numbness 復習
水俣病が公になってから60年という年月が過ぎました。
After 60 yrs, suffering remains in Minamata
Jiji Press
MINAMATA, Kumamoto (Jiji Press) — The city of Minamata in Kumamoto Prefecture on Sunday marked the 60th anniversary of the official discovery of Minamata disease, a neurological disorder caused by methylmercury-containing wastewater from a plant of chemical maker Chisso Corp.
Many people are still waiting to be certified as patients with the disease, which spread to areas around Minamata Bay in Kumamoto, and lawsuits seeking damages are going on.
“There are people who are still suffering, and some may have been unable to come forward to say they have the disease,” said Toshio Oishi, 75, head of a group of patients.
In Minamata, a memorial ceremony for the victims of the disease was scheduled to be held on Sunday with participation by patients, bereaved families and officials of the central and Kumamoto prefectural governments.
But the ceremony has been postponed because aftershocks continue in the prefecture following a series of strong earthquakes that struck recently.
中略
Its symptoms included numbness in limbs and narrowing of visual field. Severe cases led to deaths.
今回取り上げるのはnumbnessです。『ライトハウス英和辞典』(第5版、研究社)で調べてみますと、名詞で「無感覚、まひ、呆然」という意味があることがわかりました。Cambridge Dictionaries Online でも調べてみますと、 “lack of physical or emotional feeling” という意味であることがわかりました。呆然という表現はlack of emotional feeling と以外にもシンプルに表すことができるのだと知りました。nessを取った形がありそうでしたので調べてみると、ありました。numbは他動詞で「（…）の感覚を失わせる、しびれさせる、（ショックで）呆然とさせる」となります。
この表現は過去にも同じ水俣病に関するトピックで取り上げられております。(aqua)
