Curso- Teach Yourself Japanese_(207p)

Teach Yourself Japanese TAKASUGI Shinji

Teach Yourself Japanese http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese/cover.html 1. Introduction 1.1. Introduction to Japanese 1.2. Romanization, phonemes, and morae 1.3. Grammatical terms 2. Standard hiragana 2.1. Hiragana for vowels 2.2. Hiragana for k/g + vowels 2.3. Hiragana for s/z + vowels 2.4. Hiragana for t/d + vowels 2.5. Hiragana for n + vowels 2.6. Hiragana for h/b/p + vowels 2.7. Hiragana for m + vowels 2.8. Hiragana for y + vowels 2.9. Hiragana for r + vowels 2.10. Hiragana for w + vowels 2.11. Hiragana for /N/, /Q/, and /H/ 3. Double hiragana 3.1. Double hiragana for consonants + y + vowels 3.2. Hiragana only for imported words 4. Other kana information 4.1. Romanized Japanese in English 4.2. Hiragana table 4.3. Hiragana shapes 4.4. Katakana table 4.5. Katakana shapes 4.6. Punctuation 4.7. Java program to memorize kana 4.8. Java program to display kana 4.9. Java program to draw hiragana strokes 4.10. Java program to draw katakana strokes 4.11. Java game of hiragana and katakana

5. Numbers 5.1. Small numbers 5.2. Large numbers 5.3. Counters 5.4. Decimals and fractions 5.5. The months and the days 5.6. Java program to display numbers 6. Greetings 7. Basic grammar 7.1. Cases and postpositions 7.2. Topics and focuses 7.3. Verbs 7.4. Copula 7.5. Adjectives 7.6. Relative clauses 7.7. Negative forms 7.8. Java program to display inflections 7.9. Emotion markers 7.10. Questions 8. Vocabulary 8.1. Pronouns 8.2. Demonstratives 8.3. Body parts 8.4. Kinship 8.5. Colors 8.6. Space-time 8.7. Vertebrates 8.8. Invertebrates 8.9. Plants 9. Dialogues 9.1. Dialogue 1 9.2. Dialogue 2

1.1. Introduction to Japanese 1.1.1. Preface Thank you very much for visiting my Japanese language site. My name is TAKASUGI Shinji (surname first is the Japanese way). I am a native Japanese speaker living in Yokohama, Japan. Please let me know when you find errors. The purpose of this site is to provide a way to learn Japanese by yourself. I would like to introduce you Japanese, and I will be glad if you are interested in it. I focus on the similarities and differences between Japanese and English. If you really want to master Japanese, I recommend you to buy a good textbook and a dictionary, because I think it is vocabulary, not grammar, that is the key to mastering a language. I do my best to make my site good, but the number of words described here is still limited.

1.1.2. What is the Japanese language? The Japanese language is the official language of Japan, and it is the eighth most popular language in the world. The table below shows the principal languages of the world, according to Ethnologue, 13th edition, 1996-1999. Rank

Language

Language Family Population

Area

1

Mandarin Chinese

Sino-Tibetan

2

Spanish

Indo-European

332,000,000 Latin America, Spain

3

English

Indo-European

322,000,000 North America, U.K., Australia

4

Bengali

Indo-European

189,000,000 Bangladesh, India

5

Hindi

Indo-European

182,000,000 India

6

Portuguese

Indo-European

170,000,000 Brazil, Portugal

7

Russian

Indo-European

170,000,000 Russia

8

Japanese

Japanese

125,000,000 Japan

9

Standard German

Indo-European

10

Wu Chinese

Sino-Tibetan

77,175,000 China

11

Javanese

Austronesian

75,500,800 Indonesia

12

Korean

Korean

75,000,000 Korea

13

French

Indo-European

72,000,000 France

14

Vietnamese

Austro-Asiatic

67,662,000 Viet Nam

15

Telugu

Dravidian

66,350,000 India

16

Yue Chinese

Sino-Tibetan

66,000,000 China

17

Marathi

Indo-European

64,783,000 India

18

Tamil

Dravidian

63,075,000 India

885,000,000 China

98,000,000 Germany

19

Turkish

Altaic

59,000,000 Turkey

20

Urdu

Indo-European

58,000,000 Pakistan

Note: Modern Arabic is so diverse that it is divided into dozens of languages. The most popular one is Egyptian Spoken Arabic, which has a population of 42,500,000. Linguists think languages of the same language family have a common ancestor, because they have similar grammar and vocabulary. That's why it is relatively easy for English speakers to learn European languages. Almost all European languages belong to the Indo-European language family. The exceptions are Basque, Hungarian, Finnish, and some minorities. Japanese is not a member of the Indo-European language family. In fact, Japanese is virtually the only member of the Japanese language family, considering Ryukyuan languages, languages of Okinawa, are not commonly used now. Korean, which is the nearest kin to Japanese other than Ryukyuan languages, belongs to another language family. The origin of Japanese and Japanese people is unknown, but anthropologists suppose that the majority of the ancestors of the Japanese came to Japan from north Asia through the Korean Peninsula, and mixed with the native Japanese, who had a southeast Asian origin. Most European people are probably not aware of the diversity of Asian languages. Even though Korean grammar is similar to Japanese, it has a very different vocabulary, which is why Korean and Japanese aren't considered to belong to the same language family. Chinese had influenced Japanese for many years, in particular through imported words, but its grammar has no relationship to Japanese. Ainu people, the other native people of Japan, speak the Ainu language, which is also different from Japanese. The table below shows how different Mandarin Chinese and Ainu are from Japanese. All the sentences mean "I drink water in my house."

Japanese

Watashi wa ie de mizu o nomu. (I) (topic) (house) (in) (water) (object) (drink)

Mandarin

Wŏ zài jiā hē shŭi. (I) (in) (house) (drink) (water)

Ainu

K=uni ta wakka ku=ku. (my house) (in) (water) (I drink)

Japanese doesn't seem to English speakers to be as approachable as other European languages at first, because it is very different from English. But don't be afraid. Japanese is not as difficult as you might think. In a sense, Japanese is more logical than English; for example, it has only two irregular verbs. It's also simpler than European languages in a sense; it has no singular or plural, no gender, and no agreement of verbs. Learning a non-European language is a good way for European language speakers to learn general ideas of human languages and understand characteristics of European languages. You might think the subject-verb inversion for questions is nothing strange, but the fact is that the inversion is rarely found outside of Europe. Among thousands of languages in the world, English is the only language that uses a meaningless auxiliary verb for the inversion. When you change the sentence "He went there" to the question "Did he go there?" , not to "Went he there?" , you experience a unique rule of English. Have you ever imagined English is a strange language? I will explain in a later chapter the way to make questions in Japanese, which is common and easy. If you speak a non-European language, your language may be more similar to Japanese than to English. Don't think in English in that case.

Further readings: Re: Ryûkyû-language Re: German and Japanese

1.1.3. Japanese characters The Japanese language has three sets of characters - hiragana, katakana, and kanji. The Japanese language didn't have written characters two thousand years ago. After contact with the Chinese, the Japanese imported Han characters, which are called kanji in Japanese and hànzì in Mandarin. Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese have been using Han characters, and Vietnamese had used them until the 19th century. Kanji are ideograms, i.e. they stand for both meaning and pronunciation. Here is an example of kanji:

The Japanese pronunciation of this kanji is "hito", which has nothing to do with its Chinese pronunciation "rén", while it means human in both of the languages. Kanji is a good writing system - they can carry meaning beyond the language barrier, and linguists also have proven that reading ideograms is faster than reading phonograms such as alphabets because ideograms and their meanings are closely connected in the brain while phonograms are connected only to their sounds. Dyslexics can hardly read phonograms but they can understand ideograms, if they know them. The ability to read phonograms can be damaged more easily because of its complexity. But it is also useful to have phonograms, which describe only sounds. More than a thousand years ago, Japanese people picked out about fifty kanji and simplified them to create new character sets now called hiragana and katakana. This process was the same as how Egyptian created phonograms from hieroglyphs. The difference is that kanji are alive and hieroglyphs are dead. Hiragana and katakana are called kana. A kana stands only for a sound, unlike a kanji, which stands for a meaning and a sound. Here is an example of hiragana:

These two hiragana represent the pronunciations "hi" and "to", which combination is "hito" (human). None of the hiragana has meaning, just pronunciation. The two kana sets, hiragana and katakana, are essentially the same, but they have different shapes, like English has capital letters and small letters. Hiragana are used for Japanese words, while katakana are used for imported words. So you can easily spot imported words. Kanji, hiragana and katakana are used together, and you must master all of them eventually in order to read Japanese texts. All you have to learn first is hiragana, because learning hiragana is enough for beginners to learn Japanese grammar and

words. Japanese children also learn to read and write hiragana first. Japanese characters are written vertically from top to bottom, and lines are written from right to left. Japanese can be written like European languages too, i.e. characters are written horizontally from left to right, lines from top to bottom. Newspapers and novels are almost always written in the vertical way, and scientific books are almost always written in the horizontal way. Computers use the latter, and they are rarely able to display characters in the vertical way. I use the horizontal way in this site, because it is easier to use with alphabets. The two ways are shown below. Horizontal: First line, Second line, Third line.

Vertical:

T h i r d l i n e .

S e c o n d l i n e ,

F i r s t l i n e ,

Further readings: kanji difference Re: Why use kanji? Chinese and Japanese Re: Mandarin and Cantonese Re: Pre-horizontal writing

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1.2. Romanization, phonemes, and morae 1.2.1. Romanization Writing Japanese with the Latin alphabet is called Romanization. Japanese people use kana and kanji to write Japanese, and they aren't always able to write Romanized Japanese. Romanization is used mainly for non-Japanese. Vowels in Romanized Japanese are based on Latin (Spanish) pronunciation, while consonants are mainly based on English pronunciation. English speakers tend to mispronounce vowels when they read Romanized Japanese. There are two major ways of Romanization. One is Kunrei and the other is Hepburn. The former is established as an international standard (ISO-3602) because it reflects the Japanese sound system well, but the the latter is much more commonly used and all Japanese words found in English are written with it because it's easier for English speakers to read even though it doesn't reflect the Japanese sound system. The hiragana , for example, is written as "si" in Kunrei Romanization and "shi" in Hepburn Romanization. Its pronunciation being very similar to the English word she, "shi" is easier for English speakers to pronounce it correctly than "si", which might be pronounced like sea. However, writing it as "si" is better to understand how native Japanese speakers treat it because native Japanese speakers categorize it as a syllable with "s" like "sa" and consider it to be different from syllables with "sh" such as "sha". This irregularity comes from a historical pronunciation shift. I use Kunrei Romanization as well as kana, because it helps you to understand Japanese grammar, and I will also list Hepburn Romanization in parentheses when it is different.

1.2.2. Phonemes Phonemes are the smallest units of the sound system of a language. Actual sounds produced by phonemes are called phones. Phones can vary with dialects and speakers, but the set of phonemes stays the same. For example, the English phoneme /t/ has the following phones: Phoneme Phone Word Pronunciation /t/

[th]

time

[thaIm]

[t]

style

[staIl]

[ ]

letter

[lε

]

A letter enclosed by slashes is a phoneme and one enclosed by brackets is a phone. Even though [th], [t], and [ ] are different sounds, they are the same phoneme because English speakers treat them as the same sound unit. Understanding phonemes is not very important when you learn Japanese, as long as you can understand Romanized Japanese, because Latin letters well reflect underlying Japanese grammar. The exceptions are the phonemes /N/, /Q/, and /H/, which are not consistently written in Romanization. Further readings:

The International Phonetic Association Phonetic course

1.2.3. Morae and kana Basically, consonants must be followed by vowels in Japanese. The exceptions are semivowels, which can be inserted between a consonant and a vowel, and the two special phonemes /N/ and /Q/. This strict rule makes the Japanese syllable structure very simple. Japanese pronunciation always has either one of the following structures: a vowel (including /H/) a consonant + a vowel a consonant + a semivowel + a vowel /N/ /Q/ The most important rule is that Japanese pronunciation is metronomic - any of the five structures above has the same length of time. Linguists calls this minimum beat of pronunciation mora. Morae (plural of mora) are close to syllables, but they are slightly different. A syllable has one and only one sonority peak (a vowel or a vowel-like sound), while /N/ and /Q/ have no vowel-like sound. Perhaps you know Latin also has morae and syllables. Since syllables are not important at all in Japanese, some people call Japanese morae syllables in order to make it easier to understand. I use morae in this site. One kana (hiragana or katakana) stands for one mora, not one phoneme. You cannot describe a consonant that is not followed by a vowel, but you don't need it, because Japanese doesn't have such pronunciation. Further readings: Re: long vowels

1.2.4. Accent There are three kinds of accent in world languages: stress accents, pitch accents, and tones. Here accent doesn't mean different varieties of pronunciation, such as in "His English has a Texan accent," but it means a way to distinguish words other than consonants and vowels. English has stress accents, where the strong voice determines accents. For instance, the words subject in "the subject" and in "to subject" have different accents while they have the same consonants and vowels. Japanese has pitch accents, where the high tone of voice determines accents. The strength of voice doesn't matter in Japanese to differentiate words. Chinese has tones, where every syllable has either one of the four tones. Unlike Chinese, wrong accents don't make much trouble in Japanese, so you can skip this section if you want to master kana first. Let's think about the Japanese word kudamono (fruit) for an example. It consists of four morae: "ku", "da", "mo", and "no". Each mora must have either a low pitch or a high pitch, because Japanese has pitch accents. In this case, the second mora "da" has a high pitch, and the others have low pitches. The most important thing for Japanese accents is a boundary between a high-pitch mora and a low-pitch one. For the word kudamono, the boundary between the morae "da" and "mo" is important because the former has a high pitch and the latter

has a low pitch. The boundary is called an accent fall, which means a transition from a high-pitch mora to a low-pitch one. There is an important rule: a word has at most one accent fall, and the pitch never rises again in a word if it becomes low. You can determine each mora's pitch in a word if you know where the accent fall is. In this course I use the bold face for accent falls. For instance, the accent of the word kudamono will be written as "kudamono" or LHLL, which means its four morae have low, high, low, and low pitches respectively. Note that native Japanese speakers don't always understand this way of notation, because it is highly grammatical. As you know, most people don't understand the grammar of their own language. Having at most one accent fall like a simple word, a compound word has a clearly different pitch from a mere combination of the pitches of its root words. The accent fall of the last word often remains intact. It is opposite from English, in which the first stress in a compound word is often kept, such as blackboard and darkroom.

1.2.5. Accent falls and pitches As I have explained, a Japanese word has at most one accent fall. If a word is followed by a postposition, the word's accent fall also affects the pitch of the postposition. Let me give some four-mora words to show accent falls and pitches. I use the postposition ga here, which will be explained later. Accent fall position no postposition

With ga

Meaning

mi do ri

mi do ri ga

H L L

H L LL

1 2 3

1 2 3 4

i to ko

i to ko ga

LH L 1 2 3

LH L L 1 2 3 4

3

ka ta na L HH 1 2 3

ka ta na ga L H H L Japanese sword 1 2 3 4

none

ko do mo L H H 1 2 3

1

2

ko do mo ga L H H H 1 2 3 4

green

cousin

child

As you have learned, the accent fall is a transition from high pitch to low pitch. If the first mora has an accent fall, it has high pitch and the rest have low pitch like this: H L ... L 1 2 last If the nth mora has an accent fall, the second mora through the nth mora have high pitch and the rest have low pitch like this:

L H ... H 1 2

L

...

n n+1

L last

If there is no accent fall, all morae including postpositions except for the first mora have high pitch like this: L H ...

H

1 2

last

The accent fall rule shown here is advanced grammar, so you don't have to memorize it now.

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1.3. Grammatical terms I use several grammatical terms in this site, and they might be difficult if you haven't learned English grammar. Since most grammatical terms are used in both English grammar and Japanese grammar, knowing English grammar will help you learn Japanese grammar. You can skip this section if you are familiar with them. I explain some of them here. Addressee An addressee is a person who receives a sentence, i.e. a listener or a reader. In English, an addressee is referred to with the second-person pronouns such as you. Adjective An adjective is a word that means an attribute of a thing and adds information to a noun. An adjective is almost always placed before a noun in English. Beautiful, tasty, and good-looking are all adjectives. Adposition An adposition is a word that works as a marker of the grammatical relation of the accompanying noun or noun phrase. It is called a preposition if placed before a noun, and is called a postposition if placed after a noun. Adverb An adverb is a word that adds information to a verb, an adjective, or an adverb. An adverb is often a form of an adjective in English. Very, quickly, and beautifully are all adverbs. Copula A copula is a word that combines the subject and its explanation. The verb be is the English copula. The Japanese copula is not a verb. Inflection Inflection is having more than one form to express different grammatical roles. English nouns have inflection to show number, such as cat and cats. Verb inflection is sometimes called conjugation. English verbs have inflection to show tense, such as eat and ate. Interjection An interjection is a word that is independent from other words and used as it is. Yes, hello, and hi are all interjections. Interrogative An interrogative is a word to ask specific information. In English, who and what are interrogative pronouns, and when and how are interrogative pro-adverbs. Noun A noun is a word that means a thing, either concrete or abstract. A noun can be the subject or the object of a sentence in English. Textbook, PC, and web site are all nouns. A proper noun is a noun that is the name of a person or a thing. In English, proper nouns are always capitalized. John and Japan are both proper nouns. Phone

A phone is actual pronunciation of a phoneme. A phone is represented between brackets. Phoneme A phoneme is the smallest unit of the sound system of a language. If two sounds have the same phoneme, they are treated equally. A phoneme is represented between slashes. Postposition A postposition is an adposition placed after a noun. Japanese has several postpositions, but English has few postpositions. Preposition A preposition is an adposition placed before a noun. In, for, and from are all prepositions. Japanese has no prepositions. Pronoun A pronoun is a word that refers to a person or a thing that has already talked about. It is a kind of noun, but its function is different from nouns in English. What a pronoun actually means depends on context. Me and yourself are pronouns. Speaker A speaker is a person who sends a sentence, i.e. a person who speaks or writes. In English, a speaker is referred to with the first-person pronouns such as I and we. Verb A verb is a word that means an event or an action, and it combines things involved in the event in a sentence. A verb has several forms such as present, past, and gerund in English. Read and have are all verbs.

Further readings: Glossary of linguistic terms

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2.1. Hiragana for vowels Japanese has only five vowels like Latin and Spanish, and they are easy to distinguish. Vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

a

[a]

Similar to the first sound of eye [aI], but without the ending [I]. It is pronounced in the front of the mouth, while the [α:] in father [fα:ð ] is pronounced in the back of the mouth. The [æ] in ash [æ ] is not as wide as [a].

i

[i]

Similar to the [i:] in eat [i:t].

u

[ ]

Similar to the [u:] in cool [ku:l], but [ ] is a more relaxed sound than that. You don't have to round your lips tightly. It is quite different from the [U] in good [gUd].

e

[e]

Similar to the first sound of the [eI] in day [deI], but without the ending [I]. The [ε] in end [εnd] is wider than [e].

o

[o]

Similar to the first sound in owe [oU], but without the ending [U].

You don't have to worry about the vowel pronunciations very much. What is really important is the metronomic rhythm of Japanese. You must pronounce vowels with the same time length. It is believed that Japanese had eight vowels: a, i, u, e, o, ï, ë, and ö. The last three were lost more than a thousand years ago.

Hiragana examples: Hiragana: Pitch: H L Romanization: a i Meaning: love (noun) Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: u e Meaning: upper (noun) Hiragana: Pitch:

H

L

Romanization: ô Meaning: king (noun) Note: A combination of a kana with the vowel "o" and a kana for "u" is pronounced with [o:], not [o ]. A combination of a kana with the vowel "o" and a kana for "o" is also pronounced with [o:], not [oo]. In these cases, the second kana is there just to make the previous "o" longer and is technically described as the phoneme /H/. The sound [o:] is the same as [o] but twice as long as [o]. When Romanized, it is written as either "ô" ("o" with a circumflex) or "ō" ("o" with a macron). Remember that Japanese is metronomic. The sound [o] ("o") has one mora, while [o:] ("ô") has two morae. If you pronounce the former in 0.2 second, you must pronounce the latter in 0.4 second. Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

H

Romanization:

a

o

i

Meaning:

hollyhock (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch: Romanization: Meaning:

L i

H e

house (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch:

L

Romanization:

i

Meaning:

H

H ô

sulfur (noun)

Note: This word has three morae, not two.

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2.2. Hiragana for k/g + vowels k + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

ka

[ka]

English "k" + Japanese "a".

ki

[kji]

Similar to English "k" + Japanese "i", but the tongue position gets closer to the hard palate (the hard roof of the mouth).

ku

[k

]

English "k" + Japanese "u".

ke

[ke]

English "k" + Japanese "e".

ko

[ko]

English "k" + Japanese "o".

g + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

ga

[ga]

English "g" + Japanese "a".

gi

[gji]

Similar to English "g" + Japanese "i", but the tongue position gets closer to the hard palate.

gu

[g ]

English "g" + Japanese "u".

ge

[ge]

English "g" + Japanese "e".

go

[go]

English "g" + Japanese "o".

The consonants before "i" are different from others. This is called palatalization. As you see, the double points at the right top of hiragana mean they have a voiced consonant. This mark is called a voiced sound mark ( "dakuten" in Japanese). The "g" in the middle of words can be pronounced as the [ŋ] in the English word singer [sIŋ ]. You don't have to use [ŋ] at all.

Hiragana examples: Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

Romanization: ki ku Meaning: chrysanthemum (noun) For your interest: The chrysanthemum is the symbol flower of the emperor of Japan. Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

H

H

Romanization: ke i Meaning: plan (noun)

ka

ku

Note: A combination of a kana with the vowel "e" and a kana for "i" is often pronounced as [e:], not [ei], in colloquial Japanese. As a result, this word is often pronounced [ke:kak ] instead of [keikak ]. The sound [e:] is the same as [e], but twice as long as [e]. Its Romanization is always "ei", not "ê".

Hiragana: Pitch: Romanization: Meaning:

L ga

H ka

painting artist (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch: Romanization: Meaning:

L

H

H

kô

H kô

high school (noun)

Note: Remember a combination of a kana with the vowel "o" and a kana for "u" is pronounced with [o:], which is twice as long as [o]. In this case, the combination of the hiragana for "ko" and that for "u" is pronounced as [ko:], not [ko ]. Its Romanization is "kô", not "kou". Hiragana: Pitch: L H H L Romanization: kô gô Meaning: empress consort (noun) Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: ka gi Meaning: key (noun)

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2.3. Hiragana for s/z + vowels s + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

sa

[sa]

English "s" + Japanese "a".

si (shi)

[ i]

Similar to English "sh" + Japanese "i". You shouldn't round your lips when you pronounce [ ], unlike the [ ] in she [ i:].

su

[s ]

English "s" + Japanese "u".

se

[se]

English "s" + Japanese "e".

so

[so]

English "s" + Japanese "o".

z + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

za

[

a]

English "dz" + Japanese "a".

zi (ji)

[

i]

Similar to English "j" + Japanese "i". You shouldn't round your lips when you pronounce [ ], unlike the [ ] in jeep [ i:p].

zu

[

]

English "dz" + Japanese "u".

ze

[

e]

English "dz" + Japanese "e".

zo

[

o]

English "dz" + Japanese "o".

Note that "si" and "zi" have different consonants from others because of palatalization. The "z" in the middle of a word is commonly pronounced as [z] instead of [ ]. Similarly, "zi" can be pronounced as [ ] (as in azure [æ ]) instead of [ ]. Since Japanese speakers don't distinguish [ ] and [z] actually, you can pronounce "z" as the latter, which is easier for English speakers.

