Nihongo wa Doko Kara Kimashita ka---Where Did the Japanese Language Come From?

Japanese is one of the most spoken languages in the world, having over 126 million fluent speakers in Japan and over 2 million others outside of the country.
No one really knows where the spoken language came from though many scholars have tried making educated guesses. Some places have been linked to the language such as the Ural-Altaic family, which includes Turkish, Mongolian, Manchu, and Korean. Other sources are beleived to be Polynesian and Chinese. Here we can see Japan and Korea.

The Ural-Altaic family is the most widely accepted link among scholars, and within this family it is Korean that has been linked the most. With sentence structure, vowel pronunciation, and grammar being identical, this language has the most potential for being the language’s root. Another similarity is the use of honorifics. This is the use of hierarchies is the language; such as “san” is put at the end of someone’s name for respect, Korea also has their equivalence such as “oppa”. Even though this seems exciting, the pronunciation of words is completely different and mostly incomparable. Here are the consonats and vowels in Korean.

Nihongo no Kita, Nishi, Minami, Higashi --- The Japanese Language of North, West, South, and East

In the Japanese language are many regional dialects. Just like in America where people from the south use different words and have different accents and people on the east coast like Boston or people from Chicago use different words. It can be as similar as Pop versus Soda and Sub sandwich versus Hoagie to as confusing as using “pie” for pizza. Even slang is different in different parts of America and it is the same in Japan. The main dialect continues to be the Tokyo Dialect which is pushed through media but this does not mean that the other two main dialects, Kansai (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe) and Kyushu (the southern islands) are not real or correct Japanese.

Kodomo no Nihongo --- The Japanese Language of the Youth

The most current change in the language is the role that youth has in shaping the language. In America slang is used by the youth while slang used by older generations disappears unless brought back by those wishing to be retro. Changing grammar however is the newest trend in Japan. Using informal speech and ignoring honorifics and shortening words are widely accepted by the younger generations while the older members of society are appalled with this “lack of respect” for the language.

Nihon no Alphabet -- The Japanese Alphabets

Japanese has overall 4 writing systems ranging in creation from the 6th century to around 1945. These are, in order of creation, Kanji, Katakana, Hiragana, and Romanji.

Kanji

During the 6th century, Chinese culture entered Japan, which included government, art, business, religion, and also the writing system. For the first time, the Japanese were able to write. Much of Chinese was added to the Japanese vocabulary and even now 40% of the modern Japanese vocabulary is from changed Chinese words.
Even though the Chinese spoken language worked when the Japanese changed them slightly to fit their vowel system, the writing system was too different to keep. The structure was much too foreign so in order for the Japanese to be able to write freely they took the Chinese symbols and used their own words in their place. Within a hundred years the Chinese characters were then changed into Japanese kanji.
Here are is the word Reiki which means the source of the spirit. These are both the same word with the same Kanji. The only difference is Cursive versus Priting.


Katakana

Katakana was created by Buddhist priests in order to make a phonetic shorthand system. Phonetic is what the English alphabet is, instead of a symbol meaning a word, letters, in this case a consonants and a vowel makes the letter.
Katakana now is mainly for borrowed words from other countries, onomatopoeias, and for some plants and animals. Words such as sandoichi for sandwich and Koka-kora for Coca-Cola became part of the language. Along with many English words are German words such as Arubaito for Arbait (part time job). These adapted words have helped shape what the Japanese language is today.

Katakana is also used for foreign names for example
Sara

John

Shannon

Timothy

Christina

Jordan

Hiragana

One hundred years after the creation of Katakana, high ranking women created another alphabet, mostly the same a Katakana but with little differences. This writing system, Hiragana, was created for poetry, novels, and diaries. Hiragana is used now as the main alphabet with the mixture of Kanji. Here is a page from an old samurai poetry collection from hundreds of years ago.


Romanji

That is only 3 writing systems that Japanese has, the other one is the most recent which is Romanji (Romanized words). After World War II, Americans were still in Japan and they found the language to be quite difficult and even attempted to remove kanji from the language. This never happened but it did reduce the amount of everyday kanji used in the Japanese language to around 1,850 where there are over 50,000 Kanji. After changing again, today there are just under 2,000 that are regularly used. But with this reduction in kanji and hiragana used more, the 4th writing system was created. Using the Roman alphabet, the writing system was changed so now words like Konnichiwa and Arigato were readable to those who did not read the language. Here is a sign in Japan which has Hiragana, Kanji, and Romanji.

