Japanese Word of the Day!

[Deleted]

What's the Japanese word for music?

That hachuurui pic you posted in Off Topics today was mighty big!

[moderator]

Apr 11, 2016 23:59:25 GMT @jill said:

What's the Japanese word for music?

That hachuurui pic you posted in Off Topics today was mighty big!

Music is ongaku (ohn-gah-koo, 音楽). The word is a combination of 音 (on), meaning sound, and 楽 (gaku), fun.

And yeah, nature produces some impressive specimens! 

[Deleted]

There was probably a McDonalds near by.

[moderator]

The Japanese word of the day for April 12, 2016 is...

Cell - 細胞 - さいぼう

Romanization: saibou (sai-boh)

細 (sai) means thin, detailed, fine. 胞 (hou*) means sac. The word is pretty much describing what a cell looks like!

*胞 is usually pronounced hou, however in this case it is part of a compound word, so the pronunciation changes to bou. 

[moderator]

The Japanese word of the day for April 19, 2016 is...

To get wet, soaked - 濡れる - ぬれる

Romanization - nureru (nu-reh-roo)

Polite present: 濡れます (nu-reh-mahs)
Polite past: 濡れました (nu-reh-mashta)

Plain present: 濡れる (nu-reh-roo)
Plain past: 濡れた (nu-reh-tah)

If you wanted to say "wet clothes", you would say:

濡れた衣服。
nureta ifuku (ee-fu-ku).

[dash]

A most timely word for you.  

[moderator]

Yeah... we're absolutely waterlogged.

[moderator]

The Japanese word of the day for April 20, 2016 is...

To sink - 沈む - しずむ

Romanization: shizumu (shi-zu-mu)

Polite Present: 沈みます (shi-zu-mee-mahs)
Polite Past: 沈みました (shi-zu-mee-mashta)

Plain Present: 沈む (shi-zu-mu)
Plain Past: 沈んだ (shi-zun-dah)

A sinking ship would be:

沈む船。
しずむふね。
Shizumu fune (fu-neh).

Going over pronunciation again: the lips shouldn't be rounded when saying the Japanese 'u'.

[moderator]

The Japanese word of the day for April 21, 2016 is...

To float - 浮く - うく

Romanization: uku (u-ku)

Polite present: 浮きます (u-kee-mahs)
Polite past: 浮きました (u-kee-mashtah)

Plain present: 浮く (u-ku)
Plain past: 浮いた (u-ee-tah)

[dash]

Water, water, water. Can't you think of anything else, girl? 

[moderator]

Even my brain's been flooded. 

[moderator]

The Japanese word of the day for April 22, 2016 is...

To blow, emit - 吹く - ふく

Romanization: fuku (fu-ku)

Polite present: 吹きます (fu-kee-mahs)
Polite past: 吹きました (fu-kee-mashtah)

Plain present: 吹く (fu-ku)
Plain past: 吹いた (fu-ee-tah)

There is a strong wind.
強い風が吹いている。
Tsuyoi kaze ga fuite iru.

[moderator]

The Japanese word of the day for April 24, 2016 is...

Necessary, inevitable - 必然的 - ひつぜんてき

Romanization: hitsuzen-teki (heetsu-zehn-teh-kee)

This is a 'na' adjective. When these are placed directly before a noun, the syllable 'na' comes directly after the adjective. Example:

Necessary measures.
必然的な措置。
Hitsuzen-teki na sochi.

By the by: I hyphenated hitsuzen-teki because 的 (teki) is a common suffix as an adjective ending. As well as to not make the word seem so long. 

[moderator]

The Japanese word of the day for April 25, 2016 is...

Gloomy, depressing - 鬱陶しい - うっとうしい

Romanization: uttoushii (ut-toh-shee)

This is a pretty infamous word because of the monster kanji used: 鬱. You'll be better able to see its components if I blow up the size...

鬱

That's 29 strokes for one kanji - no wonder it means depressing.

Anyway, うっとうしい (yes, luckily you can write it with just kana) is an 'i' adjective. That means when it comes directly before a noun, nothing changes.

鬱陶しい感じ。
Uttoushii kanji.
Depressing feel.

See what I did there? 

[moderator]

The Japanese word of the day for April 26, 2016 is...

Polite - 丁寧 - ていねい

Romanization: teinei (teh-neh)

This is another "na" adjective, even though it ends in an い (i). In kanji form, it's easy to tell since there's no い trailing from the end.
With two double vowels in a row like this, you raise the pitch on the second one.