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Hello people of the guild. I hope not to infringe any rules but I have a question / topic. Anyway to the point.

I am going to Japan next year (April X3). Although I am learning the language (enougth to get by hopefully) is there anything in particular that is useful?

Not just the hello how are you's but the more common phrases or replies you would expect.

I know this is broad but in addition whats the standard layout for numbers. Everyone seems to have a different take and even the books I read have 2 or 3 versions, which ones would I expect in Japan? It seems that everytime I get to 4 (Yhon) people will use a different word.

(Note I am learning the english character spelt japanese before the proper kanji)

As I read this, I'm hearing a conversation in Japanese outside of the door. They're arguing about something but I obviously haven't got an inkling of what is going on. Meep~

When I first read your message I thought, ''Does he mean things like 'shi?'"
Well, you'll learn soon that I know very little Japanese myself, and I should come with my own personal disclaimer. I also thought about the different ways of counting. Meaning... cardinal numbers verses ordered numbers. I'm not sure how much Japanese you know, but numbers are used for those different kinds of things too. I doubt you know less than me though. xp

That I know of, you never want to use the term shi instead of yon. This is because shi is a common prefix for death. One example of it is the term ''shinigami'' which is a word I'm sure you're familiar with.

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Etymology of the word Shinigami:
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Let me explain. Now, some of you may find this interesting...
An allomorph, simply put, is a term used to describe semantic shift in languages. * It's easier to say SHINIGAMI instead of SHINIKAMI, correct? This is an example of semantic shift from the verbal language to the written language. The term ga is an allamorph of the sound ka, yielding the shift from kami to gami.

Kami means god. Shi is a prefix for death. Ni is a gramatical marker or inflectional affix.** So, Shinigami means, "god of death" or ''death god.'' ***




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*An example of semantic shift in the English language are the prefixes ''in' and ''im.'' A lot of people say ''IN-possible'' instead of "IM-possible" [That's inpossible!] simply because it's easier to make the IN sound when you're speaking than the IM sound when starting a word.

**From an etymological standpoint, ni is the simple sound that connects the two words. In english with latin based words, it's usually a ~o or an ~i. For example, insomniac. In-->not somn-->sleep i-->connecting affix or, a sound that makes it easier to pronounce, ac-->toward. So, an etymological definition of the word insomniac is, ''one tending towards not sleeping.''

***Death note fans: think of Ryuuk!

Haha, sorry. I get excited.
I also looked up ni and it is a gramatical marker concerning location. That is, if I read the paragraph correctly. If that is the case then it applies another plane to the interpretation in that it shows how language transforms over the years.

If I knew more about the language and that grammatical rule I could decide what goes where. After the Japanese Language and Etiquette subforum opens up, I'll move this thread in there for you, by the way. 3nodding

Good luck for you xD
You know, I traveled to Japan last year, and I know a little about the language. I suggest you to focus on formal language. When you talk to someone who you don't know, it's the best to talk formal. Just use informal for friends and family, I'm pretty sure you will give a nice first impression to people there.
Try to understand the basics like the vocabulary you will use in stores, restaurants, subway stations so you won't get lost.
Learning kanji can be really useful, but most of the nice places to visit have western letters so you can read. (If you are going to non tourristic places though, kanji may be necessary)
I'm not expert japanese, but I know the basics, if I can help, I'll do my best xd

common courtesy is always good, and dont piss anyone off xD