Joined: 24 Nov 2006 Posts: 1367 Location: North, East, West, South Country:
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:02 am Post subject:
kokuou wrote:
'Rei' is also fine, but it sounds a bit old.
The only place you really hear 'rei' for 'zero' is in things like ��x (0 degrees C), and �뎞 (midnight; sometimes noon).
If you are just referring to the number '0' in general, most people say 'zero' or 'maru'.
Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 3392 Location: peoples democratic republic of yorkshire Country:
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 4:00 pm Post subject:
Anime Dad wrote:
Is it acceptable to write someone's name in Hiragana, if you don't know the Kanji they use or don't know Kanji at all? As in if you're writing an email etc.
i would say it's fine. between friends it certainly is ok and if you're writing to someone you don't know, then they will know that you're not japanese and will be happy and impressed that you're making the effort. _________________
Joined: 19 Jun 2006 Posts: 11363 Location: �I�[�X�g�����A Country:
Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 7:47 am Post subject:
4Qbmr wrote:
Hmmm, that's a tough one. Right off the top of my head, I would say no. Sometimes I'll see magazine articles and it will show the person's name in Kanji and then below it or off to the side it will show it in hiragana. Almost as if to say, "O.K. for you dummies that don't know your Kanji, here's how you pronounce his name"
Edit: but then you've got people like Odagiri Joe, he spells his name in Katakana!!!
Same as "Erika" in Erika Sawajiri.
But what if you're like me, and have Japanese contacts that you know the romaji version of their name, but not the Kanji version? There's usually quite a range of possibilities, at least if you use Hiragana you can get it right?
Joined: 19 Jun 2006 Posts: 11363 Location: �I�[�X�g�����A Country:
Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 11:00 am Post subject:
kenjilina wrote:
i would say it's fine. between friends it certainly is ok and if you're writing to someone you don't know, then they will know that you're not japanese and will be happy and impressed that you're making the effort.
Oh, I missed this reply. Thanks That's what I was thinking.
Here's a quote from Wikipedia:
Quote:
A name written in kanji may have more than one common pronunciation, only one of which is correct for a given individual. For example, the surname written in kanji as �~�c may be read either Umeda or Umeta. Conversely, any one name may have several possible written forms, and again, only one will be correct for a given individual. The character �� when used as a male given name may be used as the written form for "Hajime," "Ichi," "Kazu," "Hitoshi," and many others. The name "Hajime" may be written with any of the following: �n, ��, ��, ��, ��, ��, �n, ��, ��, ��, �[, �t, �{, ��, ��, ��, ��, or �j. This many-to-many correspondence between names and the ways they are written is much more common with male given names than with surnames or female given names, but can be observed in all these categories. This can make the collation, pronunciation, and romanization of a Japanese name a very difficult problem. For this reason, business cards often include the pronunciation of the name as furigana, and forms and documents always have spaces to write the reading of the name in kana (usually katakana). At restaurants in Japan it is common to wait to be seated by writing one's name on a list and waiting to be called, and at the top of the list there is usually a request to write one's name in katakana, rather than kanji.
A few Japanese names, particularly family names, include old-fashioned versions of characters. For example the very common character shima, island, may be written as �� or �� instead of the usual ��. Some names also feature very uncommon kanji, or even kanji which no longer exist in modern Japanese. Japanese people who have such names are likely to compromise by substituting similar or simplified characters.
An example of such a name is Saitō. While there are over 100 kanji that can be read as sai and over 200 kanji for tō, in this case, there are two common kanji for sai. The two sai characters have different meanings: �� means "together" or "parallel", but �� means "to purify". Confusing the two characters would be an embarrassing mistake.
Family names are sometimes written with idiosyncratic characters, called ateji, that relate indirectly to the name as spoken. For example, �l����� would normally be read as shigatsu tsuitachi ("April 1st"), but as a family name it is read watanuki ("unpadded clothes"), because April 1st is the traditional date to switch from winter to summer clothes.
Most Japanese people and agencies have adopted customs to deal with these issues. Address books, for instance, often contain furigana or ruby characters to clarify the pronunciation of the name. Japanese nationals are also required to give a romanized name for their passport. The recent use of Japanese media using katakana when referring to Japanese celebrities who have gained international fame has started a fad among young socialites attempting to invoke a cosmopolitan flair who use katakana names as a badge of honor. All of these complications are also found in Japanese place names.