Romanji -- Romanized Letters

Japanese has vowels just like in English but they are they are just a little different. The Japanese vowels go in this order:
A I U E O
and they are pronounced:
A as in fAther
I as in mEEt
U as in yOU
E as in forgEt
O as in sOda

Lets look at the numbers 1-10
1 is Ichi pronounced EEchEE
2 is Ni pronounced nEE
3 is San pronounced sAHn
4 is Yon or Shi pronounced yOHn or shEE
5 is Go pronounced gOH
6 is Roku pronounced rOHkOO
7 is Nana or Shichi pronounced nAHnAH or shEEchEE
8 is Hachi pronounced hAHchEE
9 is Kyuu or Kuu pronounced kYOU or kOO
10 is Juu pronounced jOO
The numbers 10-20 are just like 1-10 except you start every number with Juu (10) so Juu ichi pronounced jOO EEchEE is eleven.
lets watch a video that will help count from 1-20
If you listen you can hear how they are pronounced and try to repeat him. He goes fast so if you need to pause or listen again feel free.

Hiragana

The following is the base Hiragana in a chart. Each vowel is paired with 5 consonants. It takes a long time to learn these letters, but once you do you will be able to write most of the words you learn.

In order to hear these Hiragana, listen to the following song which goes through the entire basic chart.

Since this is only the basic hiragana chart we also need to learn the extended one. Here if i wanted to say Boshi which is hat we wouldn't be able to because we only know "shi".
There is the Basic Hiragana, which you have just gone over, the Hiragana with tentens which make G,J,Z,D, and B sounds.
Tentens are two dashes on the right hand side. There is also a type of Tenten which makes a circle on the right hand side, this makes only P sounds.
Finally are the combined Hiragana which take the hiraganas and add them with either YO YOU or YA. The produces sounds like Kya and Jyo and Byou.
Here is the chart of all of the Hiragana click on this chart for a larger view. It might seem intimidating, but once you take some time to really look at this chart you will begin to see the patterns.

Now that you see the chart, let's practice with some of the Hiragana with Tentens

Lets say you wanted to ask how someone was doing. You now will be able to write in Romanji and with a little practice, Hiragana too.

Soon you will also be able to write this in Katakana and eventually Kanji!

Now, taking your own paper i want you to translate some of the following Romanji into Hiragana.
Look at the chart, slowly go over the sounds and then write them as they are on the chart. Even if it looks wierd, it is ok.
The first word is:Konnichiwa, pronounced KOHNEECHEEWAH. This word means "Hello".
Now, look at this word and separate the sounds out. There is a KO a N a NI a CHI and a WA. This will help you put them together. Write this word three times and scroll down to see if our answers match...























Ok, if you did not get it right, try to see where it is wrong.
Let's try another word: Tabemasu, pronounced TAHBEHMAHS, this is the word "To Eat".
This word has a Tenten in it so be careful. Look at the charts, remember "H" sounds with the two dashes makes "B" sounds.
Break this word down too. Ta Be Ma Su. Write this three times in Hiragana and check with my answers....































Ok, again if you did not get it right thats ok! See where yours is different and try to change it for next time.
We will practice this more a little later, lets move on to the next writing system, Katakana.

Katakana

Remember what i said about Katakana being for borrowed words? Well there are certain words that can be translated into Japanese if you know the way. Lets say you want to translate Ice cream into Japanese, you cant just rewrite it and say it is done. With the exception of N and O, most Katakana and Hiragana are a consonant and a vowel. SO Ice cream would look like this in romanji: Aisu Kurimu. Pronounced: AISOO KOOREEMOO. Now, look at the chart below. On your own paper I want you to match this romanji with the Katakana and translate Ice Cream three times.

Now scroll down and see if ours matches....






























Did you get it right? Even if you didn't it's ok. It takes lots of practice to get it right.

For a little more of a Challenge, lets try another word. Now, even though Ice cream translated pretty smoothly, not all words are like that. Lets take Camping for example. Many times, "M" is translated into "N" in Katakana so it could be Kanpingu, but instead it is said Kanpu. Pronounced Kahnpoo.

Another example is Video Games. Now, this word is changed to sound more like Television game. The Romanji is Terebi Gemu (there is no "L" in Japanese either). Pronounced Tehrehbee Gehmoo. Remember how hiragana had Tentens to make G,D,Z,J, and P sounds? it is the same for Katakana. So we are going to translate Video Game into Katakana. So the Romanji is TerebiGemu. There are two Katakanas that have Tentens. the "bi" and the "ge". As a hint, "H" sounds with the two dashes make "B" sounds. "K" sounds with the two dashes make "G" sounds.

Now, I know this is alot of exeptions but there is one more. Since "game" has a long sounding "a" in it we are going to add a - after the "ge". This will make it sound longer because you hold the letter longer when there is a -.

