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 Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 8:32 am
Hello one and all in the land of Gaia. Keno here and, as I mentioned, I have decided to open a thread whose sole purpose is to help my fellow role players learn Japanese (or at least learn to read and type/write it). Before we get into it, I think I have to give credit to the source of my knowledge. For anyone wishing to gain more practice than I'm sure I can offer, the information I will be sharing with you comes from the Japanese teaching book Nakama by Seiichi Makino, Yukiko Abe Hatasa, and Kazumi Hatasa. This book not only has notes explaining grammar usage and sentence structure, but also has various practice dialogues, activities, an audio CD for listening comprehension, and cultural information relevant to the each chapter. Of these many dimensions, I will be sharing exclusively with you guys information on hirigana, katakana, grammar, vocab, and a bit later on kanji. Therefore, though I will be using this book, I won't be giving you all it has to offer.
The level of growth you exhibit by using this thread will rely heavily on your own will. The more you practice, the more you learn. Audio wise I can't help you too much, but I'll do as best I can using the written word and hope for the best. Over the summer I intend to disclose what took me two years to learn. Therefore it will be very intense to keep up with, but at the same time, this thread isn't going anywhere so take as much time as you need.
I currently only know one other person in this guild who can speak or write Japanese and that is out near and dear Kaen Yashagawa. She may or may not be willing to help, but I would appreciate any insight she can deliver as I'm sure she probably learned a different way than I have. Anywho with all that said, since I think I covered all my bases, I suppose we can get started.
Update! I have two very good friends from class in TS now and they will sooner or later be able to help out with the work around here. Yay for assisstants!
Update 2! I have decided that anyone who feels they need verbal training can call me for such a purpose. I will speak with one person one on one for a max of 30 minutes. If you wish to use this service, first be advised of two things, 1)I will not accept any calls before 9 PM unless you are a Cingular service customer (Sorry but I'm doing all of this at no cost and can't afford a steep phone bill). 2)You must first PM me so that I can schedule a time for you to call, which will be Central Standard Time. That's all for now.
Update 3! It had just come to my attention that some of you may not be able to read the Kana on your computers because it is automatically reformatted (into wingdings or some crap like that). Anywho, because of that, I'll soon be installing romaji into the following posts. Romaji is basically the english alphabet equivalent of the Japanese kana. Hopefully that will make this thread more useful. All romaji will be written in bold next to their kana counterparts (or next to the boxes for those unable to read the kana).
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 9:30 am
Well I suppose we should get started then ne? I suppose for those that are interested, I should inform you of how you can type Japanese on your computer. The following instructions come from the, seemingly now dead, Japan Guild.Japan Guild Note: For all OS'es, when installing support for additional languages, make sure you have your original installation disc or discs handy. You never know when the computer will ask for them.Windows XPWithin Windows
1] Click the "Start" button, and go into the Control Panel
2] Choose "Date, Time, Language, and Regional Options"
3] Choose "Add other languages"
4] Click on the box beside "Install files for East Asian languages" You will get a notification box telling you that Windows will install the files after you click OK or Apply. Just click "OK" to close that out, and click "Apply" to begin the installation (230 MB or more free required).
5] Click on the "Details" button up above to open yet another dialog box
6] With the dialog box that comes up, you'll click the "Add..." button, opening yet another dialog box.
7] The dialog box that comes up will have a drop-down menu, with your default input language (ex: English (United States)) pre-selected. Click that menu, and either scroll to "Japanese", or just press the letter "J" on the keyboard.
8] When you select "Japanese", all the "detail" stuff, like inputs and such, will already be pre-set. Just keep clicking the "OK" buttons until you're back to the regular Control Panel. Congratulations. You just installed Japanese text support.
Using the Language Bar
Now that you're back into Windows, you should see a new little icon near the lower-left corner of your screen, in the taskbar. Chances are it'll be nothing more than a little box with "EN" inside it. That's the minimized language bar. If you click where it says "EN", you'll see a listing come up that says "JP Japanese", "EN English (United States)" and "Show the Language Bar", along with whatever other languages you have installed.
