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The Japanese language makes use of a system of honorific speech, called keishō (敬称), which includes honorific suffixes and prefixes when talking to, or referring to others in a conversation. Suffixes are often gender-specific at the end of names, while prefixes are attached to the beginning of many nouns.
The plain formal and informal styles of verbs are nearly identical, with a few grammatical differences, such as the verb de aru being used as a formal copula, and the preferential usage of verb stems to connect clauses instead of the "te form". Formal language in Japanese also uses different vocabulary and structures from informal language.
Japanese pronouns (代名詞, daimeishi) are words in the Japanese language used to address or refer to present people or things, where present means people or things that can be pointed at. The position of things (far away, nearby) and their role in the current interaction (goods, addresser, addressee , bystander) are features of the meaning ...
In Japanese culture, social hierarchy plays a significant role in the way someone speaks to the various people they interact with on a day-to-day basis. [5] Choice on level of speech, politeness, body language and appropriate content is assessed on a situational basis, [6] and intentional misuse of these social cues can be offensive to the listener in conversation.
This etymology first appears in the (c. 1548) Unbo Irohashū (運歩色葉集) dictionary, which glosses baka 馬鹿 as meaning "point at a deer and say horse" (指鹿曰馬). [6] Namely, the Chinese idiom zhǐlù-wéimǎ ( 指鹿為馬 ; lit. "point at a deer and call it a horse", Japanese 鹿を指して馬となす Shika o Sashite Uma to ...
Gairaigo are Japanese words originating from, or based on, foreign-language, generally Western, terms.These include wasei-eigo (Japanese pseudo-anglicisms).Many of these loanwords derive from Portuguese, due to Portugal's early role in Japanese-Western interaction; Dutch, due to the Netherlands' relationship with Japan amidst the isolationist policy of sakoku during the Edo period; and from ...
Japanese Original word Japanese Meaning bukatsu: 部活: bukatsudō: 部活動: after-school club (extracurricular) activity shāshin: シャー芯: shāpupen no shin: シャープペンシルの芯 (in colloquial language) lead of a mechanical pencil keitai: 携帯: keitaidenwa: 携帯電話: Mobile phone
In addition to native words and placenames, kanji are used to write Japanese family names and most Japanese given names. Centuries ago, hiragana and katakana, the two kana syllabaries, derived their shapes from particular kanji pronounced in the same way. However, unlike kanji, kana have no meaning, and are used only to represent sounds.