口語. Words that exist in speech but not in writing. Also refers to things like contractions, omissions, or other verbal mechanisms characteristic of speech.
5
votes
1answer
318 views
Making sense of もん
How do I make sense of the 終助詞 もん as in
おいしいもん
そうなんだもん
Although I have only heard it in 時代劇 speak, I guess it comes from もの, which I think should be も + の.
But what も can follow the 終止形 and ...
4
votes
1answer
228 views
What is the よっか in はじめよっか?
I'm still playing Game Boy Wars Advance 2, and I keep running into colloquial forms I'm unfamiliar with. Here's one I haven't been able to look up:
じゃ、さっそく、はじめよっか。
My guess is that はじめよっか is a ...
4
votes
1answer
114 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、
...
3
votes
1answer
151 views
Using と to mark a question
I've been working on listening practice again. This time, I'm watching the first episode of an anime series called スケッチブック 〜full color's〜.
In the first episode, a certain character asks three ...
5
votes
3answers
358 views
How does pitch accent work in Japanese?
My studies taught me there's two ways to say each mora in Japanese, with the way you normally talk and when you put a bit more emphasis on a mora, i.e. when someone says なつかしい, the word would be ...
4
votes
1answer
144 views
Pronunciation of ううん
The pitch contour of the interjection ううん has been described as high, low, middle. Alternatively, it has been described as a falling-rising tone. In either case, this appears to be unique in ...
8
votes
2answers
275 views
Do people use まい？
I see the ending まい all over the place in the JLPT books and in example phrases but I can't actually think of an example of somebody saying it or writing in an email (from SMS style messages to work ...
7
votes
2answers
189 views
Polite form of ～っけ
In my everyday conversations when trying to confirm an understanding or recall a piece of information I am sure I had heard before, I often use （そう）だっけ、だったっけ、and でしたっけ when speaking to equals or 目下の人。 ...
6
votes
2answers
318 views
Rules for emphasizing by lengthening sounds
Sometimes, sounds are lengthened for emphasis. For example, see "とっても versus とても".
What are the rules governing this process?
Are there restrictions on where lengthening can be inserted?
とっても or ...
8
votes
1answer
163 views
かかったためしない - how can this be translated?
I encountered the following sentence in a comic book which I could not make sense of.
The comic strip depicts a character using a simple bird trap and saying:
「長年やってるけどかかったためしないなあ」
The first part, ...
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 ...
11
votes
7answers
529 views
おっす！ An abbreviation for … what exactly?
Going hiking here in Japan, you can hardly pass anyone without either saying お疲れさまです, おはようございます (I go hiking in the morning) or こんにちは.
Some people (young males in particular) greet you with either ...
8
votes
2answers
161 views
“Arigatō” and “gozaimasu” combined into a single word?
In Japan for three years, and I've noticed that the locals often sound like they're combining the two words "arigatō" and "gozaimasu" into a single word, "arigatōzaimasu".
Am I hearing things ...
