>>159
Obviously Japanese differs greatly from region to region, dialect to dialect. I've studied a few dialects and if someone who could only speak Nagoyan ever met someone from Osaka, even though they're literally 2 hours away, they'd go crazy.
However, like this person said, there is a clear, discernible difference between the pronunciation of ず and づ where 標準語 is concerned(forgive me for typing that in Japanese, I don't remember how to say it in English). As that is what everyone is learning and more or less understands, that should suffice for the answer.
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Anonymous2012-04-22 11:27
>>160
Tohoku- slow, farmer, funny, but otherwise dull
Kansai- rough, slangy, everyone is a comedian, dirty, rude
Kyoto- Don't know much about Kyoto dialect, but I know its pretty uncommon compared to the others. People who speak tend to sound stuckup but I don't know if that's the overall image.
Nagoya- everyone thinks Nagoyans sound likes cats. And everyone who uses Nagoyaben is usually really young or really old. So there's the image that Nagoyaben is just for old cat people.
Kyuushuu - don't know much but I know there's more then 1 dialect and they're all pretty different.
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Anonymous2012-04-22 14:30
I came across these lines in a manga (same page, different panels).
「住環境は問題ないかと」
「概算ですが養育費として毎月この程度お支払いできるかと」
I'm confused about the かと bit. My best guess would be that か makes the statement somehow more polite by expressing doubt, and the と would be short for と思います, but I'm not sure if that's an accurate interpretation (if at all). The speaker is a lawyer informing his late client's relative the situations, so wouldn't he be a bit more… firm?
Thanks in advance.
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Anonymous2012-04-22 15:12
>I'm confused about the かと bit. My best guess would be that か makes the statement somehow more polite by expressing doubt, and the と would be short for と思います, but I'm not sure if that's an accurate interpretation (if at all).
This is correct. It's something like "I believe there should be no problem with the living environment.", "I believe (he?) will be able to pay about this much as . . ."
かと is frequently used this way as a polite way to insert one's thoughts. It's not about "firmness" directly, it's just that this is a more polite way of saying this.
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Anonymous2012-04-23 1:14
>>163
かと can be understood as being followed by 思う but its often translated much softer in English. Say less in Japanese is often the most polite and not finishing your sentence with a verb means you dont state your thoughts directtly.
「住環境は問題ないかと」
「(I assume) There are no concerns/problems with the environment...」
「概算ですが、養育費として毎月この程度お支払いできるかと」
「Although its just an estimate, (I wonder/assume/expect/) you'll be able to pay this amount for child-support each month...」
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Anonymous2012-04-23 17:47
Would "俺もCDが欲しい" be correct if what I'm trying to say is "I also want a CD (of this)"?
>>135,121 here
I apologize for being stupid, but I kind of got lost in the argument you guys had on which would be the correct form of what I originally asked.
The person in question is someone who I haven't had any contact with before and I'm asking because I'm curious.
Which leads me to me asking again; what would be the most formal way of asking if x-san speaks good English?
Again, I apologize for my stupidity.
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Anonymous2012-04-23 20:48
>>166
>Would "俺もCDが欲しい" be correct if what I'm trying to say is "I also want a CD (of this)"?
Well, the context here is that multiple people on a video commented "I want a CD," referring to the song in the video. I was basically meaning "I, too, want a CD" of the song in the video.
"Cha-la-Head-Cha-la" is "チャラ・ヘッチャラ".
"チャラ" and "ヘッチャラ" have some means. But in this case, it is meaningless words.
"Nani Ga Okite Mo Kibun Ha Henoheno Kappa" is "何が起きても気分はへのへのカッパ".
"へのへのカッパ" is same as "屁の河童", and this means "Easy" or "No problem".
So it is "何が起きても大丈夫だ" --> "if anything happened, i can solve it. it's no problem."
I'm not sure if it's a legit "Japanese" question, but I'll take a shot anyway.
Is there any Japanese counterpart (in terms of how much 2ch users hate them) of 4chan memes? Like for example the Guy Fawkes mask, "EFG," "epic win," etc. and if so, what would be their Japanese counterparts?
I may be wrong, but I heard some 2ch'ers are against the use of kaomoji, true or not?
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Anonymous2012-04-24 21:48
>>174
There are probably just as many memes, though they're not as gay and unoriginal as image macros. They change just as frequently.
They're against overuse and stupid shit like (´ ▽｀).。ｏ♡ ( *｀ω´)ﾉﾊﾛーヾ(・ω・`｡)(｡´・ω・)ﾉ .
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Anonymous2012-04-27 18:20
which sounds more natural:
日本の料理のようなすばらしいビュッフェだね。
or
日本の料理はすばらしいビュッフェのようなだね。
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Anonymous2012-04-27 18:24
>>176
disregarding the fact that it's something that wouldn't be said in speech. I had to write about Japanese food for a project.
