What is "JYOTAI", and should we translate it?

If you are Japanese-to-English patent translators, you might have seen lots of "jyotai" ("状態"), which means "state" or "condition", in Japanese patent applications. I believe that one of the reasons why they use "jyotai" so much is because the Japanese language cannot distinguish stative verbs from action verbs.

In patent writing, it is often critical to distinguish processes or "methods" from structures or "apparatus". But can we really describe "apparatus" without making any reference to its operation or process? Of course, No. Every apparatus has its purpose, and therefore is operable or movable.

We use "状態" to achieve this end, suggesting that a description is about the structure of "apparatus", which is designed to operate in a certain way or process something in a particular fashion, but not of the operation or process itself.

"状態" is often used in describing positioning of some parts that are movable but not currently moving.

The kanji "状", which is the former half of the word/phrase "状態", has a "dog" ("犬") on the right side, and is said to be partly originated from the profile of a dog. In the modern Japanese language, "状" means a shape, form , or appearance of something movable; circumstances, a situation; and a message or letters ("果し状"、"送り状"), and  no longer has any connotation related to any "dogs".

Tai (態) consists of kanjis "能" (capability/capacity/ability) and "心" (heart), and literally means to be in a state being capable of doing something, and such a connotation appears in words such as "態度" (attitude)、"態勢" (preparedness, readiness).

The literal meaning of "jyotai (状態)" can be said to mean "a shape/form of being prepared do to do something", and this word suggests that something or someone is ready to do something but not doing right now.

Here are some examples:
- "車が止まっている状態" (a parked car; "the car is in a state having been stopped")
- "蓋をした状態の筐体" (the chassis with a lid closed; "the chassis in a state having the lid placed ")

Japanese often use "状態" to suggest the readiness to move or change, to make some action or operation, or to be actuated.

You might then start thinking as to whether it is appropriate to translate "状態" literally into an English word such as "state" or "condition", because its connotation is quite different from those English counterparts, and the whole sentence might make sense just fine without it.

One patent attorney told me to give it a second thought, because they sometimes use the term "状態" as a significant part of their claiming strategy, which is a viewpoint we translators tend to be less aware.

So we really have to be careful about this "状態" word, because it may even end up causing some confusion to the readers in target languages if we translated it literally, but we might miss out something important by merely dropping it at the same time.