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Japanese - Ask questions thread

Name: Anonymous 2007-03-24 3:04 ID:DnRX6EFG

Basically if you have a question about the language, ask it and fellow 4channers might see it and answer it for you.

To start it off. When an animate object (iru) dies, is it considered inanimate(aru)?

Name: Anonymous 2007-04-30 20:40 ID:e5S09F2X

>>199
note:I'm did this by XP, so it'll be a little different
To read / type, you're going to need your windows CD, go to regional and language options in control panel, then go to languages tab and under supplemental language support, check it, and then apply

then in that same tab, click details under text services and input languages, and add Japanese, bottom right there should be a language bar that says EN, click and change to JP

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-01 4:32 ID:SD6qCnP4

>>199
japanese counters, look them up, there are a lot

also for the windows thing and japanese try google, i hear that it knows a lot of stuff, heard that on the internets

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-01 11:19 ID:23VZcyOF

>>198
いくつかの違いがあります。 = いくつか違いがあります。
Same.

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-01 14:16 ID:i47yJiXh

>>203

So the の makes it more formal I take it?
I was thinking one meant 'the number of differences are few', and the other 'the degree of difference is small'. But I really don't know.

Name: ah-uh 2007-05-01 17:29 ID:2wgjB+Yg

>>204
"いくつか" is used for countable object, rarely means the number is more than 5.

(a) いくつかの 違いが あります。
(b) いくつか 違いが あります。

"いくつかの" modifys following noun "違い", so (a) focuses on the number of differences (e.g. "not one" or "not dozens of").

"いくつか" modifys following verb "あります" ("ある"), so (b) focuses on the existance of deferences (e.g. "basically same, but note that there ARE some differences").

However, I think that most of Japanese people (including me) don't pay much attention on the difference between (a) and (b).

(a') 違いが いくつかの あります。
(b') 違いが いくつか あります。

Word order of (a') is completely wrong ("いくつかの" has no following noun), whereas (b') is allowed (I think (b') is strictly proper, but I'm not sure).

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-03 17:34 ID:yCkjnZHM

>>199
Japanese basically has no plural. However, for a few nouns, you can add たち (達) to pluralize. For example, 僕達・私達・俺達 (we), あなた達・君達・お前達 (you). ら is another way, but only works for the exact same class of nouns (and is more informal): 俺ら and オマエら.

猫達 (ねこたち) is correct Japanese, if you just wanted to say "cats."

However, >>200 has it right as well.

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-04 11:14 ID:ympwduva

>>206
i don't know if you would say 猫達, it just sounds weird, but i could be rong, i agree with >>200 三匹の猫 is better i think

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-04 17:46 ID:rRlBNoqn

This question might be out of place, but I am going to Japan in a few weeks and I need to come up with some gifts to give to people (friends I might make, a host family, etc).  What are some recommendations from people with experience visiting Japan?  The trip is just under a month, so I have to come prepared!

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-04 18:04 ID:XOBC0bcJ

>>208
I remember seeing an article on google telling what to give, don't remember what it was though.

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-04 19:42 ID:ympwduva

>>208
just bring stuff with your hometown/college/high school/whatever's name on it, books about hometown/state/providence work well too, any kind of local food that you could bring to japan would be the best, most omiyage is food related

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-05 3:39 ID:aun67zXh

>>206
〜達 isn't a plural form in the usual sense but a collective. It applies specifically to one or several well-identified individuals, and refers to the group they belong to. For example, if the SOS-dan splits up for a field investigation and Haruhi asks キョン達はどうした? she's asking for the whereabouts of both Kyon and e.g. Nagato (and not for "Kyons").

So it does make sense to say something like うるせーなぁ、あの猫達。 while pointing at a group of excited stray cats, but I can't think of a situation where 猫達 alone would mean "cats", since you need to have a particular cat in mind which you call 猫. A usage example might be a family with several pets. Mother says to son: もうこんな時間?早く猫達にエサをやってきなさい。 She's telling him to feed not just the cat but the dog and the ferret as well.

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-05 9:24 ID:GNUjwGL4

Could someone explain ご心配掛けました?
what sense of 掛ける is the one used in the expression ?

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-05 9:46 ID:aun67zXh

>212
It means "I caused you worry". 掛ける literally means 'to hang', but with words such as 心配, 迷惑, 面倒, it means 'to cause' (trouble, etc.).

