is "Harfe spielen", i.e. without article. Spanish here uses the article, "tocar el arpa", but, for example, "I like cats" becomes "me gustan los gatos".
In the anglophone world in recent years the stressed (often with capital) "The event" i.e. "event of the year" use of the article may have influenced the Japanese Za phenomenon.
I'm still waiting for the deep structuralists to show us that it's not just arbitrariness.
David Morris said,
February 12, 2025 @ 6:07 am
There's a lot at steak.
J.W. Brewer said,
February 12, 2025 @ 7:36 am
"Steak the" makes sense if "the/za" is being treated like a Japanese particle, since such particles typically-to-always immediately follow the noun they go with. OTOH, Japanese noun phrases are virtually always head-final, which makes the placement of "first" (assuming it's supposed to modify "steak") more peculiar.
Matt McIrvin said,
February 12, 2025 @ 8:15 am
"Steak The First" also made me immediately think of a royal designation, as if this were some steak monarch.
GH said,
February 12, 2025 @ 8:29 am
In Internet slang from about ten years ago, kids were using le in front of all kinds of words, both nouns and adjectives. Borrowed from French, obviously.
It was used as a kind of humorous intensifier, so, sentences like "I am le sad" would be a self-deprecating way to say "I am very sad."
unekdoud said,
February 12, 2025 @ 8:31 am
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regnal_number#%22The_first%22
After 20 minutes of intense Wikipedia searching, King Steak I can finally rest easy.
Matt McIrvin said,
February 12, 2025 @ 8:46 am
"Le" has a long history in English brand names as a flippant pseudo-article indicating Frenchness, stylishness or sophistication, in some combination.
Leaving off "The" in contexts where the average person (there's that "the") might use it is an in-group signifier in some fandoms, such as for rock bands and roller coasters. There are Talking Heads fans who correct you if you call the band "the Talking Heads", though drummer Chris Frantz used the phrase in "Stop Making Sense". Coaster enthusiasts avoid referring to specific roller coasters with the definite article unless it's explicitly part of the name, as in The Beast at Kings Island. But I find that "The" seems more correct with old wooden coasters with generic names like "Cyclone" or "Comet" or "Thunderbolt".
KeithB said,
February 12, 2025 @ 8:57 am
Matt McIrvin:
"Leaving off "The" in contexts where the average person (there's that "the") might use it is an in-group signifier in some fandoms, such as for rock bands and roller coasters. "
Eagles, too, though I don't know that fans use it as a shibboleth.
cameron said,
February 12, 2025 @ 9:01 am
where did you get the idea that The Beatles are properly just Beatles, without the definite article? they always styled themselves as The Beatles
perhaps you've confused their case with that of Eagles, who were always article-less, but whom everyone typically refers to as The Eagles
Victor Mair said,
February 12, 2025 @ 9:02 am
And it's "The Ohio State University", not "Ohio State University". I think I wrote about that on Language Log once upon a time.
Does any other university of college do that?
Mike Grubb said,
February 12, 2025 @ 9:33 am
@VHM The University of Miami has the nickname "the U," (which, according to Wikipedia, is also claimed by the University of Utah, but I've only ever heard "the U" to mean Miami).
Jim Unger said,
February 12, 2025 @ 9:43 am
Roughly fifty years ago, there was a fad for using English 'my' = mai マイ as a prefix (e.g. maikon 'PC', maikaa 'family car', maihoomu 'my home', etc.).
Blue Jay graduate said,
February 12, 2025 @ 10:10 am
@Victor Mair The Johns Hopkins University does it too. But we spend so much time reminding people about the "s" on "Johns" that we rarely bother mentioning the "The".
BZ said,
February 12, 2025 @ 10:53 am
Given archaic constructions like "chapter the first", "Steak the First" might be interpreted as "number one steak", which, if so, make a sort of sense.
DaveK said,
February 12, 2025 @ 11:48 am
English use of “the” for playing instruments is even more subtle. George Harrison played the guitar. He played guitar for the Beatles. He played the guitar on “Something”.
All I can make of this is that “the” is used for playing an instrument in a general context, is omitted for a specific context, but is used to refer to the context of a recorded performance.