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Anonymous2012-04-28 0:27
>>176
They have two meanings and neither is written grammatically correct.
すばらしくて、日本の料理のようなビュッフェだね。 - (It is) a marvelous, Japanese cuisine-style buffet.
日本の料理はすばらしいビュッフェのようだね。 - Japanese cuisine is like a marvelous buffet.
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Anonymous2012-04-28 8:18
>>176
日本の料理のようなすばらしいビュッフェだね has not subject, and so it doesn't have the same meaning as 日本の料理はすばらしいビュッフェのようだね
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Anonymous2012-04-28 21:40
Can someone fluent please fill out this survey for my linguistics class? If you aren't from Japan you can just fake that part.
>>182
You are amazing. Words cannot express how grateful I am. I hope you have a fantastic day.
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Anonymous2012-05-01 12:58
I'm curious about buying a figure, but the machine translation for a page doesn't make it clear if the item is in stock or not, or if it's used or not. http://item.rakuten.co.jp/hakata-smile/10004509/
(You may have to scroll down a bit, there's a few ads at the top.)
Basically, I have two questions:
- Is the item in stock, and will it ship ASAP when I order it?
- Is it used, or new?
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Anonymous2012-05-01 19:31
>>184
It will ship within 3 days and its new (do you really think a used 1/4 FREEing figure is 12,000 yen?)
Thanks. The reason I thought it may be used is because FREEing figures have been sold out for a long time now, and I saw them at even higher prices in other places, even though they were used.
Still, thank you very much for this information.
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Anonymous2012-05-03 11:39
Should I make an active effort to not think any English at all when reading Japanese, or will it come naturally? For example, I see 誕生日, and I end up looking at the first character, then the second, etc, trying to link their meanings together, from which I get birthday, and then I know the reading is たんじょうび from prior study. Is this bad, or natural? If I shouldn't be doing it this way, how else do I do it?
Did you study kanji before the language itself? Without knowing your methods, it's not easy to say if you're doing it right or wrong. With that said, kanji/word association comes naturally with exposure.
I've been watching anime/J dramas for something like 6 years prior to trying to actually learn, so the sound of the language is fine to me. I did Pimsleur and Heisig side-by-side, and a lot of the stuff I'm learning from things like Genki or just random sentences are more like "Oh yeah I recognise that"
>>190
If you did Heisig it's par for the course. Study words in context, and you should get up to speed soon.
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Anonymous2012-05-03 23:10
Can anyone help me by reviewing my translation of these sentences:
柔らかな夢に抱かれて
Embraced in a soft dream
全てから耳を塞いだ
I covered my ears from everything
隔たれた空気の中に
In the middle of those distant airs
明日観る世界ェ在る
stands the world of tomorrow
まだ引力は強すぎて
The gravity is still too strong
まだ僕達は翔べなくて
is still impossible for us to fly away.
沈みゆく陽を見つめていた
You were looking at the sunset
夜が来て全てを隠すように
Then the night came with the purpose to hide everything
灯りには憧れながら
while we were still longing for the light
陰を出ることを拒む
that thing refused to go out of the shadow
まだ引力が強すぎて
The gravity is still just too strong
まだ僕達は翔べないと思っていた
We thought that we still couldn't fly away
背中に感じる濡れた翅
In the back I felt the wet wings
朝が来ないように祈っていた
I was hoping that the morning never came
夜が僕を隠すように
So the night could hide me
黙すべきことを語っては
when you talk to me please do it silently
往く道は掌からこぼれた
The road extends from the palm of my hand
月ならば真綿の様に
to the moon like a silk thread
そっと眼を覆ってくれる
I quietly cover your eyes
やがて変わりゆく濡れた翅
Beforelong the wings will get wet again
義務を果たす様に拡がる
They will spread to fulfill their purpose
僕の選択が無意味なら
If my decision is meaningless
明日が来ないように願っていた
let's hope that tomorrow never comes
夜が僕を隠し
The night will hide me
この繭で眠れるように
so I can sleep in this cocoon
>>196
よかった！
I usually translate this phrase as "I'm glad" or in this case "is good to know that"
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Anonymous2012-05-04 16:06
I caught the pattern どうこう a few days back. Can't figure out what this means, is it a abbreviation of どうな and こうな thrown in together? How does this go with a noun?
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Anonymous2012-05-04 16:27
僕は義務を果たさなきゃいけない
I know this translates to "I have to fulfill the responsibility". What bugs me is the part "義務を果たさ", the verb doesn't mean anything like "to fulfill" so either this is a typo or I'm reading slang here.