Hiragana examples: Hiragana: Pitch: H L Romanization: su si Meaning: sushi (noun)

For your interest: Sushi is a popular food in Japan. It is made of raw seafood (!) and rice. It tastes good, so give it a try if you have a chance. Some people expect Japanese foods to be hot like Thai and Korean foods, but actually Japanese foods have delicate and elegant tastes. Japanese foods boast of being low-fat and healthful, which is one of the reasons why the Japanese have the longest life expectancy in the world. Hiragana: Pitch:

H

L

Romanization: sa

zi

Meaning:

spoon (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

Romanization: su zu Meaning: small bell (noun) Hiragana: Pitch:

H

L

L

Romanization: se

ka

i

Meaning:

world (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

H

Romanization: sô zô Meaning: imagination (noun) Hiragana: Pitch: H L Romanization: zô Meaning: elephant (noun) Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: se i Meaning: politics (noun)

H zi

H

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2.4. Hiragana for t/d + vowels t + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

ta

[ta]

English "t" + Japanese "a".

ti (chi)

[ i]

Similar to English "ch" + Japanese "i". You shouldn't round your lips when you pronounce [ ], unlike the [ ] in cheese [ i:z].

tu (tsu)

[

]

English "ts" + Japanese "u".

te

[te]

English "t" + Japanese "e".

to

[to]

English "t" + Japanese "o".

d + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation da

zu

English "d" + Japanese "a".

[da]

zi (ji)

[

i]

[

Description

]

Exactly same as

.

Exactly same as

.

de

[de]

English "d" + Japanese "e".

do

[do]

English "d" + Japanese "o".

Note that , , , and have different consonants from others, because of a historical pronunciation shift. They are considered to have had the proper sounds "ti", "tu", "di", and "du" respectively. The kana and have the same pronunciations as and , and the latter two are almost always used. are used only for morae that come from and etymologically.

Hiragana examples: Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: te tu Meaning: iron (noun)

and

Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

H

Romanization: ka

ta

ti

Meaning:

shape (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch: Romanization: Meaning:

L

H tô

H da

H i

lighthouse (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch:

H

L

Romanization:

ti

zu

Meaning:

map (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

H

L

Romanization:

ta

da

si

i

Meaning:

right, correct (adjective)

Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: tu tu Meaning: pipe (noun)

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2.5. Hiragana for n + vowels n + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

na

[na]

English "n" + Japanese "a".

ni

[nji]

Similar to Spanish "ñ" + Japanese "i". Since the Japanese don't distinguish [nji] from [ni], you can use the latter pronunciation (English "n" + Japanese "i").

nu

[n ]

English "n" + Japanese "u".

ne

[ne]

English "n" + Japanese "e".

no

[no]

English "n" + Japanese "o".

Hiragana examples: Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

H

Romanization: ka ta na Meaning: Japanese sword (noun) For your interest: Japanese swords are single-bladed curved swords. They are not only weapons but also artistic creations. Some Japanese swords are priceless. Hiragana: Pitch: H L Romanization: ne ko Meaning: cat (noun) Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: nu no Meaning: cloth (noun) Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

Romanization: ni zi Meaning: rainbow (noun) Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

Romanization: o ni Meaning: demon (noun) For your interest: Even though this word is often translated to demon, they are more human-like than ghost-like in many fairy tales, so they are often more similar to ogres and trolls. Hiragana: Pitch: Romanization: Meaning:

L sa

H ka

H na

fish (noun)

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2.6. Hiragana for h/b/p + vowels h + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation ha

hi

hu (fu)

Description

[ha]

English "h" + Japanese "a". There is a single-kana postposition with this kana whose actual pronunciation is "wa". It will be explained in a later lesson.

[çi]

German "ch" in ich + Japanese "i". The tongue position for this consonant is the same as that for English "y", but it is a voiceless consonant. Since the Japanese don't distinguish [çi] and [hi], you can pronounce it as English "h" + Japanese "i".

[Φ

]

Japanese "φ" + Japanese "u", or English "h" + Japanese "u". The lips position for Japanese "φ" is the same as that for English "w", but it is a voiceless consonant. Japanese people don't distinguish [Φ ] and [h ]. Using English "f" is not recommended.

he

[he]

English "h" + Japanese "e". There is a single-kana postposition with this kana whose actual pronunciation is "e". It will be explained in a later lesson.

ho

[ho]

English "h" + Japanese "o".

b + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

ba

[ba]

English "b" + Japanese "a".

bi

[bi]

English "b" + Japanese "i".

bu

[b

]

English "b" + Japanese "u".

be

[be]

English "b" + Japanese "e".

bo

[bo]

English "b" + Japanese "o".

Even though these hiragana are combinations of hiragana for "h" + vowels and voiced sound marks, their consonants are not voiced "h". See the next group for corresponding voiceless hiragana.

p + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation pa

[pa]

Description English "p" + Japanese "a".

pi

English "p" + Japanese "i".

[pi]

pu

[p

]

English "p" + Japanese "u".

pe

[pe]

English "p" + Japanese "e".

po

[po]

English "p" + Japanese "o".

The circles at the right top of hiragana are used only for these hiragana. This mark is called a semi-voiced sound mark ( "handakuten" in Japanese). Thousands of years ago, syllables now represented by hiragana for "h" + vowels were pronounced as "p" + vowels. That's why those hiragana with voiced sound marks have the sound of "b". After the pronunciation of "p" shifted to "h", the semivoiced sound mark was invented to stand for the sound of "p".

Hiragana examples: Hiragana: Pitch: H Romanization: hu Meaning:

L bu

L ki

snow storm (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch:

H

L

Romanization: he bi Meaning: snake (noun) Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: ha ba Meaning: width (noun) Hiragana: Pitch: H L L Romanization: ha na bi Meaning: fireworks (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch:

L

Romanization:

bi

Meaning:

H

H bô

beautiful face (noun)

Further readings: Re: pronunciation for hu

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2.7. Hiragana for m + vowels m + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

ma

[ma]

English "m" + Japanese "a".

mi

[mi]

English "m" + Japanese "i".

mu

[m ]

English "m" + Japanese "u".

me

[me]

English "m" + Japanese "e".

mo

[mo]

English "m" + Japanese "o".

Hiragana examples: Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: ki mo Meaning: kimono

H no

For your interest: Kimonos are Japanese traditional clothes. The English word kimono means only Japanese-style casual ones. There are several kinds of kimonos, such as "hurisode" (beautiful formal kimonos for women) and "yukata" (light kimonos for summer). Hiragana: Pitch: H L Romanization: mi so Meaning: miso (noun) For your interest: Miso is fermented paste made from (miso soup) and other foods. Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: ma me Meaning: pea, bean (noun)

"daizu" (soy beans). It is used for

"misosiru"

Hiragana: Pitch: L Romanization: mi Meaning:

H mi

ear (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

H

Romanization: mu su me Meaning: daughter (noun) Hiragana: Pitch: Romanization: Meaning:

L su

H mo

H mo

plum (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

L

Romanization: me

ma

i

Meaning:

dizziness (noun)

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2.8. Hiragana for y + vowels y + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

ya

[ja]

Japanese "y" + Japanese "a". Japanese "y" sounds like English "y" but is slightly softer. Don't cause friction of breath.

i

[i]

This is the hiragana for "i".

yu

[j ]

e

[e]

This is the hiragana for "e".

yo

[jo]

Japanese "y" + Japanese "o".

Japanese "y" + Japanese "u".

There are no hiragana for "yi" or "ye".

Hiragana examples: Hiragana: Pitch: L H H H Romanization: yû ya ke Meaning: the red sky at sunset (noun) Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: yu ka Meaning: yukata (noun)

H ta

For your interest: Yukatas are light kimonos for summer. Kimonos are scarcely worn today because of Westernization, but Japanese people, especially young women, have begun to wear yukatas again, which are casual and yet have traditional beauty. Hiragana: Pitch: L H H Romanization: yo ya ku Meaning: reservation (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch: Romanization: Meaning:

L o

H yu

hot water (noun)

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2.9. Hiragana for r + vowels r + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

ra

[ a]

Japanese "r" + Japanese "a". Japanese "r" is similar to Spanish "r". It is quite different from English "r", and using English "l" is better. When you pronounce English "l", you touch the front upper gums with the tip of your tongue. To pronounce Japanese "r", broaden your tongue and touch the front upper gums. You can shut the mouth with the tongue. In that case, Japanese "r" sounds almost like "d" to English speakers, but they are different. American /t/ in water sounds like Japanese "r".

ri

[ ji]

Japanese "r" + Japanese "i".

ru

[

]

Japanese "r" + Japanese "u".

re

[ e]

Japanese "r" + Japanese "e".

ro

[ o]

Japanese "r" + Japanese "o".

Hiragana examples: Hiragana: Pitch: L H H Romanization: sa ku ra Meaning: cherry blossom (noun) For your interest: Cherry blossoms are the symbol flower of Japan. Many Japanese people go to parks to have a casual party under cherry blossoms in the spring. Those parties are called "hanami". Hiragana: Pitch: H L Romanization: ru ri Meaning: lapis lazuri (noun) Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: i ro Meaning: color (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

H

Romanization: re i zô Meaning: refrigerator (noun)

L

L ko

Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

H

Romanization:

to

ro

ro

Meaning:

a kind of yam (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

H

Romanization: tu ra Meaning: icicle (noun)

ra

Further readings: Re: How do you pronounce ra, ri, ru, re, ro

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2.10. Hiragana for w + vowels w + vowels (modern Japanese): Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description Japanese "w" + Japanese "a". Japanese "w" sounds like English "w" but is slightly softer. Unlike English "w", you don't have to round your lips.

wa

[wa]

i

[i]

This is the hiragana for "i".

u

[ ]

This is the hiragana for "u".

e

[e]

This is the hiragana for "e".

o

[o]

This is the hiragana for "o".

Note that there are no hiragana for "wi", "wu", "we", or "wo".

w + vowels (ancient Japanese): Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation wa

[wa]

Description Japanese "w" + Japanese "a". This hiragana is not used in modern Japanese.* It shares the same phoneme with . Its pronunciation was "wi", but "w" has been lost.

i

[i]

u

[ ]

This is the hiragana for "u".

[e]

This hiragana is not used in modern Japanese.* It shares the same phoneme with . Its pronunciation was "we", but "w" has been lost.

[o]

There is a single-kana postposition with this kana in modern Japanese. Other than that, this kana is not used in modern Japanese. It shares the same phoneme with . Its pronunciation was "wo", but "w" has been lost. The Romanization is "o", but some people use "wo" instead.

e

o

* Since the kana interest.

Hiragana examples:

and

are not used in modern Japanese, you don't have to memorize them. I show them just for your

Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

H

Romanization: he i Meaning: peace (noun)

wa

For your interest: Japan has had a relatively peaceful history, even though the World War II was disastrous. Japan had a policy of "sakoku" (self-isolation) from 1639 to 1858, and Japan hadn't experienced war for more than 200 years. The Constitution of Japan, which was established after the World War II, denies the nation's rights of war. Hiragana: Pitch: Romanization: Meaning:

L ji

H wa

H re

earthquake chasm (noun)

For your interest: Most earthquakes are caused by the pressure between plates, which are parts of the earth's surface moving slowly to different directions. There are a dozen plates on the earth, and four plates are in conflict around Japan; they are Eurasian Plate, Pacific Plate, North American Plate, and Phillipine Sea Plate. That's why Japan is a nest of earthquakes. Hiragana: Pitch:

H

L

L

Romanization:

wa

sa

bi

Meaning:

Japanese horseradish (noun)

For your interest: Japanese horseradish (wasabi) is a spice which has a similar taste to mustard and used for sushi. Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: wa ra Meaning: laugh (verb)

H u

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2.11. Hiragana for /N/, /Q/, and /H/ /N/: Hiragana

Romanization

Pronunciation

Description

Basically, the pronunciation of /N/ is "n" with one-syllable length. It is important to correctly pronounce the mora following /N/. Modify /N/ if necessary. [m] before p/b/m If /N/ is followed by any vowel, "s", "h", "w", or "y", don't shut [n] before t/d/n/r your mouth completely like "n". Keep your breath going out n' (before a vowel or y) [ŋ] before k/g from both your nose and your mouth. n (otherwise) [N] otherwise If /N/ is followed by "m", "b", or "p", pronounce /N/ as "m". (m before m/p/b in Hepburn) If /N/ is followed by "k" or "g", pronounce /N/ as "n" in think. (see right)

The Romanization is "n" in most cases. If followed by vowels or "y", the Romanization is "n'" to avoid confusion with n + vowels. In Hepburn Romanization, "m" is used when followed by "b", "p", or "m".

The following phrases are pronounced differently: "kani" (crab) has two morae. "kan'i" (simplified) have three morea, the second of which is /N/. Don't let your tongue stop the breath from your mouth when you pronounce the /N/. "kan ni" (into a can) has three morae, the second of which is /N/ pronounced as "n".

/Q/: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

the next letter (t before ch in Hepburn)

Description Pronounce the next consonant longer than usual. When followed by a plosive like "t" and "k", /Q/ is a breath stop with the mouth position to pronounce the next consonant. When followed by a fricative like as "s", /Q/ is a continuous consonant.

(see right) This hiragana looks like the hiragana

"tu", but they differ in size.

The Romanization is duplicating the next letter. In Hepburn Romanization, use "tch" instead of "cch". Note for /N/ and /Q/: Even though /N/ and /Q/ contain no vowel, they are morae. Each mora has the same length of time.

/H/: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation ^ or ¯

the previous

Description Pronounce the vowel of the previous kana. For instance, if this kana follows "ka", its pronunciation is "a". This kana is used only for imported words,

(over a vowel)

vowel

and is called the long vowel mark.

Hiragana examples: Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

H

L

Romanization: Ni

p

po

n

Meaning:

Japan (noun*)

* There is no grammatical difference between common nouns and proper nouns in Japanese. Note: This word is the official name of Japan in Japanese, but another word colloquial Japanese. Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

H

H

Romanization: si n bu Meaning: newspaper (noun)

n

Hiragana: Pitch: L Romanization: ha Meaning:

H n

H za

H i

H i

H n

H pa

H i

H

H

crime (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: ge n' Meaning: cause (noun) Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: si p Meaning: failure (noun) Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

"Nihon" is more commonly used in

Romanization: ro k Meaning: rib (noun)

ko

tu

Note: The hiragana for /tu/ and the hiragana for /Q/ have different size. Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

H

H

Romanization: ko

k

ka

i

Meaning:

national parliament (noun)

Hiragana: Pitch:

H

L

L

L

Romanization: râ me n Meaning: Chinese soup noodle (noun) Hiragana: Pitch:

L

Romanization:

ka

Meaning:

H

H rê

curry, curry and rice (noun)

For your interest: Chinese soup noodles and curry and rice are the most popular foods in Japan. Both are so Japanized that Chinese and Indians think they are Japanese foods.

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3.1. Double hiragana for consonants + y + vowels A double kana consists of two kana, but it stands for a single mora, not two morae. All of the double hiragana shown here are combinations of a hiragana for a consonant + "i" and a smaller kind of hiragana of either , , or ("ya", "yu", "yo"). The rule is simple: to write the mora "CyV" ("C" is a consonant and "V" is a vowel), use the kana for "Ci" and the small kana for "yV". For example, the mora "kya" is written with the kana for "ki" and the small kana for "ya". k + y + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

kya

[kja]

English "k" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "a".

kyu

[kj ]

English "k" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "u".

kyo

[kjo]

English "k" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "o".

g + y + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

gya

[gja]

English "g" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "a".

gyu

[gj ]

English "g" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "u".

gyo

[gjo]

English "g" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "o".

s + y + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

sya (sha)

[ a]

Similar to English "sh" + Japanese "a". See for Japanese "sh".

syu (shu)

[

]

Similar to English "sh" + Japanese "u".

syo (sho)

[ o]

Similar to English "sh" + Japanese "o".

z + y + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation zya (ja)

[

a]

Description Similar to English "j" + Japanese "a". See for Japanese "j".

zyu (ju)

[

]

Similar to English "j" + Japanese "u".

zyo (jo)

[

o]

Similar to English "j" + Japanese "o".

t + y + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

tya (cha)

[ a]

Similar to English "ch" + Japanese "a". See for Japanese "ch".

tyu (chu)

[

]

Similar to English "ch" + Japanese "u".

tyo (cho)

[ o]

Similar to English "ch" + Japanese "o".

d + y + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

zya (ja)

[

a]

Similar to English "j" + Japanese "a".

zyu (ju)

[

]

Similar to English "j" + Japanese "u".

zyo (jo)

[

o]

Similar to English "j" + Japanese "o".

n + y + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

nya

[nja]

Similar to Spanish "ñ" + Japanese "a". See for actual pronunciation. You can pronounce it as English "ny" + Japanese "a".

nyu

[nj ]

Similar to Spanish "ñ" + Japanese "u". You can pronounce it as English "ny" + Japanese "u".

nyo

[njo]

Similar to Spanish "ñ" + Japanese "o". You can pronounce it as English "ny" + Japanese "o".

h + y + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation hya

[ça]

Description German "ch" + Japanese "a". See for German "ch". You can pronounce it as English "hy" + Japanese "a". German "ch" + Japanese "u".

hyu

[ç ]

You can pronounce it as English "hy" + Japanese "u".

hyo

[ço]

German "ch" + Japanese "o". You can pronounce it as English "hy" + Japanese "o".

b + y + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

bya

[bja]

English "b" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "a".

byu

[bj ]

English "b" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "u".

byo

[bjo]

English "b" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "o".

p + y + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

pya

[pja]

English "p" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "a".

pyu

[pj ]

English "p" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "u".

pyo

[pjo]

English "p" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "o".

m + y + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

mya

[mja]

English "m" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "a".

myu

[mj ]

English "m" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "u".

myo

[mjo]

English "m" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "o".

r + y + vowels: Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

rya

[ ja]

Japanese "r" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "a".

ryu

[ j ]

Japanese "r" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "u".

[ jo]

ryo

Japanese "r" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "o".

Hiragana examples: Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: o tya Meaning: green tea (noun) For your interest: This word actually means all kinds of tea, and tea often means green tea in Japan. If you want to distinguish various teas, use the word "ryokutya" for green tea and the word "kôtya" for European tea. Japanese tea is not always green; "hôzitya" (roasted tea) and "genmaitya" (roasted tea with popped rice) are brown. Other than them, "ûrontya" (oolong tea) and "mugitya" (barley tea) are popular. Japanese people never use sugar or milk for any tea but European tea.

Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

Romanization: syô Meaning: soy sauce (noun)

H yu

Hiragana: Pitch:

L

H

Romanization: gyû Meaning: cow's milk (noun)

H

H nyû

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3.2. Double hiragana used only for imported words The double hiragana shown here are used only for imported words. You don't have to memorize these hiragana now, because they are not necessary to learn Japanese grammar. Instead of the smaller hiragana of are often used.

,

, and

, the smaller hiragana of

,

,

,

, and

(hiragana for vowels)

Since katakana are used for imported words, these morae are commonly written with katakana, not hiragana as shown here. I will explain katakana later. Hiragana Romanization Pronunciation

Description

ye

[je]

Japanese "y" + Japanese "e".

wi

[wi]

Japanese "w" + Japanese "i".

we

[we]

Japanese "w" + Japanese "e".

wo

[wo]

Japanese "w" + Japanese "o".

kye

[kje]

English "k" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "e".

gye

[gje]

English "g" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "e".

sye

[ e]

Similar to English "sh" + Japanese "e".

zye

[

Similar to English "j" + Japanese "e".

s'i (si) z'i (zi)

e] [si]

[

i]

English "s" + Japanese "i". English "dz" + Japanese "i". You can pronounce it as English "z" + Japanese "i".

tye (che)

[ e]

Similar to English "ch" + Japanese "e".

tsa

[ a]

English "ts" + Japanese "a".

tsi

[ i]

English "ts" + Japanese "i".

tse

[ e]

English "ts" + Japanese "e".

tso

[ o]

English "ts" + Japanese "o".

t'i (ti)

[ti]

English "t" + Japanese "i".

d'i (di)

[di]

English "d" + Japanese "i".

t'yu (tyu)

[tj ]

English "t" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "u".

d'yu (dyu)

[dj ]

English "d" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "u".

t'u (tu)

[t ]

English "t" + Japanese "u".

d'u (du)

[d ]

English "d" + Japanese "u".

nye

[nje]

English "ny" + Japanese "e".

hye

[hje]

German "ch" + Japanese "e".

bye

[bje]

English "b" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "e".

pye

[pje]

English "p" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "e".

fa

[Φa]

Japanese "φ" + Japanese "a". You can pronounce it as English "f" + Japanese "a".

fi

[Φi]

Japanese "φ" + Japanese "i". You can pronounce it as English "f" + Japanese "i".

fe

[Φe]

Japanese "φ" + Japanese "e". You can pronounce it as English "f" + Japanese "e".

fo

[Φo]

Japanese "φ" + Japanese "o". You can pronounce it as English "f" + Japanese "o".

fyu

[Φj ]

Japanese "φ" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "i". You can pronounce it as English "fy" + Japanese "u".

mye

[mje]

English "m" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "e".

rye

[[ je]

Japanese "r" + Japanese "y" + Japanese "e".

bu (vu)

[b ]

English "b" + Japanese "u". This kana is used to transliterate "v", but Japanese pronounce it with "b".

ba (va)

[ba]

English "b" + Japanese "a".

bi (vi)

[bi]

English "b" + Japanese "i".

be (ve)

[be]

English "b" + Japanese "e".

bo (vo)

[bo]

English "b" + Japanese "o".

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4.1. Romanized Japanese in English The words at the beginning of sentences, as well as proper nouns, are written with a capital letter in Romanized Japanese exactly like in English. As I have explained, a long vowel is written with a vowel letter with a circumflex ("^") or a macron ("¯") instead of two duplicating letters. Circumflexes are often omitted in English even though that makes confusion. Remember that in colloquial Japanese, "ei" is often pronounced as [e:] like "ê".

Hiragana Pronunciation

Romanization Standard without circumflexes

[a:]

â

a

[i:]

î

ii

[ :]

û

u

[ei] or [e:]

ei

ei

[e:]

ê

e

[o:]

ô

o

[o:]

ô

o

Here is an example: Hiragana: Pitch: L H Romanization: Tô Meaning: Tôkyô (noun)

H

H kyô

The phonemes of this word are /to/, /H/, /kyo/, and /H/. /H/ means a long vowel. Using circumflexes for long vowels produces "Tôkyô", which becomes "Tokyo" if the circumflexes are omitted. In fact the circumflexes are almost always omitted in English. Even though this word has four morae, its English notation Tokyo looks like it had only two morae. I recommend to use circumflexes whenever possible. If you can't, writing "oo" instead of "ô" is better than just removing circumflexes. The time length necessary to pronounce this word is the same as that for "Yokohama" because both have four morae. Many English speakers pronounce Yokohama much longer than a native Japanese speaker would do.

Four your interest: Tôkyô has been capital of Japan since 1603, and it was called

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"Edo" before 1868.

