The omission of sounds or letters from words. Contractions can be characteristic of dialects or modes of speech. A frequently observed contraction may become a new word in a language.
10
votes
2answers
199 views
苦労せん is the contracted form of what?
I'm translating a manga in which one character use a very slangy or contracted way of speaking while the others talk more standard-like.
I've already encountered the stem+ん as a short form the ...
4
votes
1answer
110 views
Are 行きゃあ and 行きゃ both contractions of 行けば?
I started playing another old game, Game Boy Wars Advance 2, and I ran across this bit of dialogue:
ま、どのみち、マクロランドに行きゃあ、
いやでも戦わなきゃなんねえんだ。
I think this is something like:
ま、どのみち、マクロランドに行けば、
...
5
votes
2answers
104 views
Help to understand the ending verb “動かねーんじゃね”
Original sentence: アドビやら、お絵描き系のアプリは、誰かが実証しない限り、動かねーんじゃね？
I can't understand the structure of the last verb. So far I understood that 動か(conjugated form) + ねー(negative particle) + んじゃ(???) + ね(question ...
8
votes
2answers
180 views
Where does the suffix 〜がる come from?
I've read that several bits of Japanese come from contractions with ある:
だ comes from で + ある (source)
なる comes from に + ある (source)
たり comes from て + あり (source)
たり comes from と + あり (source)
...
27
votes
6answers
740 views
What does っす at the end of a sentence mean?
I saw a sentence like "それ使ってるっす" and none of my dictionaries have an entry for just "っす". Is it a verb form, gobi, or something else?
8
votes
1answer
173 views
What is じゃ in じゃない?
Since there is possibility of "じゃありません" instead of "じゃないです" (which is logical, given "ありません" is polite "ない"), and it also seemed that I have seen "じゃ" used without "ない", I'd like to ask, what "じゃ" ...
15
votes
3answers
321 views
Can I end sentences with ん?
One friend of mine told me when she was living in Japan, she liked to end her sentences with ん (maybe instead of の).
Examples:
明日学校にいくん？
明日学校に行かないと思う…風邪引いたん。
Actually I've never seen it! But my ...
9
votes
4answers
346 views
Use of ～のか (～んですか) in questions not seeking a yes/no answer
I would like to know if there is a shift in nuance in questions such as these:
誰が参加したんですか。 vs. 誰が参加しましたか。
いつ着いたんですか。 vs. いつ着きましたか。
I wish to limit discussion to only non-yes/no questions ...
2
votes
1answer
217 views
やってもた → やってしまった? What is the grammatical rule behind this?
I recently saw 「やってもた」 used in a Japanese conversation, I don't remember the context exactly, it was something like：
久々にやってもた。
After asking my Japanese friend, it turns out to be some kind of ...
4
votes
2answers
208 views
What are these forms: かけちゃお, つないじゃお?
I'm trying to understand the lyrics of a closing song of 「崖の上のポニョ」.
First verse is simple, but the second stopped me:
ペタペタ ピョーンピョン
足っていいな かけちゃお
ニギニギ ブンブン
お手てはいいな つないじゃお
What happened to arms and ...
4
votes
2answers
222 views
<te form> + っと (conditional particle)
こんなとこで寝てっと風邪ひくぞ
Is this a contraction of something? How does it differ from something like 寝ると or 寝てると?
10
votes
1answer
550 views
Where does the verbal form しとく come from?
In a manga I am currently reading, one of the character exclaims:
安心しな。秘密に しとく から。
The general meaning of the second part ("I'll keep it a secret") is quite obvious, and it seems that "しとく" ...
6
votes
2answers
365 views
How is 〜んじゃない different from 〜じゃない?
Is it possible to say ～んじゃない？ If it is, how it differs from ～じゃない？
In what situation I should use ん/の for it, and what does ん/の express?
Examples:
[~い + ん]
いいんじゃない
行きたいんじゃない
吸えないんじゃない
...
0
votes
3answers
275 views
what does 言われなくちゃなんねェんだよ mean?
A manga character says this to someone who told him to やめろ:
なんで やめろまで言われなくちゃなんねェんだよ!!
Is that 言われなくてはならない and if it is, how can it be part of a question (with "nan de")? I don't really ...
8
votes
1answer
223 views
can we use ねー as a question?
I've read that people usually change ない to ねー to make it more manly, like:
したくないよ becomes したくねーんだ
So basically i often heard questions ending with ない but have not heard anyone end a question with ねー
...
