If you've been learning Japanese for a long time, then it's likely that Japanese characters have become part of your everyday life and are not something outlandish. However, for a beginner or someone completely unfamiliar with Japanese writing, Japanese characters can evoke a lot of feelings, from complete misunderstanding of the meaning of these mysterious squiggles to intense curiosity.
If you see a hieroglyph, for example, as a tattoo or on someone's wall as a decoration, then it is likely that you will want to know its meaning. Well, it’s not just that a person chose this set of lines and sticks, which intricately adds up to a meaning accessible to a select few.
Eastern culture remains popular in Russia, and a large number of people strive to understand the mysterious eastern world.
For what purposes do people look for specific hieroglyphs?
Primarily for tattoos. A hieroglyph tattoo attracts the attention of others (it is likely that many people, having seen the tattoo, will want to know the meaning). A stuffed hieroglyph is an identifier of belonging to a secret for its owner, and can also tell others (if they know the meaning of the kanji) what the person with the hieroglyph pays attention to, for example, health, love or wealth, and in some cases all of this at once.
For a person of European culture, hieroglyphs carry an aura of mystery and a kind of magic. For the same reason, people buy talismans or amulets in the form of hieroglyphs and believe in their protection, trying to join Eastern wisdom.
Some people are fascinated by the magic of calligraphy . Beautiful writing of hieroglyphs is an entire art, which consists not only of using a brush competently, but also focusing your mind on the meaning of the hieroglyph, gathering all the power of the brush, drawing the treasured sign.
Another area of application of hieroglyphs is Feng Shui. This is an ancient Chinese teaching about the harmonization of space. It is believed that characters placed in the right place (for example, the Japanese character for “Wealth” in a wallet) attract what they mean. They contain deep meaning and are believed to have great power.
So, below you can get acquainted with the hieroglyphs that are in greatest demand, as well as the order in which they are written. Imagine the surprise of your friends when you can easily not only tell the meaning of a hieroglyph depicted, for example, on the hand of your interlocutor, but also read it.
Japanese character for “love”
愛(ai). Perhaps one of the most popular hieroglyphs, especially among married couples. Helps attract true feelings. Not to be confused with 恋 (koi). In the first case, we mean love not only for the opposite sex, but also for nature, life, and art. In the second case - romantic love for a specific person, even to some extent manifested in the desire to possess.
The order of strokes of the character 愛:
Part 1. How to say “I want”
You can express some desire using the suffix たtaいi (that is, we want to do something
:
want
+
verb
) or using the adjective ほhoしshiいi (we just
want something
:
want
+
noun
). The grammar here is very simple - let's look at these two constructions separately.
If we want to do something
(
want
+
verb
), for example, we want to dance, then in this case the construction with the suffix たtaいi is used. It is added according to the following formula:
verb
(without connective まmaすsu) + たtaいi
For example:
| 飲noみmiまmaすsu (drink) | 飲noみmiたtaいi (I’m thirsty) |
| 見miまmaすsu (I look) | 見miたtaいi (I want to see) |
| しshiまmaすsu (doing) | しshiたtaいi(I want to do it) |
| 来kiまmaすsu (I come) | 来kiたtaいi (I want to come) |
After たtaいi in polite speech there is a linking verb でdeすsu.
来rai年nen、日ni本honへe (休yasuみmiにni) 行iきkiたtaいi でdeすsu。– Next year I want to go to Japan (on vacation).
I want to live in that tall building.
テteレreビbiでde 働hataraきkiたtaいi でdeすsu。– I want to work on television.
In the previous lesson, we looked at the Japanese analogue of the Russian accusative case (whom? what?)
をo and learned to say:
“I’m watching TV,” “I see Petya.”
With our current construction, such expressions will also be used, but with a slight change.
If in a regular sentence “I watch (who? what?) TV”
we use a noun with the particle をo before the verb:
I'm watching the concert on TV.
then when we use the form on たtaいi, the particle をo can change to がga, but をo is more often used.
I want to watch the concert on TV.
I want to read an interesting book tonight.
I want to buy some nice shoes in that store.
In the following example, がga emphasizes the desire of the subject and therefore がga is appropriate here:
It's hot. I want to drink cold water.
Other particles of direction or goal (lesson 3) do not change:
彼kare にni 渡wataしshiたtaいi でdeすsu。– I want to tell him.
公kou園enへe行iきkiたtaいiでdeすsu。 – I want to go to the park.
– I didn’t even have breakfast today . I want to eat something.
I want to go to London during the summer holidays.
Japanese character for “health”
健康 (kenkou). It is the combination of two kanji that forms the word “health”. It is believed that the image of this hieroglyph helps to improve the well-being of its owner. Sometimes you can simply find the character 健, but separately it means “healthy.”