4.2. Hiragana table A table of the hiragana ( "hiragana") is called "gozyûonzu", which means a fifty-sound chart. It contains all the hiragana except ones with voiced sound marks, ones with semi-voiced sound marks, and small hiragana (/Q/ and double hiragana). Since Japanese characters are ordinarily written vertically from top to bottom, the table items are written in that way. The lines are written from right to left. Each hiragana is shown with its Romanization, and it is linked to audio files. wa

ra

ya

ma

ha

na

ta

sa

ka

a a

n*3

wa

ra

ya

ma

ha*1

na

ta

sa

ka

a i

i*2

ri

mi

hi

ni

ti (chi)

si (shi)

ki

i u

ru

yu

mu

hu (fu)

nu

tu (tsu)

su

ku

u e

e*2

re

me

he*1

ne

te

se

ke

e o

o*1

ro

yo

mo

ho

no

to

so

ko

o

*1 There are special single-kana words with these kana. *2 These two kana are not used in modern Japanese. *3 This kana actually doesn't contain the vowel "a". This is an additional table that contains hiragana with voiced sound marks and semi-voiced sound marks: pa

ba

da

za

ga a

pa

ba

da

za

ga i

pi

bi

zi (ji)

zi (ji)

gi u

pu

bu

zu

zu

gu e

pe

be

de

ze

ge o

po

bo

do

zo

go

Consonant groups are called "gyô", which means lines in Japanese, and vowel groups are called "dan", which means columns. So the hiragana is the hiragana of "sagyô idan" (sa-line, i-column). The hiragana is the only exception; it doesn't belong to a vowel column because it has no vowel. Voiced sound marks and semi-voiced sound marks have no effect on the order of characters in dictionaries. So , , and have the same order. Small hiragana also have the same order as ordinary ones. So and have the same order. As you know, some of the hiragana have different pronunciations from what you might expect them to have. You may think the vowel "i" works almost like "yi". Linguists call it palatalization. That's why "si" is like "shi" and "ti" is like "chi". The order of kana came from Devanagari, which is a phonetic alphabet used for Indian languages such as Sanskrit and Hindi. Devanagari's vowel order is: a, â, i, î, u, û, r, e, ê, o, ô. Its consonant order is from the back of the tongue to the lips: velars (k, g, ng), palatals (ch, j, ny), retroflexes (.t, .d, .n), alveolars (t, d, n), bilabials (p, b, m), semivowels (y, r, w), and fricatives (sh, s, h). Japanese doesn't have retroflexes, and the consonant of the syllables now represented by "h" + vowels was "p". In addition, some linguists think the consonant of the syllables now represented by "s" + vowels was "ch". (Other linguists think it was either "ts" or "sh".) Devanagari's consonant order thus gives the Japanese consonant order: k, ch (later s), t, n, p (later h), m, y, r, and w.

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4.3. Hiragana shapes 4.3.1. Hiragana fonts The following hiragana often have different shapes for different fonts. Since all the Japanese characters have the same height and width, they don't have a different width in proportional fonts. Even the smaller kana used for double kana have the same height and width, considering the space around them. Romanization

ki

ko

sa

na

fu

mu

ya

yu

ra

ri

Minchô Gothic Kaisho Fonts Textbook Maru Gothic Pop Most newspapers and books published in Japan use the Minchô font, which is a modern font equivalent to the Times Roman font in English. This font is based on the style of China's Míng Dynasty (1368-1644), which is called Minchô in Japanese. By the way, Chinese people prefer the Sôchô font, which is based on the style of Sòng Dynasty (960-1279). The Gothic font is equivalent to the Helvetica font in English. The font has nothing to do with the German Gothic font. This font is easier to learn with, because it has no serif. The Minchô font and Gothic font are the two most popular fonts on computers. The Kaisho font is similar to the Script font in English, and hiragana are often drawn like this font in calligraphy. The traditional equipment to write characters that has been used for more than two thousand years in East Asia is a brush and paper, not a quill and parchment, and the Kaisho font has beautiful brushstrokes that apeal to East Asians. The Textbook font is a kind of Kaisho font, but its brushstrokes are not so strong. This font is good to learn Japanese with, because it is similar to hand-writing. Textbooks for elementary schools in Japan use the Textbook font. The Maru Gothic font and the Pop font are funny fonts often used for advertisements.

4.3.2. Confusing hiragana

The following hiragana resemble one another. Romanization

a

o

i

ri

u

e

nu

Minchô Gothic Kaisho Fonts Textbook Maru Gothic Pop

Romanization Minchô Gothic Kaisho Fonts Textbook Maru Gothic Pop

Romanization Minchô Gothic Kaisho Fonts Textbook Maru Gothic

ra

me

Pop

Romanization

ki

sa

ti

ke

ni

ha

ne

re

wa

Minchô Gothic Kaisho Fonts Textbook Maru Gothic Pop

Romanization Minchô Gothic Kaisho Fonts Textbook Maru Gothic Pop

Romanization Minchô Gothic Kaisho Fonts Textbook

ho

Maru Gothic Pop

Romanization

ru

ro

Minchô Gothic Kaisho Fonts Textbook Maru Gothic Pop

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4.4. Katakana table This is "gozyûonzu" (kana table) of katakana ( "katakana"). Note that kana in the table are written in Japanese way, characters from top to bottom and lines from right to left. Each katakana is shown with its pronunciation. Being exactly the same as hiragana except for their shapes, katakana have the same pronunciations as hiragana, like English capital letters have the same pronunciation as small letters. Katakana are mainly used for imported words, and sometimes used for emphasis, so they are similar to italic letters in English. n

wa

ra

ya

ma

ha

na

ta

sa

ka

a a

n*3

wa

ra

ya

ma

ha*1

na

ta

sa

ka

a i

i*2

ri

mi

hi

ni

ti (chi)

si (shi)

ki

i u

ru

yu

mu

hu (fu)

nu

tu (tsu)

su

ku

u e

e*2

re

me

he*1

ne

te

se

ke

e o

o*1

ro

yo

mo

ho

no

to

so

ko

o

*1 There are special single-kana words with these kana. *2 These two kana are not used in modern Japanese. *3 This kana actually doesn't contain the vowel "a". This is an additional table that contains katakana with voiced sound marks and semi-voiced sound marks: pa

ba

da

za

ga a

pa

ba

da

za

ga i

pi

bi

zi (ji)

zi (ji)

gi

u pu

bu

zu

zu

gu e

pe

be

de

ze

ge o

po

bo

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do

zo

go

4.5. Katakana shapes 4.5.1. Comparison between hiragana and katakana Some katakana look like the corresponding hiragana, but many of them are different. Hiragana often have round curves, and katakana often have straight lines. Romanization

a

i

u

e

o

ka

ki

ku

ke

ko

kya

kyu

kyo

ga

gi

gu

ge

go

gya

gyu

gyo

sa

si

su

se

so

sya

syu

syo

za

zi

zu

ze

zo

zya

zyu

zyo

Hiragana Katakana

Romanization Hiragana Katakana

Romanization Hiragana Katakana

Romanization Hiragana Katakana

Romanization Hiragana Katakana

Romanization

ta

ti

tu

te

to

tya

tyu

tyo

da

zi

zu

de

do

zya

zyu

zyo

na

ni

nu

ne

no

nya

nyu

nyo

ha

hi

hu

he

ho

hya

hyu

hyo

ba

bi

bu

be

bo

bya

byu

byo

pa

pi

pu

pe

po

pya

pyu

pyo

Hiragana Katakana

Romanization Hiragana Katakana

Romanization Hiragana Katakana

Romanization Hiragana Katakana

Romanization Hiragana Katakana

Romanization Hiragana Katakana

Romanization

ma

mi

mu

me

mo

ya

i

yu

e

yo

ra

ri

ru

re

ro

wa

i

u

e

o

n

-

mya

myu

myo

rya

ryu

ryo

Hiragana Katakana

Romanization Hiragana Katakana

Romanization Hiragana Katakana

Romanization Hiragana Katakana

Romanization Hiragana Katakana

4.5.2. Confusing katakana The following katakana resemble one another. Romanization

a

ma

Katakana

Romanization

u

ku

ke

te

hu

si

so

tu

ri

n

ra

wa

o

Katakana

Romanization Katakana

These katakana are indeed confusing. Written from left to right, the lines of have the beginning points at the left side of the katakana. Written from top to bottom, those in have the beginning points at the upper side. The lines of

are similar to those in

The lines of

are parallel in the upper half of it.

Romanization

su

nu

ti

na

ni

mi

no

ru

Katakana

Romanization

me

Katakana

Romanization Katakana

Romanization Katakana

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re

, and the lines of

are similar to

.

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4.6. Punctuation The Japanese period and comma are different in shape from English equivalents. The Japanese period is a small circle, and the Japanese comma is a short line written from upper left to lower right. Kana: Pitch: L H H H Romanization: O ha yô Meaning: Good morning, Akira.

,

H A

L ki

L ra

.

Japanese periods and commas are placed near the base line in the horizontal way, while they are placed at the right side in the vertical way. The sentence above is written vertically as follows. Notice that the positions of the period and the comma are different.

Japanese has the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!) which are the same as English, but you don't have to use question marks even for questions. If a sentence is clearly a question, which has a grammatical question marker, you can use a period instead of a question mark. I will explain it in a later chapter.

Kana: Pitch: L H Romanization: Ho n Meaning: Really?

H

H tô

?

Kana: Pitch:

L

Romanization: Su Meaning: Great!

H

L

go

i

!

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5.1. Small numbers 5.1.1. Small integers Being completely decimal, the way of counting numbers ( "kazu") in Japanese is much easier than in English, considering English has illogical number words (not completely decimal) such as eleven, twelve, and twenty. Number

Japanese

0 re

i

1

Description The word HL "zero" also means zero. The word HL "maru", which means a circle, is the same as oh in English and often used for zeros in phone numbers etc. -

i

ti

2

ni

3

sa

n

4 yo

n

5

Another word H "shi" also means four, but you cannot combine it with units. It is less colloquial and less useful.

go

6

ro

ku

7 na

na

8

ha

9

Another word LH "shichi" also means seven, but you cannot combine it with units. It is less colloquial and less useful.

ti

kyû

Another word H "ku" also means nine, but you cannot combine it with units. It is less colloquial and less useful.

10

zyû 10

11 zyû

i

ti 10

12 zyû

+

2

ni

...

...

... 2

20 ni

1

+

10

×

zyû 2

21 ni

zyû

...

i

10

×

... 3

30 n

1

ti

...

sa

+

10

×

zyû

...

...

100

... -

hya

ku

...

...

1000

... -

se

n

To read numbers in Japanese, just read pairs of digits (2, 3, ...) and units (10, 100, ...). For example, the number 452 is pronounced as "yon" "hyaku" "go" "zyû" "ni", which means 4 × 100 + 5 × 10 + 2. If a digit is zero, omit both the digit and the unit. If a digit is one, just say only the unit. Further readings: Number System of the World English words may hinder math skills development Counting Ability in Bilingual Children The Mathematical Brain

5.1.2. Euphonic change There is some complicated rule to change sounds. The sounds of some combinations of a digit and a unit are modified for ease of pronunciation. This rule is applied only for units which begin with voiceless phonemes (/k/, /s/, /t/, /h/, and /p/). Note that units don't combine with the trailing digit. Pronouncing numbers without using this rule is still understandable. The rule is listed below. I think using phonemes is easier to understand. Ending of number

Numbers

Beginning of unit ,

"roku", "hyaku" *1

-ku

,

,

,

Combination ,

,

k,

,

,

,

,

,

,

"iti", "hati", "zyû" *1

and

zyû

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

"san", "sen" *1, "man" *2

except

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

-tt,

,

,

h-n

,

-ss-

t,

,

-kk-

s,

, -pp-

k-ti

,

-kk-

h,

,

-pp-

,

,

,

,

h-

-nb-

sen

sanzen

yon "san"

san

,

"yon"

yon

,

, n-

,

,

,

,

,

yon-

*1 Even though they are not digits but units, they can combine with the trailing units when they are the last word in a group. See the chapters of large numbers and counters. *2 Explained in the chapter of large numbers.

Number examples: Numbers

Digits and units 100

156

+

5 × 10

+

Description 6 Omit the digit of 100.

hya

ku

go

7 × 1000

zyû

+

ro ku

8

7008

Omit the digits and units of 100 and 10. na na se n

ha ti

3 × 100

+

9 × 10

+ 2

392

The euphonic rule changes "san" × "hyaku" to "sanbyaku". sa n

bya

2 × 100

ku +

kyû 10

zyû +

3

213 ni

hya

ku

zyû

sa n

Further readings: Re: palatalization and nasal sounds

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ni The euphonic rule is applied to a pair of a digit and a unit, not a unit and a digit. The number 10 + 3 is not "jussan".

5.2. Large numbers The East Asian number system is based on ten thousand, which means multiplying ten thousand to a unit makes the next unit, while the European number system is based on one thousand, which means multiplying one thousand to a unit makes the next unit, for instance thousand times thousand is a million, and thousand times a million is a billion. The Japanese units shown below are from Jinkôki, 1634 A.D. edition. There are several less common large number names other than them. The units larger than "kei" ( 1016 ) are rarely used, like units larger than trillion are rarely used in American English. Unit

104 108

Japanese

ten thousand ma

n hundred million

o

ku

1012 1016 1020

one trillion tyô ten quadrillion ke

i hundred quintilliton

ga

1024

i one septillion zyo

1028

ten octillion zyô

1032 1036

American English

hundred nonillion kô one undecillion ka

n

1040

ten duodecillion se

1044 1048

hundred tredecillion sa

1060 1064 1068

i one quindecillion

go

1052 1056

i

ku ten sexdecillion gô

ga

sya hundred septendecillion

a

sô

gi one novemdecillion

na

yu

ta ten vigintillion

hu

ka

si

gi hundred unvigintillion

mu

ryô

ta

i

sû

Reading large numbers in Japanese may be awkward if your native language uses a system based on one thousand. To read large numbers in Japanese, divide them into four-digit groups, and read the groups separately and add appropriate units. If a four-digit group is zero, omit both the group and the unit. Don't omit a four-digit group even when it is one. For example, number 10000 is pronounced as "itiman" (1 × 10000), not just "man". Since digits should be divided into four-digit groups in Asian number system, commas for every three digits in English are not useful at all. But Japanese people do use a comma (not Japanese comma but European comma) for every three digits, not for every four digits. The units of big numbers affect the phonemes of the last mora of the preceding four-digit group. See the euphonic change rules of small numbers. Here is a big number example. Blue letters indicate changed phonemes. Number 9784510283700004037 is pronounced as follows: Group

Digits and units

( 9 × 100

+

7 × 10

8 ) × 1016

+

0978 kyû

hya

ku

+

( 4 × 1000

na na

zyû

10 ) × 1012

+

5 × 100

ha k ke i

4510 yo n se n

go

( 2 × 1000 +

hya

ku

zyu +

8 × 100

t

tyô +

3 × 10

7 ) × 108

2837 ni se n

ha p

pya

ku

0000

sa n

zyû

na na o ku

4 × 1000

+

3 × 10

+

7

4037 yo n se n

sa n

zyû

na na

The result is "kyûhyaku nanazyû hakkei yonsen gohyaku zyuttyô nisen happyaku sanzyû nanaoku yonsen sanzyû nana".

These are Japanese translations of American English large numbers. Unit

American English

103

one thousand

106

one million

109

one billion

1012

one trillion

1015

one quadrillion

1018

Japanese

se

n

hya

ku

ma

n

zyû

o

ku

i

t

tyô

se

n

tyô

one quintillion hya

k

ke

i

1021

one sextillion

1024

one septillion

1027

one octillion

1030

one nonillion

1033

one decillion

1036

one undecillion

1039

one duodecillion

1042

one tredecillion

zyû

i

chi

zyo

se

n

zyo

one quindecillion

1051

one sexdecillion

1054

one septendecillion

1057

hya

ku

zyu

k

i

zyô

kô

i

k

ka

n

se

n

ka

n

hya

ku

se

i

zyu

s

sa

i

1045 one quattuordecillion 1048

ga

i

ti

go

ku

se

n

go

ku

hya

ku

gô

ga

sya

one octodecillion zyû

a

sô

gi

1060

one novemdecillion

1063

one vigintillion

1066

one unvigintillion

1069

one duovigintillion

i

ti

na

yu

ta

se

n

na

yu

ta

ku

hu

ka

hya

zyû

Further readings: Muryôtaisû no Kanata e (written in Japanese) Re: kyô

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mu

si

ryô

gi

ta

i

sû

5.3. Counters 5.3.1. Basic counters To count things in Japanese, you cannot put nouns immediately after a number. Counters, which are added after numbers, are necessary. Do you think it is strange? English also has some counters for nouns representing things that cannot be counted as discrete objects. For instance, you would say two cups of coffee, ten pieces of paper, and fifty head of cattle. Japanese nouns resemble English abstract nouns. There are three basic counters in Japanese. Category

Counter

human

Description human beings

ni

n

animate

life that can move, such as animals and protists, excluding human beings hi

inanimate

ki life that cannot move, such as plants, fungi, and eggs, and non-life including abstract concepts

ko Before counting things with counters, I'd like to introduce the genitive marker "no", which is similar to the English suffix 's and the English word of. The word is a postposition, which is a suffix to add a grammatical function to a noun. Postpositions are similar to prepositions, but the order of words are opposite as the name implies. The order of words for is the same as that for 's, so A's B is the same as A B, and A of B is the same as B A. It is important to know that phrases that add information to a main phrase are always placed before the main phrase in Japanese. This is a consistent rule with no exception. Linguists call it head-last. English is a head-first language, where a main phrase is placed before additional phrases, but it is not so consistent as Japanese. That-clauses and preposition phrases are good examples of the head-first rule of English; both a dog that is white and a dog with white hair are dogs. But adjectives break the rule because they are placed before a main phrase. A white dog is a kind of dog, not a kind of whiteness. Let's get back to

. Here is an example:

Kana: Romanization: ne Structure: Meaning:

ko no noun genitive (cat) marker a cat's ears

mi mi noun (ear)

Japanese doesn't care much about singular, plural, definite, or indefinite, so the example can mean any combination of either a cat, the cat, cats, or the cats and either an ear, the ear, ears, or the ears. Anyway, the phrase means a kind of ear, because of the head-last rule.

Now that you know , you can count things with counters. Put after counters like this: Kana: Romanization: sa Structure: Meaning:

n

noun (three) three cats

bi

ki

noun (counter)

no genitive marker

ne

ko noun (cat)

Since cats are animals, the counter for cats is "hiki". The Japanese word for three is "san". The euphonic change rules of small numbers are applied to counters, so the "san" changes "h" in the "hiki" into "b". The result is "sanbiki".

The counter

"nin" is not used for counting a person or two. There are other words for one person and two people.

Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

hi

to

ri

one person

Kana: Romanization: hu ta Meaning: two people

ri

Kana: Romanization: sa n ni n Meaning: three people (three + counter)

Example: Kana: Romanization: hu Structure:

ta noun

ri

no genitive

mu

su noun

me

(two people) Meaning:

marker

(daughter)

two daughters

Note: If a language has counters for general nouns, it doesn't have genders, and vice versa. Both counters and genders are ways of categorizing nouns, and they don't coexist. East Asian languages and Native American languages often have counters, and other languages often have genders. English is a rare language that has neither of them. Further readings: Re: grammar of "no"

5.3.2. Traditional numbers Japanese has another set of number names from the ones I explained in the small numbers chapter. They are the original number names of Japanese but were replaced by the new ones, most of which were imported from Chinese more than a thousand years ago. Now they are used only for counting inanimates, and treated as combinations of a digit and the inanimate counter "ko". The traditional numbers are often used to count abstract things. Number

Traditional Japanese

1 hi

to

tu

hu

ta

tu

mi

t

tu

yo

t

tu

i

tu

tu

mu

t

tu

na

na

tu

2 3 4 5 6 7

8 ya

t

tu

ko

ko

no

9 tu

10 tô The ancient Japanese numbers larger than ten were almost lost. Notice that the special human counter for one person "hitori" and that for two people "hutari" are similar to the traditional number for one "hitotu" and that for two "hutatu". In fact "ri" was a human counter in ancient Japanese. The last "tu" in the traditional number names was an inanimate counter, but modern native Japanese speakers don't feel a boundary between a digit name and because they are too old. You may notice that two number names are similar when one is twice the other such as 1 and 2 ( "hitotu" and "hutatu"), 3 and 6 ( "mittu" and "muttu"), and 4 and 8 ( "yottu" and "yattu"). If you find a language that has this kind of number name pairs, it will suggest a relationship to ancient Japanese. Linguists are still looking for the origin of Japanese; some say it came from Korea, some say from west Pacific islands, and some say even from south India. A few ancient words for larger numbers survive in modern Japanese as shown below, but they are used only for a person's age and Japanese people rarely know they were numbers. Number Traditional Japanese

20 ha

ta

ti

Meaning in modern Japanese twenty years old (= being an adult in Japan)

30

thirty years old mi

so

zi

5.3.3. Additional counters The three basic counters you have just learned are not all counters Japanese has. Here is a list of important additional counters. Category Subcategory

Counter

Description

large animals

animals larger than human beings. This word literally means head, so it is the same as head in fifty head of cattle.

animate

tô birds

birds wa

long things

things that have length - pens, ropes, trees, movies, programs, etc. ho

n

thin things

pieces of paper, leaves, plates, tickets, etc. ma

i

books

books, magazines, etc. sa

tu same as the English counter cup and glass (cups of coffee, glasses of water, etc.)

inanimate cups of liquid ha

i

lifelike

dead bodies, mannequins, human-shaped robots, etc. ta

i

machines

cars, televisions, etc. da

i

ships

ships se

ki

Don't be afraid of many counters, because counters are not so strict as genders. Using the additional counters is better for the subcategories listed above, but using the three basic counters is always understandable. The subcategories for the additional counters are not strict. Are sheep large animals? In fact, both "tô" and "hiki" work fine in this case. Penguines are counted with "wa" because they are birds, but some people use for them because they don't fly.

Examples: Kana: Romanization: go

ho

n

no

sa

ku

ra

"hiki"

Structure:

noun (five)

noun (counter)

Meaning:

five cherry trees

genitive marker

noun (cherry tree)

Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

ni

ha

i

no

o

tya

noun genitive (counter, marker cup) two cups of green tea noun (two)

noun (green tea)

5.3.4. Continuum counters A continuum, which cannot be measured by an integer only, always needs appropriate units in Japanese just as in English. Length is a good example of continuum, because it cannot be measured without using a unit, and it can have a decimal value. Japan uses the metric system for scientific values. Most metric units are written with katakana, because they are imported words. Category Subcategory

Counter

Description meter

mê

length

ki

mi

se

ki

mass

to

ro

ri

n

ti

ru 1 kilometer = 1000 meters Abbreviation of

"kiromêtoru".

1 millimeter = 1/1000 meter Abbreviation of

"mirimêtoru".

1 centimeter = 1/100 meter Abbreviation of 1 kilogram = 1000 grams Abbreviation of

ro

gram gu

ra

mu

"sentimêtoru".

