Basics of the Japanese Language
For the Portsmouth 60+ FestivalBy Peter Missen
October 2011
Taster session
Objectives for this session
This is a 1 hour taster of the Japanese language to cover the basics of the language.
IntroductionsExpectationsThe Japanese language
– Alphabets, Grammar, Verbs, Sounds, Pronunciation,– Kanji, Basic sentence structure
Some sentencesGreetingsNumbersInteresting kanji!
Introduction
Me – Peter Missen– Took early retirement from IBM in March 2010 – Joined PCC in April 2010– My role is IT Auditor for the Internal Audit group
Started to learn Japanese in 1993 while at IBM
I teach Japanese part-time in the evenings at the University of Portsmouth on their Institution Wide Language Program (IWLP). A scheme that allows any student at the University to learn a language for interest or 10 degree credits.
Expectations
You have my permission to:
– Make mistakes – Ask dumb questions
Please ask questionsit’s your chance to inquire about the language
Please be interactive…
Alphabets
There are 3 Japanese alphabets:– Kanji (pictures borrowed from China)– Hiragana (sounds for all things Japanese)– Katakana (sounds for all things foreign – any
language!)
All 3 alphabets can be used in 1 sentence
We can use our own characters to express Japanese
The Japanese call this ro-maji – ro-ma = Rome – ji = written character
Grammar
Compared with European languages, Japanese grammar has some differences. For example:– No gender– No articles
• Japanese people struggle with our articles - the/a/an
– No plurals– No future tense– No spaces between words– No capital letters!
Verbs
Verbs are doing words – ACTION
In the Japanese language verbs come at the end of a sentence, for example:
English: Tomorrow I am going to London.
Japanese: me tomorrow london direction go.
The 5 vowel sounds
A I UE O
The same 5 vowels as English!
But in a different order
The 5 vowel sounds - examples
A as in CAT
I as in FEET
U as in SHOOT
E as in REST
O as in OVER
The 46 basic soundsRo-maji:
A I U E OKa Ki Ku Ke Ko
Sa Shi Su Se So Ta Chi Tsu Te To Na Ni Nu Ne No Ha Hi Fu He Ho Ma Mi Mu Me Mo
Ya Yu YoRa Ri Ru Re Ro
Wa Wo N/M
Hiragana:
あ い う え おか き く け こさ し す せ そた ち つ て とな に ぬ ね の
は ひ ふ へ ほま み む め も
や ゆ よら り る れ ろ
わ を ん
Pronunciation
Japanese pronunciation is mostly uncomplicated
Pronounce words as they are written in ro-maji– Though some “U” and “I” sounds are silent– And a U following an O makes a double O sound!
Kanji characters can have several “readings” depending on context
Kanji
The Japanese write top down and right to left
The Kanji for Japan is nihon: 日本
The pictures mean: Sun and origin
“Land of the Rising Sun”
Add language to mean Japanese: 日本語
Basic sentence structure
~ wa ~ desu.
wa = topic marker – the topic of the sentence
desu = is/are/am – no plurals in Japanese
Usage:
word(s) wa word(s) desu.
~ wa ~ desu example
watashi wa “Peter” desu.
私はピーターです。 watashi = mewa = topic markerpiitaa = Peter pronounced “phonetically”desu = is
All say name… (Substitute your name for Peter)
Another ~ wa ~ desu examplekore wa pen desu. This is a pen.
これはペンです。
kore = this (thing speaker has possession of) wa = topic marker (first annoyance with Japanese is
that the “ha” symbol is used but pronounced “wa”) pen = pen desu = is/are/am (used at end of a sentence)
Another ~ wa ~ desu example
sore wa hon desu. That is a book.
それは本です。
sore = that (thing the listener has possession of)
hon = book(same kanji as “origin” and same pronunciation!)
Another ~ wa ~ desu example
are wa densha desu. That is a train.
あれは電車です。
are = that (thing over there that neither the speaker nor the listener has possession of)
densha = train (2 kanji: electricity + vehicle)
A ~ wa ~ desu question
kore wa nan desu ka. What is this?
