JLPT N2: をめぐって (centering around; surrounding; concerning)

をめぐって is a somewhat formal phrase that is used when talking about conflicts or debates surrounding a certain issue.

I emphasize the word "surrounding" because the verb 巡る (めぐる), which is where we get をめぐって from, means something like "to go around."

For example, you could say:

日本の世界遺産を巡った。
にほん　の　せかい　いさん　を　めぐった。
We went around to Japan’s World Heritage Sites.
Literally: “Japan + の + World Heritage + を + went around.”

When using をめぐって, our sentence will follow a pattern like this:

NOUN ＋ をめぐって + [phrase about conflict, debate, etc.]

Here's an example:

未成年の犯人の処罰をめぐって、議論が白熱している。
みせいねん　の　はんにん　の　しょばつ　をめぐって、　ぎろん　が　はくねつ　している。
There is a fierce debate taking place concerning the punishment of the underage criminal.
Literally: “underage + の + criminal + の + punishment / penalty + をめぐって, + dispute / controversy + が + (becoming) white-hot + is doing.”

Another example:

母の遺産の配分をめぐって、家族会議が開かれた。
はは　の　いさん　の　はいぶん　をめぐって、　かぞく　かいぎ　が　ひらかれた。
A family meeting was held to discuss the allotment of my mother’s inheritance.
Literally: “mother + の + inheritance + の + distribution / allotment + をめぐって, + family + meeting + が + was held.”

I guess I could have put "...was held concerning the allotment..." in the translation above. However, I thought it sounded most natural to just put "...was held to discuss the allotment..."

をめぐって can appear in other forms.

For example, you may see it as をめぐり：

イギリスのEU離脱をめぐり、様々な意見が見られる。
イギリス　の　イーユー　りだつ　をめぐり、　さまざまな　いけん　が　みられる。
There are a variety of opinions surrounding the U.K.’s withdrawal from the E.U.
Literally: “U.K. + の + E.U. + separation / breaking away + をめぐり, + varied + opinion + が + can be seen.”

をめぐり and をめぐって are pretty much interchangeable. をめぐり sounds a bit stiffer than をめぐって... although they are both pretty stiff-sounding, formal phrases.

When you want to put をめぐって into a noun phrase, you'll need to change it to をめぐる.

In other words, if you're putting a NOUN both before and after it, use をめぐる：

奴隷制をめぐる長い内戦がようやく幕を閉じた。
どれいせい　をめぐる　ながい　ないせん　が　ようやく　まく　を　とじた。
The long civil war centering around slavery finally came to a close.
Literally: “slavery (system) + をめぐる + long + civil war + が + at last / finally + came to a close (=curtain + を + closed).”

That's all for this one.

お疲れさまでした～