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-06 12:32 ID:RLUjRNsv

Does anyone know of any Japanese internet TV sites?

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-06 16:54 ID:gyAXoyXq

>>214
youtube.com
d-addicts

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-06 22:05 ID:wIcmHBGQ

Where can I learn about what word forms to use when creating sentences? All I know is like how to end them, but I noticed sometimes I'll see dictionary forms in middle of sentences or polite stem, and I can read it and understand it but I sure as hell don't know how to use anything

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-07 1:46 ID:dIPmcTGW

>>213
Thank you for the explanation. My next question would be about the ubiquitous final ~じゃない and its variants. Got a webpage that explains that? My book only says "~んじゃないですか: used when asking if what the speaker thinks correct is in fact true".

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-07 6:17 ID:NOBi73kA

>>217
じゃない is the plain form of ではありません (is not). In a question sentence, it is pretty similar to the English equivalent "is not," or rather, "isn't."

Thus 俺じゃない。 It is not me.
猫じゃないか。 Isn't it a cat?
This question can be shortened to 猫じゃん
You also may hear じゃない become じゃねえ if a guy trying to sound cool is talking.

Now to explain んじゃないですか. One way of making negative plain forms (じゃない) polite in casual conversation is to use the negative plain as usual, but tack on です. For example 食べないです or the more casual 食べないっす. Thus じゃないです is grammatically equivalent to ではありません.

The ん before it all is a shortened form of の particle, which in this sentence is difficult to explain, but it kind of "emotes" the sentence, linking the speaker to it, and also hinting that they already know the answer to their question, kind of like when buddies as their friends, "Hey, isn't she hot!" It's a statement and a question put together. It also serves to nominalize a preceding verb phrase, as we'll see in my example at the end of this post.

Of course the か is merely the sentence-ending question particle here. Thus, putting it all together:

太郎くんは東京大学で勉強したいんじゃないですか。
It would actually probably come out more like
太郎君は東大で勉強したいんじゃないっすか。
Taro, you want to study at Tokyo University, right?

Think of it as "Isn't it true that you want to study at Tokyo University, Taro?" or "Isn't the statement 'Taro wants to study at Tokyo University' true?"

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-07 6:24 ID:NOBi73kA

>>216
Your question is practically equivalent to, "How do I speak Japanese?" The solution to that which you seek may only be had by continued study. There's no simple way to learn everything you just asked, because it looks like you just asked, "How do I use verbs in Japanese, excluding sentence-ending polite form?"

You've basically asked for an explanation of (in)dependent clauses, compound sentences, verb phrases, compound verbs, etc.

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-07 20:20 ID:+zEZmllj

>>219
So then is there a site that talks about how to use verbs? Cause my textbook sure as hell doesn't say because it's only first year plus it sucks.

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-08 4:44 ID:Mi8xFclb

>>220
I don't know about sites (search for Tae Kim -- he has a good site about Japanese topics, and also look for Yookoso website -- they have a good grammar a day ML), but check out Japanese Verbs by Naoko Chino. It's a great book. Back in my days of not-knowing-Japanese, I read it often. It has great verb structure help with examples.

But Tae Kim's site should help for you, since it sounds like you don't even know how to maek a compound sentence yet.

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-10 23:55 ID:0LtLEDKT

anyone got anymore questions?

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-11 0:55 ID:A2deHghB

>>218
thank you for your detailed explanation. what confuses me is that it also seems to be used as an affirmation.

examples from space ALC http://www.alc.co.jp/index.html
#   ただの猫じゃん。
      It's just a cat.
#   「簡単じゃん」「これのどこが簡単なんだ!」
      "It's simple." "(Do) you call this simple?"
#   気にすることないじゃない。/へこたれないで。
      Don't let it get to you.〔〈用法〉悩んでいる人に〕
#    頑張ってるじゃない。/やるじゃない。
       Good going.

reading them is not so bad but the confusion (for me) arises when the lines are spoken aloud (without doubt/asking for confirmation)


Name: Anonymous 2007-05-11 4:10 ID:8yAh6xE3

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-11 4:31 ID:0gVqoTAd

>>223
What part of my translation as "Isn't it a cat?" did you not understand? That question is affirmation even in English. Let us paraphrase into more colloquial language:

Lol it's a cat amirite?

