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What's the meaning of にあたって/にあたり? How can I translate it?

For example, how can I translate it in these sentences:

>   1. 留学する **にあたって** 受けた説明は、とても役に立った。
>
>   2. 「討論を始める **にあたり** 、ちょっと注意をしておきます。」
>
>
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2014-05-15T11:45:48.530
15961
2014-05-19T23:30:08.870
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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question
translation meaning
What's the meaning of にあたって/にあたり? How can I translate it?
matreya is correct. にあたって could be replaced in the above sentences by とき
'toki' meaning "time", and hence "when". The construction is grammaticalized
from the case marker に plus a form of the verb あたる 'hit.intransitive'. For
instance as in

矢は的にあたった。 The arrow hit the target.

The argument marked here with に is a directional complement of the verb. That
the construction にあたって is grammaticalized can be verified by the inability to
pause between the case marker and the verb. In my example, pausing is possible
between the directional complement and the verb, hence the verb is fully
lexical there. This construction belongs to a class of case marker-verb
constructions that have become grammaticalized constructions. Other such
constructions are にとって 'for', として 'as', or において 'in, at'. One should also keep
in mind that にあたって belongs to a more formal register of speech, much as において.
にとって and として, however, are widely used in spoken Japanese.
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2014-05-17T00:15:15.890
15987
2014-05-17T00:15:15.890
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answer
> 留学するにあたって(≒留学するときに)受けた説明は、とても役に立った。  
>  討論を始めるにあたり(≒始める前に)、ちょっと注意をしておきます。  
>

I think you can use ～にあたって and ～にあたり interchangeably in most cases. I think
both can mean "on the occasion of; at this time of; upon doing~~". (～にあたり
sounds more formal than ～にあたって to me.)

> 留学するに **あたり** 受けた説明は、とても役に立った。  
>  (The explanation that I received when I was going to study abroad was very
> useful.)  
>  討論を始めるに **あたって** 、ちょっと注意をして*おきます。  
>  (Before we enter into a debate, I'm going to give you some advice.)

*The 注意をする means "to give (someone) advice/warning". --> See [goo辞書「注意」#3](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/je2/48222/m0u/)

By the way, にあたり/にあたって can follow a noun, as well as a verb:

> 留学にあたって・・・  
>  討論の開始にあたり、・・・  
>

I think they can also be replaced with に際し/に際して:

> 留学(する)に際し(て)・・・  
>  討論を始めるに際し(て)・・・/ 討論の開始に際し(て)・・・  
>

(As an aside, I think 「~~(する)にあたりまして/際しまして・・・」 is preferred in a formal
speech.)
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2014-05-17T07:34:23.943
15992
2014-05-19T23:30:08.870
2014-05-19T23:30:08.870
15961
answer