For now, go ahead and click "Show Language Bar", it'll make the rest of the steps a lot easier. For now, click on where it says "EN English (United States)" (or your default input language), and choose "JP Japanese". The language bar will change considerably, but the only thing you need to concern yourself with is where it says "Input Mode." The only other part which you might have to concern yourself with from time to time is the "Conversion Mode", but that's only if you're dealing with names. If you click on the "Input Mode", you'll pull up a list of different options. The main ones you'll probably end up using are "Hiragana" and "Direct Input".
With Hiragana, you will be typing in a "transitory" mode (meaning that you will be seeing what it is you are typing while you type, ex: If you were to type "ka" to get the kana か you would see the letter "k", then when you pressed "a", it would become "か") It is possible to get the keyboard layout to match the layout of a Japanese keyboard, but it is very difficult to use effectively without having a Japanese keyboard, due to added function keys. With Direct Input, it is just like typing with your regular keyboard. You won't be able to get Japanese symbols without a specialized keyboard.
Fast switching
An easy way to switch between the languages on your language bar is to just press Alt+Shift. If you press Ctrl+Shift, you will switch your keyboard layout through the installed layouts. This can be very confusing, especially when dealing with layouts like the Dvorak layout, and especially the Japanese keyboard layout, which requires more keys to effectively use than are available on the standard US Windows keyboard. Japan Guild Also Windows '9x, NT 4.0 Download:
Microsoft Global IME 5.02
Install like you would a normal program.
Goto Start Menu->Programs ->Microsoft Office Language Settings
Check off the languages you want.
(Some instructions at Microsoft)
Like in Windows XP, there is a box that appears with the letters En (depending if your windows is English), click on it and you will get the choices of languages in a menu. Click on the language you want. With the languages that don't use the roman alphabet a little toolbar will appear. For Japanese, the first button shows an "A", which you can write in English. Click on the "A", and there are a whole bunch of other options written in Japanese. The first one on the menu is to write in hiragana, the second is katakana, 3rd, 4th, and 5th I still don't know, the last is to get back to the roman letters.
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 9:42 am
Hirigana
Well I suppose we can get started with hirigana now. The writers of Nakama had this to say about hirigana.Nakama Writers ...Hirigana, the most basic type, is used for function words and inflectional endings as well as words of Japanese origin...Hirigana evolved through the simplification of Chinese characters that occurred during the Heian period. Because the Japanese had no writing system of their own, Chinese characters, which are logographs, were used to represent Japanese syllables with no regard for their meanings. For example, the character 女was used for the sound [a] with no regard for its meaning, peace. However, it was cumbersome to use some Chinese characters because Japanese words usually contain several syllables. Thus, Chinese characters were gradually simplified to their present day form. This simplification was done by women who wrote letters and literary works...Forty-six hirigana exist, each representing either a vowel or a combination of a consonant and a vowel. Diacritics inthe shapes of two dots of a small circle show an alternate pronunciation. Glides are combinations of characters that represent more complex sounds.
Nakama Ch. 1, page 2. - a い - i う - u え - e お - o か - ka き - ki く - ku け - ke こ - ko さ - sa し - shi す - su せ - se そ - so た - ta ち - chi つ - tsu て - te と - to な - na に - ni ぬ - nu ね - ne の - no は - ha ひ - hi ふ - fu へ - he ほ - ho ま - ma み - mi む - mu め - me も - mo ら - ra り - ri る - ru れ - re ろ -ro や - ya ゆ - yu よ - yo わ - wa を - o ん - n And now for some more notes on the readings of hirigana.
arrow All sounds that end with an 'a' in Japanese are pronounced like the a-sound in 'ahh.' All sounds ending with 'i' sound like the ee-sound in 'feet.' The 'u' sounds like the oo-sound in 'boot.' The 'e' sounds like the first e in 'exercise.' The 'o' sounds like the o in 'on.' There are no exceptions to this, meaning their is no 'a'-reading that will be pronounced like the a in apple.
arrow The をwo kana is pronounced just like the おo kana.
arrow There is no 'yi' or 'ye' sound in the Japanese language. Nor is there a 'si,' but rather a 'shi,' no 'ti' or 'tu' but instead 'chi' and 'tsu.' The 'tsu' syllable begins with the 'ts' sound in 'plants.' The 'hu' sound is a bit complex in that it isn't pronounced with the general English 'h' or 'f.' It is closer to the 'fu' sound however, in that you pronouce it as if you are blowing out a candle when you speak (subtly of course). None of the syllables with the 'r' beginning are not pronounced like they are in the word 'rock,' but closer to the 'l' sound as in 'lock.' (Even still, according to my teacher this isn't quite it, but is more accurate and easier for American learners to grasp).
arrow The んn syllable is the only one not complimented with a vowel. It is the same 'n' sound found in the word 'inn' with not preceding or proceding vowel.
arrow Be aware that both the and sounds of a syllable are whispered (meaning practically silent) if they precede [p], [t], [k], , or [h].