これは何ですか。nan = whatka = ? (add KA to a sentence to make a question)
Common Greetings
ohayou gozaimasu – Good morning
お早うございます。 (kanji: early)
ohayou – Morning
お早う。
Common Greetings
konnichiwa – Good afternoon/general hello
今日は。 (2 kanji: now + day.)
konbanwa - Good evening
今晩は。 (2 kanji: now + evening.)
Common opener
ogenki desu ka. - How are you?
お元気ですか。
o shows honourgenki = health(2 kanji: source/cause + feelings/spirit)
Common reply
hai, genki desu. - I am fine.
はい、元気です。
hai = yes.
Common closingsoyasumi nasai. - Good night
お休みなさい。 (kanji: sleep/rest/holiday)
sayounara. - Good bye
さようなら。 dewa mata/ja mata. - See you
ではまた/じゃまた。(dewa is more polite than ja)
Common politenessdoumo arigatou gozaimasu. Thank you very much.
どうも有り難うございます。 (2 kanji: happen + difficult/tough)
douitashimashite. You're welcome.
どういたしまして。gomen nasai. – Sorry.
御免なさい。(2kanji: honorific + exempt)
Formal greeting “sandwich”
hajimemashite - How do you do? (Said the first time you meet someone)
はじめまして。
blah blah blah – information about yourself.
douzo yoroshiku - Nice to meet you.
どうぞよろしく。
Example “sandwich” in ro-maji
hajimemashite.
[watashi wa] pi-ta- desu. [ ] words are optional
igirisu jin desu. (igirisu = English in katakana jin = person)
PCC no shain desu. no = possession shain = company worker (2 kanji: company + member)
douzo yoroshiku.
Example in Japanese script
はじめまして。 (How do you do? )
[ 私は ] ピーターです。 (I am Peter)
イギリス人です。 (I am English)
ピ ・シ ・シの社員です。 (I am a PCC worker)
どうぞよろしく。 (Nice to meet you)
Basic Numbers
rei/zero – Zero 零 /ゼロichi – One 一ni – Two 二 san – Three 三 shi/yon – Four 四go – Five 五 roku – Six 六 shichi/nana – Seven 七hachi – Eight 八kyuu/ku – Nine 九 juu – Ten 十
Numbers up to 99
In Japanese number use is very straightforward (unlike French!)
Pattern is: Number of tens \ TEN \ number of units
For example19 = 10 9 juu kyuu21 = 2 10 1 ni juu ichi37 = 3 10 7 san juu nana88 = 8 10 8 hachi juu hachi95 = 9 10 5 kyuu juu go
Bigger numbers
hyaku – hundred 百
sen – thousand 千 man – ten thousand 万
The ten thousand unit means numbers are not conveniently grouped in 3s.For example: 1 million is 100 ten thousands.
Another example: 57,248 五万七千二百四十八 go man nana sen ni hyaku yon juu hachi
– 5 ten thousands– 7 thousands– 2 hundreds– 4 tens– and eight…
Useful sentence – telephone number
Question: denwa bangou wa nan ban desu ka.What is your telephone number?
電話番号は何番ですか。
– denwa = telephone (2 kanji: electricity + talk)– bangou = number (2 kanji: number + order)– ban = number
Example reply: 023-92834682zero ni san no kyuu ni hachi san yon roku hachi ni desu.
ゼロ二三の九二八三四六八二です。
An interesting sentence: I am a vegetarian
watashi wa saishokushugisha desu.
私は菜食主義者です。
(5 kanji: plant + eating + ethics + ism + person)OR watashi wa bejitarian desu (using katakana!)
私はベジタリアンです。
An interesting Japanese sentence to finish on:
裏庭には二羽、庭には二羽鶏が居る。uraniwa ni wa niwa, niwa ni wa niwa niwatori ga iru.
In the back garden there are two, in the garden there are two chickens.
That’s all folks…