2008-03-24, 11:34 | Link #1483 |
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Join Date: Jul 2007
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Anything in Japanese could be written in hiragana or katakana. Not everything can be written in kanji, unless some are used for purely phonetic purposes to represent particles and flectional endings. (This is how the kana were developed in the first place, as simplified versions of kanji that were being used this way.) Kanji help distinguish homonyms and break up long strings of hiragana, making word boundaries more obvious (though overuse of kanji can obscure them again.) Japanese strive for a pleasing balance between kanji and kana.
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2008-03-24, 11:39 | Link #1484 | |
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Secondly, kanji in Japanese is like greek / latin words in English. They express complicated notions. 地質学 (earth-qualiy-study) corresponds to geo-logy (earth-word), 解毒 (break-poison) to anti-dote (counter-giving). Both language have expanded their vocabularies by loaning ancient foreign heritage. Human and place names are in principle by taken from kanji words similarly as classical languages in English. Imagine you write greek words in greek alphabet in english text; "Today I go to σχολα and learn μαθηματικη and ηιστορια". It is like that. To sum up, 1. you can use kana-s anywhere. 2. nouns, adjectives and verbs are recommended to be writen in kanji. 3. "difficult" words and proper nouns are strongly recommended to be written in kanji. The orthographies of kana and kanji were established by Agency for Cultural Affairs, but there is no official and binding rule cencerning when to use kanji. (though, there are some internal guidelines in massmedia companies and public agencies. Editors love to rely on such books.) EDIT: Sorry again I didn't notice richvh had already answered. I totally agree with his explanation. Last edited by LiberLibri; 2008-03-24 at 11:58. |
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2008-03-24, 13:56 | Link #1485 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
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And... the older and more educated one gets, the more kanji you will put into your writing and the more kanji you'll encounter when reading at your most challenging levels.
You can often tell the target audience for a story by how much kanji it has and whether it comes with furigana to help with the kanji. Stories written for children will have little or no kanji. Stories written for teens will have a fair amount of kanji but often with furigana as a reading aid. If you grab a copy of the manga series Yotsuba& -- you'll notice that when the children speak, the dialog is mostly in kana form. When the teens speak, its written with more kanji. And when the adults speak, there's a LOT of kanji. Very interesting way to depict the dialog. Example: A child's dialog bubble that means "What?" will be written "なに?” where as an adult's equivalent dialog bubble will contain "何?"
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2008-03-24, 16:33 | Link #1486 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Age: 39
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Hey guys . I want to start learning japanese by myself. Please tell me some good books. I learned hiragana and katakana 2 times before. But since i never used them after, I forgot. I wanna start again, this time with a good book. So I know where should i start and what to do next. Also, what is a good method to memorize the kana?
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2008-03-24, 17:23 | Link #1488 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
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The Japanese for Busy People series (AjALT) isn't terrible. Its been revised and now has audio CDs. I've also enjoyed a high school text series called Adventures in Japanese (by Peterson&Omizo). After that, I'd be pointing at a pile of Kodansha reference books and a conversational Japanese class at the community college.
For written Japanese, the Japanese in Mangaland series manages to be entertaining and helpful for starters, plus it teaches the written sound effects (onomatopoeia) one sees in manga. As far as remembering the kanas, I'd recommend getting a chart that combines romaji, katakana, and hiragana -- and make your own flashcards. Making and then practicing with them helps. Also writing the chart repeatedly til your brain accepts it. Daily writing practice with simple sentences and reading short texts help. Basically hit those neurons from multiple sensory ports. I understand how easy it is to lose the pointers to data. I forget katakana almost instantly if I don't use it daily because my brain seems convinced I only need one symbol for a sound. edit: good gods, richvh, do you monitor this thread 24/7?
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Last edited by Vexx; 2008-03-24 at 17:30. Reason: because I'm a dysfunctional idiot today it seems |
2008-03-25, 05:29 | Link #1492 | |
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I am a student in an Anglophone college and must submit reports in English but I am terribe at making English composition (a/the/no-article!) I cannot judge whether my language skill is trustworthy. |
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2008-03-25, 08:21 | Link #1493 | |
9wiki
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I don't know of Bekki's English credentials or available time to help, but I would be glad to help you out with this. Simply send me a message with your contact information if you decide you would like me to proofread for you.
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2008-03-25, 14:20 | Link #1494 | |
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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2008-03-28, 15:20 | Link #1497 |
Imouto-Chan♥
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: England
Age: 30
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^ Thanks for the answer to my question, I think it understand ^_^''
I have another question though, Is there ever spaces used in Japanese, because looking at Japanese text doesn't look like it. Does spacing not matter?
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2008-03-28, 15:51 | Link #1498 | |
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Two exceptions: Children sometimes use space to clarify the border for their knowledge on kanji is limited and rely on phonogram, the kana-s. Formal typesetting. When writing Japanese text, you insert a space at the head of every paragraph. And some puctuation marks (exclamation ! / question ?) require to be followed by a space. |
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2008-03-28, 16:09 | Link #1499 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
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Spacing is only used (if at all) in text written for very young children, some manga, and in "learn the language" books. Typically in "hiragana & katakana mostly" stuff... (like manga for kids and teens where spaces and "!" or "?" or used for emphasis).
Once you know the flow of the sentence grammar, can play "spot the particles!", and understand where kanji tends to erupt, the spaces are no longer necessary. You'll also more often see the script flow vertically than horizontally. "watashi wa benkyo o shimasu" would look like a mess if unspaced in romaji so the spaces are needed. But in -kana script: "わたひ は べんきょ を します。” (spaces left for learning purposes or a young audience) ”わたしはべんきょをします。” the particles provide a framework that the practiced eye can immediately parse the sentence. When kanji is added, it makes it even easier (or rather makes more complex sentences easier to dissect). ”私は勉強をします。”
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2008-03-28, 16:14 | Link #1500 | |
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Join Date: Jul 2007
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