"kiroguramu".

continuum

to

n

1 metric ton = 1000 kilograms

volume

1 liter = 1000 cubic centimeters ri

t

to

ru

temperature

degree Celsius do Japanese yen (not "yen" but "en" !) e

n American dollar

do

money

ru EU euro yû

ro British pound

po

n

do

Example: Kana: Romanization: yo Structure: Meaning:

n

to

n

noun (counter, ton) four metric tons of iron noun (four)

no genitive marker

te

tu noun (iron)

5.3.5. Euphonic change I have explained the euphonic change rules of small numbers, and they are also used for counters. Even though counting things without using the rules is understandable, memorizing the following charts will help you speak natural Japanese. Number

1

People

Animates

Inanimates

hi

to

ri

i

p

pi

fu

ta

ri

ni

hi

ki

sa

n

ni

sa

n

bi

yo

ni

n

yo

n

hi

go

ni

n

go

hi

ki

ro

ku

ni

n

ro

p

pi

na

na

ni

n

na

na

ha

ti

ni

n

ha

p

ki

i

k

ko

ni

ko

ki

sa

n

ko

ki

yo

n

ko

go

ko

ki

ro

k

ko

hi

ki

na

na

ko

pi

ki

ha

k

ko

2 3 n

4 5 6 7 8 9 kyû

ni

n

kyû

zyû

ni

n

zyu

ku

ni

n

hya

ni

n

hi

ki

kyû

ko

p

pi

ki

zyu

k

ko

p

pi

ki

hya

k

ko

bi

ki

10 100 hya

1000 se

Number

1

n

Large animals

se

n

Birds

se

n

ko

Long things

i

t

tô

i

ti

ni

wa

wa

i

p

po

ni

ho

n

n

2 ni

tô

3 sa

n

tô

sa

n

wa

sa

n

bo

n

yo

n

tô

yo

n

wa

yo

n

ho

n

go

wa

go

ho

n

4 5 go

tô

6 ro

ku

tô

ro

ku

wa

ro

p

po

n

na

na

tô

na

na

wa

na

na

ho

n

ha

t

tô

ha

ti

wa

ha

p

po

n

7 8 9 kyû

tô

kyû

wa

kyû

zyû

wa

zyu

wa

hya

ho

n

p

po

n

p

po

n

bo

n

10 zyu

t

tô

hya

ku

tô

100 hya

ku

1000 se

Number

1

n

tô

Thin things

se

n

wa

Books

se

n

Cups of liquid

i

ti

ma

ni

ma

i

sa

n

ma

yo

n

ma

go

ma

i

ro

ku

ma

na

na

ha

ti

i

i

s

sa

ni

sa

tu

i

sa

n

sa

i

yo

n

sa

go

sa

tu

i

ro

ku

sa

ma

i

na

na

ma

i

ha

s

tu

i

p

pa

i

ni

ha

i

tu

sa

n

ba

i

tu

yo

n

ha

i

go

ha

i

tu

ro

p

pa

i

sa

tu

na

na

ha

i

sa

tu

ha

p

pa

i

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 kyû

ma

i

kyû

zyû

ma

i

zyu

ku

ma

i

hya

ma

i

sa

tu

kyû

s

sa

tu

zyu

ku

sa

tu

hya

sa

tu

ha

i

p

pa

i

p

pa

i

ba

i

10 100 hya

1000 se

n

Further readings: Nihongo de Kazoeru (written in Japanese) Re: counters

se

n

se

n

The counter prefix ka

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5.4. Decimals and fractions 5.4.1. Decimals The Chinese invented decimals thousands of years ago, and decimals have been commoner than fractions in East Asia for long time, while fractions had been more commonly used in the West since Mesopotamian Civilization. The way to read decimals ( "syôsû") in Japanese is similar to English. The decimal delimeter in Japanese is a period (not Japanese period but European period). To read decimals in Japanese, read the integer part first. Then say "ten", which is the Japanese word for point, and say plain digit names after that. Omitting zero before a decimal point is not allowed in Japanese. The euphonic change rule is applied for the word san".

, so number 1.3 should be pronounced as

"itten

There is a detailed rule to make pronunciation rhythmical. You can skip this part. The digit immediately before a decimal point is paired with the decimal point, and the digits after the decimal point are paired every two digits. In those pairs, the digit 2 is pronounced as not "ni" but "nî", and the digit 5 is pronounced as not "go" but "gô". These different phonemes guarantee that all digits have two morae, which means the same length of time for each digit, so you have a less chance to misunderstand. For example, number 22.252 has two pronunciation pairs: '2.' and '25'. So its phoneme becomes "nizyû nîten nîgô ni". The last digit 2 is not paired, so its phoneme is not affected. Native Japanese speakers are not aware of the rule, even though they actually use it. The reason why they read decimals with the rule is that the Japanese language has a strong preference for four-beat rhythm. Making pairs of digits and pronouncing each of them in four morae satisfies the preference. Actually the rule is used not only for decimals but for all number sequences as well, such as phone numbers. In addition, most colloquial abbreviations of complex words also have four morae. Please remember each mora has the same length of time. Eight-beat rhythm is preferred as well as four-beat rhythm. You may have heard of "haiku", a Japanese traditional poem style. A haiku contains three phrases, which have five, seven, and five syllables respectively, and one of which has a word related to a season. The first phrase is pronounced with three rests, the second is with one rest, and the third is also with three rests, so they make eight-beat rhythm. Further readings: Rizumu o Kanjiro (written in Japanese)

5.4.2. Decimal units Before the introduction of the English way of writing decimals with a decimal point, the Japanese used decimal units for numbers smaller than one, and some of the units still survive in modern Japanese. They are similar to percent in English. These are advanced vocabulary and you don't have to memorize them now.

Unit

Japanese

10-1

one tenth wa

10-2 10-3

English

ri one hundredth

bu one thousandth ri/TD>

n

Units smaller than 10-3 are not in common use now. Digits before a decimal unit is always pronounced. Look at the examples below: Numbers

Digits and units

Description

1 × 10-1 0.1

Read 1 and the unit. i

ti wa ri 3 × 10-1

+ 0 × 10-2 + 2 × 10-3

0.302

Even 0 is pronounced when a smaller part follows it. sa n wa ri

re

i bu

ni ri n

The unit "wari" is a native Japanese word and the rest are Chinese-origin words. The latter originally meant ten times the current values; the unit "bu" meant one tenth, and so on. Later the Chinese-origin units were shifted one tenth smaller in order to avoid the conflict with , but they sometimes keep the original meaning in idioms, which may be confusing. For instance, the word "gobugobu" means fifty-fifty, because the decimal unit meant one tenth.

5.4.3. Fractions Fractions ( "bunsû" in Japanese) are not so commonly used in East Asia as in the West, but it's good to learn how to read them in Japanese here because it's easy. Read the denominator first, then add the suffix "bunno", and read the numerator. In short, y x means x/y. "bun" means divide, and "no" is the genitive marker. For instance, 2/3 is read "sanbunno ni".

Further readings: math in Japanese Re: kanji of decimal units

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5.5. The months and the days 5.5.1. The months Japanese lost the names of months hundreds of years ago, and now months are called with sequential numbers. After a number, just say the word "gatu", which means month. Japanese

English

Word

January

The first month i

ti

ga

tu

February

The second month ni

ga

tu

March

The third month sa

n

ga

tu

April

The fourth month si

ga

tu

May

The fifth month go

ga

tu

June

The sixth month ro

ku

ga

tu

July

The seventh month si

ti

ga

tu

August

The eighth month ha

ti

ga

September

tu The ninth month

ku October

Meaning

ga

tu The tenth month

zyû

ga

tu

November

The eleventh month zyû

i

ti

ga

December

tu The twelfth month

zyû

ni

ga

tu

For the names of the months, the common digit names of 4, 7, and 9 are not used. ( "nanagatu", and "kyûgatu" are not used.)

"yongatu",

5.5.2. The ancient names of the months Here is a list of the ancient names of the months. Just skip this paragraph if you are not interested. Japanese

English

Word

Meaning

January

The month of friendship mu

tu

ki

February

The month of the rebirth of plants ki

sa

ra

gi

March

The month of growing plants ya

yo

i

April

The month of the rabbit, which is the fourth animal of the Chinese zodiac. u

zu

ki

May

The month of rice sprouts sa

tu

ki

June

The month of water mi

na

zu

ki

July

The month of letters hu

mi

zu

ki

August

The month of leaves ha

zu

ki

September

The month of long nights na

ga

tu

ki

October

The month of gods ka

n

na

zu

ki

November

The month of frost si

mo

tu

ki

December

The month of busy people si

wa

su

5.5.3. The days of the week The days of the week are named after the sun, the moon, and planets. They are translations of the days of the week in European languages such as Latin. Sunday is the first day of the week in Japan. Japanese

English

Word

Meaning

Sunday

The day of the sun ( ni

ti

yô

bi

Monday ge

tu

yô

yô

The day of the moon (

"tuki")

The day of Mars (

"kasei")

bi

Tuesday ka

bi

Wednesday

The day of Mercury ( su

i

yô

The day of Jupiter ( ku

yô

"suisei")

bi

Thursday mo

"taiyô")

bi

"mokusei")

Friday

The day of Venus ( ki

n'

yô

bi

Saturday

The day of Saturn ( do

yô

"kinsei")

"dosei")

bi

The suffix "yôbi" in the days of the week means shine + day. The suffix "sei" in the planets' names means star. The prefixes "nichi" and "getu" of Sunday and Monday come from different words that mean the sun and the moon respectively.

5.5.4. The seasons The Japanese word for a season is English

Japanese

Spring

"kisetu". There are four season names in Japan. Months

March, April, May ha

ru

Summer

June, July, August na

tu

Autumn

September, October, November a

ki

Winter

December, January, February hu

yu

Actually Japan also has the following season from the mid of June to the mid of July, in which season there is much more rain than any other season:

L

H

tu

yu

It is called the rainy season or just tsuyu in English.

5.5.5. The days of the month To my regret, the names of the days of the month in Japanese are not as easy as the names of the months, because they preserve ancient names. The days 11th through 31st except the 14th, 20th, and 24th have straighforward names. Their names are the combination of the number and word "niti", which means a day. For example, the 15th day is called "zyûgoniti". The word sometimes becomes "nti" in colloquial Japanese. For other days, please look at the table below. Notice that they are similar to the traditional number names. The suffix "ka" (or possibly "uka") was a counter for days in ancient Japanese. Using for the days listed below is understandable, so don't hesitate to use when you can't remember their real names. Japanese

English

Word

1 tu

i

ta

2

ti

Meaning The beginning of the month. It came from "tuki" (month, moon) + stand up) The second day

hu

tu

ka

3

The third day mi

k

ka

4

The fourth day yo

k

ka

5

The fifth day i

tu

ka

6

The sixth day mu

i

ka

7

The seventh day na

no

ka

8

The eighth day yô

ka

"tatu" (to

9

ko

ko

no

The ninth day

ka

10

The tenth day tô

ka The fourteenth day 10 4th day +

14 zyû

yo

k

ka

20

The twentieth day ha

tu

ka

24 ni

zyû

yo

(others) A day number +

k

ka

The twenty-fourth day 20 4th day +

This is a suffix added to a number. ni

ti

5.5.6. How to read date and time In Japanese, it is necessary to say the biggest part first, then go down to smaller parts. This is because of the head-last rule of Japanese. This rule is applied not only for date but also for time and addresses. Dates are read in the following order: a year, a month, a day of the month, a day of the week. To read a year, just add "nen", which means a year, after the number. Example: Monday, June 16th, 1997 is 1997 6 16 "sen kyûhyaku kyûzyû nananen rokugatu zyûrokuniti getuyôbi". The Japanese style of abbreviation of the date is 1997/6/16 (year/month/day). Please remember the American style and the European style are also different from each other. American: day-of-week, month/day/year European: day-of-week, day/month/year Asian:

year/month/day, day-of-week

To read time, add "zi" after hours, "hun" after minutes, and is 11 29 7 "zyûitizi nizyû kyûhun nanabyô".

"byô" after seconds. For instance, 11:29:07

When you say both date and time, say date first. Please remember the biggest part comes first in Japanese.

Further readings: Re: Afternoon?

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6. Greetings English:

Hello. / Good afternoon.

Kana: Romanization: Ko

n

ni

ti

wa*

.

* This is a single-kana postposition whose actual sound is

. We later learn it as the topic marker.

Note: It is uncommon to use this phrase for your family members.

English:

Good bye.

Kana: Romanization: Sa

yô

na

ra

.

Note: In colloquial Japanese, this phrase is often shortened to

English:

"sayonara".

Good morning.

Kana: Romanization:

O

ha

yô

go

za

i

ma

su

.

Note: The phrase shown here is polite. You can simply say "ohayô" if politeness is not required. It should be the first greeting between you and a person you talk to in the morning. It is not so common to use it twice a day for the same person, while in English some people use "Good morning" to mean "Good bye" in the morning.

English:

Good evening.

Kana: Romanization: Ko

n

ba

n

wa*

.

* This is also the topic marker. Note: It is uncommon to use this phrase for your family members.

English:

Good night.

Kana: Romanization:

O

ya

su

mi

na

sa

i

.

Note: This phrase is used only when you are expected to go to bed in a few hours, perhaps past 9 p.m. or so. You can also say "oyasumi", which is more casual. It should be the last greeting between you and a person you talk to in the night. It is not so

common to use it twice a day for the same person, while in English some people use "Good night" to mean "Good bye" in the evening.

English:

Thank you very much.

Kana: Romanization:

A

ri

ga

tô

go

za

i

Note: The phrase shown here is polite. You can simply say You can add the word gozaimasu" and "thank you."

English:

ma

su

.

"arigatô" if politeness is not required.

"dômo" before them, such as "dômo arigatô". The word

"dômo arigatô "dômo" itself can be used as a simple version of

You are welcome. (as a reply to thank you)

Kana: Romanization:

English:

Dô

i

ta

si

ma

si

te

.

(none)

Kana: Romanization:

I

ta

da

ki

ma

su

.

Note: It is good manners to say this phrase before you have meal. The literal translation is "I begin to eat," but it actually means "thank you for the meal."

English:

(none)

Kana: Romanization: Go

ti

sô

sa

ma

de

si

ta

.

Note: It's good manners to say this phrase after you have meal. The literal translation is "it was a delicious meal," but it actually means "thank you for the meal."

English:

I'm sorry.

Kana: Romanization: Go

me

n

na

sa

i

.

Note: Saying this phrase does not necessarily mean admitting that you are to blame. In Japanese culture, it is important to say some kind of apology before blaming someone.

English:

Excuse me.

Kana: Romanization: Su

mi

ma

se

n

.

Note: This phrase is similar to the previous one, but lighter in meaning. It is often used to talk to someone you don't know. In colloquial Japanese, it often becomes "suimasen".

English:

A happy new year.

Kana: Romanization:

A

ke

ma

si

te

o

me

de

tô

go

za

i

ma

su

.

Note: The phrase shown here is polite. You can simply say "akemasite omedetô" if politeness is not required. In Japan, the new year is much more important than Christmas because few Japanese people are Christian. People mail "nengazyô" (new year cards) in late December and the post office delivers them on the new year day, which is the busiest day for the post office. Some people even write hundreds of new year cards for all of their acquaintances.

Further readings: Japanese greetings

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7.1. Cases and postpositions Cases are markers of the grammatical roles of nouns. In most European languages, inflection of articles, adjectives, and nouns is used to show cases. English pronouns have three cases: the nominative case, the genitive case (possessive case), and the accusative case (objective case). The nominative case is often used for the subject of sentences, and the accusative case is often used for the object of sentences. For instance, the word they is nominative, the word their is genitive, and the word them is accusative. Since common nouns don't have case markings at all to distinguish grammatical roles, English has become full of prepositions. The grammatical role of a phrase is given by its preposition, so you can change the order of phrases without a chance of misunderstanding. For example, you can say both "It rarely snows in Yokohama" and "In Yokohama, it rarely snows," because the preposition in clearly stands for the place. But English has no prepositions to mark the subject and the object, so it uses the word order to determine them. Generally speaking, the fewer case markers (inflection and adpositions) a language has, the more sensitive the language is to the word order. Chinese is very sensitive to the word order because it doesn't have inflection at all and it has few prepositions. In Japanese, cases including nominative and accusative are always shown by postpositions. You can easily see grammatical roles because all phrases are explicitely marked. Japanese has no noun inflections like English they, their, and them. Memorizing postpositions is much easier than memorizing noun inflections, because neither nouns nor postpositions change their spellings. There is no marker for verbs in Japanese, but you can easily spot them because they are always at the end of sentences. That comes from the head-last rule, because a verb is the most important part of a sentence and other phrases including the subject are additional information to the verb.

Example 1: Kana: Romanization: Sa Structure:

ku

ra

ga nominoun native (cherry blossoms) marker

sa

i

ta

.

verb (bloomed)

This sentence means "Cherry blossoms bloomed." Please remember Japanese doesn't care much about the distinctions in English shown by the use (or not use) of the definite article the. The postposition "ga" is the nominative marker, so the preceding noun "sakura" is the subject of the sentence.

Example 2: Kana: Romanization: Ga Structure:

ka

noun (artist)

ga e o nomiaccunoun native sative (picture) marker marker

ka

i verb (drew)

ta

.

This sentence means "An artist drew a picture." The postposition "o" is the accusative marker, so the preceding noun "e" is the object of the sentence. Note that the hiragana is ancient and used only for the accusative marker. Other than that, "o" is always written with the hiragana . Since cases are given by postpositions, you can change the word order like this: Kana: Romanization: Structure:

E

o

accunoun sative (picture) marker

ga

ka

noun (artist)

ga nominative marker

ka

i

ta

.

verb (drew)

All you have to do is add appropriate postpositions to nouns and put a verb at the end.

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7.2. Topics and focuses The topic and the focus are concepts commonly found in human languages. Topics are old information, which you have already talked about in a conversation. Focuses are new information, which is often the key of an answer to a question. Let's think about topics and focuses in English. Compare the following two conversations: 1. A: What did you see yesterday? B: Yesterday I saw Akira. 2. A: When did you see the movie? B: I saw the movie yesterday. The underlined letters indicate topics, which are information backgrounds of the conversation. The italic letters indicate focuses, which are either important new information or requests for it. You can sometimes say only a focus, so you can just say "Akira." at 1-B, and "Yesterday." at 2-B. The examples below show selecting topics. 3. A: I saw a movie a week ago, and I saw another one yesterday. B: What did you see yesterday? 4. A: I saw a movie and went shopping yesterday. B: What did you see? Underlined letters indicate selected topics. At 3-B, the speaker chooses yesterday in 3-A, not a week ago, as information background of the conversation. At 4-B, the speaker chooses saw a movie in 4-A, not went shopping. Focuses always have a stress, and selected topics often have too. A topic should appear before a focus in plain sentences in English if possible. So it is not good to say "Yesterday I saw the movie." at 2-B. English has the following ways to display topics and focuses clearly: He really likes curry and rice. Cleft sentence: It is curry and rice that he really likes. (Curry and rice is a focus) Pseudo-cleft sentence: What he really likes is curry and rice. (Curry and rice is a focus) Left dislocation: Curry and rice, he really likes it. (Curry and rice is a topic) Topicalization: Curry and rice he really likes. (Curry and rice is a topic)

Now let's go on to Japanese. Japanese has a postposition to mark topics - the postposition the exceptional word which has the hiragana but has the same phonemes as .

"wa". Please note that it is

The subject of a sentence is accompanied by the topic marker "wa" unless it is a focus. A phrase which is not the subject is accompanied by the topic marker when it is a topic and is more important than the subject. So the subject commonly has the topic marker.

The topic marker is added after other postpositions. You have already learned two postpositions; one is the nominative marker "ga", and the other is the accusative marker "o". The topic marker overrides and removes the two postpositions. No other postpositions are overridden. This is a table of how the topic marker overrides the two postpositions. The postpositions for the dative, locative, and ablative cases are used here just for examples, and they will be explained in later chapters. Nominative Accusative marker marker

Dative marker

Locative marker

Ablative marker

Non-topic "ga"

"o"

"ni"

"de"

"kara"

"wa"

"wa"

"niwa"

"dewa"

"karawa"

Topic

Look at the examples of the topic marker below: Kana: Romanization: Sa Structure:

ku

ra

noun (cherry blossoms)

ga

sa

nominative marker

i

ta

.

verb (bloomed)

The subject "sakura" is not accompanied by the topic marker "wa", so it can be a focus. There are two possibilities: cherry blossoms is new information, or the whole sentence is new information. The preceding question might be "What bloomed?" for the former possibility, and "What happened?" for the latter. It doesn't matter whether such a question is actually asked. You can introduce new information to conversation yourself. Let's add the topic marker after the nominative marker. The nominative marker is overridden like this: Kana: Romanization: Sa Structure:

ku ra wa noun topic (cherry blossoms) marker

sa

i ta verb (bloomed)

.

In this case, the subject must have been already talked about. The preceding question might be "Did the cherry blossoms bloom?" or "How are the cherry blossoms?". In the latter case, the verb "saita" is a focus. Let's look at topics of sentences which have an object. This is also a sentence used in the previous chapter: Kana:

Romanization: Ga Structure:

ka

ga

e

o

ka

nomiaccunoun native sative (picture) marker marker

noun (artist)

i

ta

.

verb (drew)

Neither the subject nor the object is a topic, so they can be focuses. The preceding question might be "Who drew a picture?", "Who drew what?", or "What happened?". Kana: Romanization: Ga Structure:

ka

wa

e

o

ka

accutopic noun sative marker (picture) marker

noun (artist)

i

ta

.

verb (drew)

The subject is a topic, so the preceding question might be "What did the artist draw?" or "What did the artist do?". Kana: Romanization: Structure:

E

wa

noun topic (picture) marker

ga

ka

ga

ka

nominative marker

noun (artist)

i

ta

.

verb (drew)

The topic marker overrides the accusative marker in this sentence. The preceding question might be "Who drew the picture?". As you see, a topic should appear before a focus in Japanese as well as in English. Since you can freely change the word order of a Japanese sentence, it is easy to place the topic at the beginning of the sentence. If there is more than one piece of background information, the subject, which is possibly a topic, is likely to appear first. If there are more than one piece of new information, the strongest focus is likely to appear immediately before the verb. In English, you cannot remove a subject, a verb, or an object from a sentence even when they are topics. In Japanese, only a predicator (either a verb, a copula, or an adjective) is necessary to form a grammatically correct sentence. You don't have to say a subject or an object when they are clear from context. As a reply to the question "What did the artist do?", you can just say this: Kana: Romanization: Structure:

E

o accunoun sative (picture) marker

ka

The hidden subject is clearly the artist, or

i

ta

verb (drew) "gaka".

.

If you don't want to say a whole sentence, you can say only the focus word as well as in English. To answer the question "What did the artist draw?", you can just say "E." or "E o.", but they are not complete sentences.

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7.3. Verbs 7.3.1. Group I and Group II Japanese verbs are divided into two groups with different inflection styles. One group is called the Group I verbs, the -u verbs, the Godan verbs, the consonant verbs, and the strong verbs. The other is called the Group II verbs, the -ru verbs, the Ichidan verbs, the vowel verbs, and the weak verbs. I use the terms Group I and Group II here. Other than the two groups, Japanese has two irregular verbs. Japanese has two tenses - the nonpast tense, which is used for both present and future, and the past tense. All the Japanese verbs end with the vowel "u" when used in the nonpast tense. Group II verbs always end with either "-iru" or "-eru". The two irregular verbs are "suru" and "kuru", which have different inflection from each other. A verb consists of a stem and a suffix. The stem never changes, but suffixes can change. In English, a verb's stem is its nonpast form, and you can make the past form with the suffix -ed, such as learn - learned. You can make the gerund with the suffix -ing, such as learn - learning. The final "-u" in the nonpast form of a Group I verb is the suffix, and the rest is the stem. The stem of a Group I verb always ends with a consonant. The final "-ru" in the nonpast form of a Group II verb is the suffix, and the rest is the stem. The stem of a Group II verb always ends with either "i" or "e". The first "s" is the stem of the irregular verb

"suru", and the first "k" is the stem of the irregular verb

This is a table of nonpast form examples: Group

Verb

ha

ki

o

ta

Group I

na

Stem Suffix Meaning hanas

speak

kik

listen to

oyog

swim

tat

stand up

su

ku

yo

gu

tu ur

u

ru

-u

sell

"kuru".

a

si

to

yo

mi

Group II

o

ne

ta

ra

sin

die

tob

fly

yom

read

mi

watch

oti

fall

u

bu

mu

ru

ti

ru

-ru ne

sleep

tabe

eat

ru

be

ru s

-uru

do

k

-uru

come

ru

kuru ku

wash

nu

suru su

araw *

ru

* The last "w" guarantees that all Group I verbs have a stem that ends with a consonant. Since Japanese doesn't have "wi", "wu", "we", or "wo", these phonemes become "i", "u", "e", and "o" respectively. In this case, the stem "araw" and the suffix "u" makes "arau", not "arawu". Whenever you use a Group I verb which ends with a vowel and "u", assume the hidden "w" before the final "u". For example, the stem of the verb "iu" (means say) is "iw", not "i".

