Japanese Language Help

Aki-san: Thanks for the quick reply! I guess I'll have to read more to get the hang of it. Right now, I'm only at the writing state. I'll let you know if I have any more questions.
 
Hello everyone. I've started reading, very basic manga, and I've got a couple of questions. How will I be able to tell when tsu (Hiragana) is being used as itself or when it is being used as a double consonant? Also how do writers decide when to use hiragana and when to switch to katakana? Any comments would be welcome. Thanks.
 
Bashiek said:
Hello everyone. I've started reading, very basic manga, and I've got a couple of questions. How will I be able to tell when tsu (Hiragana) is being used as itself or when it is being used as a double consonant? Also how do writers decide when to use hiragana and when to switch to katakana? Any comments would be welcome. Thanks.
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Small tsu っ used for double consonants should look smaller than regular つ.

so tsubasa would be つばさ
and natto would be なっと

Katakana is usually used for "loan words" from other languages like English or for made-up words, but it varies a bit.

eg Macross マクロス (makurosu)
or Gundam ガンダム (gandamu)
 
To add to the katakana thing, by writing certain words/phrases in katakana that are normally in hiragana or kanji, more emphasis is placed on them. It's sort of like putting them in all caps or bold in English
 
Okay Aki-san- that means I have to pay more attention to any normal word in Katakana. Thanks for that tip.
 
Hello everyone. I just wanted to confirm/clarify something--
Vertical writing is read right to left, the top of the column to the bottom
Horizontal writing is read just like English.
Am I right?
 
Kugayama-san: Thanks for the reply. Sorry I'm late; I didn't get an e-mail notification. Also I wanted to ask something else too.
In katakana a small (ya) can be used with (ki) to make (kya). Is is possible to use a small (shi or tsu) as well? I haven't seen that in any of my charts, but I think I noticed something in the end credits of Black Butler anime. (By the way, you guys were right; it is smaller than the normal letters).
Thanks as always.
 
@Bashiek, it depends on the situation. Small shi is rarely used, but small tsu is very oftenly used.
Although when you use that, usually it is not pronounced as "tsu", but acts as a glottal stop.
For example:
サッカー = sakkaa = soccer.
If you pronounce this, instead of going like "sakah" or "saka-a" (lol because it's double a, maybe XD), you will do it as "SA-ka" (stress on the first syllable, and the k sound is very prominent). The small tsu signifies that the next consonant will be stressed on as you speak. Of course, don't forget the glottal stop ;)
 
@Bashiek, somewhere I have a list of words in katakana, but it might take some finding.

This was a katana chart I made up:

アイウエオ
カキクケコ　キャキュキョ
サシスセソ　シャシュショ
タチツテト　チャチュチョ
ナニヌネノ　ニャニュニョ
ハヒフヘホ　ヒャヒュヒョ
マミムメモ　ミャミュミョ
ヤ　ユ　ヨ
ラリルレロ　リャリュリョ
ワヰ　ヱヲ
ン

ガギグゲゴ　ギャギュギョ
ザジズゼゾ　ジャジュジョ
ダヂヅデド
バビブベボ　ビャビュビョ
パピプペポ　ピャピュピョ
ヷヸヴヹヺ
 
@Bashiek wish you the best of luck in learning japanese! it's no easy task (in my opinion) and even now, after studying it for 9 years (i started when i was 14), there are many things i still find that i do not understand lol i continue to learn through much reading and listening to japanese music. believe it or not, i acquired a fourth of my vocab through kajiura hahaha! i've passed the N2 (which i hope one day you take and pass as well) and now studying for the N1. after a while, you'll start understanding japanese without having to translate in your head. i find myself understanding things in japanese that i can't even translate into english! how weird is that? haha. hope the best for your studies :)
 
@nimsaj - it must be easier for those who start learning at a younger age, like the students now at the same primary school that I attended 40 years ago.
 
@Kugayama yes, that's quite a huge factor for me. i started early, so i think that's how i grasped the language fairly quickly. but i think everyone can do it if they have the will for it ;) i currently teach a private class (i guess? lol) of 6 students that all differ in age.. younger ones tend to do better but they all do great!
 
Kugayama-san: Thanks for the reply. I'm sorry I was late in my reply, but I was offline for a while. I have another question. In Katakana, the standard way of writing wi, we, and wo are displayed in the chart that Aki-san gave. However, I've also seen wi, we, and wo written with the standard u plus a little i, e, and o respectively in the charts I found on the About.com site. For example, in the end credits of Black Butler, William T. Spears is written with (u) plus the little (i). How will you be able to tell when to use which one? Any thoughts/help would be appreciated.
Thank you once again.
 
Nimsaj-san and Sutekinanijinoiro-san: Thanks for the replies. Any encouragement and help is always appreciated by me since where I live I don't have anyone I can ask for help. I wish I had had the opportunity to learn when I was much younger, but as they say "better late than never".
 
Bashiek said:
Kugayama-san: Thanks for the reply. I'm sorry I was late in my reply, but I was offline for a while. I have another question. In Katakana, the standard way of writing wi, we, and wo are displayed in the chart that Aki-san gave. However, I've also seen wi, we, and wo written with the standard u plus a little i, e, and o respectively in the charts I found on the About.com site. For example, in the end credits of Black Butler, William T. Spears is written with (u) plus the little (i). How will you be able to tell when to use which one? Any thoughts/help would be appreciated.
Thank you once again.
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OK, on Japanese wikipedia at http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/黒執事_(アニメ)#.E7.99.BB.E5.A0.B4.E4.BA.BA.E7.89.A9

I found: ウィリアム・T・スピアーズ for William T. Spears

The katakana wi "ヰ" is obsolete (?), so "ウィ" would be an easier to understand way of writing "Wi" for loan words such as non-Japanese names. Something similar would also apply to we "ヱ" and wo "ヲ".

I'm unsure what happens with the other obsolete (?) katakana vu "ヴ", va "ヷ", vi "ヸ", ve "ヹ" and vo "ヺ".
 
Kugayama said:
The katakana wi "ヰ" is obsolete (?), so "ウィ" would be an easier to understand way of writing "Wi" for loan words such as non-Japanese names. Something similar would also apply to we "ヱ" and wo "ヲ".
Click to expand...
Yeap, this is right. ヰ is obsolete. No one uses it anymore except in classical and literary context. Same goes for the others I've mentioned.

(That's why Japanese tend to pronounce words that have a "wu" sound as a "u". Perfect example: woman -> ウーマン => ooh-man
smh every single time >_<)

Kugayama said:
I'm unsure what happens with the other obsolete (?) katakana vu "ヴ", va "ヷ", vi "ヸ", ve "ヹ" and vo "ヺ".
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Of these things you've mentioned, only ヴ is actively being used, along with the small vowels sounds. It is used to substitute for the foreign sound "v".
So ヴァ ヴィ ヴ ヴェ ヴォ (va vi vu ve vo)
But even this is ignored sometimes and the バ sound group is preferred instead, as most Japanese don't know how to produce the sound properly. Perfect example: DVD -> ディーブイディー => dee-bwi-dee
:desksweat:
I still don't know when and when not to use ヴ really. >_<
Usually they use it for foreign names and places with v, sometimes they don't OTL
 
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