Since Julie and I have returned from our trip to Japan, I've no reason to continue posting to the blog about our travels. However since I'm still learning Japanese, I thought it a good idea to use this site to practise my writing skills, meagre as they are.
So for my English reading friends, this is the end of the road for now. From this post forwards I'll be using this as a Japanese only diary of day to day activities and thoughts. Probably not terribly exciting anyway :)
For my Japanese reading friends, I encourage you to continue reading and either leave comments or send me e-mails when you spot horrible mistakes or if you just want to say こんにちは.
さあ、始めましょう！
Showing posts with label japanese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label japanese. Show all posts
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
Thursday, 22 May 2008
Why Fuji-san?
The first confusing part is that in Japanese, the word "san" is attached as a suffix to names. It roughly translates to Mr/Mrs/Miss in English, but its usage is significantly broader. So Mr Tanaka is Tanaka-san. Easy enough. But Fuji-san isn't that sort of san... Oh no, nothing that simple.
To understand why, you need to understand the kanji that is used to write Mt Fuji in Japanese. It is written as "富士山" which uses the kanji for "Fuji" and "mountain". So far so good. Now kanji usually have a single meaning, but several ways of reading them (more on kunyomi and onyomi another time.) As a rule, "山" by itself is read as "yama". So in the sentence "that mountain is tall isn't it?", you would read it literally as "ano yama wa, se ga takai desu ne" or "あの山は、背が高いですね".
However another way of reading the kanji "山" is as "san". Aha, it is all falling into place! As you would might have guessed, that's the correct way of reading "富士山".
So what can you take away from all this, apart from a slight headache?
If you want to refer to Mt Fuji in English, go wild with Mt Fuji, since it is a safe bet. If you want to use the Japanese version, use Fuji-san. You might even come off sounding all worldly. Or you might not...
As a word of caution, don't use Fuji-yama! It is just plain wrong and will earn you naught but scorn and derision from all who know you.
Friday, 16 May 2008
Writing Japanese 101
I thought it would be fun to impart a little bit of knowledge with everyone on the Japanese writing system. I'll try and keep it short and amusing, so bear with me a little here.
Japanese has 3 primary writing systems, 4 if you count the use of English characters. Let's not and just say we did though.
So, first up we have hiragana, an alphabet of some 46 characters (not including compounds) used to represent sounds. This system is used initially by children to write all words. However as they progress through school, most of the hiragana is replace by kanji, leaving it to be used to write particles, modify verbs and other specific situations. The well known "konnichiwa" (good day/hello) is written entirely in hiragana - こんにちは.
The second of these systems is katakana. Similar hiragana it is a defined alphabet with 46 base characters. This is used to write all words of foreign origin. Can you guess what the English word behind クリスマス (Kurisumasu), ウイスキー(uisukii) and テレビ (terebi) are? Katakana is also used to write telegrams, cause you know we use those all the time these days, and in advertising to spice things up.
Finally we arrive at kanji, the vast array of complicated symbols that were imported from China (thanks a bunch guys!) at around 57 AD. Kanji represent meaning rather than a single set sound. This means that each kanji may represent anything from a single syllable to a whole word, or both depending on the circumstances. There are tens of thousands of kanji in existence, however you need only know 1945 of them to be able to read a newspaper.
I've been learning Japanese twice a week for about 18 months now and I've picked up about 300 of the little suckers. 300 of the easy ones. And I've probably forgotten half of them at any given time. Not my favourite aspect of Japanese I admit.
One of the kanji I recently learnt is quite amusing - 議 - which is pronounced "gi" or "ぎ" when written in hiragana. About 20 individual strokes make up that character, all for a single syllable. Inconceivable!
Japanese has 3 primary writing systems, 4 if you count the use of English characters. Let's not and just say we did though.
So, first up we have hiragana, an alphabet of some 46 characters (not including compounds) used to represent sounds. This system is used initially by children to write all words. However as they progress through school, most of the hiragana is replace by kanji, leaving it to be used to write particles, modify verbs and other specific situations. The well known "konnichiwa" (good day/hello) is written entirely in hiragana - こんにちは.
The second of these systems is katakana. Similar hiragana it is a defined alphabet with 46 base characters. This is used to write all words of foreign origin. Can you guess what the English word behind クリスマス (Kurisumasu), ウイスキー(uisukii) and テレビ (terebi) are? Katakana is also used to write telegrams, cause you know we use those all the time these days, and in advertising to spice things up.
