S M K I N I H O N G O

JAPANESE GREETINGS AND WRITING SYSTEM

Isnin, 6 Mei 2013 • 1:16 PG • 0 comments

For starters, here's a list of common greetings and useful expressions.

In the system of romanization used in this section, "ee" is not pronounced like feet. Instead, it means that the vowel sound "e" as in pet is prolonged. In the same manner, "oo" is pronounced not like shoot but as the "o" vowel, similar to pork, pronounced twice as long.

GRAMMAR

Hajimemashite is used only when you meet someone for the first time.
Oyasuminasai is used when going to bed but not when leaving a friend's house at night.
Just as in English, there are different ways of saying "thank you": arigatoo (thanks), arigatoogozaimasu (thank you), and domo arigatoogozaimasu (thank you very much).
Ittekimasu is what you say when you leave the house for school. It literally means "I'm going out but will be back." When you get home, you say tadaima, which means "I've returned.

JAPANESE ALPHABET

The Japanese alphabet consists of 99 sounds formed with 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) and 14 consonants (k, s, t, h, m, y, r, w, g, z, d, b, p, and n), as is shown in the hiragana chart.

Long vowels

" is sometimes used to create long vowels. In

, for instance, the last letter is not pronounced "u" but as a long "o."

Double consonants

, there's a pause between "

" and "

." The little "

" has a function of creating a pause, so

has six syllables.

Particles

When "

" and "

" are used as a particle (particles will be explained later), they are pronounced as "wa" and "e":

and

JAPANESE CHARACTERS

Japanese is written with three types of characters: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. They have different functions, and combinations of the three are used to write sentences.

1. Hiragana (chart)

Like the English alphabet, each hiragana letter represents a specific sound and does not have any meaning per se. But unlike in English, there is only one way of pronouncing a single hiragana letter or combination of letters. For example, "e" can be pronounced many different ways in English, as in red, redo, andpoorer. The hiragana "

" though, is always pronounced as "a" in father.

2. Katakana (chart)

Katakana are another way of writing the hiragana sounds and are usually used for foreign words:

Try writing your name in katakana.

3. Kanji (Chinese characters)

The Japanese imported kanji from China a long time ago and absorbed it into their language by assigning Japanese meanings. Kanji are different fromhiragana and katakana because they have specific meanings.

PAST • FUTURE

JAPANESE GREETINGS AND WRITING SYSTEM

Isnin, 6 Mei 2013 • 1:16 PG • 0 comments

For starters, here's a list of common greetings and useful expressions.

GRAMMAR

Hajimemashite is used only when you meet someone for the first time.
Oyasuminasai is used when going to bed but not when leaving a friend's house at night.
Just as in English, there are different ways of saying "thank you": arigatoo (thanks), arigatoogozaimasu (thank you), and domo arigatoogozaimasu (thank you very much).
Ittekimasu is what you say when you leave the house for school. It literally means "I'm going out but will be back." When you get home, you say tadaima, which means "I've returned.

JAPANESE ALPHABET

The Japanese alphabet consists of 99 sounds formed with 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, and u) and 14 consonants (k, s, t, h, m, y, r, w, g, z, d, b, p, and n), as is shown in the hiragana chart.

Long vowels

" is sometimes used to create long vowels. In

, for instance, the last letter is not pronounced "u" but as a long "o."

Double consonants

, there's a pause between "

" and "

." The little "

" has a function of creating a pause, so

has six syllables.

Particles

When "

" and "

" are used as a particle (particles will be explained later), they are pronounced as "wa" and "e":

and

JAPANESE CHARACTERS

Japanese is written with three types of characters: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. They have different functions, and combinations of the three are used to write sentences.

1. Hiragana (chart)

" though, is always pronounced as "a" in father.

2. Katakana (chart)

Katakana are another way of writing the hiragana sounds and are usually used for foreign words:

Try writing your name in katakana.

3. Kanji (Chinese characters)