When you Romanize a Japanese verb, do not use a circumflex for the suffix. For example, the Group I verb Romanized as "kuu", not "kû".

(eat) is

All the Group II verbs end with either "-iru" or "-eru", but verbs which end with these suffixes are not necessarily Group II

verbs. Some are Group I verbs, which end with "-u". Here are examples of Group I verbs with the ending of "-iru" or "-eru": Group

Verb

si

Meaning

sir

know

hasir

run

hair

enter

ru

ha

Group I

Stem Suffix

si

ha

ru

i

ka

ru

e

su

-u kaer

go back, return

suber

slide, skate, ski

syaber

chat

ru

be

ru

sya

be

ru

The verb "suru" can combine with a noun to make a verb which is related to the noun. Here is an example: Kana: Romanization: be n Meaning: study (noun)

kyô

Kana: Romanization: be Meaning:

n

study (verb)

7.3.2. Polite forms

kyô

su

ru

Japanese has a plain mode and a polite mode. To make a sentence polite, add the suffix "masu" to the verb at the end of the sentence. It is good to write it as "-(i)masu" to show how it is connected to a verb. If the stem of a verb ends with a vowel, add "-masu". If the stem ends with a consonant, add "-imasu" because Japanese doesn't allow a consonant that is not followed by a vowel. In other words, add "-masu" to Group II verbs, and add "-imasu" to Group I verbs, "suru", and "kuru". The suffix "masu" also works like a verb. For example, it has a past form. Its stem is "mas", and "-u" is the suffix for the nonpast form. It has irregular inflection. It cannot be an independent verb, and it must be added to a verb. Here are examples of polite forms: Group Plain nonpast form

ha

na

ki

ku

o

yo

ta

su

Polite nonpast form

ha

na

si

ma

ki

ki

ma

su

o

yo

gi

ma

tu

ta

ti

ma

su

u

ru

u

ri

ma

su

a

ra

a

ra

i

ma

si

nu

si

ni

ma

su

to

bu

to

bi

ma

su

yo

mu

yo

mi

ma

su

gu

su

su

Group I

u

su

Group II

mi

ru

mi

ma

su

o

ti

o

ti

ma

ne

ru

ne

ma

su

ta

be

ta

be

ma

su

ru

si

ma

su

ku

ru

ki

ma

su

ru

ru

su

su

suru

kuru

Please remember actual sounds are sometimes different from what you might expect from the spellings. The verb has a pronunciation of "tatsu", and its polite form has a pronunciation of "tachimasu". You can easily derive "tatimasu" from "tatu" and "-(i)masu", but it would be difficult to derive "tachimasu" from "tatsu" and "masu". This is why I use Kunrei Romanization in my site. Polite mode is recommended when you talk or write to a person who is not so close or who has a higher position than you. Plain mode is better when you talk to people such as your family and close friends, and it is also better when you write text written for a general readership such as novels, articles, theses, etc. You cannot use both of the modes at the same time in a document. Once you begin writing, go on with the mode you use for the first sentence. Native Japanese speakers think in plain mode. Please note that the polite form of a verb doesn't mean doing politely what the verb means. The polite form stands for the speaker's politeness to the addressee. (The speaker and the addressee are grammatical terms. The speaker is a person who sends a sentence, i.e. a person who speaks or writes. The addressee is a person who receives the sentence, such as a person the speaker is talking to. I will often use the terms in later chapters.) You will learn relative clauses, but it is not allowed to use of sentences. I will explain it again later.

for verbs in relative clauses. It is only used for the last verb

If at first you find polite mode too difficult, use only plain mode until you are more advanced. But keep in mind using plain mode for people who are not so close is rude. To avoid this problem, form a sentence in plain form, then add the magic word "desu" at the end of the sentence. It often produces grammatically incorrect sentences, but they will be understandable and still polite. I will explain how to use the word properly in a later chapter.

7.3.3. Past forms Adding the suffix "ta" to a verb makes the past form. It is good to write it as "-(i)ta" to show how it connects to verbs. The meaning of the "(i)" is the same as that in "-(i)masu". So use "ta" for Group II verbs, and use "ita" for Group I verbs, "suru", "kuru", and the polite suffix "masu". For ease of pronunciation, Group I verbs change the phonemes when they are combined with stem determines how it changes the phonemes. Nonpast form Past form ending ending

-su

-ku

-gu

-sita

-ita

-ida

-tta

s + (i)ta = sita (no change) k + (i)ta = kita, then it is changed to ita g + (i)ta = gita, then it is changed to ida

r + (i)ta = rita, then it is changed to tta w + (i)ta = wita, then it is changed to tta

-wu*

n + (i)ta = nita, then it is changed to nda

-nu

-bu

Description

t + (i)ta = tita, then it is changed to tta

-tu

-ru

. The last phoneme of the

-nda

-mu

b + (i)ta = bita, then it is changed to nda m + (i)ta = mita, then it is changed to nda

* Remember the hidden "w". There is no other kana that can be the last one of Group I verbs. Note that only Group I verbs change the phonemes. There is an exception to this table. The verb "iku" (means go) has a stem which ends with "k", so you may expect it to have "iita" as the past form, but actually its past form is "itta".

Here are examples of past forms: Nonpast form

Group

Verb

Past form

Meaning

Verb

Meaning

speak ha

na

su

spoke ha

na

si

ta

listen to ki

ku

listened to ki

i

ta

swim o

yo

gu

swam o

yo

i

da

stand up ta

tu

stood up ta

Group I

t

ta

sell u

ru

sold u

t

ta

wash a

ra

u

washed a

ra

t

die si

nu

died si

n

da

fly to

bu

flew to

n

da

read yo

mu

read yo

n

da

watch mi

ru

watched mi

ta

fall o Group II

ti

ru

ta

fell o

ti

ta

sleep ne

ru

slept ne

ta

eat ta

be

suru

ru

ate ta

be

ta

do su

ru

kuru

did si

ta

come ku

ru

-masu

came ki

ta

* ma

su

* ma

si

ta

* This is not a verb but a verbal suffix for polite mode. When you want to make a polite past form, make a verb polite first, then change it to the past form. For instance, if you want the polite past form of the verb "tobu", change it to the polite form "tobimasu", then change it to the past form "tobimasita". This is because the politeness suffix "masu" has a past form but the past suffix "ta" doesn't have a polite form.

Further readings: Re: modal auxiliary verbs and tense Re: future tense

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7.4. Copula A copula is a special word that combines the subject of a sentence and its description. Copulas are often irregular in many languages. The English word be is a copula. It is the verb whose inflection is most irregular in English. It combines the subject and its description, such as "Apples are fruits" and "The sky is blue". However, the word is in "The book is on the desk" is not a copula but an existential verb similar to the verb exist. The plain copula in Japanese is "da". It is not a verb but a suffix added to nouns. Here is an example of the copula: Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

Tô

kyô

wa topic marker

noun (Tôkyô) Tôkyô is capital.

syu to noun (capital)

da copula (is)

.

Since the copula "da" is not a verb but a suffix, the combination of the noun "syuto" and the copula works as if it were a verb. It is important to treat them as a single predicator. You cannot make a pause between the noun and the copula, and you cannot move the noun from the position immediately before the copula. In other words, the copula "da" makes a noun work like a verb. The copula has inflection like verbs, but it is highly irregular. The past form of

"da" is

"datta".

Here is an example of the past form of the copula: Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

Kyô noun (Kyôto) Kyôto was capital.

to

wa topic marker

syu to noun (capital)

da

t copula (was)

ta

.

Kyôto, a city 400 kilometers west to Tôkyô, was capital of Japan from 794 to 1192.

The polite form of "da" is "desu". Its stem is "des" and the last "-u" is the suffix for the nonpast form. Its inflection is almost the same as the polite suffix "masu", and its past form is "deshita". Kana: Romanization: Structure:

Tô

kyô noun (Tôkyô)

wa topic marker

syu to noun (capital)

de su copula (is + polite)

.

Kana: Romanization:

Kyô

to

noun (Kyôto)

Structure:

wa

syu

topic marker

to

de

noun (capital)

si

ta

.

copula (was + polite)

The original form of the copula helps us to understand its irregular inflection. The modern copula "da" comes from the old style copula "de aru", which is a combination of the word "de" and the existential verb "aru". The word "de" came from the ancient postposition "nite", but now it is considered a form of the copula which uses the existential verb as an auxiliary verb just to give tense to a sentence. Since

"aru" is a regular Group I verb, its inflection is easy to understand like these:

Kana: Romanization:

Tô

kyô

wa

noun (Tôkyô)

Structure:

syu

topic marker

to

de

noun (capital)

a

copula (be)

ru

.

auxiliary verb (nonpast)

Kana: Romanization:

Kyô

to

noun (Kyôto)

Structure:

wa

syu

topic marker

to

de

noun (capital)

a

copula (be)

t

ta

.

auxiliary verb (past)

The old style copula "de aru" is scarcely used in spoken Japanese, but it is still often used in written Japanese. Its polite forms are not commonly used even in written Japanese. To summarize, the modern copula and its polite form are derived as follows: Form

The original copula

The contracted copula

Nonpast de

a

ru

da

de

a

t

ta

de

a

ri

ma

Past da

t

de

su

Polite nonpast su

ta

Polite past de

a

ri

ma

si

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ta

de

si

ta

7.5. Adjectives 7.5.1. Nonpast forms English adjectives are more similar to nouns than to verbs, and they require the copula be to become predicators. On the other hand, Japanese adjectives are more similar to verbs, and they don't need a copula. They have inflection like verbs. All Japanese adjectives end with the hiragana "i" if they are in the nonpast form. An adjective consists of a stem and a suffix as verbs do, and the stem never changes while suffixes can change. The final /i/ in the nonpast form of an adjective is the suffix, and the rest is the stem. Please note that the suffix for the nonpast form of verbs is /u/, and that of adjectives is /i/. Here are some adjectives: Adjective

yo

a

u

o

Stem Suffix Meaning yo

is good

atu

is hot

i

tu

re

i

i

si

si

-i uresi

is glad

oisi

is tasty

i

i

Since adjectives always end with the hiragana , the stem of an adjective always ends with a vowel. Japanese adjectives are similar to verbs, so you can consider them to be a combination of the copula be and an adjective in English. These are examples of adjectives: Kana: Romanization: Su si wa noun topic Structure: (sushi) marker Meaning: Sushi is tasty. Kana:

o

i si adjective (is tasty)

i

.

Romanization: Ki

mo

no

wa

Structure:

noun (kimono)

Meaning:

Kimonos are beautiful.

u

tu

topic marker

ku

si

i

.

adjective (is beautiful)

7.5.2. Past forms Add the suffix

"-katta" to the stem of an adjective to create its past form.

Nonpast form Adjective

Past form Meaning

Adjective

Meaning

is good yo

was good

i

yo

ka

t

ta

is hot a

tu

was hot

i

a

tu

ka

t

ta

is glad u

re

si

was glad

i

u

re

si

ka

t

ta

is tasty o

i

si

was tasty

i

o

i

si

ka

t

ta

This is an example of the past form of adjectives: Kana: Romanization: Su si wa noun topic Structure: (sushi) marker Meaning: The sushi was tasty.

o

i

si ka adjective (was tasty)

t

ta

.

7.5.3. Polite forms Adjectives don't have a politeness suffix like verbs' politeness suffix

"masu", so you have to add the polite copula

"desu" to the end of an adjective in order to make it polite. Make the past form of an adjective first, then add "desu" to it to make its polite past form. Examples: Kana: Romanization: Su Structure:

si

noun (sushi)

wa

o

topic marker

i

si

adjective (is tasty)

i

de

su

.

suffix (polite mode)

Kana: Romanization: Su si noun Structure: (sushi)

wa topic marker

o

i

si

ka t adjective (was tasty)

ta

de

su . suffix (polite mode)

The polite past-form adjectives don't end with "ta" because of the politeness suffix. Making the polite form before making the past form is not allowed for adjectives, which would produce "oisiidesita" in the case of the second example shown above.

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7.6. Relative clauses 7.6.1. Relative clauses and verbs A relative clause has a main noun and an explanatory phrase that are combined in a grammatical way, and it has a base structure. For instance, "a picture that the artist drew" is a relative clause, where "picture" is a main noun and "the artist drew" is an explanation. Its base structure is the sentence "The artist drew a picture." In English, relative pronouns such as that and who are used. The way to make relative clauses in Japanese is quite easy. Kana: Romanization: Ga Structure:

ka

noun (artist)

ga

e

o

ka

nomiaccunoun native sative (picture) marker marker

i

ta

.

verb (drew)

This sentence means "an artist drew a picture." Now let's create the phrase "the artist who drew the picture" in Japanese. You don't have to care about articles (a / the) here. As you have already learned, Japanese has a head-last rule, so it is clear that the noun "gaka" comes last in the relative clause. Just remove the noun and its postposition from the sentence and put the remainder before it, and you will get: Kana: Romanization: Structure:

e

o accunoun sative (picture) marker

ka

i

ta

ga

verb (drew)

ka

noun (artist)

It means "the artist who drew the picture." Since verbs appear at the end of sentences, a verb appearing in the middle of a sentence is always in a relative clause. There are two important rules for relative clauses. First, you cannot use the topic marker "wa" in relative clauses, because topics and focuses are defined in a sentence, not a clause. Do not use the topic marker in a relative clause even when there is a topic word in it. Secondly, you cannot use polite mode in a relative clause, because polite mode affects only the predicator (a verb, a copula, or an adjective) at the end of a sentence. For example, the politeness suffix "masu" appears only at the end of sentences. The following sentence means "the picture that the artist drew": Kana: Romanization: ga

ka

ga

ka

i

ta

e

Structure:

nominative marker

noun (artist)

verb (drew)

As you see, all you have to do is just remove it.

noun (picture)

"e" and its accompanying accusative marker and put the remainder before

The following sentence means "cherry blossoms bloomed.": Kana: Romanization: Sa Structure:

ku

ra

noun (cherry blossoms)

ga

sa

nominative marker

i

ta

.

verb (bloomed)

From this sentence, you can easily make "the cherry blossoms that bloomed" like this: Kana: Romanization:

sa

i

ta

verb (bloomed)

Structure:

sa

ku

ra

noun (cherry blossoms)

You can also create a relative clause without removing a word. Here is the Japanese phrase for "the fact that the cherry blossoms bloomed": Kana: Romanization: Structure:

sa

ku

ra

ga nominoun native (cherry blossoms) marker

sa

i

ta

ko

verb (bloomed)

to

noun (fact)

And here is the phrase for "the time when the cherry blossoms bloomed": Kana: Romanization: Structure:

sa

ku

ra

ga nominoun native (cherry blossoms) marker

sa

7.6.2. Relative clauses and adjectives

i verb (bloomed)

ta

to

ki

noun (time)

This sentence means "kimonos are beautiful.": Kana: Romanization: Ki

mo

no

noun (kimono)

Structure:

wa

u

tu

topic marker

ku

si

i

.

adjective (is beautiful)

Since Japanese adjectives are similar to verbs, you can create relative clauses in the same way as you do for verbs. The following sentence means "a kimono that is beautiful": Kana: Romanization:

u

tu

Structure:

ku si adjective (is beautiful)

i

ki

mo no noun (kimono)

As you see, the word order of it is the same as that of the English phrase "a beautiful kimono". In fact, there is no difference between relative clauses and nouns with adjectives in Japanese. In English, the grammatical structures of "a beautiful kimono" and "a kimono that is beautiful" are quite different, even though they have the same meaning. You can easily create the phrase "a kimono that was beautiful" by using the past form of the adjective like this: Kana: Romanization: Structure:

u

tu

ku

si

ka

adjective (was beautiful)

t

ta

ki

mo

no

noun (kimono)

7.6.3. Relative clauses and copulas Moving a predicator that is the combination of a noun and a copula to create a relative clause is not as easy as verbs and adjectives. First, you have to distinguish two kinds of nouns: common nouns and adjectival nouns. The latter is also called na-adjectives, qualitative nouns, and copular nouns. As the name implies, a adjectival noun works like an adjective rather than like a noun. Here is an example of a adjectival noun: Kana: Romanization: ki re i Meaning: beautiful (adjectival noun)

This noun is not a common noun but a adjectival noun, which works like an adjective, so its translation is not beauty but beautiful. A adjectival noun cannot be a subject or an object; it must be in a predicator, accompanied by a copula. This is a sentence that means "kimonos are beautiful," the same meaning as the example shown in the previous section: Kana: Romanization: Ki Structure:

mo no noun (kimono)

wa topic marker

ki re i adjectival noun (beautiful)

da copula (is)

.

Its grammatical structure is similar to examples in the copula chapter, but its meaning is similar to the example in the adjectives chapter. When you create a relative clause from the sentence above, you need to change the copula "na" like this:

"da" to its special form

Kana: Romanization: Structure:

ki re i adjectival noun (beautiful)

na copula (is)

ki

mo no noun (kimono)

This means "a kimono that is beautiful", or "a beautiful kimono". You need to change the copula only when it is it is a nonpast form of the contracted copula. Other forms of the copula will not chage, like this:

, i.e. when

Kana: Romanization: Structure:

ki

re

i

da

adjectival noun (beautiful)

t

ta

ki

copula (was)

mo

no

noun (kimono)

This means "a kimono that was beautiful." Like copulas after adjectival nouns, you also need to change a nonpast-form copula accompanying a common noun when you create a relative clause from them, but you need to change it not to "na" but to "no", which is the same as the genitive marker you have already learned. For example, the following sentence means "Leaves are green": Kana: Romanization: Ha

p noun

pa

wa topic

mi

do noun

ri

da copula

.

Structure:

Since

(leaf)

marker

(green)

(is)

"midori" is a common noun, the relative clause "a leaf that is green" becomes like this:

Kana: Romanization: mi Structure: You may think the

do noun (green)

ri

no copula (is)

ha

p noun (leaf)

pa

"no" is the genitive marker instead of a form of the copula

"da".

Past-form copulas remain unchanged for common nouns like adjectival nouns. Only the nonpast-form contracted copula matters.

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7.7. Negative forms 7.7.1. Negative forms of verbs First of all, I would like to explain the difference between verbs and adjectives in Japanese. You have learned that Japanese adjectives have inflection like verbs, but their ways of inflection are quite different; nonpast-form verbs end with "-u", while nonpast-form adjectives end with "-i". The reason why their inflections are different is that their purposes are different. Verbs basically represent action, and adjectives represent condition. When you say "he runs," you mean his action, and when you say "he is ill," you mean his condition. Doing something is action, so you use verbs for action in Japanese. Not doing something is a condition rather than action, because it is not what you do. For example, "he doesn't run" means his condition, not his action. As a result, the negative forms of Japanese verbs become adjectives, which are used for condition. Add the negative suffix "nai" to the stem of a verb to create its negative form. For Group I verbs, insert "a" between the stem and the suffix. So you can memorize it as "-(a)nai". The irregular verbs require different padding vowels; use "-inai" for "suru" and "-onai" for "kuru". The inflection of the suffix

"nai" is the same as that of adjectives.

Here is a table of negative forms: Group

Plain form

ha

na

ki

ku

o

yo

ta

Negative form

su

ha

na

sa

na

ki

ka

na

i

o

yo

ga

na

tu

ta

ta

na

i

u

ru

u

ra

na

i

a

ra

a

ra

wa

na

gu

i

i

Group I

u

i

Group II

si

nu

si

na

na

i

to

bu

to

ba

na

i

yo

mu

yo

ma

na

i

mi

ru

mi

na

i

o

ti

L

H'

L

L

o

ti

na

i

ne

ru

ne

na

i

ta

be

ta

be

na

su

ru

si

na

i

ku

ru

ko

na

i

ru

ru

i

suru

kuru

You have two ways to create a polite negative form of a verb. One way is easy to understand; since negative forms are adjectives, just create the polite form the same way as polite adjectives. I don't think the other way is very easy to understand, because it uses another negative suffix, but it is more formal and you must get used to it. First, create the polite form of a verb using the politeness suffix "masu", then add the negative suffix "n" with the padding vowel of "e" to its stem. It means "-en" is actually added to "mas", which is the stem of "masu". So what you have to do is add "masen" to the verb's stem in the same way as "masu". Since the negative suffix after .

doesn't have a past form, it uses the polite copula for the past tense. Add

"deshita"

The first way (the negation-first way) is simpler, and works well in informal situations. For formal situations, the second way (the politeness-first way) is better. The suffix is a rare word that came to Standard Japanese from the Kansai (Western

Japan) dialect, while most of the vocabulary came from the Tôkyô (the center of Eastern Japan) dialect. Probably that is why the grammar of is not simple. This table shows a summary of forms of the verb Step

"hanasu" (speak):

Form

Description Stem + nonpast. Past form: Go to 1. Polite form: Go to 2. Negative form: Go to 4.

0 ha

na

su

1

Stem + past. ha

na

si

ta Stem + politeness + nonpast. Past form: Go to 3. Negative form: Go to 6.

2 ha

na

si

ma

su

3

Stem + politeness + past. ha

na

si

ma

si

ta Stem + negation + nonpast. Past form: Go to 5. Polite form: Go to 8.

4 ha

na

sa

na

i

Stem + negation + past. Polite form: Go to 9.

5 ha

na

sa

na

ka

t

ta

Stem + politeness + negation + nonpast. Past form: Go to 7.

6 ha

na

si

ma

se

n

7

Stem + politeness + negation + past. ha

na

si

ma

se

n

de

si

ta

8

Stem + negation + nonpast + politeness. ha

na

sa

na

i

de

su

9

Stem + negation + past + politeness. ha

na

sa

na

ka

t

ta

de

su

Steps 6 and 8 have the same meaning, and steps 7 and 9 have the same meaning. Steps 6 and 7 are created by the formal way of polite negative form (the politeness-first way), and steps 8 and 9 are created by the colloquial way (the negation-first way). The word colloquial doesn't mean it is the only way to be used in colloquial Japanese; in fact the formal way is used

as well even in colloquial Japanese. I recommend the colloquial way simply because I think it is easier. However, the colloquial way is rarely used in written Japanese, which is often formal.

7.7.2. Negative forms of the existential verbs The existential verb is a verb to mean something exists. In English, the verb be is an existential verb, such as "There is a pen on the desk" and "The pen is on the desk". Japanese has two existential verbs; one for animates (including human beings in this case) and one for inanimates. Animates and inanimates are explained in the counter chapter. The existential verb for animates is

"iru", which is a Group II verb. So its negative form is

"inai".

The existential verb for inanimates is "aru". It is a Group I verb, so you may expect its negative form to be "aranai", but actually its negative form is never used. Instead, you have to use the nonexistential adjective which has the same origin as the negative suffix. Look at samples below: Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

I

nu ga noun nominative (dog) marker There is a dog.

i

ru

.

verb (exist)

Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

I

nu

ga

noun nominative (dog) marker There is no dog.

i

na

i

verb + negation (not exist)

Kana: Romanization: Ya Structure: Meaning:

ma

ga

noun nominative (mountain) marker There is a mountain.

a

ru

.

verb (exist)

Kana: Romanization: Ya

ma

ga

na

i

.

.

"nai",

Structure: Meaning:

noun nominative (mountain) marker

adjective (not exist)

There is no mountain.

Keep in mind that animates and inanimates use different existential verbs, and the nonexistential adjective instead of the negative form of "aru".