What else can you do with hieroglyphs?
In addition to tattoos, Feng Shui and talismans, Japanese characters can be used in the following cases:
- Use your favorite hieroglyph when creating a hand-made postcard. This will be a memorable gift with which you will express your feelings or wishes in an unusual way. The postcard will be especially valuable for those who are interested in martial arts.
- In addition to the postcard, a mug with a hieroglyph would be a great gift idea
- Writing on a T-shirt is much less risky than getting a tattoo. Moreover, it is much more pleasant to wear a T-shirt with an inscription, the meaning of which is close to your spirit, than to try with difficulty to find a thing with an inscription on which would suit you.
- Japanese-style interiors are very popular these days. Well, what is Japanese style without a hieroglyph? If you want to contemplate a Japanese symbol on the wall of your room, you can watch a video with calligraphy lessons and create a real masterpiece on beautiful paper or a bamboo napkin. Another option is to make a custom photo wallpaper or poster.
- For those who are fond of needlework (embroidery, beads, etc.), creating a pattern on a pillow or panel will be akin to calligraphy. The main thing is to choose a beautiful layout.
- If you are invited to a Japanese-themed party (or even a simple party), bring candy, but not plain candy. Wrap each candy with a wish in the form of a hieroglyph to the person who will receive this candy.
If you want to learn how to write the most popular Japanese characters, then remember the most important rule - kanji are always written in a strict sequence of strokes. According to one Japanese scholar, if you write a hieroglyph without following the sequence, then you are committing a violent act on it.
It is also necessary to pay special attention to the meanings of hieroglyphs, so as not to get into an awkward situation when meeting a native speaker or a person who understands hieroglyphs. It is better not to spontaneously search for the meanings of hieroglyphs on the Internet, but to contact a Japanese friend (if you have one) or an experienced Japanese scholar.
But, you see, just knowing a few hieroglyphs is not that interesting. Especially if you plan to seriously study the Japanese language, you will face many difficulties, which often become the reason for the fading of interest in learning the language. And all because many people simply do not know how to learn kanji correctly. But we have great news for you - you can learn how to effectively memorize hieroglyphs in our course “Effective techniques for memorizing hieroglyphs.” Thanks to these activities, you will be able to predict not only the sequence of features even in hieroglyphs that are unfamiliar to you, but also the meaning and even the reading! There are not very many places in the group, so hurry up before all the basics are covered without you! You can find out more and purchase the course here.
Hieroglyphs were and remain to this day a beautiful and fascinating type of writing that can be mastered and improved endlessly.
Want to learn more about hieroglyphs?
Then sign up for a free course on effectively learning Japanese characters
Did you manage to write down the hieroglyphs given above? Please share in the comments.
Part 2. Form on 欲hoしshiいi
If we want something
(
want
+
noun
), for example,
I want these shoes
, then you can use the adjective 欲hoしshiいi (literally
“desired”
). It is used according to the following scheme:
NUS
+ がga + 欲hoしshiいi
If the adjective is at the end of the sentence, then after it you need to put the connective でdeすsu. Although in colloquial speech this is not necessary.
For example:
あaのno 本hon がga 欲hoしshiいi でdeすsu。– I want that book.
新ataraしshiいiドdoレreスsu がga 欲hoしshiいi でdeすsu。 – I want a new dress.
I want a big apartment.
An object can be either animate or inanimate.
I want to eat some fruit. I want an apple.
誕tan生jyou日biにni子ko猫nekoがga欲hoしshiいiでdeすsu。– I want a kitten for my birthday.
子ko供domo がga 欲hoしshiいi でdeすsu。– I want children.
Content
Japanese
- the main language
of Japan
.
Currently, Japanese is a non-tonal language. It is recommended to speak without any accent at all. There are some intonation features in language that can affect understanding.
Japanese writing is quite complex; mastering it within the framework of a phrasebook is problematic. Most roots have characters of Chinese origin, which can be read in Japanese or Chinese, depending on the situation. Words of non-Japanese origin are written using the katakana syllabary. The few native Japanese words for which there are no characters are expressed using the hiragana syllabary. Hiragana is used to convey suffixes and endings that are assigned to roots (written in hieroglyphs, hiragana or katakana). Each katakana character uniquely corresponds to a hiragana sign, so it would be completely possible to use only hiragana or only katakana without hieroglyphs (which the Japanese successfully do in telegrams, SMS, etc., as well as when teaching children to read and write), but according to tradition all three systems are used simultaneously.
Vowels Edit
Examples: [hitotsu] = [htots], [futatsu] = [ftats], [desu] = [des], [chikatetsu] = [tkatets]
The Japanese language distinguishes between long and short vowels (for the Russian language this difference is not significant, so you need to train to distinguish and reproduce long/short vowels).
