こんにちは！
Recently, I was scanning a chapter written by three individuals, two of whom I know as Japanese instructors at my university. Here is a link to the pdf. While scanning it, I stumbled upon a line that really caught my attention.
"For example, teacher in English is represented as 先生 in both
Chinese and Japanese (logography) and せんせい sensee in Japanese kana." (Tomizawa, et al, 2013. Look for MultiTasks, MultiSkills, MultiConnections 2013)
Interestingly enough, I had suspected this connection. Because of language diffusion--the sharing of words between languages and cultures--these similar words exist. Korean also has the word, 선생 (seonsaeng). However, as Japanese and Korean both adopted this form as their term for "teacher", something else was occurring: semantic shift.
Semantic shift is when a change in word meaning occurs. In modern Chinese, 先生, (xian-sheng) [lit. before-born] has become an honorific for "Sir/Mister". It is used to address older males. In Chinese, teachers are now referred to as 老师, (lao-shi) [lit. old-master].
These linguistic connections will definitely come up again in this blog, but this one has interested me for a long time. I hope to go more in-depth in the future as to why and how.
But until that day, さよなら！
Monday, September 30, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
A learning proposal
こんにちは！
While I was able to successfully use flash cards to learn the hiragana syllabary. Soon comes the time for katakana--a similar syllabary which is used when writing foreign loanwords. For example:
English / Hiragana / katakana
America あめりか アメリカ
computer こんぴゅた コンピュタ
In everyday Japanese, the katakana spelling is used. So how should I prepare my learning of the katakana form?
Unlike my work with hiragana in which I learned that と is pronounced /to/ and じ is pronounced /dgi/, this time around, I believe that a wiser way to study is to stay within the Japanese language system. Thus this time around, ト will match with と and ジ will be paired with じ. Since I already know the hiragana pronunciations, I can both re-enforce my knowledge of the hiragana syllabary and learn to associate the katakana syllabary at the same time. Overall, theoretically speaking, this should be a fairly successful method. (Although not as impactful as a personal need to use the scripts, but it will help.)
Please feel free to make comments, suggestions, or questions!
さようなら！
Monday, September 23, 2013
Very Basic Phonology
In my opinion, listening is--without a doubt--the most important skill for language learning. Sounds in different languages are not necessarily alike. Moreover, sounds in a language may also be more than one may realize (or be taught).
Last week in Japanese 101, we learned the word for bank (as in the place to save money), ぎんこう. In our textbooks, the romanized form reads "ginkoo". However, there is more than meets the eye. The hiragana ん is pronounced /n/...usually. In the case of this word, there is an interesting phenomenon taking place, one that we also see in English as well.
Say the following English words to yourself:
Thin--Think
Sin--Sink
Bin--Bink (okay not a real word--but it is the name of a company that makes awesome video games)
What you probably notice, if you are listening closely, is that the "n" is not always /n/. When followed by the "k" /k/ , the "n" is pronounced /ŋ/ (like the "ng" in "sing"). The same process is also taking place in the Japanese word "ginkoo" /giŋko:/.
This process is know as Assimilation, the sounds beside each other conform to each other. In this case, instead of the tongue touching the area behind your teeth, the tongue goes further back to prepare to make the sound for /k/. Specifically, this is regressive contact assimilation--there are many other kinds (regressive=the sound before changes, contact=the sounds are right next to each other). Moreover, because the Japanese language only claims to have an /n/ sound, we can refer to the /n/ and /ŋ/ as being allophones--the sounds are one item in the language, even though they are different. The same is true with the /l/ and /ɹ/ ('r' sound) in Japanese--but what rules do they follow? Hopefully, I can answer that in a future post.
さよなら！
Last week in Japanese 101, we learned the word for bank (as in the place to save money), ぎんこう. In our textbooks, the romanized form reads "ginkoo". However, there is more than meets the eye. The hiragana ん is pronounced /n/...usually. In the case of this word, there is an interesting phenomenon taking place, one that we also see in English as well.
Say the following English words to yourself:
Thin--Think
Sin--Sink
Bin--Bink (okay not a real word--but it is the name of a company that makes awesome video games)
What you probably notice, if you are listening closely, is that the "n" is not always /n/. When followed by the "k" /k/ , the "n" is pronounced /ŋ/ (like the "ng" in "sing"). The same process is also taking place in the Japanese word "ginkoo" /giŋko:/.
This process is know as Assimilation, the sounds beside each other conform to each other. In this case, instead of the tongue touching the area behind your teeth, the tongue goes further back to prepare to make the sound for /k/. Specifically, this is regressive contact assimilation--there are many other kinds (regressive=the sound before changes, contact=the sounds are right next to each other). Moreover, because the Japanese language only claims to have an /n/ sound, we can refer to the /n/ and /ŋ/ as being allophones--the sounds are one item in the language, even though they are different. The same is true with the /l/ and /ɹ/ ('r' sound) in Japanese--but what rules do they follow? Hopefully, I can answer that in a future post.