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Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 3:08 pm
Before continuing, there is a link that will take you to a page that will show you kana stroke order. If I remember correctly, you'll need QuickTime to be able to play it. If you don't have/want QuickTime...I'm sorry, but FYI it's a free download.
Kana
Anywho on with more on hirigana.
Voiced and voiceless consonants.
In Nakama, the consonants [k], , [t], and [h] are coined voiceless. By this they mean than when you pronouce these consonants, there is no vibration of your vocal chords. These voiceless consonants have voiced counterparts, in which the only difference is that the voacal chords do vibrate. Outside of the original hirigana, a voiced consonant is marked by two dots in the upper right, and an unvoiced one is marked by a small cirlce in the same location. The complete list is as follows.が - ga き - gi ぐ - gu げ - ge ご - go ざ - za じ - ji ず -zu ぜ - ze ぞ - zo だ - da ぢ - ji づ - du で - de ど - do ぱ - pa ぴ - pi ぷ - pu ぺ - pe ぽ - po ば - ba び - bi ぶ - bu べ - be ぼ - bo Long Vowels Nakama's Writers When two of the same vowel appear consecutively in a words, each of the vowels retains the same length an quality. However, the two vowels are pronounced as a continuous sound rather than as two separate vowels. This is called a long vowel.
In general, long vowels are written by adding あa to the hirigana with the vowel [a], いi to the hirigana with the vowel [i or e], and うu to the hirigana with the vowel [u or o].
Nakama ch. 1 page 16
examples: ふうせん - fuusen. おかあさん - okaasan. ちいさい - chiisai. せんせい - sensei. おとうと - otouto.
Double Consonants
There are some Japanese words that have a slight pause between sounds. This pause is referred to as a double consonant because the consonant of the syllable following the pause has the duration of one syllable. The double consonant is marked by a preceding small つtsu.
example: にっき (diary) is pronounced "nikki" instead of "niki."
Glides Nakama's Writers Sounds containing a consonant and [y], such as [kya], [kyu], and [kyo], are called glides. Glides are written with the hirigana containing the vowel and small や、 yaゆ、 yu or よ yo.
Nakama Ch. 1 page 21 - kya しゃ - sha ちゃ - cha にゃ - nya ひゃ - hya みゃ - mya りゃ - rya ぎゃ - gya じゃ - ja ぢゃ - ja びゃ - bya ぴゃ - pya きゅ - kyu しゅ - shu ちゅ - chu にゅ - nyu ひゅ - hyu みゅ - myu りゅ - ryu ぎゅ - gyu じゅ - ju ぢゅ - ju びゅ - byu ぴゅ - pyu きょ - kyo しょ - sho ちょ - cho にょ - nyo ひょ - hyo みょ - myo りょ - ryo ぎょ - gyo じょ - jo ぢょ - jo びょ - byo ぴょ - pyo
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Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 11:55 am
Chapter 2
And now everyone, we have come to the point in this thread where we actually start breaking down Japanese grammar for you. If you have kept up so far, you should have actually had plenty of time to at least understand the basics of the Japanse alphabet. The rest wll come naturally in time. If you aren't yet well adjusted, then I suggest you not try to continue until you can identify every syllable because it will only end up being detrimental to you later.
Part I: Identifying someone or something, using ～はha ～ですdesu。
Affirmativeex. わたしは KenoTaoです。 Watashi ha KenoTao desu I am KenoTao Negativeex. いちごさんは こどもじゃありません。 Ichigosan ha kodomo ja arimasen or いちごさんは こどもじゃないです。 Ichigosan ha kodomo ja naidesu Ichigo-san is not a child More examplesFierceは おとこです。 でも、 Jadeは おとこじゃないです。 Fierce ha otoko desu. Demo, Jade ha otoko ja nai desu. Fierce is a male. But Jade is not a male. UserはSaiyaじんです。 おとこです。 User ha Saiya-jin desu. Otoko desu. User is a Saiya-jin. He is a male. Synはおかあさんです。 Taliはおかあさんじゃありません。 Syn ha okaasan desu. Tali ha okaasan ja arimasen. Syn is a mother. Tali is not a mother. Nakama's Writers *The sentences XはYです X ha Y desu and XはYじゃありません/じゃないです X ha Y ja arimasen/janasidesu are used to identify or characterize someone or something. They mean X is Y and X isn't Y. The copula verb です desu(and its variants) links the subject and predicate.
