overview for Nihongo

19

Japanese pop-up dictionary with pitch accent? (self.japaneselanguage)

submitted 5 months ago by Nihongo to c/[email protected]

1 comments fedilink

Hi, I use Rikaichan/Rikaikun at the moment but I'm not sure how to turn on pitch accent if it has it. Does anyone use a pop-up dictionary that has pitch accent, by any chance?

36

相席（あいせき） doesn't exist/is long in English. More words like that, please? (self.japaneselanguage)

submitted 5 months ago by Nihongo to c/[email protected]

8 comments fedilink

相席（あいせき,） means "sharing a table with someone you don't know (e.g. at a restaurant)" (Takoboto).

What other fun words have you all encountered that just don't translate well to English or require a short explanation?

I'd like to make a sentence that's very long in translation, and/or read a silly sentence like that.

Whoa the sidebar says how to do furigana in c/[email protected]

[–] Nihongo 1 points 5 months ago

Oh... I'll just use 括弧（かっこ） for now, then. It's easier to type out anyway. Still a cool feature!

18

Whoa the sidebar says how to do furigana (self.japaneselanguage)

submitted 6 months ago by Nihongo to c/[email protected]

5 comments fedilink

({凸|のの})

{Testing, 1 2 3|Look I made a face!}, I just want to try this in a post.

How do I say "stay hydrated" in japanese? in c/[email protected]

[–] Nihongo 7 points 6 months ago

I'd suggest asking on hinative.com, since you can ask a native speaker there.

水分補強 sounds like "water rations" or something to me (dictionary). It's just the nouns and doesn't imply "stay hydrated!" to me, personally - like writing "Hydration" on a bottle.

Offhand, I'd suggest asking a native speaker about some of these:

熱中症にご注意！ "Be careful of heatstroke!" (commonly said phrase to imply "drink water" and cool off, probably fits with skeleton best I think? Unless it's winter, definitely more common in summer)
水分を忘れないでね！ "Don't forget to hydrate!" (I need to ask a native speaker if the "ne" makes it sound feminine though)
グイグイ飲もう！ "Let's drink lots!" (Might imply alcohol, but that might be funnier? or ぐいぐい)
のんで、のんで、のんでのんで、のんで、のんで、のんでのんで、のんで ! "Drink!" x10 (Might also have alcoholic connotations - like "Chug chug chug!")
水分補給しよう！ "Let's hydrate!" (Or しましょう which is formal/polite)

I think the first two work best with a skeleton. Maybe 2 is clearest.

Not sure what other ideas people might have - also note that I'm NOT a native Japanese speaker. Just throwing out some ideas!

7

花金～ (self.japaneselanguage)

submitted 9 months ago by Nihongo to c/[email protected]

2 comments fedilink

Or 華金? Well, either way: TGIF!

A mistake I once made: instead of お城（おしろ）I said お尻（おしり） in c/[email protected]

[–] Nihongo 1 points 9 months ago

Oo that could be really bad. Yea... now I'm worried I might do that by accident too!

A mistake I once made: instead of お城（おしろ）I said お尻（おしり） in c/[email protected]

[–] Nihongo 2 points 9 months ago

Haha oh no! Too much 疲れ lol

35

A mistake I once made: instead of お城（おしろ）I said お尻（おしり） (self.japaneselanguage)

submitted 9 months ago by Nihongo to c/[email protected]

6 comments fedilink

In the car on the way to a castle (お城) with my host family's kids, no less. They thought it was hilarious that I was excited to see the お尻 (butt).

Any other gaffes out there? 🙃

999命士 in c/[email protected]

[–] Nihongo 3 points 9 months ago

Thanks!! Today I learned "ancestral grave" and QQ者 🤣

999命士 in c/[email protected]

[–] Nihongo 4 points 9 months ago

I like it, lol.

20

999命士 (self.japaneselanguage)

submitted 9 months ago by Nihongo to c/[email protected]

5 comments fedilink

救急救命士（きゅうきゅうきゅうめいし / paramedic） is one of my favorite Japanese words because it has きゅう three times in a row.

Any other fun words like that?

The "dragon-eared" people: 聾者 in c/[email protected]

[–] Nihongo 3 points 9 months ago

a bit ableist Yea, they sound that way to me, too. I'm not sure what Japanese people think.

But, either way I like the character聾!

I just had a conversation with two Russian people in Japanese. in c/[email protected]

[–] Nihongo 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Oh, that's neat!! I'm happy for you.

16

The "dragon-eared" people: 聾者 (self.japaneselanguage)

submitted 9 months ago by Nihongo to c/[email protected]

2 comments fedilink

聾者（ろうしゃ） looks like 龍（たつ・りゅう / dragon）＋耳（みみ / ear）then 者（しゃ/person）

Etymology-wise, it seems the "dragon" part was added just for the pronunciation, not because of dragons.

It means:

"Deaf person".

That said, 耳の不自由な人（みみのふじゆうなひと / not-free-ear people）・耳が聞こえない人（みみがきこえないひと / ears-can't-hear people）・聴覚障害者（ちょうかくしょうがいしゃ / hearing disabled people） might be more common terms. Deaf people themselves prefer 聾者 - and I can see why! Who wouldn't want to be a dragon eared person? I like the character.

21

凸凹 and 凹凸 (self.japaneselanguage)

submitted 9 months ago by Nihongo to c/[email protected]

1 comments fedilink

I love the visual aspect. They areでこぼこ and おうとつ and mean bumpiness.

If I understand this 使い分け explanation, the core meaning (bumpiness) is the same. However でこぼこ is spoken and can be used in more ways: to mean miscellaneous, as an adverb, or as an adjective. おうとつ is written, and strictly a noun about bumpiness.

Anyway, I still like these characters because they're awesome!

吉 is pronounced き↑ち↓ but 不吉 is ふ↑きつ in c/[email protected]