Monday, May 15, 2006

Cute japanese words

The Japanese language is a cunning thing, being constructed primarily by combinations of kanji with different meanings, which can be used to represent almost anything. I have decided I shall list a few of the cuter words I have encountered, for your viewing pleasure. I shall refrain from actually presenting the kanji or kana, since some computers don`t understand them. Here are some words:

  1. Kwizzu, usually stated "Kwizzu des". This is the Japanese import of the word quiz, and we have a kwizzu almost every day in my classes, always preceded by a loud and super-cute pronunciation of "Kwizzu des!" from the teachers. This word is written in katakana, the characters used for foreign words. Katakana words are often very cute.
  2. Prostitute, which is made up of the kanji words for "to sell", and "spring" (I read this this afternoon, and have promptly forgotten the words, which are something like maishu). Essentially this word means "to sell one`s spring" or something like it (spring as in the season). This is quite poetic.
  3. e to: this is Japanese for "and, um...", and is used by our teachers whenever they are thinking. So a typical sentence might be " e to, this is the, e to, verb inflexion"
  4. jitensha, bicycle, whose kanji mean "self-powered vehicle"
  5. jinrickisha, the rickshaw, originally named in Japan, whose kanji mean "strong man vehicle"
  6. ne, usually pronounced neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, which is almost always found on the end of a statement of fact when given in agreement to someone`s circumstance. For example, something that is a huge hassle is taihen neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Sometimes there will be a meaningless doooooooooooooooooo on the front, for emphasis. If something is excellent it is segoy neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, usually said very loudly. There may or may not be an "un!", which is a sound of agreement, somewhere in all this.

Japanese, especially good-humoured japanese, which is what it mostly seems to be (everyone here being so continually cheerful) is a very cute and endearing language, although mostly at the moment it is passing me by in a blur of words I don`t know, mumbled at speed. As I decode it, I will perhaps share some more of its cuter aspects.

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