*じゃないです ja nai desuis more colloquial than じゃありません ja arimasen.*Whereas the Englsih verb to be sometimes indicates location, such as Tokyo is in Japan, です desu and じゅありません ja arimasen do not. Also they do not change their forms according to the gender, number, and person (1st, 2nd, and 3rd) of the subject. Compare the following Japanese and English sentences.わたしは だいがくせい です。 Watashi ha daigakusei desu I am a college student.ありさかさんは だいがくせい です。 Arisakasan ha daigakusei desu Arisaka-san is a college student.わたしたちは だいがくせい です。 Watashi tachi ha daigakusei desu We are college students.
*In Japanese, besides nouns, verbs, and adjectives, there are also particles. A particle is usually one hirigana, although sometimes it can be two. Particles usually appear right after a noun or at the end of a sentence. Their purpose is to assign a grammatical function to the preceding noun. Some particles are similar to English prepositions. For example, noun + は ha (pronounced wa as a particle) marks the topic of a sentence about which the rest of the sentence makes a comment. The comment ～です ~desu is more importnat than the topic because the topic represents information already known to the speaker and the listener, whereas the comment provides the listener with new information. ex. Random person: Caineさん です か。 Caine-san desu ka Are you Caine-san? ex. Caine: はい、 そう です。 Hai, sou desu. Yes I am. ex2. Random person: Caineさん です か。 Caine-san desu kaex2. User: いいえ、そう じゃないです。 Iie, sou ja nai desu No I am not. ex3. Random person: Jadeさん です か。 Jade san desu kaex3. Merena: いいえ、 そう じゃありません。 Iie, sou ja arimasen No I am not. Nakama's Writers *Use はい、 そう です Hai, sou desu (Yes, I am/you are/it is/he is/she is/they are/we are) if the answer is affirmative. Use いいえ、 そうじゃありません/いいえ、 そうじゃないです Iie, sou ja arimasen/Iie sou ja nai desu (No, I'm not/you aren't/it isn't/they aren't/we aren't) if the answer is negative. そうじゃないです Sou ja nai desu is stronger than そうじゃありません。 Sou ja arimasen*While the Japanese pronoun あなた anata means you, it is not as commonly used as its English counterpart. Instead, the person's name is used. Thus, アリス（ありす）さんは がくさいですか。 Arisu-san ha gakusei desu ka means either Are you a student, Alice? or Is Alice a student? depending on whom you are talking to.
*The topic is often omitted if it is clear from the context.
*The particle か ka is the particle used to mark a question.
Part III: Recognizing the relationship between nouns with のNoex. KenoTaoは Club Orionの member です。 KenoTao ha Club Orion no member desu Wow you guys are a long ways off. Can't wait till you know katakana. Anyway translation: KenoTao is a Club Orion member. ex. Jadeは ぼくのいもうと です。 Jade ha boku no imouto desu Jade is my sister. Nakama's Writers *The particle の no allows the first noun to modify the second noun. の no can convey a variety of relationships between the two nouns, such as possession, group membership, location, and instrument. Thus the interpretation sometimes depends on the context.とうきょうだいがくの りーさん Tokyo daigaku no Lee-san Lee-san from Tokyo University.とうきょうだいがくの がくせい Tokyo daigaku no gakusei student at Tokyo Universityわたしの ともだち Watashi no tomodachi my friend
*The relationship called apositive can also be expressed with の. no The following example is translated in English as My host family, Suzuki-san. In contrast, すずきさんの ホストファミリー（ほすとふぁみりー） Suzuki-san no hosutofamiri is interpretted as Suzuki's host family.ホストファミリー（ほすとふぁみりー）の すずきさん Hosutofamiri no Suzuki-san Suzuki san who is (my) host familyすずきさんの ホストファミリー（ほすとふぁみり） Suzuki-san no hosutofamiri Suzuki's host family.
