Japanese LanguageJapanese Language

By: Julia Angelos, Sarah Boyd, By: Julia Angelos, Sarah Boyd, Chris Brown, Grace Hwang, Chris Brown, Grace Hwang,

and Casey Hammondand Casey Hammond

KyotoHirado

Shinjuku District, Tokyo

Mt. Fuji

HarmonyJapanese Train

Common PhrasesCommon Phrases

• Konichiwa - Hello Konichiwa - Hello • Onegaishimasu - Please Onegaishimasu - Please • Iie - No Iie - No • So - Yes So - Yes • Toire Doko Desu Ka? - Where is the bathroom? Toire Doko Desu Ka? - Where is the bathroom?

Japanese BathroomJapanese Bathroom• Domo Arigato Gozaimasu - Thank you very much. Domo Arigato Gozaimasu - Thank you very much. • Do Itashimashite - You are welcome Do Itashimashite - You are welcome • Sayonara - Good-bye Sayonara - Good-bye • Nan-ji desu ka?Nan-ji desu ka? - What time is it? - What time is it? • Anata wa eigo o hanashimasu ka?Anata wa eigo o hanashimasu ka? - Do you speak English? - Do you speak English?

General Information

• The Japanese language contains only five vowels, A, E, I, O, U

• These vowels are called terse vowels and are pronounced clearly and sharply

The Japanese language is spoken by 120 million inhabitants of Japan, Hawaii, and the North and South American main lands

Japanese is known as a second language by the Chinese and Korean people who lived under Japanese occupation earlier in this century

The Japanese language is divided into three categories 1. Native Japanese words 2. Words borrowed from China

3. Words borrowed from Western Languages such as English

Japanese has an open-syllable sound pattern, so that most syllables end in a vowel

Japanese is traditionally written vertically, with the lines starting from the right side of the page

No Verb conjunction No gender of nouns No articles (a, the) Numbering (singular and plural) barely exists 48 sounds consisting of 5 vowels and 11

consonants

Most of the words in the Japanese Most of the words in the Japanese language have two roots of pronunciation language have two roots of pronunciation 1. Chinese 2. Japanese1. Chinese 2. Japanese

Japan’s adult literacy level is 99%Japan’s adult literacy level is 99%

Japanese uses 4 ways of addressing Japanese uses 4 ways of addressing people 1. Kun 2. Chan 3. San 4. Samapeople 1. Kun 2. Chan 3. San 4. Sama

Kun= somewhat snobbyKun= somewhat snobby

Chan= used by intimates and childrenChan= used by intimates and children

San= Universal modeSan= Universal mode

Sama= RespectfulSama= Respectful

• The main verb comes at the end of the sentence. This can result in the meaning of a long sentence being hard to grasp. Imagine a sentence in English like "A storm system plowed through the central Appalachians into the Eastern Seaboard with heavy rain Wednesday, causing flooding that blocked roads and drove some people from their homes" and put the words "plowed through" at the very end of the sentence.

Japanese is a member of the Altaic Japanese is a member of the Altaic language familylanguage family

Other languages in the Altaic Other languages in the Altaic Family:Family:

TurkishTurkish MongolianMongolian ManchuManchu KoreanKorean