Comments for How to Japonese

Comment on Cool 方言 – よう知っとるな by Mashu

Mashu — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:49:03 +0000

Yeah man, I don’t know what sort of phrasing they use in Aichi (it may be different from around here) but in Kansai っておる is used frequently, and you’re right about the putting down of the person you’re talking to/about. 何しとんねん？ Is a common angry/strong inquisition I even use myself on occasion if someone does something really rude or whatever.

In case you’re interested, on the other side of the spectrum (in terms of politeness) the verb はる is attached to stems to slightly elevate the person you’re speaking with. 「大阪に行かはったとき、何か京都と違うこと気づいたん？」is a simple example, but shows it clearly.

Personally I still feel a bit self-conscious using the dialect myself, largely because the intonation is so critical, and naturally that’s tough to master. So it’s typically only when I’m drinking that I try to bring it out full swing. *Very* useful to understand though here (Kyoto), even if you don’t use it at all.

Comment on ジュース ≠ juice, except when ジュース＝ juice by Strategies to Avoid Emotional Eating

Strategies to Avoid Emotional Eating — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:41:46 +0000

Strategies to Avoid Emotional Eating…

Most likely you have never heard of rebounding? No, it has nothing to do with basketball, but it could improve your ‘ball game! A rebounder is basically a mini trampoline, furthermore, the act of bouncing on one is called rebounding….

Comment on 履歴書 – Japanese Résumés by BenjaminBERTA30

BenjaminBERTA30 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:29:04 +0000

Cars and houses are quite expensive and not everybody is able to buy it. But, business loans are invented to support different people in such kind of cases.

Comment on Cool 方言 – よう知っとるな by Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:20:35 +0000

Oh, that’s cool. I had no idea. Always just assumed that it was lazy Westerners refusing to く.

Comment on Cool 方言 – よう知っとるな by Matt

Matt — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:37:01 +0000

Yo(k), I say if you’re leaving おる in the unslurred version, よう should stay as it is too. It’s the same sort of western thing — actually the same western variation as the one that gave Tokyo standard set phrases like おはようございます and ありがとうございます.

Comment on The Goal by How to Japonese» Blog Archive » Cool 方言 – よう知っとるな

How to Japonese» Blog Archive » Cool 方言 – よう知っとるな — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:45:46 +0000

[...] I’ve written before, I’m not a big believer in good pronunciation = fluency or excellent command of dialect = fluency, but I have come to realize that learning dialects gives you more variations to help reinforce your [...]

Comment on ゆった Recap by Emily

Emily — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:38:15 +0000

I really, really, love this blog. It’s so interesting, I’m just getting into the translating business and though I’m a complete novice, finding useful and informative places like this on the ‘web is a godsend! Will definitely utilise it a lot more in the future.

Comment on ゆった Recap by Matt

Matt — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:53:32 +0000

“Yuku” was definitely more popular in earlier times than “iku”, but “iku” has been around like forever, waiting for its moment to shine. Here’s a sakimori song by Otabe no Aramimi in the Man’yoshu dated to the mid-700s that includes it:

阿米都知乃可美乎伊乃里弖佐都夜奴伎都久之乃之麻乎佐之弖伊久和例波
あめつちのかみをいのりてさつやぬきつくしのしまをさしていくわれは
天地の神を祈りて猟矢貫き筑紫の島を指して行く我れは

“I pray to the gods of heaven and earth, load up on hunting arrows, and it’s Tsukushi island [=Kyushu] ho, boys, fiddle-dee-dee” (partly embellished)

Of course, the author was from Tochigi… but Ono Susumu claims that it was fairly often used to enable a pun with “iku” as in “live” (-> modern “ikiru”).

Comment on ゆった Recap by How to Engrish» Blog Archive » 英語の音便

How to Engrish» Blog Archive » 英語の音便 — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:35:05 +0000

[...] 月曜日How to Japoneseでは、音便について少し書いたけど、その後英語の音便があるかどうかが気ににった。 [...]

Comment on ゆった Recap by Will

Will — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:14:14 +0000

This is the second time we’ve both written about something at the same time! Just put up a post a few hours ago about Jonny Greenwood + Norwegian Wood. Weird.