ww8.t iki.ne .

jp

http://ww8.tiki.ne.jp/~tmath/language/bitlang/index.htm#kanji

A Bit of the Language

Introduction
As the title suggests, this is not an in-depth look at all the complexities of the Japanese language. I simply intend to provide a brief look at the language in order to introduce some of the f un and quirks that budding students of Japanese can look f orward to. (And also so they'll have a little idea of what they're in f or....)
1998 - 2011 Tim R. Matheso n

Vowel Pronunciation Guide

Japanese vowels are easy. If you have taken Spanish, you'll quickly see that they're the same. Unlike crazy English, vowels in Japanese are always pronounced the same, so once you've got them down you'll be well on your way to correct-sounding Japanese. (And then you can attack the consonants.) Here are the f ive basic Japanese vowels, in Japanese alphabetical order: a - pronounced "ah" i - pronounced "ee" u - pronounced "oo" e - pronounced "eh" o - pronounced "oh" Let's look at the word "house." In Japanese it's ie. Just say "ee-eh." Now a little f aster. T hat's all there is to it. T he next important thing you must remember about vowels is to elongate double vowels, giving each one its own "time." Again, "house" in Japanese is ie. T he word f or "no" is iie. It's not as hard as it looks. Said slowly, "house" is "ee-eh," and "no" is "ee-ee-eh." Said at natural speed, the "ee" in iie should sound about twice as long as the "ee" in ie. While we're at it, let's look at two more that f oreign speakers seem to have a tough time with: obasan and obaasan. Obasan (aunt) is pronounced "oh-bah-san," and obaasan (grandmother) is "oh-bah-ah-san." Just remember to give each vowel equal time and you'll be all right.

Consonants
T he consonants used in Japanese are k, g, s, z, t, d, n, h, f , b, p, m, y, r, and w; and they are pronounced the same as you would in English, except f or the f ollowing: r - this is like the Spanish r, so ri should sound like a lightly pronounced dee d - because r sounds like a light d, d has a more distinct d sound Japanese consonants are not thought of as having their own sound, except f or n. All of the others always

appear combined with a vowel, with the vowel coming af ter the consonant, like ka, f or example. T his combination of one consonant and one vowel makes only one "letter" in the Japanese alphabet, and to the Japanese mind represents only one sound. T his is a very important point to remember when studying Japanese. T here are also a f ew letters which have combined consonants like shi, chi, and tsu. Again, each of these look like 3 letters to us, but they are each viewed as one in Japanese. As with vowels, consonants also have doubles. Doubled consonants are f ound in compound words like ippun, which means "one minute." T he dif f iculty in pronouncing the double consonant is that there's nothing to pronounce; it's just the trick of "holding" the pronunciation so that the "time value" of the double is recognized, just like with the vowels. When pronouncing ippun, you should be giving equal time to the 4 syllables: i-p-pu-n, with the second syllable being just a silent rest and preparation to pronounce the third. T his will be barely noticed during normal speech, but it is important. Doubles not pronounced correctly will be noticed by native listeners. When said correctly, ippun will be heard as "eep-poon," not "ee-poon."

Alphabets
T here are 4 alphabets used in Japan today: hiragana, katakana, kanji, and romaji. Here they are in a nutshell:

Hiragana
Hiragana is the f irst system you want to learn, as they are phonetic symbols or "pronunciation guides" f or kanji, and have an extensive role in Japanese grammar. Hiragana is the f irst alphabet that children learn, and, at any age, is the "def ault" alphabet used when a particular kanji is unknown or f orgotten. Here are the basic 46 hiragana with their readings:

T he nice thing about Japanese is that once you can read and say these, you can read and say longer words, which are simply combinations of the individual letters. Let's try some: Easy, right? Now let's move on to the modif ied hiragana. T here are 4 groups of hiragana that are modif ied by two small quote-like marks added just above and/or to the right of the letter. T hey are the ka, sa, ta, and ha groups. T he ha group alone has an additional mode of modif ication which is made by adding a small degree-like circle. Here are the modif ied hiragana with their readings: It will be noticed that two ji 's and two zu 's are created, but the ones in the sa group are used most of the time. Accurate knowledge concerning dif f erentiation and use of these is not important until the student is well into the study of kanji.

