A little more into the Language that is Japanese
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by Oraizan
Following the last article, I will move onto the next step! A little quick info on how Japanese works:
Japanese nouns have no special forms to show whether they are singular or plural, and there are no articles in Japanese.
This and these are the same word; Kore (これ)
Am, Is, are - are all the same verb: Desu (です)
Verbs have fixed locations, and are usually found at the end of a sentence if Ka/Ne/Yo follow the verb.
Particles indicate subjects and objects in sentences
- o is placed after direct objects
- wa/ga is placed after subjects
Requests:
When in Japan there is a simple and polite way to ask for something.
Direct Object + o kudasai (をください）
Example:
Ringo o kudasai (りんごをください）
May I have an apple?
Want to practise this with some more words? No problem!
Vocabulary:
Here are some of the fruit and vegetables in Japanese. The easiest way to practice these words is to always recite this when you go to take one of the items. Before taking a Cucumber say "Kyuuri o kudasai" in your head. This will help reinforce your memory of the words.
Fruits - Kudamono （くだもの）
Vegetables - Yasai （やさい）
Banana - Banana （ばなな）
Grape - Budou （ぶどう）
Strawberry - Ichigo （いちご）
Tangerine - Mikan （みかん）
Peach - Momo （もも）
Pear - Nashi （なし）
Orange - Orenji （おれんじ）
Pineapple - Painappuru （ぱいなっぷる）
Apple - Ringo （りんご）
Chery - Sakuranbo （さくらんぼ）
Watermelon - Suika （すいか）
Tomato - Tomato （とまと）
Large White Radish - Daikon （だいこん）
Chinese Cabbage - Hakusai （はくさい）
Potato - Jagaimo （じゃがいも）
Cucumber - Kyuuri （きゅうり）
Carrot - Ninjin （にんじん）
Round Onion - Tamanegi （たまねぎ）
Bowing
Japanese people bow to eachother on occaisons where you would normally shake hands; greeting someone, saying good bye, or expressing grattitude or apology. There are a few things to remember when bowing:
Bend from the waist, done change the angle of your head, men keep hands at waist; women lightly touching eachother in front, lower ranking person holds the bow longer and lower.
Face to face direct eye contact is seen as intimidating, and as the speakers defiance.
Japanese people tend to not show negative emotion in public, therefore they smile when they are sad or embarassed as well.
Also, I was wondering if people wanted me to continue this after Empress Day? I'm only an amateur but i have lots of notes I can share.
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Orange should be オレンジ, tomato should be トマト, Pineapple should be パイナップル, Banana should be バナナ, cherry should be 桜ん坊 (さくらんぼう）.
An😛
くだもの＝果物
やさい＝野菜
いちご＝苺
もも＝桃
Sorry, I dont like Katakana or Kanji. xD
Odd set of words to start out with.
What is?
Whats the word for pie?
＠Marcus
Pie=パイ (pai)
@Oraizan
Properly written, Japanese uses three character sets, 平仮名(ひらがな）、片仮名（ かたかな）、and 漢字（かんじ）. Hiragana is used as 送仮名(おくりがな）、振り仮 名（ふりがな）、and, when the Kanji isn't known to the speaker.
Katakana can be used in the same places as Hiragana, and its currently used for loanwords from languages other than Chinese. While Kanji is used for loanwords from Chinese, and many loanwords from the Meiji era and earlier.
Konata, I know. I'm too lazy to study Kanji and Katakana. Hiragana is the only one I took the time to learn. the fact that there is 1000+ kanji is a little scarry ;-;.
Oh, and I forgot one other thing -- preceding a noun one uses 「この」
eg この本(this book)、このりんご(this apple)、このパソコン(this computer)、このバナナ(this banana)、この角 (this corner), (etc)
While, これ is used slightly differently -- これは本(this is a book)、これがりんご(this is an apple)、これが◯◯さんのパソ コン (this is ◯◯'s computer),etc
When an interdimensional multi-tentacled monster wants to have its way with a very small girl with very large eyes (Like the one on the left in the OP), is it proper for the monster to bow first? What if he has no pants on?
Also, when introducing the monster to her parents, should the girl make any attempt to conceal the fact that she has recently been brutally molested, or is that fact assumed by all parties?
Thanks in advance. I'm trying to avoid some awkward circumstances
@BrianDamage:
WIN.
It would be great that you continue these lessons, if it's not a problem to you. *lost by Konoka's posts*
Just curious, though, what if we want watermelons and grapes? Would it be Budou o Suika o kudasai?
And also, if we want these grapes, then it would be "Kore Budou o kudasai?"
Very interesting. I learned something today. 😁
Please do continue. I think that it would be good for eJapanese citizens to be exposed to the Japanese language. It's both a tribute to RL Japanese culture and a learning experience.
"Just curious, though, what if we want watermelons and grapes? Would it be Budou o Suika o kudasai?"
It would be Budou to Suika o Kudasai. To is a particle wich relatively means and.
"And also, if we want these grapes, then it would be "Kore Budou o kudasai?"
You don't need to add 'these' to the sentence. 'Budou o kudasai' would imply these. If you wanted to be specific with which one you could point and say it.
Basically Konata was speaking of the 3 types of writing characters in japanese. Hiragana, Kanji, and Katakana. Hiragana is widely used for many things (the symbols in my article). Katakana is commonly used for Loan words from other languages. Kanji was characters taken from the Chinese writing a long time ago, and is the reason some Japanese and Chinese characters look a-like. Some of the vegetables and Fruits would be written in Katakana, but I suggest learning Hiragana first (I will post another article to explain and show Hiragana) because it can also be used to help people understand Kanji (furigana).
If you want to say 'These [noun]' or 'This [noun]' you say "kono [noun]". The hiragana for 'kono' is 'この'.
If you want to say "Those [noun]" or "That [noun]" you say "sono [noun]". The hiragana for 'sono' is 'その'.
If you want to say "I'll take that green apple please", you say:
If you want ot think about it generally, words that sound like they're not from the Japanese language use katakana instead of hiragana. Of course, there are exceptions.
Ah, Thanks for clearing that up!