The cursive form of the syllabary used mostly for (but not restricted to) the grammatical features of written Japanese including verb endings and particles, and for native words written without kanji.
18
votes
2answers
908 views
Why are the particles “は” (ha⇒wa), “へ” (he⇒e), and “を” (wo⇒o) not spelled phonetically?
As far as I know only three words (or particles) have irregular, non-phonetic spelling in Japanese:
"は" - The topic particle is pronounced "wa" but the kana is otherwise pronounced "ha"
"へ" - The ...
7
votes
7answers
699 views
What are the advantages/disadvantages of writing in romaji instead of kanji, hiragana, and so on?
Romaji is somewhat of a conversion from kanji, hiragana, and so on to the Roman alphabet.
What are the disadvantages of learning only or mostly romaji aside from being unable to read/write in kanji? ...
9
votes
3answers
620 views
Is it possible to tell whether a word is kanji or hiragana without reading it?
Is it possible to tell whether a word would be written in kanji or if it would be written in hiragana without actually reading it, like it is reasonably easy to tell if a word is likely to be written ...
8
votes
6answers
777 views
Why are there 3 ways of writing in Japanese?
Why are there kanji, hiragana and katakana? Is there a logical reason behind this or just tradition?
14
votes
2answers
629 views
Does the particle “を” (wo) have a special use when at the end of a sentence?
I thought the character "を" (wo) was only used for the particle whose only job was to indicate the direct object of a verb.
But today I saw it at the end of an exclamation on a sign I think on a ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views
Can I write Japanese name “Midori” this way - 緑?
There is female Japanese name "Midori," and I want to know the ways I can write it. I know it means "green," but maybe the name and "green" are different words sometimes.
I used google-translator to ...
7
votes
2answers
249 views
Were women unable to learn kanji during the Heian era?
I've read that The Tale of Genji, and similar Heian-era novels such as The Pillow Book, and The Gossamer Years were predominantly or exclusively hiragana, which is also called "women's writing" (女手).
...
6
votes
2answers
386 views
4
votes
3answers
4k views
How to write hiragana and katakana in Windows? [closed]
How to write hiragana and katakana in Windows (XP/Vista/7)? My current locale is Swedish and I have a hard time writing hiragana and katakana characters.
Usually I have a txt-file open in notepad and ...