Here are the other ALC examples you gave:
Isn't it simple? or It's simple, isn't it? NOTE THE EXISTENCE OF "NOT" IN THIS SENTENCE BEING USED SOMEHOW AS AFFIRMATION INSTEAD OF NEGATION EVEN IN ENGLISH!!!

頑張ってる = Trying hard or succeeding. Therefore, when you add じゃない, you get something roughly like, "You're trying hard, AREN'T YOU" -- again, NOTICE THE NEGATIVE "NOT" BEING USED AS AFFIRMATION IN ENGLISH JUST LIKE IN JAPANESE.

The concept is exactly the same. It's a rhetorical negation used to emphasize the opposite fact.

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-12 16:17 ID:msFnHTto

>>40

Read >>38.

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-12 17:03 ID:msFnHTto

>>117
It is true that 「じ」and 「ず」are much more used than 「ぢ」and 「づ」, but this only occurs because of the following:

In a compound word, the second part of the word often changes the sound. If the second part of word begins with "chi (ち)" or "tsu (つ)," and it changes the sound to "ji" or "zu," it is written ぢ or づ.

ko (small) + tsutsumi (wrapping) = kozutsumi (package - こづつみ)
ta (hand) + tsuna (rope) = tazuna (reins - たづな)
hana (nose) + chi (blood) = hanaji (bloody nose - はなぢ)

Do you understand?

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-13 12:34 ID:2MdvdiQd

>>227
Of course there are a few other uses, like 痔, which reads as ぢ.

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-13 13:23 ID:ekuu0B2V

>>228
痔    【じ】        (n) hemorrhoids, piles
痔    【ぢ】        (n) hemorrhoids, piles

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-16 17:18 ID:KB24Q7VL

I've seen some kanji/kana/IDONTKNOW on a friend's clothes, and I want to know what it means.

http://i1.tinypic.com/4p47drl.gif

There's a [poorly drawn] picture, since I can't type (or see) japanese on this computer. I think the first one means TA and the third one means KA...Or is this chinese and -not- japanese? I can't tell.

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-16 21:07 ID:/THdYZ4y

>>230
A photograph would be easier to decipher.

First character looks like 仁 (virtue) but it's pretty uncommon except in names. Might also be hiragana に (ni) or even た (ta) if you copied it very badly. Or many other kanji.

Second character looks like 内 (inside) and not really anything else I can think of, suggesting the other two should be kanji as well.

Last one might be 力 (strength), カ (katakana KA), か (hiragana ka), 刀 (katana) or quite a few other kanji.

But I really don't see how one might put all these together to form a meaningful kanji compound.

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-16 21:53 ID:KB24Q7VL

Well, I could tell if the kanji/katakana/hiragana you typed was what I saw if you put it in an image or something, since I am unable to view japanese symbols on my computer.

And I don't have a camera, sorry.

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-17 1:43 ID:ca0EwvJt

Why does ない sometimes end with なし?
Is it somehow related to だし? Kind of doubt it though
Here's an example, 本文なし = notext

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-18 1:29 ID:T7HLcf2l

あげ

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-18 22:55 ID:80LBwZhn

>233
Think of the difference between ケチャップがない and ケチャップなし as the difference between "there is no ketchup" and "without ketchup"/"hold the ketchup".

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-19 10:46 ID:KPGgtiph

>>231

仁内力 = Power in benevolence

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-20 14:53 ID:zST/7q3E

>>236
Not in Japanese. Google the phrase. You'll find that every fucking result is Chinese. The word simply doesn't exist in Japanese.

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-20 17:05 ID:HKVAv/8g

Yeah it's probably a Chinese shirt, not a Japanese one

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-20 18:42 ID:GpQgKi+7

>>237
Maybe because it's not a word!  But the meaning is the same!

http://www.excite.co.jp/world/chinese/
then
http://www.excite.co.jp/world/english/

Google motherfucker, DO YOU USE IT!?

Name: Anonymous 2007-05-21 17:59 ID:jznkfJQ3

When do I use つ? I've read it in context like: "ああ、それ輪、地価手 つ です。”
also just to make sure, does that mean "Oh, that, it is the subway." ?

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