Finally we arrive at kanji, the vast array of complicated symbols that were imported from China (thanks a bunch guys!) at around 57 AD. Kanji represent meaning rather than a single set sound. This means that each kanji may represent anything from a single syllable to a whole word, or both depending on the circumstances. There are tens of thousands of kanji in existence, however you need only know 1945 of them to be able to read a newspaper.
I've been learning Japanese twice a week for about 18 months now and I've picked up about 300 of the little suckers. 300 of the easy ones. And I've probably forgotten half of them at any given time. Not my favourite aspect of Japanese I admit.
One of the kanji I recently learnt is quite amusing - 議 - which is pronounced "gi" or "ぎ" when written in hiragana. About 20 individual strokes make up that character, all for a single syllable. Inconceivable!
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
What's in a Name?
A quick one this time - why is this blog called Japansei?
Well it is a (not very clever) play on words. Obviously the Japan part means... well, Japan. The word "sei" is a suffix applied in Japanese to mean "made in". So something made in Japan would be 日本製 (nihonsei) where 日本 (nihon) means "Japan" and 製 is the kanji for "sei" or "made in". Linguistic fun for everyone!
Well it is a (not very clever) play on words. Obviously the Japan part means... well, Japan. The word "sei" is a suffix applied in Japanese to mean "made in". So something made in Japan would be 日本製 (nihonsei) where 日本 (nihon) means "Japan" and 製 is the kanji for "sei" or "made in". Linguistic fun for everyone!
Monday, 12 May 2008
もうすぐ行きます！
I've decided to start this blog to cover my adventures in Japan. We are leaving (on a jet plane) on the 23rd of May. In preparation for the trip, I'll post a few of my thoughts on Japan here.
Most people who know me well have a reasonable idea of the extent of my fascination with Japan. Couple this with learning Japanese and I often get asked what drives me to go for all that effort. The answer is fairly emotive and isn't easily explained...
I'll give it a shot anyway.
To me, a fairly logical and technically minded guy, the Japanese and their culture represent a fascinating mix of structure, freedom, repression and inhibition. I do so love a challenge!
If you were to take interpersonal interactions in Japanese society as an example, it can be viewed as a multivariate hierarchy, a many to many relationship. It isn't a simple matter of showing deference to those older than you, it takes into account family, occupation, position, status and a myriad of other factors. That said, it is all quite logical and just trying to comprehend the many rules and norms presents a wonderful challenge.
With this image of a heavy structured society with a minefield of social norms, you would be forgiven for thinking that it would all be a bit boring and rigid. The truth is far from it however. As the see-saw swings one way (structure), as does the balance shift for the other end (chaos). Japan's cultural output acts conduit for expression, producing a massive variety of unbound expressions. For me, Japanese animation, or anime, is the form of this outlet that I enjoy the most. The stories range from the predictable childish (happily ever after!) through to wonderfully open ended and fantastic. Above all, it is this variety and unpredictability that attracts me to Japan.
Most people who know me well have a reasonable idea of the extent of my fascination with Japan. Couple this with learning Japanese and I often get asked what drives me to go for all that effort. The answer is fairly emotive and isn't easily explained...
I'll give it a shot anyway.
To me, a fairly logical and technically minded guy, the Japanese and their culture represent a fascinating mix of structure, freedom, repression and inhibition. I do so love a challenge!
If you were to take interpersonal interactions in Japanese society as an example, it can be viewed as a multivariate hierarchy, a many to many relationship. It isn't a simple matter of showing deference to those older than you, it takes into account family, occupation, position, status and a myriad of other factors. That said, it is all quite logical and just trying to comprehend the many rules and norms presents a wonderful challenge.
With this image of a heavy structured society with a minefield of social norms, you would be forgiven for thinking that it would all be a bit boring and rigid. The truth is far from it however. As the see-saw swings one way (structure), as does the balance shift for the other end (chaos). Japan's cultural output acts conduit for expression, producing a massive variety of unbound expressions. For me, Japanese animation, or anime, is the form of this outlet that I enjoy the most. The stories range from the predictable childish (happily ever after!) through to wonderfully open ended and fantastic. Above all, it is this variety and unpredictability that attracts me to Japan.
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