Finals are coming!

こんにちは！

Actually, I should say, こんばんは...but oh well! I've been extremely busy with final exams and grad class papers, so I thought it would be a good time to blog to practice some 日本語。Even though, I know that that phrase is "nihongo", I still see it as "ribenyu". Just like I see "ue" (上）as "shang" and "shita" (下) as "xia". Most importantly, I am seeing phonological connections that I would someday hope to research more in depth--why not now?  Oh, yeah...it's finals week.

Interestingly enough, I only recently learned that Korean and Japanese have moved from "isolate" status to the Altaic language family--although this is still under debate.

Another fun fact, shared by my awesome professor, is that before WWII katakana was the main syllabary. Hiragana, on the other hand, was mostly used by women. Apparently, foreigners found hiragana easier to learn. Before the syllabaries, there was only kanji. However, I feel this question still leaves a mystery: what was Japanese like before interactions with the Chinese? I have my own theories, but those too have not been fleshed out and examined enough for now.

Before I move on to the fun part, I want to remind my readers that Japanese is not the only language of Japan. There are at least nine endangered languages along the islands of Japan. I implore you as linguists, language learners, and lovers of culture in all its forms to explore the world of endangered languages and take part is preserving the knowledge that, without us, will be lost.

Now, for some fun phrases:

上　（うえ）ue       above
上着　（うわぎ）uwagi     coat;jacket
上手い　（うまい） umai    clever; skillful; spendid; appetizing
上がったり　（あがったり） agattari     doomed; in bad shape

下　（した） shita   below
下戸　（げこ） geko     non-drinker
下痢　（げり） geri      diarrhea
下着　（したぎ） shitagi      underwear

There are many uses for these characters 上 and 下. Check your dictionary or search online. These are definitely two important and useful concepts. Wish me luck on finals!

さよなら！