*In Japan, it is common to introduce oneself using the name of one's company, college, or university.
Asking about names and things using なん Nanex. Q: おなまえは なん ですか。 Onamae ha nan desu ka What is your name? ex. A: Aliceです。 Alice desu It's Alice. ex2. Q: Kimさんは なん ねんせいですか。 Kim-san ha nan nensei desu ka What year are you in Kim-san? ex2. A:さん ねんせいです。 San nensei desu I'm a third junior (third year). Asking about places, using どこdoko and どちらdochiraex. Q: どちら から いらっしゃいましたか。 Dochira kara irasshaimashitaka Where are you from? (literally: Where did you come from?) ex. A: にほん から きました。 Nihon kara kimashita I'm from Japan. (literally: I came from Japan.) Nakama's Writers *なん, nan どこ, doko and どちら dochira are question words. なん nan means what, and both どちら dochira and どこ doko mean where. どちら dochira is more polite than どこ。 doko To ask the name of a school, use どこ doko or どちら。 dochira*In Japanese, a question word is placed where the information would appear in the answer. A question word is not used as a topic or before the particle は。 ha
Dialogueやまだ： たなかさんは なんねんせいですか。 Yamada: Tanaka-san ha nan nensei desuka What year are you in, Tanaka-san?たなか： わたしは いちねんせいです。 Tanaka: Watashi ha ichi nensei desu I'm a freshman. (literally: I'm a first year)すずき： これは なんですか。 Suzuki: Kore ha nan desu ka What is this?さとう： それは かんこくごの ほんです。 Satou: Sore ha kankokugo no hon desu That is a Korean language book.
*どちらから いらっしゃいましたか Dochira kara irasshaimashitaka (Where are you from?) is a polite way of asking about someone's hometown, country, or state. どこから きましたか Doko kara kimashita ka is more informal. The particle から Kara means from. いらっしゃいました Irasshaimashita and きました kimashita are the past tense forms of the verbs いらっしゃいます irasshaimasu and きます kimasu respectively; the both mean come. When responding to a question about your hometown, country or state, always use きました。 kimashita
*It is possible to ask the name of someone's school with どこ doko or どちら。 dochira 「やまださんの だいがくは どこですか。」 Yamada-san no daigaku ha doko desu ka is really a question about the name of Yamada-san's university and not it's location, even though どこですか doko desu ka is used.
もmo ~also, ~tooex. part 1. Ichigoさんは きつねです。 Ichigo-san ha kitsune desu Ichigo is a fox. ex. part 2. Ichigoさんの おかあさんも きつねです。 Ichigo-san no okaa-san mo kitsune desu Ichigo's mother is also a kitune. とto andex. Ichigoさんと Ichigoさんの おかあさんは きつねです。 Ichigo-san to Ichigo-san no okaa-san ha kitsune desu Ichigo and Ichigo's mother are kitsune. Nakama's Writers *The particle と to is used only to connect nouns. It cannot be used to connect two or more sentences or verb phrases. To connect sentences, use the conjunction そして。 soshiteたなかさんと わたしは にほんから きました。 (Tanaka-san to watashi ha nihon kara kimashita) Tanaka-san and I are from Japan.わたしは にほんから きました。 そして、 たなかさんも にほんから きもした。 Watashi ha nihon kara kimashita. Soshite, Tanaka-san mo nihon kara kimashita. I'm from Japan. And Tanaka-san is from Japan.
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 5:17 pm
Chapter 3
Part I: Describing things and people, using adjective + nounex. Club Orionは おおきい たてもの です。 Club Orion ha ookii tatemono desu. Club Orion is a big building. ex. Carlは ゆめいな ひと ですね。 Carl ha yumeina hito desu ne Carl is a famous person. い i-adjectives - dictionary form: ちさい chisai(small) - prenominal form: ちさい chisai + いぬ inu(dog) arrow ちさい いぬ chisai inuな na-adjective - dictionary form: しずか shizuka(quiet) - prenominal form: しずかな shizukana + ねこ neko(cat) arrow しずかな ねこ shizuka nekoNakama's Writers *There are two types of adjectives in Japanese. One is called an い i-adjective because it ends in い i when it comes before a noun, as in おおきい うち ookii uchi (big house) and ちさい うち chisai uchi (small house). The other type is called a な na-adjective because it ends in な na before a noun, as in りっぱな うち rippana uchi (fine house) and きれいな うち kireina uchi (pretty house). These are called the prenominal forms.
