Any question that does not deal specifically with grammar or pronunciation. Includes questions about prefixes, suffixes, compound words, loanwords, dialectal differences, pragmatic usage, etc. In other words, phenomena that occurs at the level of the word.
25
votes
3answers
764 views
How indistinguishable is blue from green really?
青 ao seems to be used very much interchangeably for both blue and green. Why is that so, and how does 緑 midori play into this?
20
votes
1answer
219 views
How is the wind related to illness?
I've seen the kanji 風 appear in several different illnesses: 風邪 (a cold), 中風 (paralysis), and 痛風 (gout). Conceivably there may be others, but I haven't seen them.
What does the wind have to do with ...
19
votes
4answers
967 views
Are there words so bad that they aren't allowed on television?
Warning: We're all adults here, but just in case, this question may contain words, in both Japanese and English, that some may not like to read.
A long time ago, when I was working with a translator, ...
18
votes
2answers
349 views
Why is 二十歳 pronounced はたち?
二十歳 is a (to me) bizarre exception to the usual number+さい rule for discussing age. Is this rooted in 20 being the Japanese age of majority?
Added: To be more specific: why isn't it pronounced にじゅうさい ...
18
votes
2answers
402 views
Can the suffix -人 be used to express heritage?
In English, if I want to talk about my Irish heritage, I would say "I'm Irish". I have an American passport, and I've never set foot in Ireland, but I still consider myself Irish. Both sides of my ...
18
votes
1answer
372 views
What is the difference between いえ and うち?
I am trying to understand the difference between using いえ and うち. I originally drew the conclusion that うち is used for your own house and いえ for others' houses, but my Japanese teacher said that this ...
17
votes
4answers
935 views
How can I differentiate between feet and legs?
Feet are 足, and legs are also 足.
Is there a word or method with which I can easily talk about one and not the other? And if not, why is there no word for feet in the Japanese language?
Caveat: I ...
17
votes
3answers
334 views
Use of 自分【じぶん】as a personal pronoun in direct speech
Yay, yet another first-person-pronoun question!
I know that 自分 is commonly used as a personal pronoun in indirect speech, e.g.:
マイクは、自分はなんと不注意なのだろうと言った。→ Mike said that he was very careless.
...
16
votes
4answers
728 views
Commonness of casual phrases like “あたし” and “ちっちゃい”
I came across a Japanese girl in Germany who talked using words like あたし instead of わたし, or ちっちゃい instead of ちいさい. When I asked her, she said that these words or usages of words are more common in ...
15
votes
7answers
665 views
the different usages of つもり?
Hi all I understand that つもり means "intention" like say 夏休みにはゆっくり休むつもりです。 = I intend to rest during the summer vacation.
But what does 分かっているつもりだ。 means?
Well if I translate directly, it seems to be ...
15
votes
2answers
564 views
Why does 今度【こんど】 mean “next time”?
The word 今度【こんど】, though its literal meaning is "this time" is in my experience used pretty heavily to refer to tbe next time or some unspecified point in the future. For example:
...
15
votes
1answer
234 views
is there a difference between さみしい and さびしい？
Both mean "lonely" and appear to be valid readings for 寂しい.
Is there a difference in nuance? Is this difference due to dialect?
15
votes
3answers
248 views
What is the difference in meaning between “husband and wife” 夫婦【ふうふ】 and 夫妻【ふさい】?
I see that those two compounds mean husband and wife, as a married couple. But is there a difference in usage or context?
13
votes
5answers
1k views
Is すごい slang or just informal?
Regarding すごい:
What is the right way to spell it?
Is it vulgar, or is it slang like the English "cool"?, or informal or colloquial? Is it archaic?
If it is slang, does it have a non-slang meaning?
...
13
votes
3answers
614 views
Historical differences between colors that are i-adjectives and those that are simply nouns
EDIT: Started a bounty with hope of getting more definitive and elaborate answers, e.g. timeline of when color names started being used in Japan.
In Japanese language, there are colors that are ...
13
votes
1answer
276 views
まち: what's the difference between 町 and 街?
My impression is that 町 tends to be used for smaller cities and 街 tends to be used for larger ones. Is this correct? If not, what is the difference?
12
votes
3answers
397 views
In modern usage how do Japanese natives regard the differences between 外人, 外国人 and 外人さん?
As a near native speaker of Japanese, I find it annoying to be called 外人 since it seems to imply that I "know nothing about Japan" (outsider). I much prefer 外国人.