I know this is alot but again, once you practice this it will become much easier.
So, let's try this on your paper, looking at the chart and using the hints I gave you. You might not get this right but remember, Katakana is one of those alphabets that even students who have taken the class for years, still have a hard time with.
So on your own paper write Terebigemu three times then scroll down to check with my answers....












































So how did it go? Good? Bad? Horrible? All of these are ok at this point. Keep practicing words. On your own paper I want you to try and Translate your name. Remember to add vowels when necisarry. If your name is JARED it would look like JEREDO, pronounced JEHREHDOH. If it is LINDSAY it would look like RINSE, pronounced REENSEH. Just try, even if it doesn not look or sound right, the expirament can only help you understand Katakana better.

Lets Try Some Easy Words

One part of Japanese is to be able to see what words are translated into Katakana and which words are translated into Hiragana. We are going to try 3 pairs where I tell you which is which then for the fourth pair you must try to figure that out yourself. Write these words in either Katakana or Hiragana on your paper once and then check with my answer to see if you are correct.
Doa, pronounced DOH AH, is Katakana for Door and
Mimasu, pronounced MEE MAH S, is Hiragana for To See
Using the charts if you need to, translate these and scroll down for the answer...








































Ok, the next pair is going to get a little trickier.
Sayonara, pronounced SAH YO NAH RAH, is Hiragana for Good Bye and
Teburu, pronounced TEH BOO ROO, is Katakana for Table
Hint: for Teburu there is a tenten somewhere and there is also a longer vowel. Say the English word out loud and try to guess which vowel sounds the longest. Once you think you know place a "-" <- dash so that the vowel is spoken just a little longer.
Once you have written these, scroll down to check....

























The third pair is going to be the hardest. Take your time and dont get frustrated if you do not understand. Learning from mistakes can be the most helpful way to learn.
Basukettoboru, pronounced BAH S KEH T TOE BOH ROO, is Katakana for Basketball and
Hajimemashite, pronounced HA GEE MEH MAH SH TEH, is Hiragana for It's Nice To Meet You.
Now, before you start there are some things that we have not talked about yet. With the word Basukettoboru there are 2 "T's". With the exeption of letters like "N" and "O" and a few others, there is always a consonant and a vowel pairing. In order to get the double "T" you need to add a miniature TSU. Since this word is in Katakana, the TSU from that chart is used. Making a small TSU right after "KE" and right before "TO" will create a double "T". It's ok if you dont understand this yet but I want you to try. Write these two words down and then scroll to compare. Good Luck!....


























Even if you are continuously not understanding, that's still OK! The final pair you have to figure out which one is Hiragana and which one is Katakana. As a hint, say each out loud and if one sounds like it could somehow be close to English, then it is probably Katakana. I am only going to write them in Romanji and once you scroll down you will learn what they mean.
The first word is: Sandoichi
The second word is: Kumori
If you need to say them fast, slow, anything and if you are still stumped thats ok. Make an guess, you have nothing to lose.
Once you have translated these scroll down....

















So, now you know that Sandoichi is Katakana for Sandwich. Did you get that right? If not, say the word now. Can you hear the English in that word? If you still cant dont worry about it. After studying these long enough they become easier and easier.
Kumori is Hiragana for Cloudy.
Sandoichi is pronounced SAH N DOE EE CHEE
Kumori is pronounced KOO MOE REE

Good job on practicing. Now that you have been introduced to the writing systems and even practiced a little bit we are going to move on. Dont forget to practice often.

This list is on different types of foods and drinks. Some are Hiragana and some are Katakana. If you see a word like Banana and the romanji is Banana, you kno wit is a katakana word. If the word is Peach and the romanji is Momo then you know it is a Hiragana. Read the list and try to translate a few. Use the charts and refer back to our practices for the hints.
Ganbatte! (Try your best!)

Here is the list of vocabulary words to practice translating and saying:
English Romaji
food tabemono
fruit kudamono
orange orenji
strawberry ichigo
peach momo
Japanese pear nashi
lemon remon
cherry sakuranbo
watermelon suika
apple ringo
banana banana
vegetables yasai
carrot ninjin
potato jagaimo
tomato tomato
green onion negi
meat niku
beef gyuuniku
chicken chikin
pork butaniku
ham hamu
beverages nomimono
cola koora
water mizu
green tea ocha
milk gyuunyuu
coffee koohii
beer biiru
ketchup kechappu
soy sauce shouyu
egg tamago
fish sakana
cake keeki
rice gohan
bread pan

kanji

simple grammer

lets try some sentences

Put together senteces