なる
naru
The verb that arrives on its own: なる
The picture Something drifting into a new state and arriving there without a hand pushing it. なる is arriving at a state on its own; する is your hand making it so.
Where the picture shows up in なる
-
you reach an age
来月で三十歳になります。
raigetsu de sanjussai ni narimasu
I turn thirty next month.
A calendar page turning, and the number in the age column quietly standing at thirty
-
you end up in a new role
息子は医者になりました。
musuko wa isha ni narimashita
My son became a doctor.
The son who used to be in a school uniform now standing there in a white coat
-
it drifts that way
だんだん暗くなってきましたね。
dandan kuraku natte kimashita ne
It's getting dark, isn't it.
The colour outside the window deepening bit by bit until it is simply dark
-
the total lands there
全部で五千円になります。
zenbu de gosen-en ni narimasu
That comes to 5,000 yen.
The register's number climbing step by step and coming to rest at 5,000 yen
The standard phrase at a register.
-
the rule ended up that way
ここは禁煙になっています。
koko wa kin'en ni natte imasu
This is a non-smoking area.
One no-smoking sign on the wall, and the whole room settled into being that kind of room
Softer than a flat prohibition: nobody is ordering you, it simply is so.
All of it in one picture
なる is the picture of drifting into another state and already having arrived there, with no hand pushing. The calendar turns and the age has landed on thirty; the school uniform has become a white coat; the window colour deepens until it is dark; the register climbs and stops at 5,000 yen; one sign settles the room into a no-smoking room. All that changes is where it lands — an age, a role, a colour, a total, a rule. So with なる you never see the hand that pushed; you only see the result already sitting in place.