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When I found out that I would have to go to Japan on business, I bought some
books and tapes to learn the language.
I am far from being an expert or even moderately knowledgable. However,
I figured that I might as well share my experience with anyone else that
may want to learn Japanese. So here is a brief synopsis and a very short
dictionary.
Essentials
Japanese is not a difficult language to learn to converse in, although it
is hard to learn written japanese due to the size of the alphabet. The
biggest problem in spoken Japanese is having an understanding of their
culture. Words have many variations, depending upon the formality of the
situation in which they are used. The "way" things are said further
influences the meaning of a statement. For instance, an acquaintance
of mine was suprised, after living in Japan for eight years and
feeling like he was fluent in the language, when he had this happen
to him:
A fellow worker told Victor that he was being unkind by teasing a person
that worked for him. Victor responded that he was not teasing, and asked
why it seemed that he was. His friend told him that he kept speaking to
the other fellow in a form that was fairly polite, yet the worker was
younger than Victor. The younger man was compelled to be even more
polite because Victor was the older. Victor would note his politeness
and therefore respond even more politely. This would force them into an
extremely formal and uncomfortable conversation.
However, remember that you are a foreigner. If the tables were turned,
you would certainly be very accomodating of a Japanese person as he
wrestled with the English language. As long as you know the words
necessary to get your point across, and you understand how to express
yourself, you will be understood.
Written Japanese
The Japanese write in four alphabets:
- Kanji. This is an elaborate pictographic alphabet, where there
are symbols for home, mother, love, and other common words. The most
common 1500 Kanji characters are much preferred over the use other
alphabets where possible.
-
Hiragana. This is a phonetic alphabet, where most characters
represent a consonant and a vowel, such as the sounds to, kyu, and
pa. The symbols are simple and may be combined with Kanji to further
extend the Kanji character set.
-
Katakana. This is the exact same character set as Hiragana,
except they are written differently. Katakana is used for foreign
words, sounds, and in quotations. Think of Katakana as italics or
phrases in quotations.
-
Romanji. These characters are A, B, C, and so forth; the same
characters that are used in English. Technical terms and phrases
borrowed from America and Europe are written in Romanji. Because of
this, the Japanese understand our alphabet very well.
In Japanese, there are no spaces between words, making it very
difficult to read.
Japanese may be written left-to-right from the top of the page, or
top-to-bottom from the right side.
Pronunciation
In this paper, we will write everything in Romanji so you can
understand it easily. A Japanese person could also understand all
these words, although he would consider most to be improper as most
"should be" written in Kanji or Hiragana.
The letters in Romanji have the same pronunciation as in English.
Since English vowels may have a variety of sounds, they are explained
more thoroughly below:
- a - father
- e - bet
- i - thing
- o - wrote
- u - hub
Notice especially the pronunciation of the i, more like EE than we
are normally used to.
Vowels also have a long form. A long vowel in Japanese is not pronounced
much differently than the short vowel, but is held longer.
When you see a doubled consonant, it must be held longer. This is
important, as doubled consonants or long vowels must have a noticable
distinction, as many Japanese words sound very similar.
There are many dialects of Japanese. Just as a person from Liverpool
will speak English differently from a person that is from Georgia,
the rules for Japanese pronunciation vary by region. The most
noticable variation is that of the vowels u and i when they are
surrounded by voiceless consonants. In many cases they are silent or
have a different pronunciation. For example, desu ka is generally
pronounced dess-kah, leaving the u silent. However, you may choose
to always pronounce each and every letter, and you will be correct and
well understood.
Conjugations
In English we have many variations of verbs:
| TO RUN | TO BE | TO JUMP | TO STAND |
| I run | I am | I jump | I stand |
| He runs | He is | He jumps | He stands |
| They ran | They were | They jumped | They stood |
| We are running | We are | They are jumping | They are standing |
Different verbs are conjugated in various ways. In Japanese all verbs
are conjugated identically, with only four conjugations:
| WAKARI | TO UNDERSTAND |
| present affirmative: | wakarimasu | ...understand |
| present negative: | wakarimasen | ...don't understand |
| past affirmative: | wakarimashita | ...understood |
| past negative: | wakarimasen deshita | ...didn't understand |
There are, of course, some minor exceptions, but they are either regional
variations or contractions, not compeletely different ways of conjugating.
