Katakana - A Jump-Start on the Way to Learning Japanese

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Katakana - A Jump-Start on
the Way to Learning Japanese
Steven A. Jones
Linguistics
• Study of languages
– Syntax
– Semantics
– Phonetics
• Not just someone who speaks many
languages
• My (noncontiguous) Undergraduate Minor
My Experience with Japanese
• Term paper in my “Introduction to Syntax”
course.
• Kyoto Conference ~ 1 week (bought book
on Japanese).
• Research experience ~ 2 weeks at
Kawasaki Medical Center.
• Studied from Hamako Ito Chapman’s
books & tapes.
Foreign Travel
• Strategies for travel to foreign countries
1. Idealistic: Take 2 years to learn a language
and then go to that country.
2. Realistic: 2 weeks before departure, try to
learn how to say “good morning.”
3. Fatalistic: Face it. It’s hopeless.
4. Nihilistic: Travel to England
Unique Elements of Japanese
• Indirect
– Wakatusi, Anata
– No verb conjugations
– “Perhaps you like to take train?”
• Stress is by tone, not loudness
– Sometimes semantic
– Several levels of tone
• Particles:
– Are wa ginkoo no mae ni ooki tatemono desu.
– Sake o nomu
– Sake o nomu ka?
Unique Elements of Japanese
• Verb tenses
– present & future generally the same
– Adjectives can have a past tense (ano
ookikatta tatemono [that “used to be big”
building]
• Colors (as modifiers) can be nouns or
adjectives
Unique Elements of Japanese
Politeness levels
• Kudasai (sake o kudasai)
– Literally “give [in polite form] sake”
– Translated as “I would like some sake please.”
• Desu, imasu, irasiamasu (“to be,” sort of)
• Your house (otaku), vs. my house (uchi)
– Otaku wa shiroi. ([your] mansion is white)
– Uchi wa shiroi. ([my] shack is white)
– Otaku wa doo desu ka? (How are things at your
beautiful home?)
– Uchi ni i’i desu. (Things are fine at my crappy little
shack)
Japanese Writing
• Borrowed Kanji from China
• No Kanji characters for particles
• Use phonetic “alphabet” for particles and
other uses (Hiragana).
• Also use Katakana
– Same sounds as Hiragana
– Used for brand names and foreign words
– Guess what: English is foreign to Japanese
– Sort of like italic is to us
Katakana Characters
vowel
k
s
t
n
h
m
y
r
w
a
i
アa
カ ka
サ sa
タ ta
ナ na
ハ ha
マ ma
ヤ ya
ラ ra
ワ wa
イi
キ ki
シ shi
チ chi
ニ ni
ヒ hi
ミ mi
リ ri
u
e
ウu エe
ク ku ケ ke
ス su セ se
ツ tsu テ te
ヌ nu ネ ne
フ fu ヘ he
ム mu メ me
ユ yu
ル ru レ re
o
オo
コ ko
ソ so
ト to
ノ no ン n
ホ ho
モ mo
ヨ yo
ロ ro
ヲ wo
Katakana Characters
vowel
k
s
t
n
h
m
y
r
w
a
i
アa
カ ka
サ sa
タ ta
ナ na
ハ ha
マ ma
ヤ ya
ラ ra
ワ wa
イi
キ ki
シ shi
チ chi
ニ ni
ヒ hi
ミ mi
リ ri
u
e
ウu エe
ク ku ケ ke
ス su セ se
ツ tsu テ te
ヌ nu ネ ne
フ fu ヘ he
ム mu メ me
ユ yu
ル ru レ re
o
オo
コ ko
ソ so
ト to
ノ no ン n
ホ ho
モ mo
ヨ yo
ロ ro
ヲ wo
Katakana Characters
vowel
k
s
t
n
h
m
y
r
w
a
i
アa
カ ka
サ sa
タ ta
ナ na
ハ ha
マ ma
ヤ ya
ラ ra
ワ wa
イi
キ ki
シ shi
チ chi
ニ ni
ヒ hi
ミ mi
リ ri
u
e
ウu エe
ク ku ケ ke
ス su セ se
ツ tsu テ te
ヌ nu ネ ne
フ fu ヘ he
ム mu メ me
ユ yu
ル ru レ re
o
オo
コ ko
ソ so
ト to
ノ no ン n
ホ ho
モ mo
ヨ yo
ロ ro
ヲ wo
The Katakana Symbols
• 46 “consonnant-vowel” combinations
• 5 “vowels” a, i, u, e, o
• “consonants” beginning with “k”, “t”, “s”,
“h”, “n”, “m”, “r”
• “ya,” “yu,” “yo,” “wa,” “wo”
• Also have an “explosive h” (°) (パ =pa),
and voiced versions (``) of k (=g), t (=d), s
(=z or j), and p (バ =ba)
The Katakana Symbols
(Continued)
• Generally, if you have a consonant you
need to have a vowel.