11
votes
2answers
196 views
Colloquial Contraction Confusion
This is taken from one of the mindless pop songs I shouldn't even be listening to:
なんてったって ラッキー！
I know what なんて and ラッキー mean, of course, but I can't figure out in a way that makes sense to me ...
6
votes
1answer
561 views
Difference between ~なきゃ and ~なくちゃ
I know what one of them is なくてはいけません and the other one なければなりません, I just don't know which is which, also a few example sentences would help a lot, thank you.
0
votes
1answer
294 views
What does いなきゃ mean? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Difference between ~なきゃ and ~なくちゃ
What does いなきゃ mean?
thanks in advance
15
votes
1answer
905 views
What does っつの mean?
I recently saw 冗談だっつの. What does it っつの mean, or how does it modify the meaning of a sentence?
14
votes
2answers
521 views
What connotation does なんだ add?
Specifically, in the expression 好きなんだ (I love you) why not just say 好きだ or 好きです?
8
votes
4answers
543 views
のだから vs のだ (んだから vs んだ）
When I learnt this grammar point a while ago, my teachers told me not to use it with "から". There reasoning for this was that のだ already implies a reason or supporting information for a conclusion.
...
-5
votes
1answer
235 views
What does 染めちゃえ mean here?
Saw this on twitter:
A: マオにゃん、シドギャの彼女が出来ない僕に一言くれたら幸いです ...
B: 付き合った後に染めちゃえ
What is 染めちゃえ here?
1
vote
1answer
281 views
What does しちゃい mean?
I know it is some form of する。The context is this tweet:
いいえ！無視は しちゃい けませんな(^-^)/気持ちは受け取って♪(´ε｀ )RT @PuyoPuyoStar: @shinji_sid すみません。先程ツイート送ったんですが、「無理してはいけません」と書きたかったところ、「無視してはいけません」と書いてしまいました。本当すみませ
7
votes
1answer
164 views
ここんとこ (ここん所) and other “every now and then” adverbs
I have been in the market for some good synonyms for ときどき, and I encountered one today that I wanted to share, and also ask for some opinions, since I can not find a correct definition online. The ...
6
votes
2answers
404 views
What is the difference between そうか and そっか?
Is そっか just more slangy? Is そうか the same as saying ああそう? Or, is this more a spoken thing? If so, what is used when writing?
3
votes
1answer
253 views
What is the usage of 「つー」, what does it mean and what other ways are there to express the same thing ?
I've seen this many times in mangas, here's one example:
アンタなんかが手にしていいお金じゃない*っつーの*！！！
Context: A girl catches a thief that stole today's takings at the shop she's working at.
Thank you! ...
3
votes
1answer
177 views
How to understand the contractionしていて、/-てて
I am trying to better understand this sentence:
金さんは、微妙なニュアンスまで気にされてて、すごいですね。
It's amazing how interested you are in these subtle nuances.
Is the following an accurate understanding of this ...
5
votes
2answers
240 views
What is the って in 連れてってくれる?
ALC can give several examples of this, not only in 連れてって:
いつ私たちを湖に連れてってくれるの？ When are you going to take us to the lake?
これ、帰りに叔母さんとこ、持ってってちょうだい。Will you take this to your aunt on your way home ...
5
votes
1answer
365 views
What is な-particle doing in `ってなわけで`?
I noticed that ってなわけで is commonly used as a substitute for というわけで in colloquial speeches, but what exactly is the purpose of the な-particle in that phrase? Does it make the context that the phrase ...
6
votes
1answer
210 views
Colloquial contraction of だろう into ろ after past tense verb (e.g. 言ったろ)
I noticed in many anime I watched that 「言っただろう」 is often contracted into 「言ったろ」 in conversations between friends and families. I'm guessing this contraction is both colloquial and standard (as in, ...
10
votes
1answer
194 views
Contraction of particle の to ん before nouns in colloquial Japanese
I am familiar with contraction of の to ん before です (and variants で, だ, でした etc) but I noticed that の is also contracted before 家 in spoken set-phrases like あたしんち and おれんち.
Are there any other ...
4
votes
3answers
263 views
Can 【～たら】 be a short form of 【～てから】?
I picked up a bad habit of using ～たら (a form of conditional) when I mean ～てから (once something happens, something else will happen) from a friend many years back while learning Japanese.
In the years ...
