I really can’t figure out what’s the meaning of this word. It has too many meanings and no two example sentences on Bunpro have a similar translation.
1 Like
It’s one of those words that’s hard to really translate with a one-size-fits-all translation because of how many different use cases it has.
You might want to manually add the example sentences to your ghost reviews so you can kind of hammer it in, maybe? Not really sure what would help, for me it eventually clicked that it has this kind of general meaning of something being applicable/in use, or valid/passing, I guess.
This is why I’m not the biggest fan of Bunpro’s vocab. Looking up that word, I see all the confusion, but they’re all pretty much synonyms stretched from passable/not passable. Or common use/popular use.
They often make it really complicated, to try to give you the width of the word, but failing in the depth of it.
Okay we all agree that Bunpro could be far way better on explaining vocabs.
But I just want to understand what does 通用 mean here. Can anyone help? I don’t want a translation (Bunpro has plenty), I want an explanation.
Thank you all in advance.
1 Like
“Here” being where exactly? You haven’t mentioned a specific sentence you’re struggling with, but you don’t want a basic translation either. No one can really help you in this case.
1 Like
That’s precisely why I like bunpro vocab. There’s often no perfect match for a word from one language to the other and you sort of have to vibe it out by being exposed to confusing use cases that convey a general idea in a language that you know.
2 Likes
This is going to be more of a “teach a man to fish” kind of answer, but bear with me here, as I noticed you’ve posted a few of these kinds of vocab clarification threads in the past. Researching definitions and dictionary lookup is a skill that I feel is neglected in the Japanese learner’s community, to our detriment.
Japanese to English (J->E) dictionaries like Jisho.org or the one Bunpro uses are designed to give very short, approximate definitions of Japanese words in English for quick reference when trying to parse Japanese sentences.
However, when your dictionary needs go beyond that, you need to switch over to a Japanese → Japanese (J->J) dictionary. Monolingual dictionaries like 大辞林, much like their equivalents in English like Merriam-Webster, are designed to give you the most comprehensive, complete overview of a Japanese word’s usage in the language.
Just compare these two definitions of 通用 from an J->E and J->J dictionary:
JMdict (aka Jisho): 1) (common) use (of a language, currency, etc.); current use; circulation; currency; validity (e.g. of a ticket) 2) to be accepted (e.g. of a way of thinking); to work (of an excuse, trick, etc.); to hold true (e.g. of a theory); to apply; to be valid; to pass (for); to do well; to get by
大辞林: １）広く一般に用いられること。２）世間一般に理解され、受け入れられること。また、有効なものとして認められること。[there are then three more definitions and five example sentences, followed by seven explanations of 通用’s specialized meanings in certain phrases]
As you can see, there’s a very big difference in content between the two dictionaries. The J->E entry rapid fire lists a bunch of short phrases, separated by semicolons, that approximate 通用 in English, without much context or explanation. The J->J definitions are both longer and more qualitative, using full sentences to not just list but explain the definition of a word.
J->E and J->J dictionaries are not equivalents or substitutes; they both have a role in learning. You consult J->E dictionaries when you are having trouble translating a word. But when you need a thorough understanding of the meaning of a word as it is used in Japanese, you need to use a J->J dictionary.
There are many ways to access J->J dictionaries, but at least on my end I like to use the iOS app “Dictionaries” by 物書堂 (Monokakido). I would recommend purchasing an eBook copy of a J->J since they tend to have the highest quality definitions, but there are free options as well online.
4 Likes
Have you tried asking chat gpt? It usually works for me 
@sorega you’re right telling that J->J dicts are the best for this purpose. The only problem with them is that you need to know very well Japanese in order to understand their definitions. If not, you first have to understand the (approximate) meaning of every word in every definition if you don’t know it.
Or you can translate it with DeepL or so, in either case it’s tedious and time consuming. I wonder if you know some online J->J dict that gives the definitions in English, so not for translation but for definitions, but in English.
Btw I use takoboto.jp for J->J which is free and provides both JMDict translations and Japanese definitions.
1 Like
I don’t know of any such resource like a J->J dictionary but with English translations, but I think you may be overestimating the inconvenience of using a real J->J dictionary.
Takoboto is a pretty poor J->J dictionary that I don’t think is very user-friendly (though its definitions are quite accurate, as they appear to be a pirated copy of 大辞林’s definitions). Takoboto is missing things like ordering: definitions in good dictionaries are ordered from most common to least common, but Takoboto’s order for 通用 is random, making the whole entry quite hard to skim. The 大辞林’s long definitions are shortened and chopped up for mobile application use, making them vaguer. It also doesn’t have example sentences attached to each definition, making them harder to understand without context. No wonder you find reading these definitions tedious and time-consuming!
While it is slightly annoying having to copy + paste Japanese definitions into a Japanese reader (like Midori) or even translator (like Google Translate) to understand them as an intermediate student, J-> J dictionaries are meant to be a secondary resource to be used rarely, like when you find the J->E definition too confusing. I, on average, consult my J->J dictionary less than once every reading session, and use JMDict for virtually all my quick lookups when reading Japanese.
While there are a few J->J online dictionaries, I really recommend purchasing one through “Dictionaries” by 物書堂. There are many dictionaries to choose from, some with short and easy to read definitions, and others with long and thorough ones. There is quality gap between a paid dictionary and the free net ones like Weblio, and buying a good quality Japanese dictionary can save you a lot of time in the long run. And if you still have trouble understanding a J->J definition, you can just ask on this forum for help!
1 Like
Thanks for the in-depth @sorega.
I took my time to accept it, but as I started using J-J dictionaries I am understanding the core meaning better.
After trying a few online resources, I personally found in Goo a good J-J dictionary. I tried a couple vocabs and it provides in depths that further explain the nuances.
Now back to the main question, as far as I understand 通用 means something is ok to be used in a given context, is fine to be used, or it is ok for people / others to use it in a way or in a context. And that also links to the kanji that build the word because it’s like “use 用 that passes through 通” i.e. that is accepted.
1 Like
Bad news about Goo: they announced recently that they’re shutting down their J->J dictionary service at the end of June this year. Luckily I think they use the same dictionary as Weblio. Still, it’s a shame they’re shutting it down. Their website is much nicer looking!
Now back to the main question, as far as I understand 通用 means something is ok to be used in a given context, is fine to be used, or it is ok for people / others to use it in a way or in a context. And that also links to the kanji that build the word because it’s like “use 用 that passes through 通” i.e. that is accepted.
You are capturing one definition of 通用, but you’re missing the second one, which is equally as common. It’s phrased on Goo as 「広く世間に認められていること」or in other words, to be in common usage, to be widely recognized. See for example this sentence: 「世界に通用する新技術」or “A new technology used all around the world.”
You’re right about the kanji 用, but incorrect about 通. 通 means “to make a connection; to move something along a two-way connection” (per Outlier Character Dictionary, another great resource), and from that core meaning, came to mean either 1) communication (in the abstract sense) and 2) transportation (in the literal sense). This kanji compound is using the abstract sense, “to be used 用 in communication 通.”