Philip Taylor said,
February 12, 2025 @ 11:49 am
Ah, "Chapter the first" (etc.). Thank you — I had been beating my brains out (or what little of them remains) trying to remember where I knew "<something> the first" other than in the context of royal nomenclature …
Nathan said,
February 12, 2025 @ 12:35 pm
What strikes me is the use of "salaryman" without definition, as if it were an English word.
Matt McIrvin said,
February 12, 2025 @ 1:07 pm
Per "salaryman": Is there a term for compound words loaned back to the language from which their component words were borrowed?
Matt McIrvin said,
February 12, 2025 @ 1:11 pm
(Wikipedia says it's a borrowing of the no-longer-common English expression "salaried man"(
Coby said,
February 12, 2025 @ 1:35 pm
Some 40 years ago (IIRC), a new chancellor at UC Berkeley had the idea that the highest-ranking of the several vice chancellors would be styled The Vice Chancellor, who would subsequently be introduced (orally) as the ('thuh') The ('thee') Vice Chancellor.
The title was later changed to Executive Vice Chancellor.
SlideSF said,
February 12, 2025 @ 1:40 pm
I am way behind the first posters here, but my immediate thought when I started reading was that now Sir Loin has risen in authority and become King Steak I.
Jonathan Smith said,
February 12, 2025 @ 2:29 pm
Interesting re: za ザ X = 'the classic/prototypical X', but AFAICT this has nothing to do with "Steak the First," which just seems to be awkward/bad English (Japanese name ステーキNo.1, no za).
Victor Mair said,
February 12, 2025 @ 3:18 pm
Jay Rubin mentioned to me that Steak the First reminds him of Za Meshiya near Nichibunken in Kyoto and he wonders if it's still there.
I googled Za Meshiya and found lots of them, mostly around Osaka. Jay says the word means a chophouse, the opposite of an elegant restaurant. He bets the combination of a deliberately unrefined Japanese word with a stylish English attachment is meant as a somewhat humorous name for the establishment.
Bloix said,
February 12, 2025 @ 4:00 pm
{Noun} the First is not an unheardness of construction. Charles Dickens divided A Tale of Two Cities, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, and others (though not all) of his novels into sections title Book the First, Book the Section, etc – each "book" then divided into chapters that are numbered conventionally. And not only Dickens.
Anthony said,
February 12, 2025 @ 5:37 pm
When I was at the University of Chicago we called it "the university." So when my mother, in New York, would meet someone from Chicago she would ask "oh, are you at the University?" I imagine people who were not at the U. of C. might have been puzzled.
Chris Button said,
February 12, 2025 @ 6:47 pm
"Chapter the first" etc. is used in "Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties" (the same author writes thr Captain Underpants series).
I doubt many kids get the joke. But if you can make the parents laugh, then they'll be happy to enjoy it with their kids too.
J.W. Brewer said,
February 12, 2025 @ 8:24 pm
One problem is that the NOUN the First locution in English doesn't mean "first" as in "best," it means "first in temporal sequence," whether applied to chapters, books, or monarchs. If you want the implicature that your steak is the best steak, i.e. #1/A-1/ichiban, it's the wrong construction. That's obviously the sort of subtlety that might get lost on an ESL speaker, of course.
Philip Taylor said,
February 13, 2025 @ 5:50 am
It was only while savouring the second of the twelve delicious tubes of Tartex Organic Classic Vegetarian Pate that I had recently ordered that the possible relevance to this thread of the name of its derivative, le Parfait ("pâte à tartiner savoureuse")), dawned on me.
Incidentally, the gloss of le Parfait was lifted directly from the product's official web site, so the absence of an accent aigu on the final "e" of "pâte" puzzles me — can any native French or Swiss French speaker enlighten me as to the probable reason for its omission ?
KC said,
February 13, 2025 @ 10:40 am
One could say:
Steak the First は素敵ステーキです。
Terry K. said,
February 13, 2025 @ 12:15 pm
With regards to guitar, another George Harrison Beatles song illustrates a meaning distinction between "played guitar" and "played the guitar" It's correct to say George Harrison played guitar on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", but not to say he played the guitar on the track. The latter would mean he played the only guitar part, or the most salient guitar part, but that was played (uncredited) by Eric Clapton.
