Questions tagged [child-speech]
For questions about the ways in which children learning Japanese (as a first language) speak differently from adults.
11
questions
2
votes
1answer
160 views
“wa” vs. “ga” in the question “do you have…?” (child speak!)
If a child were to casually ask their teacher, "do you have [some object]," which would they say?
先生、「何か」はあるの？ (Sensei, [nanika] ha aru no?)
先生、「何か」があるの？ (Sensei, [nanika] ga aru no?)
I ...
3
votes
1answer
165 views
Is おまわりさん a childish term?
Since I learned おまわりさん and けいかん I always wondered if the first has a "children language" nuance, or if it is just a friendly/respectful way to call a police officer. Is this the case?
1
vote
0answers
55 views
body parts in childrens language [duplicate]
At least in my country parents tend to give body parts cute or easier names when talking about them to children. Thus children use them too in their speech.
This is especially for sexual connoted body ...
3
votes
1answer
192 views
う◯こ versus う◯ち - which is more childish?
I was watching last week's ホンマでっか, and there one of the learned panel talked about うんこ (or う◯こ as it was subtitled), and Matsuko Deluxe on the celeb panel hectored him with a "Use うんち at least as it's ...
8
votes
1answer
1k views
What are the general patterns of child-directed speech in Japanese?
In English, parents usually talk to their kids differently from how they usually talk. The words they use when doing so usually ends in -y. For example, "kitten" becomes "kitty", "I" usually turns ...
3
votes
2answers
2k views
What part-of-speech is ゲゲゲ in ゲゲゲの鬼太郎?
I don't know if "part-of-speech" is the best term here, since it generally has a Western language orientation, but I am curious as to what function the word gegege has in reference to the TV show ...
12
votes
3answers
1k views
Spaces in children's books
Written Japanese ordinarily doesn't use any spaces to separate words. But Japanese children's books do.
For example, the opening of Tomi Ungerer's The Three Robbers (すてきな 三にんぐみ)
あらわれでたのは、
くろマントに、 くろい ...
2
votes
2answers
239 views
Is there a traditional Japanese kana song or otherwise how are babies familiarised with kana?
I have a newborn son from my Japanese wife. I try to sing to him. I sing the alphabet song (English). Japanese kana and their order is the same value for dictionaries. My wife says there isn't one but ...
3
votes
1answer
530 views
Is saying 「XはYは…」 acceptable?
In いっすんぼうし, a very popular fairy tale, this line appears:
だいじんは からだは ちいさいけれど げんきな
いっすんぼうしを たいそう きにいり
じぶんの いえで はたらかせることにしました。
Is 「だいじんは からだは」 grammatically correct? What would be done to make ...
13
votes
4answers
1k views
In what ways do Japanese children overgeneralize conjugation patterns?
(Preface: I'm not well-versed in language acquisition, so the context I've provided here will be dumbed-down, or perhaps just dumb.)
Context: When children acquire their first language, they ...
6
votes
1answer
358 views
Is this word slang? アメテ
I can't find a definition for this word アメテ. Aside from sounding like an amateur, the word didn't make sense in the context.
In the context, a character was flipping out. The entire sentence he ...