さよなら！
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Most Basic Morphology
When thinking like a linguist, it is important to pay attention to patterns. Moreover, like any scientist (which linguists are), it is important to explore hypotheses that strike you. This is the process of independent learning--the scientific method.
In Japanese class, two of the first words that we learned were:
こんにちは -- "konnichiwa", a common greeting that laypeople have likely heard of. Literally meaning Good Day.
こんばんは -- "konbanwa", a less-known greeting for evenings, literally Good Evening.
A couple of weeks later, we are taught the basic sentence structure. One of the key grammatical rules is that, at least in basic sentences, the subject/topic of a sentence is marked, or followed, by は, "wa".
The part that intrigued me was the fact that は is normally pronounced as "ha". However, in these two greetings and following the subject of a sentence, the pronunciation changes. Is there a connection?
- Observe:
In Japanese class, two of the first words that we learned were:
こんにちは -- "konnichiwa", a common greeting that laypeople have likely heard of. Literally meaning Good Day.
こんばんは -- "konbanwa", a less-known greeting for evenings, literally Good Evening.
A couple of weeks later, we are taught the basic sentence structure. One of the key grammatical rules is that, at least in basic sentences, the subject/topic of a sentence is marked, or followed, by は, "wa".
The part that intrigued me was the fact that は is normally pronounced as "ha". However, in these two greetings and following the subject of a sentence, the pronunciation changes. Is there a connection?
- Question/Hypothesis:
My gut instinct told me that this was probably the same は. So, I had to explore. Without this question, "are they the same?", and without my hypothesis, "I think they are the same". I would have no direction to go in. Rather than only following along in class, it is important for students to create their own questions and explore their own interests. As a linguist, this is what interest me.
- Research/Experiment:
Being a beginner in Japanese, the research needed to explore my hypothesis was rather simple--but it depended greatly on my understanding of language, grammar, and meaning.
These two greetings were taught as Good Afternoon and Good Evening. The first thing I notice is that the words begin similarly. Not only do they both end in は, but they also both begin with こん, "kon". Thus, I am given a new hypothesis: こん means good. How do I find out? Why, a dictionary of course!
I have chosen the online dictionary of Denshi Jisho (but please feel free to suggest better ones online). http://jisho.org .
- Analyze Data:
Starting with the English. I find that good is こう. This word is similar to こん. I put it aside for the moment.＊
Then I moved to the Japanese. にち means day--along with a slew of other uses. ばん comes up as night. Moreover, when I try to type the words alone, the hiragana wants to transform the words in to 日 and 晩, respectively--which are the Chinese characters, or Kanji, for day and night. Therefore, I have a close connection on good, and the words day and night have been confirmed.
- Draw Conclusions:
The evidence seems to indicate that two words that we were taught are subjects for the sentences It is a good day/evening. It is very common for everyday expressions to be shorted. Just as when you respond to greetings by saying "hi", "good", etc, the simplified form is well understood. Nonetheless, it carries with it grammatical information that can be useful to all beginners.
- Don't Stop
Just because I may have answered one question, I have learned to ask another. Why did good change? I have my hypotheses--but that will be another post.
さよなら！
＊Looking up こん provides many meanings, but none of them are relevant here.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Learning Japanese
こにちは,
This blog will be a home for my observations while learning the Japanese language. I am currently in the 4th Week of my semester studying Japanese 101. At this point I have learned Hiragana, basic greetings, and some basic information questions. My goal is to post 2-3 times a week to discuss my observations about the language that I gather while delving into Japanese.
This is not a place where I will post my vocabulary lessons or practice. This is a place where I will note my hypotheses about what I notice in the language, such as syntax or phonological comparisons. Please realize that I am coming into this language with no previous Japanese instruction (although, I am slightly familiar with some basic Korean, and I am fluent in Mandarin Chinese).
Please fill free to add information, questions, and observations that you would also like to share.
I am a studying Japanese to complete the third language requirement for my Ph.D. program in Applied Linguistics at Ball State Univerisity.
さようなら！
This blog will be a home for my observations while learning the Japanese language. I am currently in the 4th Week of my semester studying Japanese 101. At this point I have learned Hiragana, basic greetings, and some basic information questions. My goal is to post 2-3 times a week to discuss my observations about the language that I gather while delving into Japanese.
This is not a place where I will post my vocabulary lessons or practice. This is a place where I will note my hypotheses about what I notice in the language, such as syntax or phonological comparisons. Please realize that I am coming into this language with no previous Japanese instruction (although, I am slightly familiar with some basic Korean, and I am fluent in Mandarin Chinese).
Please fill free to add information, questions, and observations that you would also like to share.
I am a studying Japanese to complete the third language requirement for my Ph.D. program in Applied Linguistics at Ball State Univerisity.
さようなら！
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