Bloix said,
February 13, 2025 @ 12:56 pm
Perhaps marginally relevant:
There use to be a nice chophouse in Arlington VA called Ray's the Steaks.
https://www.washingtonian.com/2019/06/03/rays-the-steaks-is-closing-in-arlington-after-17-years/
The pun is intelligible only if you read one meaning as being more or less the same as "Ray's Steaks," with "the steaks" meaning "the best steaks" – i.e. something the same or very similar to the Japanese meaning.
And if you google the phrase "we have the steaks" you'll find restaurants using it without modification to mean, "we have the best steaks.' E.g.,
The weekend is here. Own it! We have the steaks!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/milwaukeefoodie/posts/1899972933524591/
Linda Seebach said,
February 13, 2025 @ 2:22 pm
A long time ago, someone told me his university preferred "The Johns Hopkins University," and it's still used in places. Google found me a recent Instagram post from the university's own site:
Jan 6, 2025 — A large “The Johns Hopkins University” sign on campus covered in snow. (I can't see the sign, though.)
Chris Button said,
February 15, 2025 @ 7:33 am
@ KC
Nice one!
Chas Belov said,
February 16, 2025 @ 2:17 am
Japan also has The Boom and The Blankey Jet City. Mongolia has The Lemons (as well as a monument to The Beatles in Ulaanbataar).
English group names are quite common in Asia. Japan has Lindberg, B'z, Jun Sky Walkers, Bump of Chicken, One OK Rock, and others, with Japanese pronunciations. Thailand has Big Ass, Potato, AB Normal, Tilly Birds and others.
Taiwan seems to straddle: Mayday, Fun4, Sodagreen, Sorry Youth. But most of these also have Chinese versions. Mayday is 五月天, Sodagreen is 蘇打綠 (I think this one went Chinese to English), Sorry Youth is 拍謝少年 (not sure which direction this one went).
The point is their albums will often be printed with the English group name, whether or not it shows the Asian language name.
Chris Button said,
February 17, 2025 @ 3:25 pm
Actually, wouldn't it need a "na"? So: 素敵なステーキです
Keith said,
February 18, 2025 @ 10:18 am
@Philip Taylor
Re: "pâte à tartiner savoureuse"
"Pâte à tartiner" is the equivalent of "spread" and the word "savoureuse" means tasty but might be used here to mean "savoury" as opposed to "sweet". The ubiquitous Nutella is "pâte à tartiner aux noisettes et au cacao", meaning "chocolate spread with hazelnuts". The word "pâte" more generally can mean "paste", "dough", "batter", "modelling clay" (in the sense of Plasticene or Play-Doh.
A distinct term "pâté" is reserved for a food made usually from meat (usually containing liver) and to a lesser degree from plants and fungi (because yes, there are vegetarians and vegans in France). Pâté is denser and firmer than "pâte à tartiner"; you can't easily spread it (unless you warm it and your bread is very firm), and it is usually served as a slice, accompanied by small pickled gherkins (the Anglosphere is irritatingly co-opting the word "cornichons") and rustic bread.
A third food is "rillettes", always in the plural. This is usually meat (predominantly goose or duck), but can be made from fish (tuna and mackerel seem to be most common in this category). Rillettes are spreadable. This is slightly similar to the British potted meat.
Victor Mair said,
February 26, 2025 @ 9:55 am
From Frank Clements
I know the reply is a bit late, but it reminded me of this meme that comes from the popular manga/anime Jojo's Bizarre Adventures: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ZA%20WARUDO%21 . Here's a compilation of its use in the anime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DefXS17jZwE . The "The World" formulation comes from the Tarot card.
John Chew said,
March 1, 2025 @ 5:22 pm
There are plenty of sushi restaurants around the world (including in Japan) called Ichiban. I'm sure there are places called "Steak Ichiban" too, but to my Japanese ear (the other is English), "Steak The First" sounds like they have better, or at least more Western-style steak.
John Chew said,
March 1, 2025 @ 5:24 pm
On the subject of there being nothing like "the" in Japanese, I was recently trying to explain "ookii" vs. "ookina", and ended up saying that if you translate "ookii X" as "the big X" and "ookina X" as "a big X", you'll get it right 90% of the time.