Let's try these:

Next up are the combined hiragana, which are made by adding a small ya, yu, or yo to letters in the second line, namely ki through ri, including the modif ied ones mentioned above. For example, ki + ya = kya; chi + yu = chu; and so on. Here they all are:

T he ri group is usually the hardest f or f oreign speakers to master, but that's because they're still trying to pronounce the r like the English r. If you just pronounce them dya, dyu, dyo, with just a light d, they'll sound f ine. Try these: T he last thing that needs to be mentioned about hiragana at this time is the small tsu, which indicates double consonants. As one becomes f amiliar with kanji, this will become easier to understand. Here are some good examples. Remember to hold the double as mentioned in consonants.

T his should be enough about hiragana f or the time being. All the examples used here are words that are usually written in kanji, but are shown in hiragana to show what they look like and how they work together. Hiragana also play an important role in Japanese grammar as subject and object indicators, prepositions, and other particles. You can learn or review hiragana using my Hiragana Driller.

Katakana

For every hiragana there is a corresponding katakana, which are more angular. Here they are:

Katakana are used to write f oreign words and names, and the names of some Japanese companies. T hey are also of ten seen expressing the sounds of various noises in comic books. Most of the rules that apply to hiragana also apply to katakana. One exception is when a vowel sound is elongated: katakana vowels are not doubled, but use a dash () to show an extended vowel sound. Here are a f ew that are of ten seen: T he worst thing about katakana is that they are sometimes used as a phonetic guide f or pronouncing English words. Tiny katakana can sometimes be seen running above or below English sentences in textbooks books that I would never recommend. While it is true that katakana will give Japanese students of English an idea of how a word is pronounced, those who rely on katakana to learn English f orm bad habits in pronunciation that become very dif f icult to overcome in the f uture. You can learn or review katakana using my Katakana Driller.

Kanji
Kanji are characters which were originally adopted f rom the Chinese. T hough similarities still exist, Japanese kanji have evolved and changed dif f erently than their Chinese counterparts, and now have f orms and readings all their own. Kanji are used f or the core parts of a sentence: nouns and the root f orms of verbs and adjectives. Hiragana are used as the "cement" between the kanji to indicate their relationship to each other, and to conjugate verbs. You need to know around 2,200 kanji to read a Japanese newspaper. T he study of kanji can be f ascinating, however, and the more you study them the more sense they make (excepting the exceptions), making it easier to learn more. T his just barely scratches the surf ace, but here are a f ew of the easiest kanji of the 76 taught to f irst graders in elementary school:

Romaji
Romaji are simply the ABC's we all know and love, but the Japanese like to use them, too. Large, international companies usually have logos and emblems with their names written in the Roman letters. Internationally known organizations and other names and titles like

OPEC, FBI, NASA, AIDS, and VIP are lef t as-is. Finally, there is a certain "f ashion appeal" in using f oreign words on products and product packaging, and it is practically impossible to buy something here that doesn't have some silly message written in English. It may be in poor English but comprehensible, or it may have no clear meaning at all. It's f or fashion only, I've been told. English letters, words and phrases may be combined just as an artist doing an abstract will combine colors together. In this way, romaji become an enemy to the serious student of English in pretty much the same way that katakana do, as mentioned above. T he successf ul student will always keep "f ashion English" and correct English completely separate.1

Japanese Onomatopoeias and Mimetic Words

Students of Japanese of ten f ind the Japanese giseigo and gitaigo amusing and f un to use. T hese words are made up of 2 Japanese syllables said twice in succession, f or a total of 4. T he giseigo are onomatopoeias: words used to describe a sound. Gitaigo are mimetic words which describe a certain f eeling or condition. Here are some that are of ten heard in everyday conversation, arranged in Japanese alphabetical order. Remember to pronounce those vowels correctly! T his list is only a sample of the hundreds that are actually used. Some are dialectal and will be heard only in specif ic regions. Some will have meanings which overlap with others, with some being both giseigo and gitaigo. Also, some will have a dialectal usage that has evolved f rom its original one. For example, according to the dictionary bishobisho is used f or "it drizzles," but people in the area where I live use it to describe their clothes af ter they come in f rom the rain without an umbrella: "soaked to the skin."