Consonants Edit
In Japanese, just like in Russian, there is a distinction between hard and soft consonants.
[p, t, k] before vowels of the first row are aspirated, i.e. pronounced with aspiration, especially in emotional speech;
Sound [n] Edit
The sound [n] in Japanese, in addition to forming syllables like other vowels, also exists in the form of an independent syllable. This sound is called “moraic [n]” or “nasal [n]”. There are several features characteristic of this sound:
Common diphthongs Edit
Basic Edit
Problems Edit
Numbers Edit
Despite the fact that there is a notation for each number in the Japanese language in the form of hieroglyphs, in practice ordinary Arabic numerals are more often used (especially for writing long numbers).
It is also worth noting that in Japanese counting, not every third digit is named, but every fourth. Therefore, when writing long numbers, 4 digits are separated (100,0000 instead of 1,000,000, 10,0000,0000 instead of 1,000,000,000).
1 一 ( ichi/hitotsu
) 2 二 (
ni/futatsu
) 3 三 (
san/mitsu
) 4 四 (
shi (yon)/yotsu
) 5 五 (
go/itsutsu
) 6 六 (
roku/mutsu
) 7 七 (
shichi/nanatsu
) 8 八 (
hachi / yatsu
) 9 九 (
ku (kyu:) / kokonotsu
) 10 十 (
ju: / to:
) 11 十一 (
ju:ichi
) 12 十二 (
ju:ni
) 13 十三 (
ju:san
) 14 十四(
ju:shi
) 15 十五 (
ju:go
) 16 十六 (
ju:roku
) 17 十七 (
ju:city
) 18 十八 (
ju:hachi
) 19 十九 (
ju:ku
) 20 二十 (
niju :
) 21 二十一 (
niju:ichi
) 22 二十二 (
niju:ni
) 23 二十三 (
niju:san
) 30 三十 (
sanju:
) 40 四十 (
yonju:
) 50 五十 (
goju:
) 60 六十 (
rokuju
) 70 七十 (
shichiju
) 80 八十 (
hachiju
) 90 九十 (
kuju)
100 百 (
hyaku
) 150 百五十 (
hyakugoju
) 200 二百(
nihyaku
) 300 三百(
sambyaku
) 400 四百 (
yonhyaku
) 500 五百 (
gohyaku
) 600 六百 (
roppyaku
) 1,000 千 (
sen
) 2,000 二千 (
nisen
) 3,000 三千 (
sanzen
) 4,000四千 (
yongsen
) 5,000五千 (
gosen
) 10,000 一万 (
itiman
) 20,000 二万 (
niman
) 30,000 三万 (
sanman
) 100,000 十万 (
ju:man
) 1,000,000 百万 (
hyakuman
) 100 000 000 一億 (
ichioku
) 200,000,000 二億 (
nioku
) 1,000,000,000 十億 (
ju:oku
) number ___ ___ 番 (
___ ban
) half 半分 (
hambun
) less (quantity) 少なく (
sukunaku
) more (quantity) 多く (
ooku
)
Time Edit
In Japan, the system of recording dates is year, month, day.
, which can use both Arabic and Japanese numerals. Example: 2012年12月21日.
Also in Japan, a 12-hour time recording is used, similar to the American one.
