Questions tagged [kana]
かな. Covers both Japanese syllabaries, hiragana (ひらがな) and katakana (カタカナ).
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Is there a way to convert any English word to Japanese Kana？
Recently, I've been dealing with Japanese grapheme-to-phonneme conversion. But sometimes, there are plain English words in the text. So I wonder is there a way to convert these English words into ...
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Grammatical changes due to 歷史假名遣 use?
basically, I am wondering to what extent use of 歷史假名遣 before 1946 would influence grammatical forms in texts from the period between roughly 1900 to 1946. As I understand it, most 歷史假名遣 pertains to ...
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Small letters in Morse and telephony alphabet
I've read many pictures on Bing about the Japanese Morse Code and the Radiotelephony Alphabet, but none of them seem to mention small letters.
Is there a way to distinguish between small letters and ...
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What does this 件 mean at the end of this sentence?
I saw this on a youtube comment:
アメリカが正義を騙る度に邪悪さが鮮明に浮かび上がる件。
I think it means something to the effect of:
Every time America pretends to be about justice, its evil clearly emerges.
But I translated ...
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Popular "random" strings
Some "random" letter/numbers strings, like bxdrpcqazwsui1, gives a whole bunch of Japanese results if typed on Bing search engine.
I don't know why these strings are related to Japanese, and ...
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What does this double entendre じゃなかったらいいのかよ mean?
「テレビ番組を勝手にアップロードするのは違法だからな」
「10年以下の懲役か1000万円以下の罰金か、その両方だ」
Teacher talking to 3 students:
It's illegal to upload TV programs without permission.
You can get up to 10 years of hard labor... ...10 ...
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What fraction of Japanese words contain digraphs?
I'm curious as to what the percentage of native Japanese words that contain digraphs, or to put it another way, the average number of digraphs (or individual kana) in a Japanese word would be. I'm a ...
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Why are there no unique voiced kana?
If one were to look at the 万葉仮名 article on Wikipedia, they would find that no specific marks were added to represent the bunch, that is, the ザダガバ 行, with there having been different representations ...
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Is there a character that looks like "ot," or is it a different language? [closed]
I'm playing a game and don't recognise this character. It looks like an "ot" or "of" to me, but that might just be the font. I can only read the following: どんな夢も[ ]うんだって
Can ...
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Differences between い and り
I am learning kana and have some problems with similar construction. I found an excellent source (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TohUrbpdYJY) where Yuko sensei described a left-start and top-start ...
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What is うれション a portmanteau of?
I recently came across the phrase うれション, referring to when a dog accidentally urinates out of excitement. Fairly obviously the first part is derived from 嬉しい, but what else comes together to form ...
user48874
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Was the writing system used in the Empire of Japan (大日本帝国) called 真片仮名?
So, today I encountered the claim on Wikipedia
Shinkatakana (真片仮名, mana and katakana): mixed script including only kanji and katakana.
Wikipedia doesn't list a source for this claim.
This sounds to ...
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What is the correct tense for を生み?
一つの時代の積み重ねが新たな伝説を生み、ここにまた一人のヒーローが誕生した。ロックマン (source)
Here are two translations I have:
The culmination of one era gives birth to a new legend, and here again another hero is born.
The efforts of an ...
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Confusion over それで+なら meaning
In this video, the characters are saying the lines they had in the game, only reworded, but they basically mean the same thing.
やってみせる、それで自分が取り戻せるなら。
In the video game, there is a line of text:
...
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is it grammatically correct to write ニ as ンイ
I was looking at the list of kana, and I realized something. Say, you wanted to write the syllable “ni”, you would write “ニ”, right? Is it possible to write “n” syllables using “ン” and vowels? For ...
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Popular conventions that Japanese people use the Japanese characters to draw or type Emoji
This question is about the popular conventions that Japanese people use the Japanese characters to draw or type Emoji.
What are some principles and conventions that Japanese people follow?
Here is one ...
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Why is the katakána ヲ taught to beginners?
Why is the lesser-used katakána for [o], ヲ, taught to beginners? It doesn't seem to be for completeness' sake, as the lesser-used kana for [i] (ヰ and ゐ) and [e] (ヱ and ゑ) are not taught to beginners. ...
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How come this sentence そんなことでどうする？ takes on so many forms?
ロニキス
「はは。クロード、これしきの事で怯えているのか？少尉ともあろうものが、そんなことでどうする？
The context is that Ronixis is a commander who hands Claude a pistol and tells him to use it in case of an attack.