Giseigo
karikari: crispy garigari: crunchy gyugyu: squeak; creak guigui: gulp down kusukusu: giggle; snicker guzuguzu: complain; grumble korokoro: rolling over and over zakuzaku: walking on gravel or similar surf ace jabujabu: splash and play in water janjan: clang-clang; a jangling sound dondon: beating (drums); heavy rainf all batabata: f lap; to bustle about bishobisho: drizzle; soaked pichapicha: water lapping against a shore or object berabera: chatter; jabber potsupotsu: (rain) f alling in drops

Gitaigo
iraira: to be impatient gyugyu: to squeeze; pack guragura: loose, as in a loose tooth gungun: steadily sakusaku: a light crispness sarasara: light; smooth; dry

zarazara: rough, like dry skin or sandpaper sansan: to shine brilliantly jimejime: damp; wet; moist soyosoyo: gently; sof tly sowasowa: to be restless tsuntsun: to be stuck-up; stif f -mannered dokidoki: nervousness; a f ast heartbeat nukunuku: warmly; snugly; comf ortably hakihaki: quick; smart; brisk harahara: to be in suspense; thrilling bishibishi: severely; rigorously pichipichi: lively pyonpyon: hop; skip along hirahira: f lutter hirihiri: smart; tingle; burn piripiri: to be on edge; testy furafura: to f eel dizzy or light-headed fuwafuwa: light; sof t betabeta: to f eel sticky perapera: f luently hokahoka: warm botsubotsu: gradually hodohodo: in moderation mukamuka: to f eel sick; be disgusted meramera: go up in f lames meromero: to be terribly upset wakuwaku: to be excited

What the Animals Say

T hese are just some of the sounds that animals make, according to the Japanese. It is interesting to note that there are some that do not exist in English, like the elephant's paoon. (I verif ied this with the people at Webster's, just to make sure.) T hese are written in romaji (Romanized Japanese), so please remember to pronounce them correctly. For example, the horse's hi-hiin is pronounced "hee-heen," etc. If necessary, go back and review the vowel pronunciations. cat - nyaao ; (purring) gorogoro dog - wan-wan ; (growling) uuuu mouse - chuu-chuu horse - hi-hiin cow - moo sheep - mee-mee pig - buu-buu chicken - (clucking) kokkokko rooster crowing - kokekokkoo duck - gaa-gaa sparrow - chun-chun owl - hoo-hoo f ox - kon-kon elephant - paoon monkey - kyakkyaa

A real kick, right? T hese are great to memorize and bring out at boring parties.

Fractured English
When I f irst began working in Japan there was a strange word that I would hear several times a day. It was pasokon, and it didn't sound like Japanese to me. T hat's because it wasn't, and isn't; but in a way it is. It has to be, because it's not English, nor any other language f or that matter. In f act, it's only one of the thousands of wasei eigo words (Japanized English) that are used all the time here, with more and more coming in every year. T he paso in pasokon is the Japanese pronunciation of the f irst part of the word "personal," and the kon is short f or "computer." So when you hear pasokon in Japan you know that someone is talking about personal computers. Yes, it would be much easier to say "PC," but that's not used very of ten; pasokon or konpyuuta is pref erred. T here are thousands and thousands of these, f rom simple ones like keeki (cake) to ones a bit more complex like puranetariumu (planetarium). When the English is made up of two words, the Japanese will usually be a compound made f rom the beginnings of both, like rimokon (remote control), eakon (air conditioning), dejikame (digital camera), and pasokon mention above. And there are oddballs like baito, which comes f rom arbeit, the German f or "work"; but in Japanese it means only a "part-time job." Here are a f ew more: sooseeji: sausage suteeki: steak orenji: orange shatsu: shirt masukomi: mass communication fuakkusu: f ax marason: marathon sofuto: sof tware hoteru: hotel shinpojiumu: symposium kurejitto kaado: credit card chokoreeto: chocolate rasshu awaa: rush hour intaanetto: internet

Notes
1 For many more examples showing the strange and interesting ways English is used (and abused), please visit Engrish.com.