now 今 ( ima
) later 後で (
ato-de
) earlier 前に (
mae-ni
) morning 朝 (
asa
) afternoon (afternoon, pm) 午後 (
gogo
) before noon, am 午前 (
gozen
) evening 夕方 (
yu: gata
) night 夜 (
yoru
) in the morning 朝に (
asa-ni
) during the day 午後に (
gogo-ni
) in the evening 夕方に (
yu:gata-ni
) at night 夜に (
yoru-ni
)
Clock Edit
Duration Edit
Days of the week Edit
Months Edit
Building
| Word in Russian | In Japanese | Romaji |
| Pharmacy | どらっぐ すとあ | Doraggu sutoa |
| Bank | 銀行 | Ginko: |
| Hospital | 病院 | Byo:in |
| Internet cafe | ネットカフェ | Netto cafe |
| Cafe/snack bar | 喫茶店 | Kissaten |
| Convenience store | コンビニ | Kombini |
| Salon | とこや | Tokoya |
| Police station | こうばん | Ko:ban |
| Beauty saloon | びよういん | Biyo:in |
| Supermarket | スーパー | Su:pa: |
| Department store | デパと | Depa:to |
| Flower shop | 花屋 | Hanaya |
How to ask for directions
| Expression in Russian | In Japanese | Romaji |
| Could you show me the way | 道を教えてください | Michi o oshiete kudasai |
| I want to get to the station | 駅に行きたいです | Eki ni ikitai desu |
| Where is the post office? | What about? / 郵便局はどこにありますか? | Yu:binkyoku wa doko desu ka? / Yu:binkyoku wa doko ni arimasu ka? |
| I want to get here | ここに行きたいです | Koko ni ikitai desu |
| Where do you want to go? | What about? | Doko ni ikitai no desu ka? |
Common expressions
| Word/expression in Russian | In Japanese | Romaji |
| Can you help me? | 手伝ってくれますか？ | Tetsudatte kuremasuka? |
| Could you speak more slowly? | ゆっくり話してください | Yukkuri hanashite kudasai |
| Do you speak English? | 英語はできますか | Eigo wa dekimasu ka? |
| Let's talk in Japanese | 日本語で話しましょう | nihongo de hanashimasho: |
| Welcome | ようこそ | Yo:koso |
| Sorry | すみません | Sumimasen |
| What is your name? | お名前はなんですか? | O-namae wa nan desu ka? |
| How are you? | お元気ですか？ | O-genki desu ka? |
| My name is… | …です | …desu |
| I like | 好きです | Suki desu |
| Where are you from? | 出身はどこですか？ | Shusshin wa doko desu ka? |
| Please | ください | Kudasai |
| Understand | わかります | Wakarimasu |
| Nice to meet you | 初めまして | Hajimemashite |
| What is the price? | いくらですか | Ikura desu ka? |
| Thank you | ありがとうございます | Arigato: gozaimasu |
| What did you say? | なんて言いましたか | Nan te iimashita ka? |
| What's happened? | どうした？ | Do:shita? |
| What does it mean? | これはどういう意味ですか | Kore wa dōiu imi desu ka |
| I'm lost | 迷ってしまいました | Mayotte shimai mashita |
| I'm looking for Mr. Yamada | 山田さんを探しています | Yamada-san o sagashite imasu |
| I don't understand | わかりません | Wakarimasen |
Cafes and shops
How much does it cost? Kore wa o-ikura des ka? Can I pay with a credit card? Kureditto ka:do de haratte mo ii des ka? When will the dry cleaning be ready? Kuri:ningu wa itsu dekimasu ka? Is this watch made in Japan? Sono tokei wa nihonsei desu ka? Two coffees, please Ko:hi:futatsu o-negai shimasu No. I'm already full. Thanks for the treat Iie. Mo: ippai desu. Gochiso: sama deshita Is this cake delicious? No. Not very tasty Sono ke:ki wa oishii desu ka? Eee. amari oishiku nai desu Oh, how delicious it was! Aah, oisikatta!Negation and past tense
We will study the past tense and negation using the following schemes.
First, let's deal with the connection I want たtaいi.
From the present tense form たtaいi, it becomes たtaかっkatたta in the past tense.
For example:
友tomo達dachiにni会aいiたtaいiでdeすsu。– I want to meet my friends.
友tomo達dachiにni会aいiたtaかっkatたtaでdeすsu。– I wanted to meet my friends.
To express the desire of third parties, another form of the desirable mood たtaがgaるru is used:
He wants to give you a gift.
He wanted to give you a gift.
In the present tense we deny with たtaくkuなnaいi, and in the past we change the connective to たtaくkuなnaかっkatたta.
“I don’t want to go to that restaurant.”
- I didn’t want to go to that restaurant.
We don't want to do anything today.
“We didn’t want to do anything yesterday.
友tomo達dachiにni 会aいiたtaかっkatたta でdeすsu。でdeもmo、 あaのno レreスsuトtoラraンn へe行iきki たtaくkuなnaかっkatたta でdeすsu。– I wanted to meet my friends. But I didn't want to go to that restaurant.
Now let's look at our second pairing 欲hoしshiいi. Everything is simple here too:
From the present tense form 欲hoしshiいi, it becomes 欲hoしshiかっkatたta in the past tense.
I want a new phone.
I wanted a new phone.
In the present tense we deny with 欲hoしshiくkuなnaいi, and in the past we change the connective to 欲hoしshiくkuなnaかっkatたta.
新ataraしshiいiセseーeタtaーa がga 欲hoしshiいi でdeすsuがga、あaのno青aoいi セseーeタtaーa はwa 欲hoしshiくkuなnaいi でdeすsu。– I want a new sweater, but I don’t want that blue sweater.
新ataraしshiいiセseーeタtaーa がga 欲hoしshiかっkatたta でdeすsuがga、あaのno青aoいi セseーeタtaーa はwa 欲hoしshiくkuなnaかっkatたta でdeすsu。– I wanted a new sweater, but I didn’t want that blue sweater.
