23854
I'm trying to understand the lyrics of [the song
細氷【さいひょう】](http://www.project-imas.com/wiki/Saihyou). Here's the part of the
lyrics I don't understand:

> さって行くあなたの背中に
>
> 「さよなら」

I see it as:

> "your leaving figure (back)" + "ni" + "farewell".

I can't understand where this _ni_ points to. I mean, who says _sayounara_ to
whom? I understand it can indicate both the source of passive verb and
destination for active. Yet the verb seems omitted here. Or is it really
omitted?

Also, does it mean

  1. "You leave and say farewell to me."; or
  2. "You leave and I say farewell to you."

According to the songs flow I'd go with the first option but the second one
seems correct according to my maybe lacking grammatical knowledge.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-19T12:05:29.437
23850
2015-04-19T13:11:42.083
2015-04-19T13:11:42.083
3275
9890
question
grammar meaning particle-に
Understanding particle-ni when there is no verb
A verb is surely omitted here. What verb is it, then?

Think about what you could do with a 「さよなら」 in quotation marks. You could
either _**say**_ it or _**hear it said**_ to someone and that is about all you
could do with a 「さよなら」, isn't it?

(Of course, you could **write** it but writing 「さよなら」 on someone's back would
not be too romantic, would it?)

So, the omitted verb must be a form of 「[言]{い}う」 together with a quotative
particle 「と」.

Normally, you say 「さよなら」 to someone face-to-face, but this is a song so, the
author wants to say "saying 「さよなら」 to your back". The guy/girl （あなた）is already
leaving. All you (the speaker) can see is his/her back now.

> さって[行]{い}くあなたの[背中]{せなか}に 「さよなら」≒
>
> さって行くあなたの背中に 「さよなら」と言う/言った

The 「に」 is needed because you are saying good-bye " _ **to**_ " a person's
back.

「さって行くあなた」= "you, who is leaving"

> Is it (1)"You leave and say farewell to me" or (2)"You leave and i say
> farewell to you"?

(2), of course.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-19T12:39:19.297
23854
2015-04-19T12:39:19.297
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
23850
answer