Re: [Lingo] 間vs間

["Stephen A. Carter" <scarter@example.com>]

On 12/05/30 05:31, steve wrote:
> How does one know when 間 is pronounced あいだ and when it's ま?
>
> I have two sentences.
> This is from a short story by Haruki Murakami and according to its 
> furagana it is ま.
> 少年は少し間を置く。
> And this is from an example on the yahoo.jp dictionary for あいだ:
> 彼を長い間待たせておいた。

My impression is that in idioms and set phrases, it's generally ま. E.g.:
間を置く
間に合う
間が悪い
間もなく
間抜け
間が持てない
いつの間にか
あっという間に
鬼のいぬ間に洗濯

And when it means "room," like in the fancy names hotels give their 
banquet rooms, it's always 間.
寿の間
紅葉の間
鶴の間

--
Stephen A. Carter
scarter@example.com
Nagoya, Japan