Questions tagged [words]
言葉. 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.
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questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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Usage of 焚き付ける in this sentence
The topic is Gilgamesh here.
「英霊の座」スレ住民。タンクトップにジャージのズボン、バンダナに指抜きグローブ姿の立派な引きこもりニートで、その上セイバーのストーカーでもある。遠坂邸に居候しており、カソックにフリルのエプロン姿の家政婦のおじさんが生活全般の面倒を見ている。
いつも自信満々に全く説得力皆無のアドバイスを戦車男に焚き付けては、...
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Does 逆さまにする ever mean rotation on the Y-axis? a twist?
I've thought さかさま to mean to rotate 180" over the X-axis. In dictionaries, I see the definition "to invert, upside down; to flip" ok.
But "to reverse, back to front" is also included in some ...
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Why are the South China Sea and East China Sea still referred to as "南シナ海 " and "東シナ海" when "シナ" is considered derogatory when referring to China?
If China is usually referred to as [中国]{ちゅうごく}, then why do the names for the seas still use the old Japanese name? Is there a reason?
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0
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のなんのって and variations
Do the structures のなんのって, のなんのと and のなんのといって / のなんのと言って refer to the same and can be used interchangeably? If so, is there also any other variation of のなんのって that can be used in the same way?
A time ...
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Suffix as defined in romanized Japanese morphological analysis
Older grammar books tend to rely on a lot of romanization to teach the nitty-gritty of morphology, which is also reflected in some of @snail's answers like this one. I was reading Samuel Elmo Martin's ...
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Synonym for「として」
I remember using a word that means "as (a role/identity)", roughly synonymous with 「として」. It was a word/phrase that I learned from writings that I had seen occasionally and adopted in my own ...
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Why are some terms for relative time irregular?
For current time the Kanji 今{いま} for "now" can always used. Why is it that Kanji for previous (去 / 昨 / 先) and next (来 / 明) times are different and have irregular readings? In some cases it ...
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124
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Difference in words for saying "how + adjective"
I would like to know which is the difference between the structure いかに～か and｛どんなに／いくら／どれだけ／どれほど／なんと｝～か?
I know that いかに is the old version of どんなに, but what about the rest of words?
Could I say the ...
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2
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0
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Polar connotations in the same word: 断り and 惜しい
Recently I bumped into two words「断り」and「惜しい」.
Accordingly to Jisho:「断り」can mean permission; consent but it also can mean rejection; refusal; nonacceptance; declination; declining...
As for「惜しい」 ...
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Expressing “huh” tag?
How would you express this type of tag?
For example:
Lovers, huh? That’s what you think they are?
Would って work?
恋人って？そうと思う？
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Is there any difference between 「精々」 and 「たかだか」?
Like mentioned in the title, I would like to know if there are any subtle differences between 「精々」 and 「たかだか」.
As an example, are all these sentences grammatically correct? Is there any change in ...
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585
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「いくらか」と「若干」の使い分けを教えていただけないでしょうか。
「いくらか」と「若干」の違いは何ですか。ただ「いくらか」は話し言葉で「若干」は書き言葉ですか。正しいですか。もし、正しかったら、他の違いがありますか。
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How to address someone like the owner of a guesthouse
So I am currently in Japan for vacation and also some short work visit and had the chance to use Japanese a little. I learnt things mostly from reading, so I struggled to formulate things verbally in ...
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Example of a ～局, ～部 and ～課 in a company
Could you please help me to find an example of a ～局, ～部 and ～課 in a company?
Looking for the definition of ～部 in Jisho, it says ～部 refers to a department in a company, for example, 経理部 (accounting ...
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Meaning of くらい in this sentence
The Sentence
「君たちはお金をもらって会社で仕事を教えてもらい、鍛えられている。給料をもらうなんて話が逆だろう。会社がもらいたいくらいだ。授業料、持ってこい」
From my estimation (and thanks to @chocolate) this translates to: (?)
You guys are paid to be taught the work and ...
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How is 勝手 being used here?