*The dictionary form is the form in which dictionaries list adjectives and verbs. You will learn about dictionary form in chapter 7.
Referring to things or people close to the speaker, using このkonoex. この ひとは つよい ひと ですね. kono hitoha tsuyoi hito desune This person is a strong person, isn't he? Referring to things or people close to the listener, or slightly removed from both the speaker and the listener, using そのsonoex. その ひとは Zeroさん ですか。 sono hitoha Zero-san desu ka Is that person Zero? Referring to things or people far away from both the speaker and the listener using あのanoex. あの みずは Reyaさんの みず ですか。 Ano mizuha Reya-sanno mizu desu ka Is that water over there Reya's water? Asking which person or thing is being referred to, using どのdonoex. Q: Club Orionは どの たてもの ですか。 Club Orionha dono tatemono desuka Which building is Club Orion? ex. A: あの たてもの です。 Ano tatemono desu It's that building over there. Nakama's Writers *この、 konoその、 sonoあの、 anoand どの dono must be followed by a noun or a noun phrase.
*どの dono cannot be used as part of the topic of a sentence with は ha。 *その sonocan be used to refer to something that has just been mentioned.
Dialogue:
A: ありさかさんは ウエストサイド（うえすとさいど）だいがくの がくせいです。 Arisakasanha uestosaido daigakuno gakusei desu Arisakasan is a student at Westside University.
B: その ひとは にほんじんですか。 Sono hitoha nihonjin desuka Is he/she (literally: that person) Japanese?
Describing the location of thingsex. Q: ここに おふろが ありますか。 Kokoni ofuroga arimasuka Is there a bathroom here? ex. A1: はい、あります。 Hai, arimasu Yes there is. ex. A2: いいえ、ありません。 Iie, arimasen No there isn't. Describing the location of peopleex. そこに だれが いますか。 Sokoni darega imasuka Who is there? ex. Sabrinaさんが います。 Sabrina-sanga imasu Sabrina is there. (literally: Sabrina exists) Nakama's Writers *The particle に ni Indicates the location of something or someone.
*The verbs あります arimasu and います imasu mean be or exist, and they indicate that something or someone is at a location marked by the particle に。 ni Use あります arimasuto talk about the location of a thing. Use います imasu to talk about the location of a person or animal.
*ここ、 koko そこ、 soko あそこ、 asoko and どこ doko are used to identify a location. ここ kokomeans here or this place and refers to a place close to the speaker and listener. そこ soko means there or that place and refers to a place close to the listener or between, or some distance from, the speaker and the listener. あそこ asoko means over there or that place over there. It refers to a place far away from the speaker and the listener. どこ doko is a question word meaning where, as in どこから きましたか dokokara kimashitaka in Chapter 2.
*The location may be marked by には niha instead of just に ni if the location is the topic of the sentence.
ex. にほんには ふじさんが あります。 Nihonniha fuji-sanga arimasu As for Japan, Mt. Fuji is there. ex. テーブル（てーぶる）の うえに みずが あります。 Teeburuno ueni mizuga arimasu. There is water on the table. ex. バー（ばー）の うしろに Reyaさんが います。 Baano ushironi Reyasanga imasu. Reya-san is behind the bar. Be sure to read the Chapter 3 vocab to learn the location nouns.Nakama's Writers *If two things next to each other belong to the same category of objects or people, use となり tonari. If they belong to a different category, use よこ yoko. For example, if you are talking about a chair next to a desk, say つくえの となり tsukueno tonari, but if you are tlaking about a person next to a building, say たてものの よこ tatemonono yoko
Giving information using よyoex. きょうは あつい ですよ。 Kyouha atsui desuyo. Today is hot you know. Seeking agreement using ねneex. Unksさんは むすこを もっていますね。 Unks-sanha musukowo motteimasune. Unks-san has a son doesn't he? Nakama's Writers *The particle よ yo is used when the speaker wishes to emphasize to the listener that he/she is imparting completely new information. Like you know in English, it is used more often in conversation and should not be overused.
