Wikijunior:Languages/Japanese

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Contents 1 What writing system(s) does this language use? 2 How many people speak this language? 3 Where is this language spoken? 4 What is the history of this language? 5 Who are some famous authors or poets in this language? 6 What are some basic words in this language that I can learn? 7 What is a simple song/poem/story that I can learn in this language?

[edit] What writing system(s) does this language use?

Japanese uses three different writing systems: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Hiragana and katakana are read phonetically; each symbol represents a specific syllable. Hiragana is used for Japanese words, while katakana is used for foreign words of foreign origin that were integrated into the Japanese language.

• basic hiragana: あ (a), い (i), う (u), え (e), お (o), か (ka), き (ki), く (ku), け (ke), こ (ko), さ (sa), し (shi), す (su), せ (se), そ (so), た (ta), ち (chi), つ (tsu), て (te), と (to), な (na), に (ni), ぬ (nu), ね (ne), の (no), は (ha), ひ (hi), ふ (fu), へ (he), ほ (ho), ま (ma), み (mi), む (mu), め (me), も (mo), や (ya), ゆ (yu), よ (yo), ら (ra), り (ri), る (ru), れ (re), ろ (ro), わ (wa), を (wo), ん (n)

Kanji are pictograms, with each character having a specific meaning, like in Chinese. In fact, Many Japanese kanji characters have the same meaning as, and are either identical or similar in appearance, to the Chinese characters. The Japanese government has designated almost 2000 kanji for standard use; high school students in Japan must know all of the standard characters before they graduate.

• kanji examples: 大 (big), 女 (woman), 男 (man), 雪 (snow), 馬 (horse), 赤 (red)

Romaji is the system used to write Japanese words using the Roman alphabet, like the words on this page (hiragana, katakana, kanji, romaji), and is used to help English-speaking Japanese learners learn how to read and pronounce Japanese.

[edit] How many people speak this language?

The Japanese language has 127 million native speakers, plus 1 million other speakers that learned Japanese as a secondary language.

native speaker — someone who learned to speak a language as a child.

secondary language — any language that a person learns to speak after the first language that they learned at home.

[edit] Where is this language spoken?

Japanese is primarily spoken in Japan, but is also spoken in Hawaii, Guam, and other parts of the United States, mostly along the Pacific Ocean; in South America, mainly in Peru and Brazil; and on many Pacific islands.

[edit] What is the history of this language?

At first glance, it would be easy to think that Japanese is closely related to Chinese. The kanji characters were all adopted from Chinese, and the kana (hiragana and katakana) were developed from the kanji. However, Japanese is actually a very different language from Chinese. Before the 5th century, Japanese had no written form, but because of contact with China, Japan adapted the writing system of Chinese to the Japanese language.

The origins of the Japanese language itself are lost to history. Some people believe that it's related to Korean, but this is uncertain. Perhaps one day more information on the history of this language will be discovered.

[edit] Who are some famous authors or poets in this language?

Murasaki Shikibu (c.973–c.1014), authored The Tale of Genji, one of the earliest novels in the world.

Miyamoto Musashi (c.1584–1645), a samurai who wrote The Book of Five Rings.

Matsuo Bashō (c.1644–1694), a master of the poetry form of haiku.

Kyokutei Bakin (1767–1848), the author of Nansō satomi hakkenden or The Legend of the Eight Dog Warriors.

Shusaku Endo (1923–1996) was a writer whose inspiration and motivation came from being a Japanese Catholic.

Koji Suzuki (b. 1957) is a writer of horror novels and short stories. Many of these have been translated into other languages, including his most famous work, Ring. Many of his books have been made into films in many languages, including English, Japanese and Korean.

[edit] What are some basic words in this language that I can learn?

Basic Greetings:

• おはようございます! - Ohayō gozaimas! - "Good morning!"
• こんにちは! - Konnichiwa! - "Good afternoon!"
• さようなら! - Sayōnara! - "Good bye!"
• また明日! - Mata ashta! - "See you tomorrow!"

Simple Words:

• はい - hai - "yes"
• いいえ - iie - "no"
• 猫 - neko - "cat"
• 犬 - inu - "dog"
• 日本 - Nihon - "Japan"
• 日本語 - Nihongo - "Japanese language"
• 月 - tsuki - "moon"
• 絵 - e - "picture"
• 愛　- ai - "love"

Numbers:

1. 一 - ichi
2. 二 - ni
3. 三 - san
4. 四 - yon (shi)
5. 五 - go
6. 六 - roku
7. 七 - nana (shichi)
8. 八 - hachi
9. 九 - kyū
10. 十 - jū

Courtesies:

• すみません - Sumimasen - "Excuse me."
• ありがとうございます - Arigatō gozaimas - "Thank you."
• ごめんなさい - Gomen nasai - "I'm sorry."
• 大丈夫ですか? - Daijōbu des ka - "Are you okay?"

[edit] What is a simple song/poem/story that I can learn in this language?

桜　桜	さくら　さくら	Sakura, Sakura	Cherry Blossom
桜　桜 野山も里も 見わたすかぎり かすみか雲か 朝日ににおう 桜　桜 花ざかり 桜　桜 やよいの空は 見わたすかぎり かすみか雲か においぞいずる いざや　いざや 見にゆかん	さくら　さくら のやま　も　さと　も みわたす　かぎり かすみ　か　くも　か あさひ　に　におう さくら　さくら はな　ざかり さくら　さくら やよい　の　そら　は みわたす　かぎり かすみ　か　くも　か におい　ぞ　いずる いざや　いざや みに　ゆ　かん	Sakura sakura Noyama mo sato mo Miwatasu kagiri Kasumi ka kumo ka Asahi ni niou Sakura sakura Hana zakari Sakura sakura Yayoi no sora wa Miwatasu kagiri Kasumi ka kumo ka Nioi zo izuru Izaya izaya Mini yu kan	Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, On mountains and in villages, As far as you can see. They look like a mist, or clouds, Fragrant in the morning sun. Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, They’re in full bloom. Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, Across the April skies, As far as you can see. They look like a mist, or clouds, Blooming fragrantly. Let's go! Let's go! Let's go see them!

You can hear the tune at http://www.isc.toyama-u.ac.jp/~hamada/song/sakura/sakura_e.html

かえるの歌	かえる の うた	Kaeru no Uta	The Frog's Song
かえるの歌が 聞こえてくるよ ぐぁ ぐぁ ぐぁ ぐぁ げろ げろ げろ げろ ぐぁぐぁぐぁ	かえる の うた が きこえて くる よ ぐぁ ぐぁ ぐぁ ぐぁ げろ げろ げろ げろ ぐぁぐぁぐぁ	Kaeru no uta ga Kikoete kuru yo Gwa, gwa, gwa, gwa, gero, gero, gero, gero, gwa, gwa, gwa.	The frog's song we can hear it ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, ribbit.

You can hear it sung at http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/786