"nai" is used

The polite negative form of is "arimasen", and there is no problem in using it, unlike the plain negative form. Being the opposite of the existential verb , the nonexistential adjective has two polite forms. One is the colloquial "naidesu", and the other is the formal "arimasen". This table shows a summary of forms of the existential verb Step

"aru":

Form

Description Stem (existential verb) + nonpast. Past form: Go to 1. Polite form: Go to 2. Negative form: Go to 4.

0 a

ru

1

Stem (existential verb) + past. a

t

ta Stem (existential verb) + politeness + nonpast. Past form: Go to 3. Negative form: Go to 6.

2 a

ri

ma

su

3

Stem (existential verb) + politeness + past. a

ri

ma

si

ta Stem (nonexistential adjective) + nonpast. Past form: Go to 5. Polite form: Go to 8.

4 na

i

Stem (nonexistential adjective) + past. Polite form: Go to 9.

5 na

ka

t

ta

Stem (existential verb) + politeness + negation + nonpast. Past form: Go to 7.

6 a

ri

ma

se

n

7

Stem (existential verb) + politeness + negation + past. a

8

ri

ma

se

n

de

si

ta Stem (nonexistential adjective) + nonpast + politeness.

na

i

de

su

9

Stem (nonexistential adjective) + past + politeness. na

ka

t

ta

de

su

7.7.3. Negative forms of the copula You have learned the plain copula "da" and the polite copula "desu". Please remeber they are contracted words which came from the old style copula "de aru". The negative forms of the modern copula need the old copula. Being a combination of the postposition and the existential verb , the old copula has a negative form of a combination of the word and the nonexistential adjective , i.e. "de nai". Consequently it has two polite negative forms, the colloquial "de naidesu" and the formal "de arimasen". Look at the table for the forms of the existential verb and add the word before them. Please remember that there are more popular form for the combinations of and steps 0 through 3 in the table. There is no contracted form for the negative forms of the copula. Here is an example: Kana: Romanization: Yo

ha

ma

noun (Yokohama)

Structure: Meaning:

ko

wa topic marker

syu noun (capital)

to

de copula (is)

na i auxiliary adjective (not)

.

Yokohama is not capital.

The negative form of the copula consists of two words, while that of a verb is one word which consists of its stem and the negative suffix. That makes a slight difference. It is explained later.

7.7.4. Negative forms of adjectives Adjectives use the nonexistential adjective for their negative forms, as the copula does. They don't use the negative suffix for verbs. First, add "ku" to an adjective's stem, which is a suffix to accept auxiliary verbs and adjectives, then add the nonexistential adjective after it. These are examples: Plain form

Negative form

yo

i

a

tu

i

u

re

si

o

i

si

yo

ku

na

i

a

tu

ku

i

u

re

si

ku

na

i

i

o

i

si

ku

na

i

na

i

Since these negative forms contain the nonexistential adjective, there are two polite negative forms. For example, the polite forms of "yoku nai" are "yoku naidesu" and "yoku arimasen". Look at step 4 through 9 in the table for the forms of the existential verb and add the stem of an adjective with the suffix before them. Look at the adjective chapter for the affirmative forms of adjectives. This is a sentence example: Kana: Romanization: Se

n

sô

Structure:

noun (war)

Meaning:

War is not good.

wa topic marker

yo

ku

adjective (is good)

na i auxiliary adjective (not)

.

7.7.5. Negated topics Let's compare these three conversations: 1. A: What did you say you'd forgotten to try in Kanazawa? B: I didn't try sushi. That's a big mistake. 2. A: I've heard you tried sushi yesterday. Was it nice? B: I didn't try sushi. It's John who went to a sushi bar yesterday. 3. A: You went to a Japanese restaurant, didn't you? Did you try sushi? B: No, I didn't try sushi. I had sukiyaki. The underlined letters mean topics that are negated. The sentence 1-B is just new information, and there is not a particular word to be negated. In the 2-B, the speaker talks about himself, and he says he didn't try sushi. In the 3-B, the speaker talks

about sushi, and he says he didn't try sushi. In Japanese, the sentence for 1-B and 2-B is different from that for 3-B, because Japanese has a topic marker. Put the topic marker "wa" after the phrase that is negated. Since the subject of a sentence is likely to have a topic marker, negating the subject often has the same structure as a sentence with no negated topic. This is a sentence for "I didn't eat sushi" for 1-B and "Me? No, I didn't eat sushi" for 2-B: Kana: Romanization: Wa Structure:

ta noun (I)

si

wa topic marker

su si noun (sushi)

o accusative marker

ta

be

na ka verb + negation (didn't eat)

t

ta

.

And this is a sentece for "Sushi? No, I didn't eat sushi" for 3-B: Kana: Romanization: Wa Structure:

ta noun (I)

si

wa topic marker

su si noun (sushi)

wa topic marker

ta

be

na ka verb + negation (didn't eat)

t

ta

.

In the first sentence, the subject may or may not be negated. You cannot tell which is right without knowing context, because a subject often has a topic marker even if it is not negated. On the other hand, the object "susi" is clearly negated in the second sentence, because it is the second phrase in the sentence while an ordinary topic almost always comes first in a sentence. As you see, both the subject and the object have the same postposition, so it might be confusing if you don't know the meaning of the words. If two words have the same postposition, a subject is likely to appear before an object.

When you use a copula, the word that combines with the copula is a negated word. As I explained, the negative forms of the copula are actually combinations of the word and the nonexistential adjective , so you can and should insert a topic marker between them. Let's look at these examples: Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning: Kana:

Ri

n

go

noun (apple) Apples are fruits.

wa topic marker

ku

da

mo

noun (fruit)

no

da copula (is)

.

Romanization:

Ri

go

noun (apple)

Structure: Meaning:

n

wa

ya

topic marker

sa

i

noun (vegetable)

de

wa

copula topic (is) marker

na

i

.

auxiliary adjective (not)

Apples are not vegetables.

You can say the second sentence without using the topic marker for negation, such as inserting a topic marker is much more common. In colloquial Japanese, the combination of shown above would be like this:

"de" and

"yasaide nai", but

"wa" is often contracted to

"zya". The second sentence

Kana: Romanization:

Ri

Structure:

n

go

noun (apple)

wa

ya

topic marker

sa

i

noun (vegetable)

zya copula + topic marker (is)

na

i

.

auxiliary adjective (not)

The insertion of the topic marker can also occur for the negative forms of adjectives, but it is not so often as for the copula. The following sentences have the same meaning, but the second one has an inserted topic marker for negation: Kana: Romanization: Mi Structure:

ka

n

noun (orange)

wa

ku

topic marker

ro

ku

adjective (is black)

na i auxiliary adjective (not)

.

Kana: Romanization: Mi Structure:

ka noun (orange)

n

wa topic marker

ku

ro adjective (is black)

ku

wa topic marker

na i auxiliary adjective (not)

.

Both of the sentences mean "oranges are not black," but the second one is used to negate the word black, such as "Black? No, oranges are not black." The first one simply denies the idea that oranges are black. Since the negative form of a verb is not a combination of two words but a combination of the stem and the negative suffix, you cannot insert a topic marker between them. Japanese has a way to insert it between them, but you have to learn infinitives to do it.

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7.9. Emotion markers 7.9.1. Sentence-final particles Japanese has several communication-oriented particles to clarify a speaker's intention. Let's call them emotion markers here. You have learned two other kinds of particles: case markers (postpositions), such as the nominative marker "ga", and information markers, such as the topic marker "wa". There are several other categories, but we focus on these three categories now. Their priority of combining nouns is clearly different. If a noun is followed by each one of the three categories of particles, a case marker is placed immediately after the noun, and an information marker follows it, then emotion markers follow them. Actually emotion markers should appear only at the end of a sentence, so they are called sentence-final particles. They will never appear in relative clauses. Look at the sample below: Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

Kyô noun (today) It is cold today.

wa topic marker

sa

mu i adjective (is cold)

.

Notice that Japanese doesn't use expletives like English "it" for weather. A noun for time or a place should be the subject of a sentence when you say about weather in Japanese. When you want to say just it is cold, omit the subject. Even though this sentence is grammatically correct and its meaning is clear, saying it to someone seems to be off the current topic, because it simply tells about today's weather without any intension. A typical reaction of a native Japanese speaker might be "So what?" Imagine a friend of yours is about to go outside without a coat, and you know it is cold outside so you want to say to him that he should wear his coat. In that case, use the opinion marker "yo", one of emotion markers, like this: Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

Kyô wa sa mu i yo noun topic adjective opinion (today) marker (is cold) marker I think it is cold today. (Why don't you wear your coat?)

.

You use the opinion marker to tell your opinions and judgment, and to share new information. It must have a person who directly receives what you say, so it is rarely used in written Japanese except for mail. The opinion marker is often used when a speaker thinks he knows better than a person who receives his opinion.

Most emotion markers are simply added after sentences without changing a word. The polite form of the sentence above should be as follows: Kana: Romanization: Structure:

Kyô

wa

noun (today)

topic marker

sa

mu

i

de

su

yo

adjective + politeness (is cold)

.

opinion marker

If you think it is cold today and you want to talk about it with a friend, you can use the tag question marker

"ne" like this:

Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

Kyô

wa

noun (today)

topic marker

sa

mu

i

ne

.

tag question marker

adjective (is cold)

It is cold today, isn't it?

Like the opinion marker

"yo", the tag question marker

"ne" is rarely used in written Japanese except for mail.

You can use both of them like this: Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

Kyô

wa

noun (today)

topic marker

sa

mu

i

adjective (is cold)

yo

ne

.

tag opinion question marker marker

I think it is cold today. Don't you think so?

You can simply say your impression using the impression marker "na", without expecting an answer. It is often used when you talk to yourself. The sentence-final particle "na" sometimes becomes "nâ" if impression is strong. Since the impression marker doesn't expect an answer, it isn't used with the tag question marker "ne". Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

Kyô wa noun topic (today) marker Oh, I feel it is cold today.

sa

mu i adjective (is cold)

nâ impression marker

.

In this case, you might be strongly aware of the freezing atmosphere of a winter morning. The impression marker is not commonly used for something unusual and surprising, for instance freezing atmosphere of a summer day.

7.9.2. The affirmation suffix The affirmation suffix "noda" is different from sentence-final particles grammatically, but I explain it here because it is similar to them in meaning. It is a combination of the genitive postposition "no" and the copula "da", so it has the same inflection as the copula. It is a suffix added after a predicator, i.e. a verb, a copula, and an adjective. Unlike sentence-final particles, it can appear in relative clauses. It almost always becomes "nda" in colloquial Japanese. Its polite form is of course "nodesu", and it becomes "ndesu" in colloquial Japanese. Since the polite mode affects only the last predicator of sentences, the predicator before an affirmation suffix will never be a polite form. Make the affirmation suffix polite instead of making the preceding predicator polite. The affirmation suffix means you say a fact that is not known or not believed by listeners. You use it when you explain a reason and when you affirm a fact that is not believed by other people. There are many situations where you can use it, and in fact it is quite often used both in spoken Japanese and in written Japanese. You might think it is similar to the opinion marker , but they are different. You use the opinion marker to share your idea, and you use the affirmation suffix just to affirm a fact. The affirmation suffix is less communication-oriented, which is why it can be used in written Japanese. Let's compare the following sentences. Subjects are omitted since they are clearly "I" in all the sentences: Kana: Romanization: Ni Structure: Meaning:

ku

wa

ta

noun topic (meat) marker I don't eat meat.

be

na

i

.

i

yo

verb + negation (don't eat)

Kana: Romanization: Ni Structure: Meaning:

ku

wa

ta

be

na

noun topic verb + negation (meat) marker (don't eat) I don't eat meat. (That's my opinion.)

.

opinion marker

Kana: Romanization: Ni Structure: Meaning:

ku

wa

ta

be

na

i

n

da

noun topic verb + negation affirmation (meat) marker (don't eat) suffix To tell you the truth, I don't eat meat. (I'm a vegetarian.)

.

Notice that accusative markers are overridden by topic markers. The first sentence is a plain one, and it is not often used in conversation. The second one means it is the speaker's opinion. It can be a reply to the question "How about going to a steak restaurant tonight?" The third one can be a reply to the question "Why do you leave that bacon in your salad?", because the affirmation suffix can be used for explaining a reason. It is not your opinion but just a fact that you don't eat meat. Here is another example: Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

Ti

kyû noun (the earth) The earth moves.

wa topic marker

u

wa

u

go ku verb (move)

.

Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

Ti

kyû

noun topic (the earth) marker No matter what you say, the earth moves.

go

ku

verb (move)

no

da

.

affirmation suffix

In this case, the affirmation suffix is used to affirm the fact which is not believed by other people. Of course it can mean "To tell you the truth, the earth moves". That depends on context. If the affirmation suffix is added after the nonpast form of the copula "da", the copula becomes "na". Note that only the nonpast form of the contracted copula is changed. It is similar to the copula in relative clauses, but there is no difference between common nouns and adjectival nouns in this case. Use "na" for both of them. Kana: Romanization: Ni Structure: Meaning:

n

ge

n

wa

noun topic (human being) marker Human beings are monkeys.

sa

ru

da

.

noun (monkey)

copula (is)

sa

na n da copula affirmation (is) suffix

Kana: Romanization: Ni Structure: Meaning:

n

ge noun (human being)

n

wa topic marker

ru

noun (monkey)

The fact is that human beings are monkeys.

.

Since the affirmation suffix means that you affirm a thing now, its past form is not often used. When you affirm a thing which happened in the past, add the affirmation suffix after a past sentence. Here is an example: Kana: Romanization: Ni Structure: Meaning:

n

ge n wa sa ru noun topic noun (human being) marker (monkey) The fact is that human beings were monkeys.

da

t copula (was)

ta

n da affirmation suffix

.

The affirmation suffix should be a nonpast form, like in the English translation "The fact is that human beings were monkeys." You can make the affirmation suffix more communication-oriented by adding the opinion marker opinion marker means that you tell new information.

. In that case, the

Kana: Romanization: Ni Structure: Meaning:

n

ge

n

wa

sa

ru

na

n

da

yo

noun topic noun copula affirmation opinion (human being) marker (monkey) (is) suffix marker In fact, human beings are monkeys. I think you didn't know that.

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.

7.10. Questions 7.10.1. Colloquial questions It is quite easy to ask a question in colloquial Japanese. Simply say a sentence with a raising pitch at the end. Kana: Romanization:

Kyô noun (today)

Structure: Meaning:

wa topic marker

sa

Kyô

wa

sa

noun (today)

topic marker

mu i adjective (is cold)

.

It is cold today.

Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

mu

i*1

?

adjective (is cold)

Is it cold today?

*1 It begins with a low pitch and ends with a high pitch, because of raising. You can say "It is cold today?" in English by simply raising tone at the end of the sentence, so I think this way of making questions is easy to understand. There is an exception, though. If the final word of a sentence is a nonpast form of a copula, which is either the plain or the polite , you need to remove it. You might be fed up with the irregularity of a copula. Note that past-form copulas are not removed. Kana: Romanization: To Structure: Meaning:

ma to wa noun topic (tomato) marker Tomatoes are vegetables.

ya

sa i noun (vegetable)

da copula (is)

.

Kana: Romanization: To Structure: Meaning:

ma

to

wa

ya

noun topic (tomato) marker Are tomatoes vegetables?

sa

i*2

?

noun (vegetable)

*2 It begins with a high pitch and ends with a higher pitch, because of raising. In questions, the affirmation suffix is quite commonly used like this: Kana: Romanization: To

ma

to

wa

ya

sa

i

na

no

da

.

Structure: Meaning:

noun (tomato)

topic marker

noun (vegetable)

copula affirmation (is) suffix

The fact is that tomatoes are vegetables.

Kana: Romanization: To Structure: Meaning:

ma to wa ya sa i noun topic noun (tomato) marker (vegetable) Is it true that tomatoes are vegetables?

na no copula affirmation (is) suffix

?

Note that the copula in the affirmation suffix is removed because it is a nonpast-form copula at the end of a sentence. You have learned that the affirmation suffix "noda" often becomes "nda", but the change never occurs when the copula in the affirmation suffix is removed. The nuance of having the affirmation suffix in a question is that you doubt what another person said or wrote. In this case, you might be told that tomatoes are vegetables and skeptical about that.

7.10.2. Formal questions The grammatically stricter way to make a question sentence is just to add the sentence-final postposition "ka", which is a question marker. The plain nonpast copula "da" is also removed when followed by the question marker "ka", but the polite copula "desu" is not removed when the question marker is used. That is a difference from the colloquial way. Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

Kyô noun (today) It is cold today.

wa topic marker

sa

mu i de adjective + politeness (is cold)

su

Kyô noun (today) Is it cold today?

wa topic marker

sa

mu i de adjective + politeness (is cold)

su

.

Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

ka question marker

.

As you see, the question mark "?" is not often used with the question marker "ka", because having a question marker at the end of a sentence clearly means the sentence is a question. You can use both of them, though. Having both of them sounds like you are more eager to know or you are more surprised. The formal way of making questions is not limited to the polite mode. You can use the question marker with plain sentences, but that is not very common in spoken Japanese, because you can be considered impolite. When you speak in friendly way, you use the colloquial way of making questions more often, and when you speak formally, you often use the polite mode. It is no problem to use it in written Japanese, where the polite mode is not necessary. Kana:

Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

Tô

kyô

wa topic marker

syu to noun (capital)

da copula (is)

kyô

wa topic marker

syu to noun (capital)

ka question marker

noun (Tôkyô) tôkyô is capital.

.

Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

Tô noun (Tôkyô) Is Tôkyô capital?

.

Remember that the plain nonpast copula is removed in questions.

7.10.3. Yes / no and negative questions Japanese has several words which mean yes or no. Here are the formal ones: Kana: Romanization: ha Meaning: yes

i

Kana: Romanization: Meaning: no

î

e

The word "hai" and other Japanese yes words are much weaker than the English yes. They often mean "I understand what you say", so you may think they are more similar to the English uh-huh. Other Japanese yes words include "â", "ê", and "un", all of which have an accent fall at the first mora (high pitch + low pitch). These words are so colloquial that they are not used in written Japanese. There are also other Japanese no words, such as "ie", "iya", and "uun". The last one might be difficult to pronounce because it has nasal sounds like English uh-huh and it also has a raising tone at the end. Anyway it is too colloquial to be used in written Japanese. The other two are also colloquial. These Japanese yes-no words may be confusing for English speakers when they are used to answer negative questions. Negative questions have a negation word, such as "Don't you know that?" Here is a colloquial negative sentence and its question form in Japanese: Kana: Romanization: Structure:

Kyô

wa

noun (today)

topic marker

sa

mu adjective (is cold)

ku

na

i

auxiliary adjective (not)

.

Meaning:

It isn't cold today.

Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

Kyô

wa

noun (today)

topic marker

sa

mu

ku

na

i

auxiliary adjective (not)

adjective (is cold)

ka

.

question marker

Isn't it cold today?

Actually the question above has two translations, which makes answering to it confusing. The one is "Isn't it cold today", and the other is "It isn't cold today, is that right?", and answers for them are totally opposite. If the speaker means the former, you use , which means yes, to mean "Yes, it is cold today." If he/she means the latter, you use to mean "Yes, that's right. It isn't cold today." How to answer negative questions using yes-no words depends on context, in particular among younger generation, because negative questions are not always questions but sometimes invitation and suggestion like the English phrase "Why don't you ...", so the best way to answer negative questions is to use predicators instead of yes-no words. You can say one of the following answers: Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

sa

mu i adjective (is cold) (It) is cold (today).

yo opinion marker

.

Kana: Romanization:

sa

mu

ku

na i auxiliary adjective (not)

Structure:

adjective (is cold)

Meaning:

(It) is not cold (today).

yo

.

opinion marker

The opinion marker is used to share new information here. The person who is asked the question is considered to know better about the weather. Please remember that only a predicator is necessary to make a sentence grammatically correct in Japanese. The answers shown above are correct sentences. When you use the affirmation suffix, answers are easier to understand. Here are examples: Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

Kyô

wa

noun (today)

topic marker

The fact is that it isn't cold today.

sa

mu adjective (is cold)

ku

na i auxiliary adjective (not)

no

da

affirmation suffix

.

Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

Kyô

wa

noun (today)

topic marker

sa

mu

ku

na i auxiliary adjective (not)

adjective (is cold)

no

ka

.

affirmation question suffix marker

Is it true that it isn't cold today?

The first sentence above is not a negative one at all. Using the affirmation suffix makes it an affirmative sentence, as its English translation indicates. So its question form, the second sentence, is not negative either. You can easily see (yes) means "Yes, it is true. It isn't cold today." The use of the affirmation suffix thus makes Japanese negative questions easier to answer.

7.10.4. Interrogatives Interrogatives are words used for questions to request new information. In English, wh-words are interrogatives, such as who, what, and when. I explain three interrogatives here. Kana: Romanization: da Meaning:

re

who (noun)

Kana: Romanization: na Meaning:

ni

what (noun)

Kana: Romanization: i tu Meaning: when (adverb) Here is a base sentence for explanation: Kana: Romanization: Ka Structure: Meaning:

noun (he)

re

wa

ki

topic marker

nô adverb (yesterday)

He sold a picture yesterday.

Let's ask when he sold a picture. Use

"itu" like this:

e

o

accunoun sative (picture) marker

u

ri

ma

si

verb + politeness (sold)

ta

.

Kana: Romanization: Ka Structure: Meaning:

re

noun (he)

wa

i

topic marker

tu

e

o accunoun sative (picture) marker

adverb (when)

u

ri

ma

si

ta

verb + politeness (sold)

ka

.

question marker

When did he sell a picture?

All you have to do is just replace the word for time, and add the question marker if you use the formal way of making questions. You don't have to change the word order at all, so it is very easy to use Japanese interrogatives. You should raise tone at the end of the sentence exactly like plain questions even when you use interrogatives. Now you can ask what he sold yesterday: Kana: Romanization: Ka Structure: Meaning:

re

noun (he)

wa

ki

topic marker

nô

na

adverb (yesterday)

ni

noun (what)

o

u

ri

accusative marker

ma

si

ta

verb + politeness (sold)

ka

.

question marker

What did he sell yesterday?

You can ask who sold a picture yesterday: Kana: Romanization: Da Structure: Meaning:

re

noun (who)

ga

ki

nominative marker

nô

e

o

u

ri

accunoun sative (picture) marker

adverb (yesterday)

ma

si

verb + politeness (sold)

ta

ka

.

question marker

Who sold a picture yesterday?

You cannot use the topic marker for interrogatives, because they will never be a topic. You use interrogatives to request information, while topics must have been already talked about. That is why you have to use the nominative marker here to mark the subject of the sentence. Using interrogatives for a copula is also the same. Just change words as follows: Kana: Romanization: Ka Structure: Meaning:

re

noun (he)

wa topic marker

Su

zu ki noun (Suzuki, a family name)

sa

n

suffix (Mr./Ms.)

de

su

copula (is + polite)

He is Mr. Suzuki.

Kana: Romanization: Ka Structure:

noun (he)

re

wa topic marker

da

re

noun (who)

de

su

ka

copula question (is + polite) marker

.

.

Meaning:

Who is he?

When the interrogative

"nani", which means what, is combined with a copula, it becomes

"nan" for ease of pronunciation.

Kana: Romanization: Ko noun (this)

Structure: Meaning:

re

wa

ri

topic marker

n

go

noun (apple)

de

su

.

copula (is + polite)

This is an apple.

Kana: Romanization: Ko Structure: Meaning:

re

wa

noun topic (this) marker What is this?

na

n

noun (what)

de

su

ka

.

copula question (is + polite) marker

Its pronunciation is not changed in colloquial questions, because the nonpast-form copula is removed in colloquial questions as I have explained. Kana: Romanization: Ko re noun Structure: (this)

wa topic marker

ri

wa

na

n go noun (apple)

da copula (is)

.

