|
|
Post by Fritz on Feb 2, 2016 23:07:07 GMT
It seems odd to me that every sentence would end with the same sound. Oriental languages seem so perplexingly different from anything in Western speech. Here is a video what I was referring to, as the young lady translates Lorin Maazal’s comments for the audience. This was from the New York Philharmonic’s controversial 2008 performance in Pyongyang. I left in a section of the first movement of the Dvorak. This was a great performance, and there are some fascinating glimpses of the North Korean audience with some American diplomats sprinkled in. Yes, the basic structure for Korean (and Japanese if I'm not mistaken) is Subject-Object-Verb, so sentences nearly always end with the verb. With the formal, polite ( Hapsyoche) Korean speech level, statements always end with verb ending -nida. If you listen closely to the introduction, she also uses the polite greeting Annyeonghasimnikka (pronounced ahn-nyuhng-hah-sheem-nee-kah), which is actually in the form of a question (ending with - nikka). It literally means "Are you at peace?" It's kind of like someone greeting you in English by saying, "How do you do?" It's technically a question though we seldom think of it as one.  |
|
|
|
Post by dash on Feb 3, 2016 0:58:13 GMT
"Are you at peace?"  I like that. I'm sure an honest answer isn't often given—kind of like our "Fine, thank you." By the way, Steppy, sorry for getting your word of the day off track. I have a habit of doing that. I'll use my ADD as an excuse.  |
|
|
|
Post by moderator on Feb 3, 2016 1:24:46 GMT
Oh no, don't apologize... I greatly enjoy these discussions!  |
|
|
|
Post by moderator on Feb 8, 2016 22:48:57 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for February 8, 2016 is...
Sports - スポーツ
Romanization: supōtsu (su-poh-tsu)
The u in su and tsu should be barely pronounced.
|
|
|
|
Post by Fritz on Feb 8, 2016 23:01:39 GMT
That's an English import word no doubt, just like the Korean, seupocheu (스포츠). |
|
|
|
Post by moderator on Apr 2, 2016 20:19:31 GMT
As usual I've been neglecting my duties in providing a Japanese word for everyday.  Let's get back on track with... Animal - 動物 - どうぶつ
Romanization: doubutsu ( dou-butsu) If you look at the meaning of each of the kanji, 動 means 'move', and 物 means 'thing'. So, an animal is a moving thing. |
|
|
|
Post by moderator on Apr 3, 2016 18:36:18 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for April 3, 2016 is...
Living thing, creature - 生き物 - いきもの
Romanization: ikimono (ee-kee-moh-noh)
|
|
|
|
Post by moderator on Apr 4, 2016 21:39:08 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for April 4, 2016 is...
Mammal - 哺乳類 - ほにゅうるい
Romanization: honyuurui (hoh-nyoo-roo-ee)
哺 (ho) means to nurse, 乳 (nyuu) means milk, and 類 (rui) means sort. So, a mammal is the sort that nurses its young with milk.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2016 22:18:21 GMT
I like that you emphasis the syllables that stand out in pronunciation.
|
|
|
|
Post by moderator on Apr 5, 2016 0:26:01 GMT
Thank you! I'm always trying to improve my methods. |
|
|
|
Post by moderator on Apr 6, 2016 19:17:13 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for April 6, 2016 is... Reptile - 爬虫類 - はちゅうるいRomanization: hachuurui (hah- chuu-roo-ee) I guess we'll continue with the biology theme! 爬 (ha) means to scratch. 虫 (chuu) means bug (mushi!), and again 類 (rui) means sort or variety. So, a reptile is the sort that scratches at bugs. By the way, 爬 is not a common kanji at all. When I had to look up the word for reptile was the first time I saw it.  |
|
|
|
Post by moderator on Apr 8, 2016 0:20:22 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for April 7, 2016 is...
Amphibian - 両生類 - りょうせいるい
Romanization: ryouseirui (ryoh-seh-roo-ee)
This might be a bit of a doozy to pronounce, due to the double vowels. My advice is to pronounce ryou and sei as if they were one word, and quickly tack on the rui. And if you're having trouble with pronouncing ryou, you can always say it as dyou.
And for pronouncing double vowels themselves, imagine a nasally 'n' at the end when saying them - but leave off the 'n'.
両 (ryou) means both, 生 (sei) means life, and 類 (rui) is type. An amphibian is the type that lives its life both on land and in water.
|
|
|
|
Post by dash on Apr 8, 2016 2:41:08 GMT
Trying saying that three times fast.  Actually, try saying it one time slow! |
|
|
|
Post by moderator on Apr 8, 2016 19:36:37 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for April 8, 2016 is...
Insect - 昆虫 - こんちゅう
Romanization: konchuu (kohn-chuu)
Both 昆 (kon) and 虫 (chuu) mean insect. Only 虫 can be used by itself to mean bug (mushi!).
|
|
|
|
Post by moderator on Apr 11, 2016 19:11:50 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for April 11, 2016 is...
Biology - 生物学 - せいぶつがく
Romanization: seibutsugaku (sei-butsu-gah-koo)
I've often seen this word abbreviated to simply 生物 (seibutsu). 生 (sei) means life, 物 (butsu) means thing, and 学 (gaku) means study. So in essence you could say biology is the study of living things.
|
|
I like that. I'm sure an honest answer isn't often given—kind of like our "Fine, thank you."
Actually, try saying it one time slow!