• “n” can stand alone.
• Can have long vowels (literally long, in
time)
– E.g. Carter
Ka-a-ta (カータ)
• The “r” in “ra” is halfway between “r” and
“l”.
Modified Katakana Characters
a
i
u
e
o
k
g
カ ka キ ki ク ku ケ ke コ ko
ガ ga ギ gi グ gu ゲ ge ゴ go
s
z
サ sa シ shi ス su セ se ソ so
ザ za ジ ji ズ zu ゼ ze ゾ zo
t
d
タ ta チ chi ツ tsu テ te ト to
ダ da ヂ di ヅ du デ de ド do
h
b
p
ハ ha ヒ hi フ fu ヘ he ホ ho
バ ba ビ bi ブ bu ベ be ボ bo
パ pa ピ pi プ pu ペ pe ポ po
Japanese vs English Sounds
• Roughly 19 letters rather than 26, so we
win, right?
• But we do not really need “c,” “q” or “w.”
– Selery
– Uimin
– Kuik
• And face it, “y” is a bit iffy as well.
• Leaves 22 vs 19
Japanese vs English Sounds
What’s Missing?
• No distinction between “r” and “l”
• “h” and “f” are mixed together
– Fa and hu are not natural for Japanese
– Fu and ha are natural for them
• “z” and “j” are mixed together
• No “v” sound (brŭd bursty)
Japanese vs English Sounds
Where we win out is with the vowel sounds,
which are (let’s face it) messed up anyway
in English
•
•
•
•
Water/otter/daughter
Dumb/kingdom
He, tee, tea, ski, mystery
Woman/Women
Odd Japanese Syllables
• In standard tables of Hiragana/Katakana:
– Ta chi tsu te to (not ti or tu)
– Sa shi su se so (not si)
– Ha hi fu he ho (not hu)
• Possible Explanations
– They knew westerners would try to speak the
language and wanted to trip us up.
– There is a physiological explanation (yeah,
right).
Odd Syllables (continued)
• Clue: Hito (man) often sounds more like
“shi-to” rather than “hi-to.”
• Thought: Maybe Japanese people do not
think of syllables as consonant-vowel
pairs.
• Experiment: Place your mouth in the
“vowel” position and then try to pronounce
the consonant.
Syllables as Units
• Try:
– a…ka; i…ki; u…ku; e…ke; o…ko. (control)
– a…ha; i…hi; u…hu; e…he; o…ho
• Hi is not exactly “shi”, but it’s not exactly “hi” either.
• Hu definitely sounds more like “fu.”
– a…sa; i…si; u…su; e…se; o…so.
– a…ta; i…ti; u…tu; e…te; o…to.
Katakana Examples
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
ガソリン Ga so ri n
ロタリクラブ Ro ta ri ku ra bu
コンクリト Ko n ku ri to
ライス Ra i su (or gohan)
ツパゲッチ Tsu pa getsu chi
カワサキ Ka wa sa ki
ニーサン Ni–sa n
コンピユユ co n piyu ta
Hiragana Characters
vowel
k
s
t
n
h
m
y
r
w
a
i
アあ
カか
サさ
タた
ナな
ハは
マま
ヤや
ラら
ワわ
イい
キき
シし
チち
ニに
ヒひ
ミみ
u
ウう
クく
スす
ツつ
ヌぬ
フふ
ムむ
ユゆ
リりルる
e
エえ
ケけ
セせ
テて
ネね
ヘへ
メめ
o
オお
コこ
ソそ
トと
ノのンん
ホほ
モも
ヨよ
レれロろ
ヲを
Why Learn Hiragana?
• In Kyoto can read:
–
–
–
–
Street Names
Subway station names
Particles and other odd words you might pick up
Karaoke (カラオケ)
• Can at least sound out a Japanese word, even if
you do not know what it means
• May help you if you go to a karaoke bar
• Trust me, it will really impress your Japanese
host
Verb Tense
• Japanese does not generally distinguish
between present and future tense.
– Sake o nomu
(I, you, somebody) (drinks, is drinking, will
drink) sake.
– Sake o nomu ka?
(Are you drinking, will you drink) sake?
“Passive” Tense
• Japanese does have a special verb tense,
called the “passive” tense.
• This tense loosely translates to “such-andsuch happened, and it annoyed me.”
• A better name for this tense might be the
“passive aggressive tense.”
Passive Tense
Say you are in a restaurant and the waiter spills mizu soup
on your jacket
• American Response:
You idiot! You spilled mizu soup all over my jacket!
• Japanese Response:
Ah. The jacket has become dampend by some mizu
soup.
Consider that to a Japanese speaker, the Japanese
wording is equally as strong.
Questions?

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