In death note, at one point in the conversation there is this line:
誰をキラだと疑おうと勝手だが、あの面は自分だけ助かろうという気持ちの現れじゃないか。
The speaker is trying to tell the other guy that he doesn't care who he suspects, but ...
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How do I read this kanji from an old book?
It is from a book titled ガンビアの春, or Spring in Gambier, that I am translating for my senior capstone project. I can read 活, but I couldn't tell you what the second character is. This author tends to ...
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Why are もらう、習う、教わる、借りる and 聞くthe only transitive verbs that behave like they are in passive conjugation? Is there a name for this category of verb?
もらう、習う、教わる、借りる and 聞く (in its "to hear from" meaning) and their honorifics I'm pretty sure are the only verbs where に and から are somewhat interchangeable in their active form, in that に ...
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1
answer
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What does the word 「でやんして」 mean?
I also would like to know if it relates to any dialect.
A: またそんなことでこそこそやってるのか。
B: なんせ 我々にとっては重大{じゅうだい}問題{もんだい}でやんして...
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襲名 - Successing to your own name?
Sorry if I'm asking too many questions here (I do wonder, is there a place where one could ask simple questions like these without having to open a new thread everytime? - I feel kinda stupid ;)
To ...
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125
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Question about the kanji 兵
When I was sixteen I got my first tattoo and I choose this kanji " 兵 " because I saw that stands for warrior. A couple of years after, I saw that the kanji stands more for "soldiers" than "warrior" (...
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Multiple words with same definition
I am seeing pairs of words with similar meanings (where one of the words has a single kanji and the other has two kanji).
Examples include:
豊か、豊富
保つ、保存する
防ぐ、予防する
Do these pair of words share the ...
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Do 最愛の人 and ダーリン mean the same thing?
I looked up for the word "darling" and got two different answers and I just want to know if they both mean the same thing.
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1
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それぞれ and ずつ use and differences
I'm a bit confused by それぞれ and ずつ.
What would the difference be between these three sentences:
それぞれの生徒にオレンジを二個ずつあげた
生徒にオレンジを二個ずつあげた
それぞれの生徒にオレンジを二個あげた
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What is a term for an attitude/life that eschews luxury or comfort?
A while back I had read an article (in English) online about an Japanese ceramics artist and his work, with the writer describing the artist's rather spartan furnishings as a result of his attitude or ...
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answer
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Why 厚かましい is not 厚がましい
I usually encounter adjectives of this form adj+がましい which means similar to adj+らしい based on my understanding. I recently discovered this word 厚かましい. I find it peculiar that it ends with かましい not がましい....
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Exact definition of 針千本 in the 指切り idiom
I'm trying to learn more about idioms and expressions, and I came across this (which is apparently said when making a [pinky] promise):
指切拳万{ゆびきりげんまん}、嘘ついたら針千本{はりせんぼん}呑ます
Casting the first part ...
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Questions about の→ん contraction, でござる→でございます shift
【原文】Original version
各これらの語の特徴はいつからなの？何時代ですの？
第一、「のです」と「なのです」を書いて「んです」と「なんです」を書かなかったことはいつからなの？
第に、「でござる」を書いて「でございます」を書かなかったこともいつからなの？
私の日本語がよくないですと、すみません！
Edited version
I have two questions ...
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How would I ask for a persons Age, Sex, and Location (ASL) in Japanese?
The abbreviation means age, sex and location, and is used frequently in English speaking chatsites during introductions. Is there a similar term used in Japanese chatsites?
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Usage of 脇付 depending on the sender and the addressee
According to these websites
https://bizushiki.com/wakiduke
https://origamijapan.net/origami/2018/06/05/wakizuke/
脇付 follow this classification when thinking on the sender and the addressee of a letter....
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Usage of the word 技 (わざ) as well as similar words meaning "Technique"
I tend to hear this word a lot in anime, especially ones like Naruto. But there's little information on how it is used in conversation. According to Jisho, it means technique, art, skill and move with ...
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Why is cactus ’仙人掌'
It seems like a strange word for cactus, (hermit palm??) Is there a cultural background to this?
