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Post by Crystoph on Mar 1, 2015 22:11:48 GMT
So I was right! xD Just a couple letters off. xD
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Post by moderator on Mar 2, 2015 16:25:06 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for March 2, 2015 is...
Japanese (language) - 日本語 - にほんご
Romanization: nihongo = nee-hohng-oh
The ん (n) at the end of ほん (hon) is pronounced like the n in song, due to its placement before the ご (go).
日 - day, 本 - origin, 語 - language
語 (go) is the kanji for language - so, going back to 韓国 (kankoku) which means South Korea, or 朝鮮 (chousen), we can now say the Korean language: 韓国語 (kankokugo), 朝鮮語 (chousengo). English is 英語 (eigo).
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Post by moderator on Mar 3, 2015 14:51:45 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for March 3, 2015 is...
Person - 人 - ひと
Romanization: hito = hee-toh
人 is the kanji for person, and attaching it to the end of a country's name, we can say that the person is from that country, except that in this case it is no longer hito but is now jin.
South Korean, Korean - 韓国人、朝鮮人 - kankokujin, chousenjin
Japanese (person) - 日本人 - nihonjin
American - アメリカ人 - amerikajin
Canadian - カナダ人 - kanadajin
German - ドイツ人 doitsujin
You may be wondering why the hito changes to jin. Well, by itself, the kanji 人 is hito, because by itself it means a person, or people. Let's also think of it like this: for example, we use the Greek word hydro- as a prefix, and we know it means water. Kanji is often used the same way - jin is another reading for the kanji 人 when used in a compound word.
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Post by moderator on Mar 4, 2015 21:31:10 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for March 4, 2015 is...
I'm sorry - let's look at the different ways to apologize:
Formal - 申し訳ありません - もうしわけありません (moushi wake arimasen)
Note: you can also use this to express thanks.
Here's a little less formal way to say it: 申し訳ない - もうしわけない (moushi wake nai)
Formal - ごめんなさい (gomen'nasai)
This is often shortened in casual speech to ごめんな (gomen'na), or just ごめん (gomen).
ごめんなさい is definitely one you'll hear alot.
We also have...
すみません (sumimasen), sometimes slurred to すいません (suimasen)
This can also be used to get someone's attention ("I'm sorry!" or "Excuse me!").
There is also あいにく, used at the beginning of a sentence or clause and which carries a connotation of "I'm sorry, but..."
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Post by moderator on Mar 5, 2015 12:36:57 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for March 5, 2015 is...
School - 学校 - がっこう
Romanization: gakkou = gak-koh
Be sure to make a glottal stop (we have a glottal stop when we say "uh-uh") after saying the "gak"; if it helps, act like you're forcing out the "kou".
I've also sometimes heard the g at the beginning pronounced softly like a "ng".
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Post by moderator on Mar 6, 2015 21:17:49 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for March 6, 2015 is... Spring Break - 春休み - はるやすみRomanization: haruyasumi = hahru- yasu-mi The u sound is barely pronounced, and in the case of やすみ (yasumi) can even be omitted. In Japanese schools, the spring break usually begins in late February and ends in early April. I decided to make this the word of the day since mine started today.  春 - spring, 休み - rest, break |
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Post by moderator on Mar 7, 2015 21:44:06 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for March 7, 2015 is...
Yes - はい
Romanization: hai (hai)
Like Fritz explained for the Korean word for yes, "yes" in Japanese means that you agree with what the speaker is saying.
A more casual word for yes in Japanese - the equivalent of "yeah" or "uh-huh" - is うん (un). The u is pronounced with no lip rounding, and the n is pronounced nasally.
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Post by moderator on Mar 8, 2015 17:50:02 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for March 8, 2015 is...
No - いいえ
Romanization: iie (ee-eh)
For the extended i sound, you could say the i sound twice in quick succession as you get used to it.
Again, no in Japanese means that you disagree with what someone is saying.
There's another casual way to say no: ううん - uun (this one even sounds like "uh-uh")
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2015 23:03:44 GMT
When I watch Japanese films so many times the characters look a bit muddled or confused when they say ee-eh. They often slow the word down too. But when they say "hai!" for yes they say it quickly most of the time. They practically SPIT it out.  |
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Post by moderator on Mar 9, 2015 17:49:52 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for March 9, 2015 is...
Goodbye - Let's look at the different ways to say goodbye:
さようなら - sayounara (sah-yoh-nahrah)
Saying さようなら for goodbye is common, though it can give the implication that you'll be leaving for quite a while.
失礼します - shitsurei shimasu (shitsu-rei-shimasu)
Saying 失礼します is a formal way to make your leave, or to make an entry (it literally means, "I'm being rude.")
One thing I'd like to quickly point out is that when saying ei in Japanese, it sounds mostly like an extended "eh" sound, rather than "ay".
ではまた - dewamata (dehwah-mah-tah)
ではまた is a more casual way to say goodbye, akin to "See ya," or "Bye." It's sometimes abbreviated to じゃまた (jah-mah-tah)
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Post by moderator on Mar 10, 2015 19:24:46 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for March 10, 2015 is...
Birthday - お誕生日 - おたんじょうび
Romanization: otanjoubi (oh-tahn-joh-bee)
The お (o) in front of 誕生日 (tanjoubi) is honorific, making the word more polite.
To say happy birthday in Japanese, you say:
お誕生日おめでとうございます！
otanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu (oh-tahn-joh-bee oh-meh-deh-toh goh-zai-mahs)
おめでとうございます means congratulations.
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Post by moderator on Mar 11, 2015 18:51:19 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for March 11, 2015 is...
Man - 男 - おとこ
Romanization: otoko (oh-toh-koh)
In Japanese, this is a rather casual way to say "man". A more suitably polite way is 男の人 - おとこのひと (otoko no hito = oh-toh-koh noh hee-toh).
Here, the の (no) particle denotes grammatical possession. For example, adding の to the end of 男 - resulting in 男の - creates an adjective meaning "male". の works a similar way with peoples belongings:
田中さんの鞄。
Tanaka-san no kaban.
Tanaka-san's bag.
の can also be used for direction:
車の上にある。
Kuruma no ue ni aru.
It's on top of the car.
車 means car, and 上 means top or above. So, 車の上 means top of car.
(にある means where an inanimate object is - yes, there's two specific existential verbs for animate and inanimate objects - いる and ある, respectively.)
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Post by moderator on Mar 12, 2015 19:30:31 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for March 12, 2015 is...
Woman - 女 - おんな
Romanization: on'na (ohn-nah)
Again, the more polite way to say woman is 女の人 - おんなのひと (on'na no hito = ohn-nah noh hee-toh). The ん (n) at the end of おん (on) is pronounced nasally.
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Post by moderator on Mar 13, 2015 16:47:04 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for March 13, 2015 is...
Child - 子供 - こども
Romanization: kodomo (koh-doh-moh)
We can also say boy and girl:
Boy - 男の子 - おとこのこ (otoko no ko = oh-toh-koh noh koh)
Girl - 女の子 - おんなのこ (on'na no ko = ohn-nah noh koh)
Other words for boy and girl are:
Boy - 少年 - しょうねん (shounen = shoh-nen)
Girl - 少女 - しょうじょ (shoujo = shoh-joh)
Be sure to extend the "oh" sound for "shou".
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Post by moderator on Mar 14, 2015 18:59:52 GMT
The Japanese word of the day for March 14. 2015 is...
Family - 家族 - かぞく
Romanization: kazoku (kah-zoh-koo)
家 - house, 族 - clan, family
To be polite, you would refer to someone else's family as ご家族 (go kazoku = goh kah-zoh-koo).
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