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In modern Japanese these pairs are pronounced exactly the same: ず, づ are pronounced either [dzu] or [zu]. じ, ぢ are pronounced either [dʑi] or [ʑi]. (the first sounding like the English J and the second like the French J, but both are with the middle of the tongue raised to the hard palate, producing what seems like a softer pronunciation). So in short, ...

In reference to Sawa's request for an example, キャンディ is a case of キャ being used to transcribe English ca. I asked my Japanese teacher exactly this question many years ago. The reply was that the vowel in English candy is higher (in phonetic terms) than the low front vowel in RP English cast. The fact that キャ is palatalised raises the vowel and makes it ...

I'm often driven crazy by the lack of kanji in manga and other written works. I spent so long learning their Asian hieroglyphics, the least they could do is use them! Anyway, I believe the sentence, filled out, is: なにするのだ、このガキは？ Where: なにするの　-> なにすん　(の here makes it a question) だ -> じゃ この -> こん ガキは -> ガキャーーー The ーーー at the end is ...

次数 (jisuu) seems to be "degree" in the graph theory sense, not as in angles. I've never heard ちょぼ used for "decimal point", but perhaps I'm ignorant here. The terms I would use are 度 (do) and 点 (ten) respectively. コンマ (comma) is also heard as a decimal point separator (even when the symbol , is not used). Note that, as in English, numbers after a decimal ...

Your example case is a little strange and without more context, I am not sure about the intent. In general cases, just like Amanda said: it indicates a word being cut-off (or sometimes a very strong exclamation). An interesting aspect is that it seems to work a little different from the equivalent in Western languages, in that it does not actually cut-off ...

Generally (barring situations like this) all furigana are written as hiragana, regardless of whether it's the onyomi or kunyomi of the character. You could think about it this way: there's nothing grammatically wrong with writing a word like にち in hiragana rather than kanji. ニチ, on the other hand, would be ungrammatical (or at least non-standard). When ...

Pronunciation-wise, there is no difference in the standard dialect. Some dialects may preserve the distinction between the two sounds, but most of the words that used to be spelled with づ and ぢ are now spelled with ず and じ in the standard language. (In other words, relying on the standard spelling won't tell you when to use "dzu" and "dji" in these dialects, ...

こんばんは (今晩は) is the one in the dictionary for "Good evening!". I think that こんばんわ has a cuter feeling, maybe a little softer. It's a total guess, but it might be related to the feminine わ at the end of sentences. Actually, this page seems to be saying it's related to 和 (わ - peace) which gives it a nicer feeling.

Here's what my Japanese lecturer told me when I asked her about it: "Usually it is じ for ji sound. However, when ji is used after chi sound in one word with one kanji, ぢ is used, such as, ちぢむ　（縮む）、ちぢれる（縮れる）. When it is a part of word with two kanji, such as, ちじん　（知人 = acquaintance), じ is used." Interesting....