Intonation is similar to English, with questions rising at the end of
the sentence, emphasis on important words or phrases, and a pause
between clauses.
Because of the nature of the Hiragana alphabet, each consonant sound is
generally followed by a vowel. For instance, the Japanese would
pronounce "clam" in three syllables: ka-la-mu. For this reason, it
sounds as if they are speaking very quickly.
Grammar
To form a Japanese sentence, follow these simple rules:
- Start with the subject. It is okay to have an "understood" subject
by omitting it.
- The subject is followed by the ending -wa. Certain verbs and usages
require that the subject (...or the object, especially if the subject
is understood) have a -ga ending instead.
- Adjectives follow the subject and the -wa ending. Modifiers are
explicitely stated. e.g. You do not say "the red car..." but rather
"the car that is red".
- If there are any objects, they come next, followed by the ending -o.
- The predicate (verb) follows all of the nouns.
- To form a question, add ka to the end of the sentence.
For example:
- "do you understand?" becomes: "o-wakari desu ka"
- -1--> The subject (you) is understood
- -2--> the "o-" prefix makes this a polite form
- -3--> the predicate/verb (wakari) is modified by "desu", to be (as "are")
- -4--> the "ka" suffix makes this a question
- So literally, it says: "(you) understanding ARE?"
Basic Dictionary
| yes (please) / no (thanks) |
hai (o-negai shimasu) / iie (kekko desu) |
| pleased to meet you |
hajime mashite / dozo yoroshiku |
| good morning (polite) |
ohayö (gozaimasu) |
| hello |
konnichiwa |
| good evening |
konbanwa |
| good night |
oyasumi nasai |
| how are you? / fine |
ogenki desu ka / genki desu |
| farewell / see you again |
soyönara / ja mata |
| please / (req) / (polite) |
dozo / kudasai / o-negai shimasu |
| thank you (polite) |
(domo) arigato (gozaimasu) |
| you're welcome |
do itashi mashite |
| sorry |
gomen nasai |
| pardon me / excuse me |
sumimasen ga / shitsurei desu ga |
| to be / to have / to make |
desu / motte imasu / shimasu |
| go / eat / drink / sleep |
iku / taberu / nomu / neru |
| where / when / who / why |
doku / itsu / dare / naze |
| there is / (animate form) |
arimasu / imasu |
| it is ... / is it ... |
... desu / ... desu ka |
| here / there |
koko / asoko |
Travel Dictionary
| passport |
pasupoto |
| english / japanese / japan |
eigo / nihongo / nihon / nippon |
| United States |
amerika / gasshü koko |
| where is ... ? |
... wa doko desu ka |
| airport / plane |
kuko / hikoki |
| bus / taxi / train |
basu / takushï / densha |
| subway / expr / local |
chikatetsu / kyuko / futsü |
| elevator / door |
erebeta / doa |
| room / bathroom |
heya / senmenjo |
| phone / KDD phone |
denwa / këdïdï denwa |
| light green phones |
denwa midori iro (0051 for intl oper) |
| I'm hungry |
onaka ga suki mashita |
| where are you staying? |
dochira ni go-taizai desu ka |
| I'm lost |
michi ni mayoi mashita |
| how do I get there? |
sokoni wa doyatte ikemasu ka |
| enjoying your stay here? |
koko ga o-kiniiri mashita ka |
Dining Dictionary
| I'd like to have ... |
... o kudasai |
| I'd like this (please) ... |
kore o (o-negai shimasu) |
| what do you recommend? |
o-susume ryöri wa nan desu ka |
| cafe / restaraunt / bar |
