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Thanks. At least I know what's up...
But on a different note: There's a spoken word segment at the end of this track. Could somebody please translate it?
And as an added bonus, what does 下北沢まで二時間 mean? All I know is it's a band name. A romanization and translation of 中田氏大百科 (another band name) would be nice as well.
If you did, it would be Chinese all over again, lol.Quote:
Originally Posted by Internet
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Anyways, my turn to ask.
I wanted to know what the following means:
平気じゃないけどもうだいじょうぶ!
You know it. Hiragana does serve a couple of purposes I can think of off the top of my head.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shigshwa
1: It provides the furigana necessary to ever understand how to read/say the kanji.
2: Hiragana is mainly employed as sentence particles.
Besides, all kanji would make my head explode. LOL
Unfortunately, I can't answer that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shigshwa
下北沢まで二時間 = Shimokitazawa made Nijikan ("Two hours to Shimokitazawa," I believe)Quote:
Originally Posted by Excessive Spare Time
中田氏大百科 = Nakadashi Daihyakka = ...Well, "daihyakka" means "encyclopedia." "Nakadashi" on the other hand... I'm finding that 氏 is a way to say "Mr." (like "Mr. Nakada")... but I'm also finding that the whole word is another way to spell 中出し, which means "intravaginal (anal, etc.) ejaculation." :loopy: If it means something else, I can't find it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Excessive Spare Time
Now I know the context....Quote:
Originally Posted by Shigshwa
I'm afraid I also can't exactly tell you what it means, though "I'm not alright, but I will be" doesn't sound too bad, I think. I mean, what I'm finding about 平気 ("heiki") is that it has to do with calmness, composure, or indifference, and 平気じゃない is the opposite; けど = however or although; もう = already or soon; だいじょうぶ = all right/okay.
What's the difference between nihon and nippon? Why is it spelled differently, and which is correct?
It's different readings of the kanji, and both are correct.Quote:
Originally Posted by Internet
Nihon/Nippon is written as 日本 in kanji. The first symbol, 日 can be read as "に" (Ni) as well as "ニッ" (ni[double consonant for next syllable]). The second symbol, 本, can be read as "ほん" (hon) as well as "ぽん" (pon). Add the second readings together and you get "にっぽん" (Nippon). Both are acceptable since it's still the same kanji, though I think "Nihon" is more common, though it may depend on the area (or was it "nippon" is the old way of saying it? I forget).
Sooo... there is no difference. It's spelled differently (in ENGLISH, not in Japanese) because of different kanji readings. And both are correct.
Thanks for the informative reply - learned a lot!Quote:
Originally Posted by NyaChan
Hmm...
Also, if you need to know around 2000 kanji to be able to read a newspaper, is it really enough? Or would you need to know more?
IIRC, that's around the official literacy level. So yes, it should be enough for most practical uses. Any advanced words would be easy enough to learn at this point - like English, if my hunch is right.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shigshwa
But this is all coming from someone who has learned Chinese, not Japanese. I barely know anything about this language :P
Not a linguist, but I'm finding that the "p" sound shifted to a voiceless bilabial fricative sound (a sort of "f"-like sound, which still exists in the h line in "fu"), which then turned into today's "h," but both forms still exist today, with Nippon apparently "frequently preferred for official purposes" (and sports). Also, parliament member Tetsundo Iwakuni's take on it (as of July 2009).Quote:
Originally Posted by NyaChan
It's a sticky, so this isn't a necro-post or anything...
I had wanted to know this, too. Thanks for posting.Quote:
Originally Posted by NyaChan
We only use "Nihon" in my Japanese class. I don't need any help at the moment, though... only with regurgitating vocabulary, which is too difficult to assist with. I need to make flash cards, but I haven't the time.
As for Kanji... I hate it. If everything was Kanji, the language would be incredibly hard to learn to read and write. I've actually questioned the purpose of KANJI since Hiragana has all of the sounds you'll encounter in the language.
I also want to know why Katakana is needed. Is there any specific reason why the Japanese need to distinguish loan words from traditional Japanese words?
I think that overall on both accounts, the answer unfortunately is: that's just the way it is. :( I can tell you that without Kanji/Katakana, Japanese would be extremely annoying to read because it would be hard to know where one word ends and another begins. Our answer to that is spaces, which would work but you're slowly starting to totally deviate away from what they have known and used for centuries, and that's when you get into the Nippon vs. Nihon mentality.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andyman
To go into that a little bit, yes, both Nippon and Nihon effectively work to say "Japan," however, they can send off a different meaning when used. 'Nihon' is the standard name for the country, and as has been stated earlier, it is used more than 'Nippon,' but 'Nippon' has it's own use. 'Nippon' has a little bit more of a sense of patriotism than 'Nihon' does. When someone says 'Nippon-jin' it's more of "I'm Japanese and proud of it" sort of feeling.
This sort of applies to why they don't further cut down the writing system; they are proud of their ancestry/origins and do not wish to cut off Kanji for example because in a way it helps define them as 'Japanese.' The simple fact alone that Kanji is "difficult" also adds to the sense that 'not just anyone can be us'... if that makes sense lol... it's more of a pride thing.
As far as Katakana goes, it's not solely used for just loan words, you'll see it also used on their own words a lot too for emphasis or something along those lines. My honest opinion there is that it adds a degree of style to the written language and of course makes readability a little bit easier when you can differentiate one word from the next. That's why I always get yelled at for using too much Kanji haha... it has to be a good balance, and loan words being in a different style of writing is one method of keeping that balance because you don't want to overpower the sentence with only one of Kanji/Hiragana/Katakana because you start to lose flow and readability.
I'm sure some may disagree with those points, but really there is no "correct" answer to those questions haha... That's my view on it anyways :p
あっ、日本語で話してもいいんだｗｗｗ
よろしゅ♥
Can someone make an English to Japanese chart?
You have to be more specific. What sort of English-to-Japanese chart?