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…