Happy Holidays!

こんにちは！

Happy Holidays, dear readers! May you all have something wonderful to celebrate!

Aside from any religious connotations, I simply enjoy the giving and joy of Christmas. For me, it is a true American experience...but, of course, it is not only in America--many countries have some special way to celebrate Christmas.

Japan is no exception.

My wonderful teacher (who found my performance in Japanese 101 to be worthy of an A) has mentioned what Christmas is celebrated in a special way...

Maybe it's the Colonel's white beard?
Read more here.

Yes, Christmas is the day for some good Kentucky Fried Chicken. By the way, did I mention that I am from Kentucky? I hate telling that to people in other countries because they always mention KFC. Aside from this Japanese tradition, there is also apparently Christmas Cake (yummy!), as you can see here.

I think I wanna spend Christmas in Japan!
Read more here.

So, now that we've learned a little bit about Japan culture. Let's learn some ways to talk about it.
                             
Christmas                          クリスマス                        kurisumasu
                                         キリスト降誕祭                        kirisuto kōtansai

Merry Christmas             メリークリスマス               mariikurisumasu
Christmas cake       クリスマスケーキ               kurisumasukaaki
Christmas tree        聖樹                                 seishu
Holiday                   祭日                                 saijitsu

Here's an idiom (according to jisho.org)

  ぼんとしょうがつがいっしょにきたよう               Bontoshōgatsugaisshonikitayou

"To be as busy as a bee; Like Christmas and a birthday feast rolled into one"

Finally, before we think too much about this exported holiday, Here's a chart to help you learn the major Japanese holidays.

Date	Japanese Name	English Translation
Jan. 1st	正月 （しょがつ）	New Year’s Day
Jan. 2nd	成人の日 （せいじんのひ）	Coming-of-Age Day
Feb. 3rd	節分 （せつぶん）	Traditional End of Winter
Feb. 11th	国慶節 （こっけいせつ）	National Founding Day
March 3rd	雛祭り （ひなまつり）	Doll’s Festival
March 20th/21st	春分の日 （しゅんぶんのひ）	Vernal Equinox
April 29th	昭和の日 （しょうわのひ）	Showa Day
May 3rd	憲法記念日 （けんぽきねんび）	Constitution Memorial Day
May 4th	緑の日 （みどりのひ）	Greenery Day
May 5th	こどもの日 （こどものひ）	Children’s Day
July 7th	七夕 （たなばた）	The Star Festival
July 20th	海の日 （うみのひ）	Marine Day
Mid-September	月見 （つきみ）	Moon Viewing
Sept. 15th	敬老の日 （けいろのひ）	Respect-for-the-Aged Day
Sept 23rd/24th	敬老の日 （けいろのひ）	Autumnal Equinox
Oct. 2nd	体育の日 （たいいくのひ）	Health-Sports Day
Nov. 3rd	文化の日 （ぶんくのひ）	Culture Day
Nov. 15th	七五三 （しちごさん）	Festival Day for 3/5/7-year-olds
Nov. 23rd	勤労感謝の日 （きんろかんしゃのひ）	Labor Thanksgiving
Dec. 23rd	点の誕生日 （てんのたんじょうび）	The Emperor’s Birthday
Dec. 31st	大晦日 （おおみそか）	New Year’s Eve

After the New Year, I will be sure to spotlight each of the distinctive Japanese Holidays! See you on January 2, 2014!

さよなり！

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！