I'm confused at exactly what ...
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Why is the volitional form of する - しよう, considering the classical post-む pre-spelling reform form was せう which should net *しょう?
Why is the volitional form of する - しよう, considering the pre-spelling reform but post-む form was せう, which according to sound changes and modern kana orthography should become しょう? Especially ...
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Does the construct: [verb]+るっちゃ[verb]るけど, make any sense grammatically?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2QAVNPdJso&t=2m39s
2年間ぐらい全然漢字使ってなくて、今なんか書こうと思えば、ま、ちょっと難しい。読めるっちゃ読めるけど...
I haven't used kanji at all for about two years, and if I want to write something now, it's ...
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Does anyone know if this is supposed to be some kind of expression これが憎めないんだなぁ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY3w8m7zZfs&t=2m5s
スリッピーはちょっと気が弱いが、これが憎めないんだなぁ。
Slippy is a bit faint of heart, ...
憎む 【にくむ】 to hate; to detest
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Can 案が検討されまして also be used to mean "implemented"?
I'm not sure how to make sense of this section of text.
Either it says that buses were considered for use but ultimately left without stranded passengers, OR that sightseeing buses were used and ...
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Can 総指揮 be used outside of a military context?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4JDxrrSGT0
「えーー、こんにちは、あるいはこんばんは。えー、糸井重里です。
今度、任天堂から、えー、マザーというタイトルで、えー、僕の、えー、組織、監督脚本というなんか大げさ が/な 触れ込みで、マザーという新しいロールプレイングゲームが出ます。
I'm not sure if its そうしき 総指揮 general ...
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How in the heck does this colloquial japanese sentence make any sense grammatically?
I am aware that this is colloquial japanese, but the individual parts are jumbled haphazardly to where I can't figure out how this is supposed to follow even somewhat correct grammar. I got 2 ...
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Should you spell it 余り when a noun or suffix and あまり every time else?
Are there rules or guidelines on when and where to use the kanji spelling for this word? From my own observations, it seems like it is spelled 余り when used as a noun meaning remainder or leftovers:
...
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Meaning of [手ェ出] [duplicate]
Can't understand 手ェ出さないでよ part. If it was 手が出さない it would make sense. Maybe it is actually the same thing and both translates as "keep your hands on".
But I can't find any evidence of this ...
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After a Katakana word then "tto" are both Hiragana or Katakana acceptable for the Sokuon?
I have seen examples of both quite often, even for the same exact sentence, examples:
おなべの中からボワっと／おなべの中からボワッと。
This is a lyric from おどるポンポコリン（Odoru Ponpokorin)、A song for ちびまる子ちゃん（Chibi Maruko Chan)
...
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Does 防具による攻撃 mean "attacks with armor" or "attacks depending on armor"
This is a vhs promotional video about a videogame.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUhd8qoQl6E&t=4m55s
さらにタクティクスオウガでは、ユニットの武器や防具による攻撃、魔法攻撃、各ユニットの特性を生かした攻撃など、バラエティーに富んだアクションをもフルアニメーションで構成。
My ...
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Is there a difference between the following two words for chopsticks ? Hashi and Otemoto [duplicate]
As a Japanese beginner I was familiar with the word Hashi for a while, today I learned that another word for chopsticks is Otemoto.
This word is often written on chopstick wrappers. My guess is that ...
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Which 気力もつきかけている is appropriate here?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvBrve8BLog&t=2m57s
sm21891947 - スーパーメトロイド（ＳＦＣ） 店頭映像 | Super Metroid Promotional Preview
The official english captions for this sentence gives:
もう戦う気力も尽きかけている。= My ...
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How many meaning does 前進しか許されない！ have?
Is this supposed to be an expression, an idiom or a saying or proverb or whatever, because I have seen this used a lot. There seem to be no entries for "前進しか許す"
This video on youtube gives ...
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Is this heavily stylized text readible?
Watching ダーリン・イン・ザ・フランキッス, I noticed how heavily stylized the logo appeared to be in the opening (see picture below). Knowing what it's supposed to read, I was somehow able to make out every kana, but ...
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Is するということであります speaking in the past, or present?
This is from a commercial for Hermie Hopperhead:
長官:大変お待たせいたしました。
それでは、現時点で分かっている事実を発表いたします。
まず、名前はハーミーホッパーヘッド。
記者A:すいません。もう一度お願いいたします。
長官:ハーミーホッパーヘッド。全部カタカナです。
エ、これが、ある惑星から脱出するということであります。
...
