I've previously asked about あっての, but now it seems to me that I've run into an additional usage of it (or perhaps the same usage I just can't wrap my head around it...).
When the sentence is simply AあってのB, it seems pretty straightforward. For example:
あなたあっての私なんです。
I think means: "I wouldn't be here without you" This sentence, however is more confusing to me:
子供あっての我が家である。
Does this mean:
- "Our family wouldn't be here without the children/if not for the children"?
Or is it more like:
- "Our family exists for the (benefit of the) children"?
Or even:
- "If we never had children, we wouldn't be a family"?
Answer
I sometimes have this problem with あっての too so I looked it up (Reference: 日本語表現文型辞典 p25). To my surprise the English explanation was contradictory but the Japanese explanation works.
I'll start with the English definition:
「N1あってのN2」is an emphatic expression meaning N1 is realized because there is N2.
This fits
「子供あっての我が家である。」
which I take to mean "We would not be the family we are without our children"(see note 3), but seems contra to the more familiar:
「あなたあっての私なんです。 / "I wouldn't be here without you"
However the Japanese explanation uses the expression:
「N1があるからN2が成立する」
which works for both examples.
Notes
FWIW: The book also give alternative English equivalents as "comprised of" or "indispensable to".
The full Japanese definition was:
「N1あってのN2」の形で、「N1があるからN2が成立する」と強調するときの表現。
This translation is closest to your first meaning, which also seems quite acceptable. The others might also work in the right context?
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