shokudo / resutoran / ba |
| lunch / dinner |
chüshoku / yüshoku |
| rice / noodles |
gohan (raisu) / menrui |
| chicken / beef / pork |
tori / gyüniki / butaniki |
| fish / shrimp |
gyokai-rui / ko-ebi |
| salt-broiled / steamed |
shio-yaki / mushita |
| grilled / fried |
yaita / ageta |
| sesame / ginger / soy |
goma / shoga / shöyu |
| coffee / water / juice |
köhï / mizu / jüsu |
| beer / draught / saki |
bïru / jokki de / sake |
| chopsticks / soup / menu |
hashi / süpo / menyü |
| egg / omelet |
tamogoryöri / omuretsu |
| raw / cooked / spicy |
nama / chorishita / köshinryö |
| little / a lot / small / big |
sukoshi / takusan / chisai / ökii |
Communication Dictionary
| what is your name? |
anata no o-namae wa nan desu ka |
| my name is ... |
watashi wa ... to moshi masu |
| this is ... (introduction) |
kochira wa ... desu |
| Hello this is ... (phone) |
moshi moshi ... desu |
| what does it cost? / price |
ikura desu ka / kakaku |
| can I use this credit card? |
kono kurejitto kado de haraemasu ka |
| pencil / paper / pen |
enpitsu / kami / pen |
| nice weather today |
kyö wa tenki ga ii desu |
| (please) write it down |
sore o kaite (kudasai) |
| do you speak English? |
eigo o hanashimasu ka |
| speak slowly (please) |
motto yukkuri hanashite (kudasai) |
| (please) repeat that |
mo ichido (o-negai shimasu) |
| what does this mean? |
kore wa doyu imi desu ka |
| what is this in Japanese? |
kore wa nihongo de nanto imasu ka |
| just a moment (please) |
chotto matte (kudasai) |
| what time is it? |
nan-ji desu ka |
Prefixes and Suffixes
| ... ta |
v. past tense |
| ... no |
n. possession ('s) |
| ... ga |
n. subject |
| ... wa |
n. suffix: subject |
| ... ban |
numbers: ordinal |
| ... ji |
numbers: hour |
| ... -kai |
numbers: floor number |
| ... -sai |
numbers: age |
| ... gatsu |
numbers: month |
| ... han |
half-past ... o'clock |
| ... o |
n. suffix: direct object |
| ... ka |
question |
| ... masu |
v. present affirmative |
| ... mashite |
v. past affirmative |
| ... masen |
v. present negative |
| ... masen deshite |
v. past negative |
| ... kunai desu |
adj. negative, or: |
| ... ku arimasen |
adj. negative |
| ... -san |
Mr. / Mrs. / Miss / Ms |
| (g)o- ... |
polite (fem usage) |
Prepositions / Particles / Pronouns / Articles
| de |
in / with / by |
| ni |
at / in / on |
| e |
to / toward |
| kara |
from |
| watashi wa |
I |
| watashi-tachi wa |
we |
| anata wa |
you |
| anata-tachi wa |
you (plural) |
| kare wa / kanojo wa |
he / she |
| kanojo-ra wa |
they |
| hito wa |
person |
| hito-tachi wa |
people |
| kore / kono |
these / this |
| sore / sono |
those / that |
| are / ano |
those over there / that over there |
Numbers
| 0 |
zero / rei |
| 1 |
ichi / hitotsu |
| 2 |
ni / futatsu |
| 3 |
san / mittsu |
| 4 |
shi / yon / yo / yottsu |
| 5 |
go / itsutsu |
| 6 |
roku / muttsu |
| 7 |
shichi / nana / nanatsu |
| 8 |
hachi / yattsu / hassen |
| 9 |
kyü / ku / kokonotsu |
| 10 |
jü / tö |
| 11 |
jü-ichi |
| 12 |
jü-ni |
| 20 |
ni-jü |
| 21 |
ni-jü-ichi |
| 30 |
san-jü |
| 50 |
go-jü |
| 100 |
hyaku |
| 101 |
hyaku-ichi |
| 200 |
ni-hyaku |
| 1000 |
sen |
| 2001 |
ni-sen-ichi |
| 10000 |
ichi-man |
| 1000000 |
hyaku-man |
| one-half |
hanbun |
| percent |
päsento |
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