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I am trying to translate the chorus for the Spitz song "愛のことば" ("Ai no kotoba"):

傷つくこともなめあうことも包みこまれる愛のことば

Kizutsuku koto mo nameau koto mo tsutsumikomareru ai no kotoba

Using various dictionary resources I translate this as:

Words of love that can be all wrapped up, even in the event of being injured, or licked

However, I feel that there must a more idiomatic meaning for 包みこまれる that will make this line more sensible.

I am also wondering if "licked" is the proper translation for "なめあう".

Can someone provide a better translation for this line?

For context, the previous line is

今煙の中で溶け合いながら探しつづける愛のことば

Ima kemuri no naka de tokeainagara sagashitsuzukeru ai no kotoba

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Metamorphic
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1 Answers1

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The lyrics are very vague, so please don't take this as the only possible interpretation.

First, regarding the thing that is "wrapped" (包み込まれる) in this line...

  • Aが包み込まれる means "A is wrapped."
  • Aも包み込まれる means "Even A is wrapped."
  • 包み込まれるX means "X that is wrapped." (包み込まれる modifies X)
  • Aも包み込まれるX means "X where/when A is also wrapped." when X is a place, situation, time, etc. (Aも包み込まれる as a whole modifies X)
    • 私が怒られる部屋 the room where I am scolded
    • 名前も消される状況 the situation where even his name is erased

So I think the line means "In/with 愛のことば, even 傷つくこと and なめあうこと are wrapped." or more plainly, "愛の言葉 wraps even 傷つくこと and なめあうこと". I have seen similar expressions where "words wrap/enclose/cloak something" elsewhere (eg, 優しい言葉が私を包み込んだ）.

舐【な】める is indeed "to lick", which makes sense because it's used after 傷つく. 傷を舐め合う (lit. "licking each other's wounds") is an idiomatic phrase that means "to console/comfort each other".

All in all, the line roughly means "Words of love, that even enclose our broken hearts and consoling", but I'll leave it to you how to translate this beautifully.

naruto
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  • Thank you for your comment. I'm ashamed that I translated 包み込まれる as the "potential form" when as you point out it is passive. Also thank you for the idiomatic meaning of "nameau".

    I'm a bit confused by your final translation, though, which has "words of love" as the subject (of "enclose"), where your template sentence has it as an object ("X that is wrapped").

     – Metamorphic Jul 26 '16 at 21:19
  • @Metamorphic The potential form of 包み込む is 包み込める. And see how the role of X is changed in my third and fourth bullet. "私が怒られる部屋" is not "room that is scolded" but "room where I'm scolded". – naruto Jul 27 '16 at 01:43
  • Yes, I was saying your post made me realize the correct potential form. Thank you for clarifying the fourth bullet. I guess you mean "when X is a place, situation, ..." (not "B")? But then that would translate to "Words of love where/when our broken hearts and consoling are also/even all wrapped up", the words of love are still not doing the wrapping... no? – Metamorphic Jul 27 '16 at 06:11
  • @Metamorphic Ah! Yes, "B" was a typo, thank you for pointing out. And it's true that the line does not explicitly say "the words do the wrapping". But 言葉が○○を包み込む ("words wrap ○○") is a common pattern in lyrics, and there is nothing else that can potentially wrap "wounds and consoling" here. So I think it's safe to assume 愛の言葉 is the thing that's doing the wrapping here. – naruto Jul 27 '16 at 08:36