Kana: Romanization: Ko

re

noun (this)

Structure: The interrogative

topic marker

ni

?

noun (what)

"nani" can be used to ask a number. It works as a prefix and becomes

"nan".

Look at the sample below: Kana: Romanization: Ka Structure: Meaning:

re

noun (he)

wa

go

da

i

me

no

ô

topic number counter suffix genitive marker (five) (generation) (-th) marker

de

noun (king)

su

.

copula (is + polite)

He is the fifth king.

Kana: Romanization: Ka Structure: Meaning:

re

wa

na

n

noun topic prefix (he) marker (x) What is x, where he is the x-th king?

da

i

me

no

counter suffix genitive (generation) (-th) marker

ô noun (king)

de

su

ka

copula question (is + polite) marker

.

I use a very strange translation here because translating it literally to English is impossible. You can even ask the following question: Kana: Romanization: Ka Structure: Meaning:

re

noun (he)

wa

ni

topic number marker (two)

zyû number (ten)

go

sa

i

da

.

number counter copula (five) (years old) (is)

He is twenty-five years old.

Kana: Romanization: Ka Structure: Meaning:

noun (he)

re

wa

ni

topic number marker (two)

zyû number (ten)

na prefix (x)

n

sa

i

?

counter (years old)

What is x, where he is twenty-x years old?

For both of the questions, you must answer not only x but whole phrases which contain x, which are "the fifth king" for the first question and "twenty-five years old" for the second.

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8.1. Pronouns You might think learning pronouns after learning verbs and adjectives is strange, because many language courses begin with the pronouns. But as far as Japanese is concerned, you don't have to learn pronouns first, because there is no grammatical difference between pronouns and common nouns in Japanese. There is more than one word to mean yourself, like you often have more than one word to mean other things. Here is a list of pronouns commonly used in Japanese textbooks. Remember cases are shown by postpositions, so there is no inflection of nouns and pronouns in Japanese. Kana: Romanization: wa ta si Meaning: I (the speaker) Kana: Romanization: a na ta Meaning: singular you (the addressee) Now that you know the words for I and singular you , you can make typical sentences in textbooks like this: Kana: Romanization: Wa Structure: Meaning:

ta

si

noun (I) I am a Japanese.

wa

Ni

topic marker

ho

n

noun (Japan)

zi

n

suffix (person)

de

su

.

copula (is + polite)

Kana: Romanization:

A

na

ta

wa

Structure:

noun (singular you)

topic marker

Meaning:

You are an American.

A

me ri noun (America*1)

ka

zi

n

suffix (person)

de

su

.

copula (is + polite)

*1: Being an imported word, the Japanese word for America is written with katakana, not hiragana. The pronoun "watashi" is commonly used in formal situations. But the pronoun "anata" is not commonly used, because using the name of the addressee is much better than using pronouns both in colloquial Japanese and in formal Japanese. There are some other pronouns available. The list below is the tip of the iceberg; Japanese has dozens of pronouns.

Kana: Romanization: bo Meaning:

ku

I

This is a boyish polite pronoun for the speaker. Many school boys and some young adults use it in formal situations.

Kana: Romanization: o Meaning: I

re

This is an impolite colloquial pronoun for the speaker. Many men prefer it in informal situations.

Kana: Romanization: a Meaning: I

ta

si

This is a girlish colloquial pronoun for the speaker. It is not so commonly used.

Kana: Romanization: ki mi Meaning: you (singular) This is a colloquial pronoun for the addressee. Using it seems to me snobbish. It is not good to use it for people who have higher position than you. It is often used with "boku".

Kana: Romanization: o ma Meaning: you (singular)

e

This is an impolite colloquial pronoun for the addressee. Some men prefer it in informal situations. It is used with "ore".

As you see, some Japanese pronouns clearly indicate the speaker's position and sex. (Using gender for male and female is misleading in linguistics.) But this does not necessarily mean Japanese is male-centric. The language simply provides choice, and which word you use is totally up to you.

You also have several choices for we and plural you. I have told that Japanese doesn't care about singular and plural, but pronouns are exceptional. Using singular pronouns for plural people is strange and vice versa. The suffixes pronouns.

"tati" and

"ra" are used for plural pronouns. These are common suffixes for people, not only for

Kana: Romanization: wa Meaning:

ta

si

ta

ku

ta

ti

ti

we

Kana: Romanization: bo Meaning: we

You can use

instead of

, but the latter is more common.

It is no problem to use commonly used like this:

"anatatati" for the addressees, but the polite plural suffix

"gata" is more

Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

a

na

ta

ga

ta

you (plural)

The polite plural suffix has a feeling of respect, so you cannot use it for yourselves. Other than these, there is another word for a group of the speakers: Kana: Romanization: wa Meaning: we

re

wa

This pronoun consists of the word

re

"ware", which is an ancient pronoun for the speaker.

Pronouns for the third person are scarcely used in Japanese, because using a person's name is always preferred. Kana: Romanization: ka Meaning: he

re

Kana: Romanization: ka Meaning:

no

zyo

she

I don't think these words are often used. In fact was invented only 100 years ago. Before that was used for both men and women. Japanese is grammatically far less sensitive to the difference between male and female than European languages in the sense that it has no gender based on sex, but Japanese people invented the word for she to make translating European books easier when they started the modernization of Japan. Meanwhile, the following phrases are also used: Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

a no demonstrative adjective (that)

hi

to

noun (person)

that person (adult)

Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

a no demonstrative adjective (that)

ko noun (child)

that child

You can use a politer word

LH' "kata", which is the same as the polite plural suffix

"gata".

Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

a no ka ta demonstrative noun adjective (person, polite) (that) that person (adult, polite)

I will explain demonstratives later. The way to make plurals is the same as that of the speaker and the addressee. Use Kana:

and

like the following:

Romanization: ka Meaning:

re

ra

they (men)

Kana: Romanization: ka no Meaning: they (women) For some unknown reason, problem. You can also use better.

zyo

ra

"karetati" is not used at all, while using "kanozyotati" is no "ano hitotati", which is nonsexist. Of course using a person's name is always

The word "san" is a well-known suffix to call a person politely. It can be used for given names, and it is used not only for individuals but also for groups of people such as companies when politeness is required. It is not as formal as English Mr. and Ms., so you usually use it for co-workers. Japanese people call close friends by family names, nicknames, and given names, without using . I don't use the words first name and last name, because the given name is placed after the family name in Japanese, which comes from the head-last rule. Remember the word order of the genitive marker "no". My name "Takasugi Sinzi" means "Takasugi no Sinzi". In English, the given name is placed before the family name because of its head-first rule. John Smith means John of Smith. Japanese people know the English name order, so they don't change the order of English names. Hungarians may have a problem because they place their family name first but Japanese people expect all European people to have the English name order. The Japanese word for name is "namae", but it also means the given name. The family name is "myôzi". Since the word means either a name or a given name, you can use the phrase "sita no namae", which means the lower name, to clearly mean the given name. You can use the phrase "ue no namae", which means the upper name, for the family name. Japanese is written vertically from top to bottom, so the upper name means the family name and the lower name means the given name. It is similar to calling the given name first name in English.

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8.2. Demonstratives 8.2.1. Three locations Demonstratives are words to point something based on its location. "This" and "that" are English demonstratives. They can also be used to point something talked about in a conversation, such as "That's a nice idea." English demonstratives and similar words form pairs, one for things near to the speaker and the other for things far from the speaker, such as "this" and "that", "these" and "those", and "here" and "there". But this system is different from Japanese. If you know Spanish, it will help you learn the Japanese demonstratives. Spanish has three locations for demonstratives, instead of two. For example, a masculine singular object is addressed by these three words: éste, ése, and aquél, each representing near to the speaker, near to the addressee, and far from both. This is the same as Japanese. In this system, not only the speaker's position but also the addressee's position is important. You might think this is complicated, but remember most languages have three kinds of personal pronouns: first person (the speaker), second person (the addressee), and third person (other people). Having three locations for demonstratives is basically the same as having three kinds of personal pronouns. Some Japanese demonstratives are shown below: Kana: Romanization: ko re Meaning: this one Kana: Romanization: so re Meaning: that one Kana: Romanization: a re Meaning: that one These are equivalents of this and that, but I added the word one after this and that because they don't combine with a following noun. The first one and the second one are the same in English, but they are different in Japanese (and in Spanish, as I have written). The first one, , is used for a thing near to the speaker. The second one, , is used for a thing near to the addressee. And the third one, , is used for a thing far from both. For instance, imagine both you and a friend have an apple. You call your apple and your friend's apple . If you and your friend see an apple on a table, both of you call it . Demonstratives used in conversation depends on the location of the speaker, the addressee, and the thing that is referred to. The table below shows which demonstratives to be used when A and B are talking:

The location Demonstratives Demonstratives of the referred object used by A used by B

near to both A and B

ko

re

ko

this

nearer to A

ko

this

re

so

this

nearer to B

so

re

a

ko

and

re this

re

a

that Note that

re that

that

far from both A and B

re

re that

are not used together.

8.2.2. The ko-so-a-do words You might have noticed that the Japanese words for this and that I explained above, , , and , are similar in pronunciation. The Japanese word for which is also similar; it is "dore". Not only these demonstrative pronouns but also other demonstratives and interrogatives have systematic phonemes. The demonstratives and interrogatives with the systematic phonemes are called "kosoadokotoba", the ko-so-a-do words. "ko" is the prefix for things near to the speaker and not nearer to the addressee, "so" is for things nearer to the addressee, "a" is for things far from both, and "do" is for interrogatives. The table below shows most of the ko-so-a-do words: Demonstratives Location

Pronoun (thing)

Near to the speaker

ko re this one

Near to the addressee

so re that one

Interrogatives Far from both

a re that one

-

do re which one

Pronoun (place)

ko

ko

so

this place, here

Pronoun (direction)

ko

ko

t

ti

ko

no

t

so

na

this kind of ... Adverb (manner)

so

ti

a

no

so

ko

do

t

a

ti

do

na

no

a

that kind of ...

t

ti

which direction

do

that ...

n

ko

which place, where

that direction

that ...

n

so that place, there

that direction

this ... Attributive (type)

a

that place, there

this direction Attributive (thing)

ko

no

which ...

n

na

do

that kind of ...

n

na

what kind of ...

kô

sô

â

dô

thus, in this manner

in that manner

in that manner

how

Note that pronouns and attributives are different. Pronouns cannot combine with a noun, while attributives need a following noun. The English word this is used for both "this is a pen" (pronoun) and "this pen is blue" (attributive), but they are different in Japanese. The former is "kore", and the latter is "kono". Compare the English words we and our. We categorize the former as a pronoun and the latter as an attributive here. Note that the demonstrative pronoun for a place far from both the speaker and the addressee is "ako". Here is an example of ko-so-a-do words: Kana: Romanization:

E

Structure:

noun (station)

Meaning:

ki

wa topic marker

do ko pronoun (where)

de su ka copula question (is + polite) marker

.

Where is the station?

Kana: Romanization:

E

ki

wa

a

t

ti

de

su

.

"asoko", not

Structure: Meaning:

noun (station)

topic marker

pronoun (that direction)

copula (is + polite)

The station is in that direction. (with pointing at some direction)

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8.3. Body parts 8.3.1. Head

Kana: Romanization: a Meaning: head

ta

ma

Kana: Romanization: ka Meaning: face

o

Kana: Romanization: me Meaning: eye For your interest: In Japanese culture, the eyes are the most important part of the face. Japanese has many proverbs about eyes, and one of them says "the eye talks as much as the mouth does", which means you can express and read emotions through eyes. This is one reason why eyes of Japanese manga and animation characters are exaggerated. Kana: Romanization: ha Meaning: nose

na

For your interest: The nose is the least important part of the face in Japanese culture. Kana: Romanization: ku Meaning: mouth

ti

Kana: Romanization: ku Meaning: lips Kana:

ti

bi

ru

Romanization: ha Meaning:

tooth

Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

si

ta

tongue

Note: In colloquial Japanese, the word

"bero" is more commonly used for tongue.

Kana: Romanization: mi Meaning:

mi

ear

Kana: Romanization: hô Meaning: cheek Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

hi

ta

i

forehead

Note: In colloquial Japanese, the word

"odeko" is more commonly used for forehead.

Kana: Romanization: ku Meaning: neck

bi

For your interest: This word also means firing a person. It comes from decapitation as a metaphor of dismissal. Kana: Romanization: no Meaning: throat

do

Kana: Romanization: a Meaning: tin

go

Kana: Romanization: ka Meaning:

mi

no

ke

hair (on the head)

Note: The word "kami" means hair on the head, but the word above is more clear because also means paper. They just happen to share the same pronunciation. "no" is the genitive marker and "ke" means hair (not necessarily on the head). Kana: Romanization: ma Meaning:

yu

ge

eyebrow

Note: The word

"mayu" also means eyebrow.

"ge" is a suffix form of

"ke", which means hair.

Kana: Romanization: ma Meaning:

tu

ge

eyelash

Kana: Romanization: hi ge Meaning: mustache, beard

8.3.2. Hand

Kana: Romanization: te Meaning: hand Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

te

no

hi

ra

palm

Note: This word consists of three parts: Kana:

(hand), the genitive marker

, and

"hira" (flat surface).

Romanization: te no kô Meaning: the back of a hand Note: This word consists of three parts:

(hand), the genitive marker

, and

"kô" (tortoise shell).

Kana: Romanization: yu bi Meaning: digit (finger, toe) Note: This word includes twenty digits - ten fingers and ten toes. Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

o

ya

yu

bi

thumb, big toe

Note: The word

"oya" means parent, so it literally means parent finger.

Kana: Romanization: hi to sa si Meaning: index finger, second toe

yu

bi

Note: This word comes from "hito" (person), "sasi" (the noun form of the verb point), and (finger), so its literal meaning is person-pointing finger.

"sasu", which means

Kana: Romanization: na ka Meaning: middle finger Note: Since the word

yu

bi

"naka" means middle, this word is exactly the same as middle finger.

Kana: Romanization: ku Meaning:

su

ri

yu

bi

ring finger

Note: The word "kusuri" means medicine, and this word literally means medicine finger. The ring finger often has a strange name in many languages, such as ring finger in English and "wúmíngzhî" in Mandarin, which literally means nameless finger. Those names are probably related; ancient people thought the ring finger was a magic finger. Kana:

Romanization: ko yu Meaning: little finger Note: The prefix

bi

"ko" means little, so it is the same as little finger.

Kana: Romanization: tu Meaning: nail

me

8.3.3. Other body parts

Kana: Romanization: ka Meaning:

ta

shoulder

Kana: Romanization: u Meaning: arm

de

Kana: Romanization: hi Meaning: elbow

zi

Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

te

ku

bi

wrist

Note: This word is a combination of Kana: Romanization: a si Meaning: leg, foot Kana: Romanization:

hi

za

(hand) and

(neck).

Meaning:

knee

Kana: Romanization: a Meaning: ankle

si

ku

bi

Note: This word is a combination of

(foot) and

(neck).

Kana: Romanization: mu ne Meaning: chest, breast Kana: Romanization: o na Meaning: abdomen

ka

Kana: Romanization: ko Meaning:

si

waist

Kana: Romanization: o si Meaning: buttocks

ri

8.3.4. Internal organs The Japanese word for internal organs is Kana: Romanization: nô Meaning: brain Kana: Romanization:

si

n

zô

"naizô". The suffix

"zô" is commonly used for organs.

Meaning:

heart

Kana: Romanization: ha Meaning: lung

i

Kana: Romanization: i Meaning: stomach Kana: Romanization: chô Meaning: intestines Kana: Romanization: ka Meaning: liver

n

zô

n

zô

Kana: Romanization: zi Meaning: kidney Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

bô

kô

the bladder

Kana: Romanization: ti Meaning: blood Note: The word

"ketueki" also means blood. It is a scientific term.

Kana: Romanization: ho Meaning: bone

ne

Kana: Romanization: ki Meaning: muscle

n

ni

ku

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8.4. Kinship 8.4.1. Kinship reference terms Japanese kinship terms have two categories: reference terms and address terms. The latter is used to call your family without using their name, like the English words dad and mom. Kinship reference terms are never used to call them directly. Kana: Romanization: o Meaning: parent

ya

Note: Another word

"hubo", which means father and mother, is also commonly used in formal situations.

Kana: Romanization: ti Meaning: father

ti

Note: The word

"titioya" is also commonly used.

Kana: Romanization: ha ha Meaning: mother Note: The word

"hahaoya" is also commonly used.

Kana: Romanization: a ni Meaning: elder brother Note: Japanese distinguishes elder brothers and younger brothers. The word "kyôdai" means brothers and sisters and it is sometimes useful, but using it for a specific brother/sister is as strange as using the English word sibling for him/her. It depends on language what information you have to give when you talk about a sibling. You have to clarify his/her sex and age compared to you in Japanese, while in English you don't have to tell his/her age. You might be interested to know that in Indonesian you have to clarify only his/her age because it has a word for elder sibling and another word for younger sibling. Kana: Romanization:

a

ne

Meaning:

elder sister

Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

o

tô

to

younger brother

Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

i

mô

to

younger sister

Kana: Romanization: so Meaning:

hu

grandfather

Kana: Romanization: so bo Meaning: grandmother Note: The word

"sohubo" means grandfather and grandmother.

Kana: Accent: L Romanization: ko Meaning: child Note: Another word and daughters.

"kodomo" is also commonly used for child, but it often means all minors, not only your sons

Kana: Romanization: mu Meaning: son

su

ko

Romanization: mu su Meaning: daughter

me

Kana:

Kana: Romanization: ma Meaning:

go

grandchild

Note: If you want to distinguish grandsons and granddaughters, you can use and "magomusume" (granddaughter), but simply saying

"magomusuko" (grandson) is commoner.

Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

o

zi

uncle

Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

o

ba

aunt

Kana: Romanization: i Meaning: cousin

to

ko

Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

o

i

nephew

Kana: Romanization: me Meaning: niece

i

8.4.2. Kinship address terms The following words are used to call elder members of your family, like dad and mom. It is also good to use them to refer to other people's families, but using them to talk about your own family in formal situations sounds childish. Use given names to call younger members of your family. Kana: Romanization:

o

tô

sa

n

Meaning:

dad

Note: The first "o" is a common politeness prefix for nouns, and removing it sounds you are matured. The last "san" is the same as the Japanese equivalent of Mr. and Ms., but it's a part of the word and you can't remove it. Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

o

kâ

sa

n

mom

Kana: Romanization: o nî sa Meaning: elder brother (address term)

n

Note: Children prefer the word .

"onîtyan". The last

"tyan" is a childlike version of

Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

o

nê

sa

n

elder sister (address term)

Note: Children prefer the word

"onêtyan".

Kana: Romanization: o Meaning: grandpa

zî

tya

Note: The word

n

"ozîsan" is often used for old men in general, not necessarily your grandfather.

Kana: Romanization: o Meaning: grandma

bâ

tya

Note: The word grandmother.

"obâsan" is often used for old women in general, not necessarily your

Kana: Romanization: Meaning:

n

o

zi

sa

uncle (address term)

n

Note: This word is also used for general middle-age men. Kana: Romanization: o ba sa Meaning: aunt (address term)

n

Note: This word is also used for general middle-age women.

The interesting point of the kinship address terms is that the viewpoint is usually fixed on the youngest member of the family. For example, it is not uncommon at all for a man with a kid to call his wife "okâsan" and for his wife to call her husband "otôsan", because their word usage is based on their kid's viewpoint. If they live with his or her parents, they would call their father "ozîtyan" and their mother "obâtyan".

Further readings: Comparison of kinship terms (written in Japanese)

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8.5. Colors First of all, please note that the colors you see on your computer screen are highly dependent on your particular system. Different systems often display different colors. The color files used here are adjusted for my system.

8.5.1. Basic color names All Japanese color names are nouns, but the six basic color names shown below have corresponding adjectives. The Japanese basic colors are a system based on color warmth/coolness and lightness/darkness. The adjective of a basic color is a combination of the color noun and the adjective suffix "i". In this chart, the upper words are nouns and the lower words are adjectives. Warm colors

Cool colors Yellow

Light colors

White

Red

Blue ki

i

ro

ki

i

ro

i

si

ro

si

ro

Brown

Dark colors

a

ka

a

ka

i

Black

i

tya

i

ro

tya

i

ro

i

ku

ro

ku

ro

a

o

a

o

i

i

It is interesting that brown seems more important than green in Japanese. Since green is not a basic color, the word often used for it in old compound words, such as "aoyasai" (green vegitables). Remember Japanese adjectives contain tense.

means the color red, while

is

means something is red. Its past

form is

"akakatta" (something was red).

8.5.2. Important color names Colors other than the basic colors only have nouns. Use a copula to make a color noun predicator. Most color names have the suffix "iro", which means color. You can add it after a color name if it is not there. Color

Word

Description Green.

mi

do

ri

Purple. mu

ra

sa

ki Gray.

ha

i

i

ro

The word "hai" means ash. The imported word which came from gray, is also common.

"gurê",

Pink. mo

da

mi

mo

i

zu

i

ro

da

i

i

ro

The word "momo" means peach. The imported word "pinku", which came from pink, is common too. Orange. It is the name of a kind of orange, but it is not well known. The common name for Japanese oranges is "mikan". Western oranges are called "orenji", and it's also used for the color orange. Light blue. The word

"mizu" means water.

8.5.3. Additional color names Color names shown here are not so common, but they should be understood by any native Japanese speaker. Japanese has hundreds of color names, but to my regret many of them are being lost, as Japanese traditions are being lost. Color

Word

Description

Pale pink. sa

ku

a

ka

ra

ne

i

i

ro

Crimson. The word "akane" is a plant whose root is used to dye cloth deep red.

ro

Vermilion. syu

ya

i

ma

u

gu

bu

i

ro

ki

su

i

i

ro

ro

Orange yellow. The word flower.

"yamabuki" means a kind of yellow

Olive green. The word

"uguisu" means a kind of bird.

Yellow green. ki

mi

hu

ka

a

i

do

mi

i

ri

do

ri

Deep green. The prefix comes from the adjective which means deep. Dark blue. The word

ro

"ai" means Japanese indigo.

Dark purplish blue. ko

n'

i

ro

Lavender. hu

zi

i

ro

Yellow ochre. ô

do

i

ro

"hukai",

Dark brown. ko

ge

tya

Further readings: colors (was Re: adjective help!) Re: colors Re: aoi Iro Mihon no Yakata (written in Japanese) Nippon no Dentô-shoku (written in Japanese)

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8.6. Space-time 8.6.1. Directions All of the direction words in Japanese are nouns, while the English words up and down are not nouns.

u e up, upper

hi

da left

ri

mi

gi right

si ta down, lower

ma e forward

u

si ro backward

ki ta north

ni

si

hi

west

mi

na south

mi

ga east

si

8.6.2. Temporal nouns I have written that every noun in a Japanese sentence is marked by a postposition, but temporal nouns, which stand for time relative to now, are the exceptions. You don't have to add a postposition when you use them as an adverb. It is the same as in English, because you don't use any preposition for the temporal nouns such as yesterday and today. Offset

-2

Day

o

to

Year

to

i

o

the day before yesterday

-1

ki

nô

kyo

+2

+3

kyô

-2

ne

n

to

si

i

ne

n

tomorrow

next year

a sa t te the day after tomorrow

sa ra i the year after next

ne

a

ko this year

si

ta

si a sa three days later

Note: The noun

Offset

si

last year

today

+1

to

the year before last

yesterday

0

to

ra

t

-

te

"tosi" means year. The prefix

"rai" means coming.