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Unknown string of kana "-始めようとしていたなかで-"?
The above image is screengrabbed from the intro to ロンドン精霊探偵団, a story set in 19th century London. This is a line from the prologue. It reads:
その予感が
人々の中に芽生え始めようとしていたなかで
きままに暮らす ひとりの少年がいた……
I have ...
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Why does "fu" changes to "pu" while it's not started with "h"?
Supposedly, if the consonant starts with "h", it changes to "p", right? But "fu" doesn't have an "h". Then why does "fu" change to "pu"?
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Can the phrase にまた_が戻ってくるんだ have multiple meanings?
This is script from a game where 2 characters are talking to each other. One says:
「賞金が出たら馬を買おう
セボック村にまた馬が戻ってくるんだ
徴集兵のバイトなんかオサラバだぜ
Here is the NTSC-U version:
With a reward, I'll get a horse
and ...
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Because I cannot find the root verb in any dictionary, what does をしめて回った mean in this sentence?
This is from a Manga, or so I heard.
中学時代に地元の学校をしめて回ったマキちゃん。
Maki-chan squeezed around a/some local school in the era/period during junior high school.
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What does this symbol "I" mean in a manga? What is its usage?
I saw in a manga ミIナト meaning minato a name but I don't know what the character between ミ and ナ means and the usage of it
and theres another one too おまさてI and theres like 3 lines below it's written ...
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Is ぢゃ/ぢゅ/ぢょ used in modern kana usage?
Since ぢ in spellings was merged into じ in modern kana usage, じや/ぢや, じゆ/ぢゆ, and じよ/ぢよ were merged into じゃ, じゅ, and じょ.
That made me wonder, what about ぢゃ/ぢゅ/ぢょ? They exist, and I found them present in ...
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What is the point of using 謂わば in this sentence?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv7ZYbhTLco&t=4m7s
関節と関節の間は謂わば関節である
Google translate only gives the following:
So-called joints are between joints
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Do Japanese use 順番、順番！ as a command, like in the military?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jp6trk9Ljs&t=3m41s
何のためのくじ引きだと思ったんだ ？
はい、はい！順番、順番！？
はい、 A 組以外は、はい、 戻る !
Or did I misunderstand these sentences?
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Positioning of small kana in compound kana
When writing compound kana the small kana is slightly lower than centre.
But is it slightly left of centre as well ?
Take じゃあ
Here we have 3 kana.
Firstly, when writing, is the total width of the ...
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Does anybody know anything about astrology to figure out what 優先度 has to do with the following sentence?
https://cocoloni.jp/fortune/1362383/
英国占星術で占う「あの人の今、あなたに対する優先度」【無料占い】
I think its trying to ask, "How important is this persons whereabouts in regards to your priority" or
"His priority ...
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ことが as an infinitive?
若い時にいい友達『を』作ることはとても大事だ。
“It is very important to make friends when one is young.”
“To make” is not a noun, it's an infinitive. It should be “making friends” no? I understand that it turns the verb ...
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Does this mean anything? 私たちはしておりません
This is an interview with Hiroshi Yamauchi. I can never understand even 1 sentence he says in any interviews he ever does.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcrvjSjWmPM&t=0m56s
32ビットを意識して、...
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Why is "Wikipedia" written as ウィキペディア instead of ワィキペディア?
The free online dictionary Wikipedia is called ウィキペディア in kana.
Why is it not called ワィキペディア? Which string of kana provides a pronunciation closer to the English word?
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しれーっといてられるなと思います
「まぁ、よくも、こんな重大{じゅうだい}な事件{じけん}を視聴者{しちょうしゃ}に説明{せつめい}もせず、しれーっといてられるなと思{おも}います。」
How could they do that without explaining?
To me, this might also mean:
Well, how could they dare do that without ...
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What do "どゃでぇ" meaning?
Context:http://mangalifewin.takeshobo.co.jp/rensai/yo-jolife/yo-jo-009/21349/
I try search "どゃでぇ" in Google just get almost nothing.
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How to denote particular kana sounds in Japanese?
In romaji, the ways that verbs inflect is fairly straightforward to indicate. For example, if you wanted to describe the process under which 五段動詞｛ごだんどうし｝ change from 辞書形｛じしょけい｝ to 可能形｛かのうけい｝. One ...
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Why is there dakuten on the "ん" in this image? (ん゙)
Context: http://mangalifewin.takeshobo.co.jp/rensai/yo-jolife/yo-jo-008/21231/
Does "ん" really have a dakuten version?
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