I've previously asked two separate questions regarding あっての, (and there's a third on here from Pacerier) and I thought I had it figured out, but then I found this sentence (from a JLPT practice book--my bold) that just throws me for a loop:
山での遭難記事を読むたびに命あっての登山なのにと悲しく思う。
Here's how I understand あっての, "B couldn't exist without A". For example: あなたあっての私なんです ==> I wouldn't be here without you
Here's how I understand this sentence: Every time I read an article about a disaster on the mountain, I think sadly "even though mountain climbing wouldn't exist without life!".
This just doesn't make any sense to me, and I'm sure I have the meaning wrong. Can someone explain what I've missed?
I've gone over this so many times, but I think there's is a cog stuck in my brain when it comes to あっての.
Answer
I think AあってのB is used here the same way it's normally used. According to the 日本語文型辞典:
「XあってのY」の形で、「XがあるからYも成り立つ」という意味を表す。「XがなければYは成り立たない」という含みをもつ。
So XあってのY means "because there is X, Y also holds true" with the connotation that "if there isn't X, Y doesn't hold true".
I think it is similar to the proverb 命あっての物種, which looking at kotowaza-allguide could literally be something like "there can be no origin if there isn't life" (where 物種 refers to something that things can stem from) and can be translated as "be not worth risking one's life".
From this I think 命あっての登山 could mean "there can be no mountain climbing if there isn't life", and that it could also be translated as "it's not worth risking (your) life mountain climbing".
When I Google that phrase, I came up with a couple of results like the following:
...ヤバそうならやめる事ですね。命あっての登山ですし、来年も富士山はそこにあります。
"If it looks dangerous you should give up. You can't mountain climb if you're not alive, and Mount Fuji will be there next year as well."
So I think it could translate to something like the following:
山での遭難記事を読むたびに命あっての登山なのにと悲しく思う。
"Whenever I read articles about accidents in the mountains, I sadly think 'it's not worth risking your life mountain climbing'."
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