Month

se n se the month before last

n

n

Week

ge

tu

se n se the week before last

n

syû

-1

se

n

ge

tu

se

last month

0

ko

n

ra

ge

tu

ko

sa

n

syû

i

syû

this week

i

ge

tu

ra

next month

+2

syû

last week

this month

+1

n

next week

ra

i

ge

tu

sa

the month after next Note: The suffix previous. The prefix

ra

i

syû

the week after next

"getu" means month, and the noun "kon" means current.

"syû" means week. The prefix

"sen" means

Example: Kana: Romanization:

O

Structure: Meaning:

to to adverb (the day before yesterday)

i

te

m

pu

ra

noun (tempura)

o

ta

accusative marker

verb (ate)

I ate tempura the day before yesterday.

Kana: Romanization: Ki Structure: Meaning:

nô adverb (yesterday)

e

i ga noun (movie)

I saw a movie yesterday.

In both of the sentences, temporal nouns work as adverbs.

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o accusative marker

mi

ta

verb (saw)

be

.

ta

.

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8.7. Vertebrates 8.7.1. The Chinese zodiac You might have heard of the Chinese zodiac. Each year is associated to one of the twelve animals in Chinese custom, and it is used mainly for fortune-telling. Japanese people also know the twelve animals, whether they believe fortune-telling or not. You can calculate the animal of the year when you were born. The year 1996 is associated to the first animal rat, 1997 is to the ox, 1998 is to the tiger, and so on. I was born in 1970, the year of the dog. This order doesn't mean order of importance at all. Order

Animal

1

Description Rat, mouse.

ne

zu

mi

2

Ox, cow. u

si

3

Tiger. to

ra

4

Rabbit, hare. u

sa

gi Dragon. This is an imaginary animal, of course. The word "tatu" also means the dragon and is more commonly used for the year of the dragon.

5 ryû

6

Snake. he

bi

7

Horse. u

ma

8 hi

tu

9

zi

Sheep. In China, the year of the goat ( the sheep.

Monkey. sa

ru

"yagi" in Japanese) is used instead of

Chicken. The word LH "niwa" means yard, and "tori" means bird. The latter is more commonly used for the year of the chicken than .

10 ni

wa

to

ri

11

Dog. i

nu

12 i

no

si

si

Wild boar. In China, the year of the pig ( of the wild boar.

"buta" in Japanese) is used instead

Further readings: Re: The Chinese Zodiac the origin of the dragon Re: saru

8.7.2. Mammals

ta

nu

ki

raccoon dog Note: Raccoon dogs are animals of the dog family native to Japan that look like raccoons. They often appear in fairy tales as mischievous animals with magic power. They are often described to be stupid.

ki fox

tu

ne

Note: Foxes often appear in fairy tales as sly animals with magic power.

ô

ka

mi

wolf Note: Coming from the adjective "ôkii" (big) and the noun "kami" (god), this word literally means great god. Wolves were not considered evil in Japanese culture. Wolves went extinct a few hundred years ago in Japan.

ra lion

i

o

n

Note: Since this is an imported word, katakana are used. Japanese doesn't have the sound of English "l", so it is changed to Japanese "r".

hyô panther

ku

ma

bear

si

ka

deer

zô elephant

ki

ri

giraffe

sa i rhinoceros

ka ba hippopotamus

n

ra camel

ku

da

ku whale

zi

ra

i

ru

ka

a si sea lion

ka

a seal

ra

dolphin

za

8.7.3. Birds

ka

ra

su

crow, raven

ha to pigeon, dove

su sparrow

zu

me

si

tu ba swallow

u

gu

me

i

su

Japanese nightingale Note: Japanese nightingales are diurnal birds found in the spring.

ki zi pheasant For your interest: The pheasant is the symbol bird of Japan. They are so rare now that people scarcely see a wild pheasant.

ka mo wild duck

a

hi

ru

domestic duck

ga goose

chô

i

n

ko

macaw, parrakeet

ô parrot

mu

ka mo sea gull

me

8.7.4. Reptiles and amphibians

ka me tortoise

wa ni crocodile

to

ka

ge

e

ru

lizard

ka frog

8.7.5. Fish Japan is famous for sea food, and probably Japanese has more words for LHH "sakana" (fish) than any other language. The translation of the words listed here is not precise because English doesn't have many words for fish. You can eat all of these fish. (I can't. I'm an unlucky Japanese allergic to fish and I get stomachache after eating fish!)

ma tuna

gu

ro

u

na

gi

eel

sa n ma mackerel pike

a zi horse mackerel

bu ri yellowtail

hu

gu

fugu (balloonfish) For your interest: The fugu is delicious white-meat fish, but eating it can be dangerous because it has deadly poison. You need a license to cook fugu in Japan.

sa ke salmon

sa shark

me

For your interest: Few Japanese people eat shark, except for Chinese shark fin soup, which is one of the three finest Chinese cuisines. (The other two are bird's nest soup and sea cucumber.) The word "huka" also means shark, and it is more often used for shark fins for the soup.

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8.8. Invertebrates 8.8.1. Molluscans All of the molluscans listed here except snails are edible. (Escargots are not so popular in Japan.)

ta ko octopus

i squid

ka

ha clam

ma

gu

ri

a sa ri short-necked clam For your interest: This is the most popular shellfish in Japan.

si zi corbicula

mi

For your interest: Corbiculas are small shellfish often used for miso soup.

ho scallop

ta

te

ka

ki

oyster Note: This word has a different accent from persimmon. The five words above are all

ka

ta

tu

mu

/ka' i/ "kai" (shellfish).

ri

snail

8.8.2. Crustaceans

ka

ni

crab

e

bi

shrimp, lobster

8.8.3. Insects Japanese has many words for always good English translations.

ka bu to mu beetle (found in forests)

"musi" (insect) because insect's sound is as evaluated as bird's song. There are not

si

Note: This word is used only for beetles with a big horn found in forests. It is the combination of (warrior's helm) and "musi" (insect). The English word beetle has much wider meaning.

ku

wa

ga

ta

"kabuto"

stag beetle For your interest: beetle can cost 50,000 yen.

kô

ro

gi

gi

ri

"kabutomusi" and

"kuwagata" are so evaluated as pets in Japan that one

cricket

ki

ri

su

a kind of grasshopper

se

mi

cicada For your interest: Cicadas are very common in the summer in Japan. There are many kinds of cicada such as "aburazemi", "minminzemi", "higurasi", and "tukutukubôsi". Most Japanese people can distinguish them by hearing their sound.

tyô butterfly Note: The word for intestines.

"tyôtyo" also means butterfly. It is better when you want to avoid confusion with the word

ga moth

to dragonfly

n

bo

a

ri

ant

ha fly

e

ka mosquito

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8.9. Plants 8.9.1. Flowers I have already explained chrysanthemum and cherry blossom.

tu tu zi Japanese azalea

hi ma sunflower

yu lily

ri

ra orchid

n

ta n dandelion

ba rose

wa

ri

po

po

sa

i

ra

a zi hydrangea

ha

su

lotus

8.9.2. Trees

ma

tu

pine

su

gi

cedar

i ginkgo

chô

mo mi zi a kind of maple

ka maple

e

de

hi no ki Japanese cypress

8.9.3. Foods

I have already introduced apples, oranges, peaches, plums, and tomatos.

bu

dô

grape

ka ki persimmon Note: This word has different tones from oyster.

na

si

Japanese pear Note: Japanese pears are quite different from Western pears. They look like apples, and they are much more juicier than Western pears. You should peel it before you eat because the peel is not tasty.

sa

ku

ra

su i watermelon

ka

n

bo

cherry

me

ro

n

melon Note: Watermelons and melons are different in Japanese, and watermelons are never called

i ti strawberry

go

.

ba na banana

ku

na

ri

chestnut

kyû cucumber

ri

da i ko n Japanese long raddish

ni

n

zi

n

carrot

go bô Japanese burdock

kya

be

tu

re

n

cabbage

hô spinach

ka

bo

tya

sô

squash, pumpkin

zya

ga

i

mo

potato The word

"imo" generally means potatoes including sweet potatoes and yams.

sa tu sweet potato

ma

i

sî

ta

ke

mo

a kind of mushroom

si me zi a kind of mushroom

ma tu ta a kind of mushroom

ke

Note: All of these three are kinds of

ko

n

bu

a kind of sea vegetable

wa ka me a kind of sea vegetable

no

ri

H'LL "kinoko" (mushroom).

a kind of sea vegetable Note: Dryed mashed nori is used for sushi to roll rice.

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9.1. Dialogue 1 I will explain Japanese grammar using dialogues from now on. In the first dialogue, a kid named

"Syô" comes home and he has a tea break with his mother

"Hiroko".

: Romanization: Ta Structure:

da i interjection (I'm back)

ma

.

It's good manners to say this greeting when you are back. Its literal meaning is "just now", which came from "I came back just now", but its original meaning is not important. : Romanization:

O

ka

e

ri

.

O

interjection (welcome back)

Structure:

It's good manners to say say

ya

tu

ga nominative marker

noun (tea time snack)

a

ru

yo

verb (exist)

"okaeri" as a reply to the greeting "okaerinasai".

.

opinion marker

"tadaima". To make it polite, you can

Hiroko's second sentence literally means "A tea time snack exists." The verb have is often used to mean something exists in English, such as "We have a tea time snack." in this case. In Japanese, the existential verbs are commonly used. Also note that the topic marker is not used for the subject, because the whole sentence is new information. Using the topic marker here means the supposed preceding question is whether there is a tea time snack, which seems strange because the boy talks nothing about snack. : Romanization: Na ni interrogative Structure: noun (what)

?

Shô asks what snack his mother has. In English, "What?" often means "What did you say?", but in Japanese it often means "What is it?" The original sentence of it is shown below: Kana: Romanization:

Kyô

no

o

ya

tu

wa

na

ni

?

genitive marker (of)

noun (today)

Structure: Meaning:

noun (tea time snack)

topic marker

interrogative noun (what)

What is today's tea time snack? :

Romanization: Ni

ku

ma

n

noun (a Chinese bun with pork)

Structure:

.

Na

ni

ka

noun (something)

no

mu

?

verb (drink)

Answering only with a noun without any other word is no problem in colloquial Japanese. In her second sentence, the accusative marker "o" is omitted after the object "nanika". Even though Japanese requires case markers after all nouns in a sentence, the topic marker "wa" and the accusative marker are sometimes omitted in colloquial Japanese. The word

obviously came from the interrogative

"nani".

The chart below shows the relationship between the interrogatives and the words for indefinite things: Interrogatives

Thing

Person

Indefinite nouns

na ni what

na

ni ka something

da

da

re ka somebody

i

tu ka some day

do ko where

do

ko ka somewhere

na

na ze ka for some reason

re who

Time

Place

Reason

i

tu when

ze why

The accusative marker after these indefinite nouns is almost always omitted in colloquial Japanese, and they are often omitted

in written Japanese too. : Romanization: Mu

gi

tya

wa

noun (barley tea)

Structure:

topic marker

a

ru

?

verb (exist)

Be sure to use the topic marker for barley tea here. They have talked about something to drink, and the son chooses barley tea as topic. : Romanization: Mu

gi

tya

wa

noun (barley tea)

Structure:

re

i

topic marker

zô noun (refrigerator)

ko

ni dative marker (to)

(continued) Romanization: Structure:

a

ru

verb (exist)

yo

.

opinion marker

When you say the location of a thing, use the dative case marker "ni". The function of the dative marker will be explained in detail later. Since you can change word order quite freely in Japanese, the following two sentences are semantically the same. Kana: Romanization: Ki Structure:

ga nominoun native (tree) marker

ni

wa

ni dative marker (to)

a

ga nominoun native (tree) marker

a

noun (yard)

ru

.

verb (exist)

Kana: Romanization: Ni Structure:

wa

noun (yard)

ni dative marker (to)

ki

ru

.

verb (exist)

Both of them means that there is a tree in a yard. If you use the topic marker for them, the difference becomes clear.

Kana: Romanization: Ki

wa

ni

Structure:

noun topic (tree) marker

Meaning:

The tree is in a yard.

wa

noun (yard)

ni dative marker (to)

a

ru

.

verb (exist)

Kana: Romanization: Ni

wa

noun (yard)

Structure: Meaning:

ni wa dative topic marker marker (to)

ki

ga nominoun native (tree) marker

a

ru

.

verb (exist)

The yard has a tree.

Remember the topic marker overrides the nominative marker. As I have explained, the existential verb "aru" ( "iru" for animates) is commonly used for existence in Japanese, while both be and have are used in English. The following sentence is helpful to understand more clearly: Kana: Romanization: Ka

re

noun (he)

Structure: Meaning:

ni wa dative topic marker marker (to)

a

ne

ga nominoun native (elder sister) marker

i

ru

.

verb (exist)

He has an elder sister.

Now, let's get back to the conversation. : Romanization: Wa Structure:

ka

t

verb (understood)

ta

.

Kâ

sa noun (mom)

n

mo addition marker (also)

no

mu

?

verb (drink)

The first sentence is the same as "I see." and "I understand." in English. The addition marker "mo" is the second information marker we learn. (The first one is the topic marker "wa".) It is equivalent to too and also in English. A sentence with the addition marker is parallel to something that has been already talked about. The Japanese addition marker is more precise than the English one, and you have to distinguish the following sentences.

Kana: Romanization: Wa

ta

si

noun (I)

Structure:

mo addition marker (also)

o

tya noun (green tea)

o accusative marker

no

mo

no

mu

.

verb (drink)

Kana: Romanization: Wa

ta

si

noun (I)

Structure:

wa topic marker

o

tya noun (green tea)

addition marker (also)

mu

.

verb (drink)

The addition marker overrides the nominative marker and the accusative marker, like the topic marker does. The topic marker is not used when the addition marker is used. Both of the sentences mean "I drink green tea too", but what is added is different. The upper sentence means "(You drink grean tea and) I drink it too", in short "Me too", while the lower means " (I drink coffee and) I drink green tea too", in short "Green tea too". In the dialogue, Shô is about to drink barley tea, and he asks whether his mother also drinks the tea. So you need the addition marker after the word for mom. Also remember that pronouns for the addressee are not commonly used in Japanese, and using names or calling words such as mom are often used. : Romanization: Structure:

U n interjection (yeah)

.

Then he comes back with two cups of barley tea and says the following greeting: : Romanization: Structure:

I

ta

da ki ma interjection (I begin to eat)

su

.

The greetings chapter explains this phrase. Now we have finished the first dialogue. All the sentences are shown below again. : : :

:

: : : : :

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9.2. Dialogue 2 In this dialogue, Shô meets two students from overseas. One is a boy from the U.S., and the other is a girl from China. : Romanization: Ha

zi

Structure:

me ma si interjection (nice to meet you)

te

.

(continued) Romanization: Bo Structure:

ku

wa

noun (I)

Su

topic marker

gi

ya noun (Sugiyama, a surname)

ma

Shô noun (Shô, a given name)

de

su

.

copula (is + polite)

His surname is one of the hundreds of thousands of surnames in Japan. The most popular ones are "Takahasi", "Satô", and "Tanaka".

"Suzuki",

: Romanization: Ha

zi

me

ma

si

te

.

interjection (nice to meet you)

Structure:

(continued) Romanization: Wa Structure:

ta noun (I)

si

wa topic marker

Bi ru noun (Bill, a given name)

Gu

rî noun (Green, a surname)

n

de

su

.

copula (is + polite)

Since Japanese morae have a simple structure, writing pronunciations of foreign languages is sometimes difficult. In this case, Bill becomes "Biru". The sound of English "l" is changed to Japanese "r", and "u" is added to satisfy the rule that all consonants except "n" must be followed by a vowel. Foreign proper nouns such as names are written with katakana because they are imported words. You don't have to flip your name order when you speak Japanese. (continued) Romanization: Sa

n

d'i noun

e

go

ka ra ablative

ki

ma verb

si

ta

.

Structure:

(San Diego)

marker (from)

(came + polite)

Japanese didn't have the pronunciation of the English "di", because the Japanese "di" is pronounced as "ji". Later the combination of "de" and (small "i") was invented to describe the sound. See the chapter of double kana for imported words. The ablative case marker "kara" is the postposition for the starting point of a movement. It is the same as the English preposition from, and the sentence above means "I came from San Diego." On the other hand, the postposition for the ending point of a movement is the dative case marker the English preposition to. I show you two examples (the word for I is omitted) :

"ni". It is the same as

Kana: Romanization:

A

me

ri

ka

ka ra ablative marker (from)

noun (America)

Structure: Meaning:

Ni

ho

n

noun (Japan)

ni dative marker (to)

ki

ta

.

verb (came)

I came to Japan from America.

Kana: Romanization: Ka

re

noun (he)

Structure: Meaning:

ni

te

dative marker (to)

ga

mi

o

o

ku

accusative marker

noun (letter)

t

ta

.

verb (sent)

I sent a letter to him.

In both of the sentences above, the English preposition to is used for the Japanese postposition that the dative marker is also used for existence.

"ni". You have learned

: Romanization:

Dô

mo

Structure:

interjection (hello)

You have already learned a very useful phrase.

,

Wa n noun (Wáng, a surname)

Rî

ho wa noun (Lìhuá, a given name)

ho

su

.

copula (is + polite)

as "Thank you", but in fact you can also use it as "Hello" and "Nice to meet you", so it is

(continued) Romanization: Ni

de

n

go

no genitive

ha

tu

o

n

wa

Structure:

noun (the Japanese language)

marker (of)

noun (pronunciation)

topic marker

(continued) Romanization:

Ô

Re

noun (Ô, a surname)

Structure:

i

ka

de

noun (Reika, a given name)

su

.

copula (is + polite)

This sentence means "The Japanese pronunciation (of my name) is Ô Reika." Chinese and Japanese share kanji, but pronunciations are quite different. But kanji carry meanings, so they often allow themselves to be called in different pronunciation, using the same kanji. In this case, the character of her family name, which means king, is pronounced "wáng" in Mandarin and "ô" in Japanese. The first character of her given name, which means elegant, is "lì" in Mandarin and "rei" in Japanese. The second one, which means flower, is "huá" in Mandarin and "ka" in Japanese. My name "Takasugi Shinji" is pronounced "Gāoshān Qīnzhī" in Mandarin. Also notice that katakana are used for the Chinese pronunciation of her name and hiragana are used for the Japanese pronunciation. The suffix "go" means language, and it's easy to derive the language name from its spoken area. The only exception is English, which is called "eigo". Its origin is explained later. Country

Ni Japan

ho

Language

n

A me ri the United States

ka

I gi ri the United Kingdom

su

Ka na Canada

da

Ka n South Korea

ko

ku

Ni ho Japanese

n

E English

i

go

Ka Korean

n

ko

go

ku

go

Ta i Thailand

Ta Thai

Tyû

go

ku

China

i

go

Tyû

go

ku

go

Chinese

Do i Germany

tu

Hu France

ra

n

Ro Russia

si

a

su

Do German

i

tu

go

Hu French

ra

n

su

Ro si Russian

a

go

go

Note: Not all country names are from their original pronunciations. For example, the Japanese word for the United Kingdom came from Dutch. You have already learned the suffix "zin" for people of a country. Since it is simply added after a place name, such as "Igirisuzin" (a British person), it is much easier to derive a people's name than in English. (continued) Romanization: Structure:

Syu

s si n noun (hometown, native place)

wa topic marker

Sya

n ha noun (Shànghăi)

i

de su copula (is + polite)

.

You don't have to say words that are clear from context in Japanese. In this sentence, the phrase "watashi no" (I + genitive marker = my) before the noun "syussin" (hometown) is omitted, because it is clear she talks about her hometown. : Romanization: Ni Structure:

ho noun (Japan)

n

ni dative marker (to)

ki

ta

verb (came)

mo

ku

te

noun (purpose)

ki

wa topic marker

(continued) Romanization: na n noun Structure: (what)

de su ka copula question (is + polite) marker

The subject,

.

, is a relative clause that means "the purpose you came to Japan for".

: Romanization: Wa

ta

si

noun (I)

Structure:

wa topic marker

sa

dô de su noun (sadô, copula Japanese (is + polite) traditional art of tea)

.

Do not translate this sentence to "I am sadô." Actually it means "I came to Japan for sadô." Information clear from context is scarcely repeated in Japanese, and in this case "came to Japan for" is clear, and you don't have to say it again. But as I have explained, a predicator (either a verb, a copula, or an adjective) is necessary to form a gramatically correct sentence in Japanese, which is why the copula is just added to make the sentence grammatically correct. In addition, it is polite because the polite copula is used. You cannot use the polite mode unless you use a predicator. This structure is very common in Japanese, and you have to understand what predicator is omitted. The topic, , cannot be omitted here because it is a selected topic. Shô asked their purpose to come to Japan, and Bill answers only his purpose. If the topic was omitted, he would mean their purpose. : Romanization: Wa

ta

si

wa

noun (I)

topic marker

n ga noun (manga, Japanese comic)

o accusative marker

Structure:

ni

ho

n

ryô

ri

to group marker (and)

noun (Japan + cuisine)

(continued) Romanization: ma Structure:

ma

na verb (learn)

bu

tu

mo ri noun (to have a plan to do ...)

de

su

.

copula (is + polite)

This sentence means "I have a plan to learn Japanese cuisines and manga". The phrase "tumoridesu" is commonly used to mean you have a plan to do something. Its structure is not important because it is simply added after a sentence. The group marker

"to" is the same as the English word and. Even if there are more than two things in a group, all nouns

are often followed by the marker like this: Kana: Romanization: Structure: Meaning:

ni

wa

to

ri

to group noun marker (chicken) (and) Chickens, small birds, and crocodiles

ko

to

ri

noun (small bird)

to group marker (and)

wa

ni

noun (crocodile)

Just for your interest: The phrase above is a palindrome. Japanese palindromes are based on kana, not on alphabets. It's much easier to make palindromes in Japanese than in English. : Romanization: Ni

ho

n

ni wa dative topic marker marker (to)

noun (Japan)

Structure:

ge

n

da

i

bu

n

ka

to group marker (and)

de

su

noun (modern + culture)

(continued) Romanization: de

n

tô

Structure:

noun (tradition)

no

ryô

genitive marker (of)

hô

ga nominative marker

noun (both)

(continued) Romanization:

a

ri

ma

verb (exist + polite)

Structure:

su

ne tag question marker

.

Meaning: Japan has both modern culture and tradition, doesn't it? : Romanization: Structure:

Ê noun (yes)

,

so re demonstrative (that)

ga nominative marker

o

mo

si

ro

i

.

adjective (interesting + polite)

The subject is not followed by the topic marker, so it is a focus. The translation is "That is the interesting point of Japan," not just "That is interesting."

: Romanization: Wa

ta

si

mo addition marker (also)

noun (I)

Structure:

i

ro

i

ro

ma

na

adverb (variously)

bu

verb (learn)

(continued) Romanization: Structure:

tu

mo ri noun (to have a plan to do ...)

de

su

.

copula (is + polite)

Meaning: (Not only Reika but also) I am planning to learn various things. : Romanization: Bo Structure:

ku

mo

de

addition marker (also)

noun (I)

ki

ru

da

ke

adverb (as much as possible)

(continued) Romanization:

kyô

ryo ku si verb (cooperate, help + polite)

Structure:

ma

su

.

Meaning: (You make effort and) I also help you as much as possible. The verb "kyôryoku suru" (cooperate) is the combination of the noun "kyôryoku" (cooperation) and the verb "suru" (do). Remember the Japanese nonpast tense means either present or future. : Romanization: Structure:

A

ri

ga

tô

go za interjection (thank you very much)

The second dialogue is now over. All the sentences are shown below again.

i

ma

su

.

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