*The particle ね ne is used when the speaker is seeking the listener's agreement of confirming a fact. It is similar to ~isn't it? in English.
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Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 1:50 pm
カタカナKatakana
So far you guys have been learning the basics (very basics) of Japanese sentece structures. Seeing as I took a pretty long break, you very well may have an extensive vocabulary at this point-for a beginner-if you've been practicing every day. But nonetheless, the past couple of lessons have had a system of writing that is obviously not hirigana. This is called katakana. Katakana is the system used for spelling loan words. Loan words are words which are not native to Japan. All of the rules for spelling in hirigana apply. Take note that for most of you, your names will be written in katakana. So the following is a list of the katakana, followed by the hirigana reading, and finally the romaji.ア あ - a イ い - i ウ う - u エ え - e オ お - o カ か - ka キ き - ki ク く - ku ケ け - ke コ こ - ko サ さ - sa シ し - shi ス す - su セ せ - se ソ そ - so タ た - ta チ ち - chi ツ つ - tsu テ て - te ト と - to ナ な - na ニ に - ni ヌ ぬ - nu ネ ね - ne ノ の - no ハ は - ha ヒ ひ - hi フ ふ - fu ヘ へ - he ホ ほ - ho マ ま - ma ミ み - mi ム む - mu メ め - me モ も - mo ラ ら - ra リ り - ri ル る - ru レ れ - re ロ ろ - ro ヤ や - ya ユ ゆ - yu ヨ よ - yo ワ わ - wa ン ん - n A note for anyone who's wondering, although there is a syllable for wo in katakana, it's sole purpose in the Japanese language is as a particle. There it's katakana isn't used much if at all.
Something else to take note of. Like I said, the katakana and hirgana only stand as indicators between native words and foreign ones. Therefore, the rules used in hirigana also apply to katakana. thus I don't need to show you glides and all that stuff again right? Right.
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Posted: Fri May 26, 2006 11:45 am
Chapter 4
Part I: Describing and commenting on places using adjectives (polite and negative forms) and とてもtotemo and あまりamariex. Q: クラブ オライオンは おおきい ですか。 Kurabu oraionha ookii desuka. Is Club Orion big? ex. A: はい、とても おおきい です。 Hai, totemo ookii, desu. Yes, it is very big. ex. Q:タリさんは たかい ですか。 Tarisanha takai desu ka. Is Tali-san tall? ex. A:いいえ、あまり たかくありません/たかくない です。 Iie, amari takakuarimasen./takakunai desu. No, he is not very tall. Chart 4.1い i-adjectives Dictionary form - おおきい ookii Polite Affirmative form - おおきい+です ookii + desuPolite Negative form - おおきく+ありません ookiku + arimasen or おおきく+ないです ookiku + naidesuな na-adjectives Dictionary form - りっぱ rippaPolite Affirmative form - りっぱ+です rippa + desuPolite Negative form - りっぱ+じゃありません rippa + jaarimasen or りっぱ+じゃないです rippa + janaidesuNakama's Writers *The い i-adjective いい ii, meaning good, has a slight irregularity in the negative form.
*The alternative negative form, ～ないです ~naidesu, is considered colloquial and is used only in the spoken language.
*Note that the negative form of a な na-adjective is the same as that of a noun + です。 - -Negative of noun + です desu - だいがくせいじゃありません/だいがくせいじゃないです daigakuseijaarimasen/daigakuseijanaidesu
- -Negative of な na-adjective - きれいじゃありません/きれいじゃないです kireijaarimasen/kireijanaidesu
*The adverbs とても totemo and あまり amari are often used with adjectives, and both may be translated as very in English. とても totemo occurs with an affirmative form, and あまり amari occurs with a negative form.この たてものは とても きれいです。 Kono tatemonoha totemo kirei desu. This building is very pretty.この たてものは あまり きれいじゃありません。 Kono tatemonoha amari kireijaarimasen. This building is not very pretty.
* ～くないです ~kunaidesu and ～じゃないです ~janaidesu are stronger, respectively, than ～くありません ~kuarimasen and ～じゃありません。 ~jaarimasen.