In modern usage, how do native ...
12
votes
1answer
573 views
Words/characters for fast food meal sizes: 並, 大, 特
When dining at Yoshinoya I never know how to ask for the size meal I want.
Their sizes are 並, 大, and 特.
I only know that "大" means big, but it also has two readings so I have no idea whether to ask ...
12
votes
2answers
305 views
What does とな mean (and how do I use it)?
I came across this on Twitter, it seems to be mostly a question but sometimes an exclamation. Is it とは, or maybe とか? How do you use it? My dictionary has a とな as word that come at the end of a ...
12
votes
2answers
323 views
Different conventions for animal meat
After reading this awesome question, I got to thinking about different animal meat. Upon researching a little, there seems to be different conventions in referring to different meats.
Using 訓読み
...
11
votes
4answers
399 views
Does 髭 refer to the beard or the moustache?
My dictionary lists 髭 as moustache / beard, but from the example sentences in WWWJDIC, it seems like 髭 is more often used to mean "beard" than "moustache" ?
So for example, in this sentence: ...
11
votes
3answers
248 views
How are 化け物, 妖怪, 幽霊, etc. related to each other?
In the past few years, reading light novels and the like, I have come across many different terms for ghosts, spirits, monsters, etc. in Japanese, and I'm wondering how they relate to each other. What ...
11
votes
3answers
259 views
When is it appropriate to refer to yourself by これ?
I have occasionally heard and read instances, where a person has referred to themselves as これ. My Japanese dictionary also lists "Me, I." as a definition of これ.
Now, this obviously isn't used as ...
11
votes
7answers
2k views
Are there any Japanese words as versatile as “fuck” in English?
I was wondering about this one recently. "Fuck" in English is famous for being applicable in a wide, wide range of circumstances (none of them formal).
What word in Japanese covers a wide spectrum of ...
11
votes
3answers
229 views
神様がある vs. 神様がいる
I was wondering if there's a difference in usage between 神様がいる and 神様がある. In both cases, I mean specifically the meaning "There is a God", either as a statement of the kind "God exists", or as in ...
11
votes
2answers
253 views
Nuances between the different kanji spellings of あける：明ける vs. 開ける vs. 空ける
開ける, 明ける and 空ける are all read as あける.
From their kanji, it is obvious that 開ける has to do more with opening (a door etc), 明ける with dawning and 空ける with emptying...
However, JMDict gives the exact ...
11
votes
2answers
190 views
Rare/Obsolete verb forms
I have noticed that some verbs have this "rare" or old form that is no longer used much (if at all). Here are some examples.
おそる： おそるべき者 → One who is feared
ほむ： ほむべきお方【かた】 → Seen often in my ...
11
votes
2answers
431 views
Is there a difference between 赤{あか} and 赤色{あかいろ}?
While studying Japanese I've met some problems with distinguishing some vocabulary.
For example we have:
赤{あか} = Red (color)
赤{あか}い = Red (adjective)
But what about 赤色{あかいろ}? Is there ...
11
votes
2answers
237 views
What is the differences in nuances between とうとう and やっと?
What is the differences in nuances between とうとう and やっと?
is it true that やっと has a more "happy" feeling attached to it?
11
votes
3answers
485 views
Fun with synonyms - “eternity”
What are the differences among the following two-kanji words that seem to mean "eternity":
永遠 {えいえん}
永久 {とわ}
永世 {えいせい}
永代 {えいたい}
永劫 {えいごう}
永永 {えいえい}
久遠 {きゅうえん}
悠久 {ゆうきゅう}
恒久 {こうきゅう}
恒常 {こうじょう}
長久 ...
11
votes
4answers
423 views
What does 男前 mean when used to describe a woman?
I just encountered the phrase 「男前な女」in the book I am reading. When I looked up 男前, it was defined as "good looks in a man," much like "handsome" in English. What does it mean when used to describe a ...
10
votes
4answers
278 views
Greeting for meeting a friend by chance
How can I greet a person in a manner similar to "Nice to find you in here!" (— meaning meeting a friend by chance somewhere)?
10
votes
5answers
588 views
Native word for “pen”
Is there a native, non-loanword for "pen" (the writing instrument)? Or is there only 「ペン」?
There is one for "pencil" (鉛筆), one for "ruler" (定規), one for "paper" (紙) and even though the one for ...
10
votes
3answers
311 views
10
votes
4answers
450 views
What's the difference between いいえ and English's “no”?