Not all names are complicated. Some common names are summarized by the phrase tanakamura ("the village in the midst of the fields"): the three kanjis: �c (ta, rice field), �� (naka, middle) and �� (mura, village), together in any pair, form a simple, reasonably common surname: Tanaka, Nakamura, Murata, Nakata, Muranaka, Tamura.
Despite these difficulties, there are enough patterns and recurring names that most native Japanese will be able to read virtually all family names they encounter and the majority of personal names.
tabana wrote:
Utada hiraku uses katakana for her first name too. I don't know why. Perhaps to look cool or something.
Would be explained by this bit:
Quote:
The recent use of Japanese media using katakana when referring to Japanese celebrities who have gained international fame has started a fad among young socialites attempting to invoke a cosmopolitan flair who use katakana names as a badge of honor.
Joined: 24 Nov 2006 Posts: 1367 Location: North, East, West, South Country:
Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 1:14 pm Post subject:
Minna, if you watch Gokusen, when Yankumi's grandfather apologizes, he said 'Tsumanda' or something (I'm not really sure how to spell it) instead of the ordinary 'Gomen'..Can somebody explain this to me?Arigatou _________________
Minna, if you watch Gokusen, when Yankumi's grandfather apologizes, he said 'Tsumanda' or something (I'm not really sure how to spell it) instead of the ordinary 'Gomen'..Can somebody explain this to me?Arigatou
maybe your Tsumananda is "Sumananda".
"Sumananda" is "Suma" + "nan" + "da"
"Suma" is "finish / complete"
"nan" is "not"
"da" is assertion.
"Sumananda" is that I did irremediable error.( + excuse me )
"nan" + "da" sounds like dialect and maybe the person who says"Sumanada" is old man, isnt't it?
Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 1814 Location: �C�P�����E�p���_�C�X <3 Country:
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 5:04 pm Post subject:
Is there a significant difference when you add "no koto" to the subject? Like when you say "aitsu no koto ga daisuki", is it different from "aitsu ga daisuki"? _________________
Joined: 31 Mar 2007 Posts: 335 Location: Yamapi's private house Country:
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 5:28 pm Post subject:
hello minna, may i ask, why there are katagana, hiragana & kanji in japanese writing. all i know is katagana is borrowed words but why do i found katagana in many japanese words? when is the right time to use katagana or hiragana or kanji?
Joined: 17 Sep 2004 Posts: 14056 Location: San Ho Se, Ka-Ri-Por-Nya Country:
Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 5:37 pm Post subject:
aisya_chan wrote:
hello minna, may i ask, why there are katagana, hiragana & kanji in japanese writing. all i know is katagana is borrowed words but why do i found katagana in many japanese words? when is the right time to use katagana or hiragana or kanji?
arigatou!
Well basically think of it this way for Katakana.
Katakana is used for words originally didn't exist in Japanese.
Say....Hamburger for ex. Hamubaga is probably how its spelled with the katakana.
I believe "Baka" is spelled with Katakana as well. While Baka means stupid and Aho is foolish, fool, idiot, and such. I don't know for sure if that is hiragana or katakana spelling.
I think you can use Hiragana whenever you feel. I'm not 100% sure when is the correct time to use Kanjis, but its probably when certain words are being spelled. All I know is that Kanjis are pretty much Chinese characters that are used in the Japanese writing system.
Say Densha for ex. Most people recognize the kanjis used for this word, but if you forgot how to write it, then using Hiragana is perfectly fine too.
I'm sorry if I wasn't of much help. Hopefully others who understand the writing system more can explain it to you
_________________
Joined: 07 Oct 2005 Posts: 9573 Location: �o�J�i�_ Country:
Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 5:06 am Post subject:
obentou wrote:
Is there a significant difference when you add "no koto" to the subject? Like when you say "aitsu no koto ga daisuki", is it different from "aitsu ga daisuki"?
My guess on that is that it's the same thing. The "no koto" is implied. Like you don't need to say "watashi wa... " or stuff like that all the time.
a-nesuto wrote:
ive heard them both used
Hamubaga and hanbaaguu
Actually they are different things.
�n���o�[�K�[ (hanbaagaa) is a regular hamburger with a bun.
�n���o�[�O (hanbaagu) is hamburger without bun. a.k.a. Hamburger steak. _________________
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That's what I was thinking.
Hehe... 