いi-adjectives + のnoex pt 1. あの しろい たてものは びょういんです。 Ano chiroi tatemonoha byouindesu. That white building over there is a hospital. ex pt 2. ちゃいろいのは ぎんこうです。 Chairoinoha ginkou desu. The brown one is a bank. なna-adjectives + のnoex pt 1. その ちいさい たてものは ほんやです。 Sono chiisai tatemonoha honyadesu. That small building is a bookstore. ex pt 2. きれいなのは きっさてんです。 Kireinanoha kissaten desu. The pretty one is a coffee shop. Noun + のnoex Q: この かばんは だれの ですか。 Kono kabanha dareno desuka. Whose bag is this? ex A: やまださんの です。 Yamadasanno desu. It's Yamada-san's. Nakama's Writers * の no is a pronoun that means one or ones in English, as in the red one or that big one. It is usually used for things, and it is rarely used for people.
*The pronoun の no must be directly preceded by an adjective or a noun. It cannot be used with the particle の no; the demosntrative adjectives この kono, その sono, or あの ano; or the interrogative word どの dono.
*When the pronoun の no is modified by a noun, that noun should immediately precede it. as in key sentence C (third set of examples). When the pronoun の no is modified by and adjective, use the prenominal form of the adjective. ex Q. それは なんですか。 Sore ha nan desuka. What is that? ex A. とりにく です。 Toriniku desu. It's chicken. Nakama's Writers *In Chapter 3, you learned about the words, この kono, その sono, あの ano, and どの dono. Similarly, これ kore, それ sore, あれ are, and どれ dore refer to things at varying distances from the speaker and listener. これ kore means this or this thing, それ sore means that or that thing, and あれ are means that thing over there. どれ dore means which or which thing.
* これ kore, それ sore, あれ are, and どれ dore are pronouns and can't be followed by another noun. Use この kono, その sono, あの ano, and どの dono before a noun.これは ぼくの えんぴつです。 Koreha bokuno enpitsu desu. This is my pencil.この えんぴつは ぼくの えんぴつです。 Kono enpitsuha bokuno enpitsu desu. This pencil is my pencil.
* これ kore, それ sore, あれ are, and どれ dore refer to things, not to people. Use この kono, その sono, あの ano, and どの dono followed by かた kata (respectful term) or ひと hito to refer to a person.このかたは たなかせんせいです。 Kono kataha Tanaka sensei desu. This person is professor Tanaka.
*The actual distances that these words indicate vary depending on context. それ sore would imply much greater distance when it is used to point out a building than when it is used to point to an item in a room.
Using がgaex. Q: ドレが ユウザさんの シアツですか。 Dore ga yuuza-san no shiatsu desuka. Which of these is User-san's shirt? ex. A: それです。 Sore desu. It's that one. Using はhaex. Q: それは だれの ほんですか。 Soreha dareno hondesuka. Whose book is this? ex. A: エピタにさんのです。 Epitanysan no desu. It's Epithany-san's. Nakama's Writers *The particle が ga marks the grammatical subject of a sentence. Always use が ga when the subject is (or contains) a question word, as in どの ひとが せんせいですか。 Dono hito ga sensei desuka. The particle は ha cannot be used with a question word because は ha marks the topic of a sentence, which is information already known to the speaker.
*If a question word is used in the part of the sentence that follows the topic, は ha is used.じむしつは どこですか。 Jimushitsuha dokodesuka. Where is the business office?
*Once the subject noun has been mentioned, は ha is often used for the subject that refers to the same item in subesequent sentences.あそこに ねこが いますね。 Asokoni nekoga imasune. There is a cat over there.それは くろい ねこでうすか。 Soreha kuroi nekodesuka. Is it a black cat?
(In sentence 1, the information about the cat's existence is new. In sentence 2, the fact is already familiar, so は ha is used.)
*それ Sore can be used to refer to something mentioned previously. In this usage, それ sore means it in English. Likewise, その～ sono~ and そこ soko can be used in the same way. In this case, それ sore refers to something invisible.あそこに かばんが あります。～あれは たなかさんのです。 Asokoni kabanga arimasu.~ Areha Tanakasannodesu. There is a bag over there. It is Tanaka-san's
or～あの かばんは たなかさんのです。 Ano kabanha Tanaksannodesu. That bag is Tanaka-san's.がくせいかいかんの なかに しょくどうが あります。 そこは とても きれいです。 Gakuseikaikanno naka ni shokudouga arimasu. Soko ni totemo kireidesu. There is a cafeteria in the student union. It (that place) is very clean/nice.)
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