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そこへ with くる in a single sentence
What is the reason that these are paired up like this in this sentence: "そこへ少女がやってくる"
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ひらがなで書くかわりに、カタカナで書く中国とかんごく
Why are the Japanese names for the countries "China" and "Korea" written in Hiragana instead of the usual katakana?
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What's a good way to say "liminal"?
I speak a fair amount of Japanese (from America, live in Kobe, Japan), but am having a hard time finding a good way to say liminal.
The best I can think of is things like gap or transition 間 【あいだ】
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'Legs only' when performing a karate kata
In our karate trainings we often do exercises to perform only leg movements and leg techniques: stances, kicks and jumps from a kata. (Only footwork and foot techniques)
My question is: What would be ...
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Are forms of address and kinship terms pronouns/代名詞 in Japanese? Why or why not?
It hit me when I was editing this question which had the pronouns tag. I wasn't sure if 「娘」 is considered a pronoun in Japanese. Looking for relevant examples of kinship terminology in English, I ...
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やつらも生き物だ、死して横たわる権利はあろう
The main character in this game enters a pact with a dragon which allows them to communicate with each other and the MC to take control of the dragon. The MC is depicted as bloodthirsty simply out for ...
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What are the phonotactic rules of 促音 in lexical items?
In comparison to 連濁, finding rules on 促音 seems much harder. If possible, I would like to figure out what the rules are, that is, in which positions 促音 can occur, and in which positions 促音 is likely to ...
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How to politely ask if a specific person (by name) is available in a professional setting/store
I couldn’t find the right search terms to trigger an existing answer. I often go to a store where I have somewhat of a regular relationship with one of staff members. Sometimes they’re in the back, ...
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a question about お預かりいたします
また、通常の売買の際にも、釣り銭があるような場合に、「お預かりいたします」が用いられるようです。このような場面でも、受け取った金銭のすべてを所有するのでないという意味から、「いただきます」「頂戴します（頂戴いたします）」に替わって使用されているものと考えられます。
ご指摘の「○○円からお預かりいたします」という表現は、文字どおりには「○○円から幾らかを一時的に保管します（...
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Meaning of こそすれ
Could somebody tell me the meaning of こそすれ?
I've searched it on Google, but I still don't understand what does it mean or what function it has. Sometimes the meaning of こそすれ seems to be "to do ...
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in this sentence what function does と take
here is the sentence i know と can have multiple functions
ごめんね 私さごめんね 人に合わせないと不安っていうか
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What is the point of 一名 in this sentence?
(Taken from ジョジョ６部)
「女性受刑者が一名頭部を砕かれ変死をとげたというのに…」
I don't really get the point behind 「一名」in this sentence.
My guess is that the sentence (badly) translates to something like: "And although one/a ...
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What does 測る mean here?
前に「知るタイミング」みたいなこと言ってましたよね、それってどうやって測ればいいんですか。
I can't understand what 測る means here. I know its dictionary definition is to measure or to weigh, but it seems to have another meaning in this sentence.
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The meaning of 一時期繁く
I've been reading a book and met a phrase I don't understand.
I have translated it like that:
一時期繁く通った程度のことらしいが、そこに居を定める人間に出会ってみると、懐かしくなったものとみえる。
It seems to a degree of being there for one hour ...
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Understanding the meaning of 事情がわって
First, I would like to yet thank all the community for your great exchange work ! I wish I can participate one day when I get a better understanding of japanese language.
I am learning japanese as an ...
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When is 下 alone read げ outside of a handful of idiomatic usages (if ever)?
Dictionary definition:
１ 程度・価値・等級・序列などが低いこと。標準より劣っていること。下等。した。「中の下の成績」⇔上 (じょう) 。
２ 書物や文の章段などで、二つまたは三つに分けたものの最後のもの。「下の巻」⇔上 (じょう) 。
Edit:
I think 巻 is not read かん, but まき. Sometimes, a word ...
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"自然な流れ" and "サボろう" mean
In this sentence "自然な流れでサボろうと思ったのにちょっと言い過ぎたかな" ,there are
two phrases i don't know the meaning "自然な流れ" and "サボろう" . "自然な流れ" I think it means "natural flow" but what is " natural flow". Also, "サボろう" ...
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