Start Learning Japanese in the next 30 Seconds with
a Free Lifetime Account

Or sign up using Facebook

check this plz(update)

Moderators: Moderator Team, Admin Team

Vaultingjungle
New in Town
Posts: 9
Joined: June 8th, 2006 1:49 am

check this plz(update)

Postby Vaultingjungle » June 21st, 2006 1:11 am

I just got a japanese word processor and want to know if i did it right

1こんにち わ it should be konnichi wa
2今日わ

which one

Alan
Expert on Something
Posts: 189
Joined: June 15th, 2006 7:09 pm

Re: check this plz(update)

Postby Alan » June 21st, 2006 6:10 am

Vaultingjungle wrote:I just got a japanese word processor and want to know if i did it right

1こんにち わ it should be konnichi wa
2今日わ

which one


今日 は バルチェン ジャングさん。
こんにち は バルチェン ジャングさん。
Konnichi wa Vaulting Jungle.
Hello Vaulting Jungle,

My first version above (your No.2) is the kanji version, the second the hiragana only version. People learn the hiragana first and so start with that.
As you learn the kanji for words, you can start using them.

こんにちは = 今日は = konnichi wa (note 'wa' is the particle 'は’)

アラン

Get 40% OFF Forever
Solvi
Established Presence
Posts: 74
Joined: April 28th, 2006 1:26 pm

Postby Solvi » June 21st, 2006 9:08 am

So it's written the same way as きょうは, and it all depends on the context?

Bueller_007
Expert on Something
Posts: 960
Joined: April 24th, 2006 8:29 am

Postby Bueller_007 » June 21st, 2006 10:08 am

Sølvi wrote:So it's written the same way as きょうは, and it all depends on the context?

Well, remember that "konnichi" and "kyou" both mean "today", except "konnichi" is more formal. They are alternate readings for the same kanji. The word "konnichiwa" is shorthand for "konnichi wa atsui desu ne" or a similar statement about the day's weather, schedule, etc. It's been shortened into a greeting, not unlike the way that "God Bless Ye" in English was shortened to "Goodbye".

But their kanji confusion is one of the weirdest things about Japanese.

"Kyou" is a very old Japanese word that predates kanji. The word "konnichi" is newer, being invented after kanji and their pronunciations were adopted from China. 今=kon & 日=nichi.

Because "kyou" has the same meaning, it also came to be written as 今日, despite the fact that 今 is never pronounced きょ and 日 is never pronounced う. "Kyou" is an irregular reading for these kanji. But the word "kyou" is more commonly used than "konnichi", so today, although "kyou" is irregular, it has become the STANDARD reading. 9 times/10, if you see 今日 you can rest assured that it is pronounced "kyou". If it is meant to be pronounced "konnichi" it will usually have furigana. Otherwise, you have to guess "kyou" or "konnichi" based on the formality of the sentence.

Similar things have happened with other Japanese time words:
明後日 = "asatte"/"myougonichi"
明日 = "asu"/"ashita"/"myounichi"
昨日 = "kinou"/"sakujitsu"
一昨日 = "ototoi"/"issakujitsu"

When written as a greeting, "konnichiwa" is almost exclusively written in hiragana: こんにちは. You will also see it written as こんにちわ sometimes, but this is not technically correct.

Vaultingjungle
New in Town
Posts: 9
Joined: June 8th, 2006 1:49 am

Postby Vaultingjungle » June 21st, 2006 12:45 pm

wa Is there anthor romaji spelling cause the word processor doesn't give me that, and it said it for kana and kanji whats the diffrence between hiragana and kana

Solvi
Established Presence
Posts: 74
Joined: April 28th, 2006 1:26 pm

Postby Solvi » June 21st, 2006 5:15 pm

To get は you write "ha". I've never really understood why it's pronouced "wa" when it's used as a particle (as in "watashi wa"), but that's just the way it is.

Kana includes both hiragana and katakana.

Jason
JapanesePod101.com Team Member
Posts: 969
Joined: April 22nd, 2006 1:38 pm

Postby Jason » June 21st, 2006 5:23 pm

Sølvi wrote:To get は you write "ha". I've never really understood why it's pronouced "wa" when it's used as a particle (as in "watashi wa"), but that's just the way it is.

Seems I read somewher that this has to do with old kana usage before it was standardized in the mid 1900s. I don't remember the details though.
Jason
Manager of Mobile & Mac Applications

Vaultingjungle
New in Town
Posts: 9
Joined: June 8th, 2006 1:49 am

Postby Vaultingjungle » June 21st, 2006 7:04 pm

Sølvi wrote:To get は you write "ha". I've never really understood why it's pronouced "wa" when it's used as a particle (as in "watashi wa"), but that's just the way it is.

Kana includes both hiragana and katakana.


こんにちは
got it now thanks

Vaultingjungle
New in Town
Posts: 9
Joined: June 8th, 2006 1:49 am

Postby Vaultingjungle » June 21st, 2006 8:43 pm

Are there any other that in need to change the romaji to get the correct symbol

Alan
Expert on Something
Posts: 189
Joined: June 15th, 2006 7:09 pm

Postby Alan » June 21st, 2006 8:54 pm

Vaultingjungle wrote:Are there any other that in need to change the romaji to get the correct symbol


The particle 'e' (motion towards somewhere) is written 'he' へ.

アラン

Vaultingjungle
New in Town
Posts: 9
Joined: June 8th, 2006 1:49 am

Postby Vaultingjungle » June 21st, 2006 8:59 pm

thanks

Solvi
Established Presence
Posts: 74
Joined: April 28th, 2006 1:26 pm

Postby Solvi » June 21st, 2006 10:28 pm

Ah, I found a paragraph on this in my book. In addition to wa = ha and e = he, it says that "o" used as a particle is written を (wo), but I think the JP101 people actually say "wo", at least when they break it down.[/code]

Jason
JapanesePod101.com Team Member
Posts: 969
Joined: April 22nd, 2006 1:38 pm

Postby Jason » June 21st, 2006 11:42 pm

It actually used to be "wo", and a few people still pronounce it that way.
Jason
Manager of Mobile & Mac Applications

jaypunkrawk
Established Presence
Posts: 71
Joined: June 26th, 2006 5:45 pm

Postby jaypunkrawk » June 26th, 2006 5:52 pm

ありがとう! I always wondered about that.
ジョシュ

Return to “Practice Japanese - 日本語を練習しましょう”