In "Japanese for Busy People I" page 2 (kana or romaji edition) it says that いいえ is 'virtually the same as "no"'.
It sounds like there are some differences, but they want to omit mentioning them for ...
10
votes
1answer
824 views
Are all kanji compounds considered words?
A friend once commented to me that Japanese has a larger vocabulary than English. I said I didn't think it did, because it wasn't really accurate to call all kanji compounds "words". My friend said I ...
10
votes
2answers
212 views
“看護師” vs. “看護士”
Good afternoon all,
I was wondering is it true that
"看護師" is a gender-neutral way of referring to a "nurse",
Whereas "看護婦" implies that it is a girl,
And "看護士" implies that it is a guy?
...
10
votes
3answers
304 views
What is the *proper* differentiation between 来る and 行く?
In many beginning Japanese classes, 来る【くる】 and 行く【いく】 are presented as "to come" and "to go," respectively. Dictionaries generally also define them this way. However, every once in a while in more ...
10
votes
1answer
214 views
Difference between さよなら and さようなら
I just saw the word "goodbye" spelt as さよなら. Having clearly heard the long o sound before, I thought the word was misspelled. However, a quick online search shows both さよなら and さようなら being used. Is ...
10
votes
4answers
353 views
What determines whether a word gets a kanji compound or katakana?
I read electronics/computing articles, and I find an incredible amount of terms are written either in kanji (almost similar to Chinese) or katakana. There are times when it's confusing as to know why. ...
10
votes
1answer
2k views
Getting your haircut in Japan
I have been living in Japan now for the last 3 months and my hair is starting to look like it needs a cut.
But I have never been to a Japanese barbers before so as you can imagine I am a little ...
10
votes
1answer
151 views
Is 花見 “cherry blossom” viewing only?
Hi all I was wondering is there such a thing that 花見/お花見 must be specifically referring to "cherry blossom" viewing.
Or is it true that 花見 is "flower viewing" in general ?
10
votes
2answers
228 views
what is the difference in the usage of [成]{な}るべく and できるだけ?
Hi guys what is the difference in the usage of 成るべく and できるだけ?
Don't they both mean as [x] as possible?
E.g.:
1) できるだけ多くの本を読みなさい vs なるべく多くの本を読みなさい
2) できるだけ早くお願いします vs なるべく早くお願いします
10
votes
4answers
414 views
Am I coming or going? 戻ってくる vs 戻っていく
A little while ago I was in a shop, and about 5 minutes after I left, they phoned me to tell me I had left my USB stick there. I said I would head back and pick it up.
I used 戻って行く to mean "I'll go ...
10
votes
2answers
572 views
寝る vs. 眠る, what's the real difference?
What's the real, definite difference between 寝【ね】る and 眠【ねむ】る?
I know they both mean "sleep", but also that each carries some additional (sometimes, figurative) meanings.
Where do the meanings ...
10
votes
3answers
408 views
How can I differentiate between 「もう」 that means “already” and 「もう」 that means “more/additional”?
I noticed that 「もう」 can mean both "already" and "additional", such as the following sentence:
もう二本飲みましたよ。
Can mean either one of:
I already drank two glasses.
I drank additional two glasses.
...
10
votes
2answers
202 views
Which verbs have 辞書形 (dictionary forms) that look like ~ます conjugations?
I recently confused 励ます (hagemasu) for the ~ます form of 禿げる (hageru).
Although this actually lead to a rather amusing conversation, I'm wondering if there are other examples of this to watch out for?
10
votes
1answer
307 views
Names for strokes
What do we call the different types of strokes of kanji/kana in Japanese?
For example, in Chinese the left-downward stroke is called 撇[piě] and the right-downward stroke is called 捺[nà]. And if I ...
10
votes
1answer
166 views
Fun with synonyms - “flattery"
What are the difference in the following words meaning flattery / to flatter:
お世{せ}辞{じ}
追{つい}従{しょう}
おべっか
胡{ご}麻{ま}をする
阿{おもね}る
諂{へつら}う
煽{おだ}て（る）
美{び}辞{じ}麗{れい}句{く}
Which ones are honest, sincere ...
10
votes
1answer
170 views
Using くれる for doing something bad
Today I heard the phrase なんてことしてくれた, as in:
君！なんてことしてくれたんだ！
which I learned means "Look what you've done". I thought くれる was only used when someone does something nice for you. Is this just a ...
