#it's the non-phonetic spelling and different sentence structure for me | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

japaneselanguage11 · 5 months ago

Text

Mastering Japanese Language Learning: Tips and Tricks | Japaneselanguagedelhi

Embarking on the journey of Japanese Language Learning can be an exhilarating adventure filled with opportunities to explore a new culture, connect with people, and expand your horizons. Whether you are a complete beginner or looking to refine your skills, mastering Japanese requires dedication, strategy, and the right resources. This guide provides essential tips and tricks to help you navigate the complexities of Japanese and achieve fluency.

Understanding the Fundamentals of Japanese Language Learning

The Japanese Writing System

One of the first steps in Japanese Language Learning is familiarizing yourself with the unique writing system. Japanese uses three scripts: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji.

Hiragana is a syllabary consisting of 46 basic characters used for native Japanese words and grammatical functions. It is foundational in Japanese Language Learning and helps in reading and writing simple texts. Each character represents a specific sound, making it easier to pronounce and spell words.

Katakana, another syllabary with 46 characters, is used mainly for foreign words, names, and technical terms. Learning Katakana is crucial for reading and writing non-Japanese terms, which is a significant aspect of Japanese Language Learning.

Kanji are logographic characters borrowed from Chinese. They represent words or concepts and are more complex than Hiragana and Katakana. There are thousands of Kanji characters, but mastering a core set of a few hundred will greatly enhance your reading and comprehension skills.

Pronunciation and Phonetics

Japanese pronunciation is relatively straightforward compared to many other languages. Each syllable is pronounced clearly, with no complex stress patterns. For effective Japanese Language Learning, focus on mastering the basic sounds of the language. This will help you develop correct pronunciation and improve your listening skills.

Building a Robust Vocabulary

Start with Essential Phrases

When starting with Japanese Language Learning, it’s important to learn useful phrases that will be applicable in everyday conversations. Here are some essential phrases to get you started:

こんにちは (Konnichiwa) - Hello

ありがとう (Arigatou) - Thank you

すみません (Sumimasen) - Excuse me / I’m sorry

おはようございます (Ohayou gozaimasu) - Good morning

こんばんは (Konbanwa) - Good evening

Mastering these phrases will provide a solid foundation for basic interactions and help you build confidence in using Japanese.

Expand Your Vocabulary Strategically

Building a strong vocabulary is crucial for effective communication. Use flashcards, vocabulary lists, and apps like Anki, Memrise, and Quizlet to enhance your word bank. Language learning apps such as Duolingo and Rosetta Stone offer structured lessons and exercises that cater to different proficiency levels.

Learn Words in Context

Instead of memorizing vocabulary in isolation, try to learn words and phrases in context. Reading simple texts, listening to Japanese media, and engaging in conversation will help you understand how words are used naturally. This approach aids in better retention and practical application of the language.

Mastering Japanese Grammar

Japanese grammar can be quite different from English, but understanding the basics is essential for effective Japanese Language Learning. Here are some key aspects to focus on:

Sentence Structure

Japanese follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) sentence structure, which is different from the Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) structure common in English. For example:

私は寿司を食べます (Watashi wa sushi o tabemasu) - I eat sushi.

In this sentence:

私は (Watashi wa) - I (subject)

寿司を (sushi o) - sushi (object)

食べます (tabemasu) - eat (verb)

Understanding this structure is crucial for forming grammatically correct sentences in Japanese.

Particles

Particles are small but essential components in Japanese grammar. They indicate the grammatical role of words in a sentence. Some common particles include:

は (wa): Topic marker

を (o): Object marker

に (ni): Direction or location marker

で (de): Means or location marker

For example:

私は学校に行きます (Watashi wa gakkou ni ikimasu) - I go to school.

本で勉強します (Hon de benkyou shimasu) - I study with a book.

Understanding and correctly using these particles is vital for effective Japanese Language Learning.

Verb Conjugation

Japanese verbs are conjugated based on tense, politeness level, and mood. Here are some common verb forms:

Present Positive: 食べます (tabemasu) - eat

Present Negative: 食べません (tabemasen) - do not eat

Past Positive: 食べました (tabemashita) - ate

Past Negative: 食べませんでした (tabemasen deshita) - did not eat

Mastering verb conjugation will help you express actions and states in various tenses and manners, a crucial aspect of Japanese Language Learning.

Effective Listening and Speaking Practice

To achieve fluency in Japanese, consistent practice in speaking and listening is essential. Here are some tips for improving these skills:

Immerse Yourself in Japanese Media

Immerse yourself in Japanese by engaging with media such as anime, dramas, movies, and music. Watching Japanese TV shows, listening to Japanese podcasts, and reading Japanese books will help you become accustomed to the natural flow and rhythm of the language.

Participate in Language Exchange

Language exchange programs or finding a language partner can provide valuable practice. Engaging in conversations with native speakers helps improve your speaking and listening skills and provides real-life experience in using the language. Platforms like Tandem, HelloTalk, and local language exchange events are excellent for finding practice partners.

Join Japanese Language Classes

Enrolling in Japanese language classes can offer structured learning and personalized feedback. Many language schools and universities offer courses for beginners, intermediate, and advanced learners. Classes provide a comprehensive approach to learning and help you progress systematically in your Japanese Language Learning journey.

Leveraging Resources for Advanced Learning

To continue progressing in Japanese Language Learning, utilize various resources and tools available to you:

Textbooks and Study Guides

Textbooks like “Genki” and “Minna no Nihongo” are highly recommended for beginners and intermediate learners. They offer structured lessons on grammar, vocabulary, and practice exercises. These resources are designed to build a solid foundation and gradually introduce more complex concepts.

Online Resources and Tools

Online platforms such as Tae Kim’s Guide, WaniKani, and JapanesePod101 provide valuable resources for learners at all levels. These websites offer detailed explanations, interactive exercises, and practice tools to enhance your understanding and proficiency in Japanese.

Community and Forums

Join Japanese language learning communities and forums to connect with other learners and native speakers. Engaging in discussions, sharing experiences, and seeking advice from others can provide additional support and motivation. Social media groups, Reddit communities, and local meetups are great ways to stay connected and continue learning.

Setting Goals and Staying Motivated

Setting clear goals and maintaining motivation are crucial for successful Japanese Language Learning. Here are some strategies to keep you on track:

Set Achievable Goals

Establish specific, realistic goals for your language learning journey. Whether it’s mastering Hiragana in a month or being able to hold a basic conversation, setting goals helps you stay focused and measure your progress.

Track Your Progress

Regularly review your achievements and milestones. Keeping track of your progress will boost your confidence and encourage you to keep going. Celebrate small victories and use them as motivation to continue advancing.

Stay Engaged and Motivated

Find ways to keep yourself engaged and motivated, such as setting up a study routine, rewarding yourself for reaching milestones, or participating in cultural events. Engaging with Japanese culture, such as cooking Japanese food or attending cultural festivals, can enhance your motivation and make learning more enjoyable.

Overcoming Challenges in Japanese Language Learning

Japanese Language Learning can present various challenges, but with the right strategies, you can overcome them:

Dealing with Kanji Complexity

Kanji can be intimidating due to the large number of characters and their complexity. Start by learning the most commonly used Kanji characters and gradually expand your knowledge. Use resources like WaniKani and Kanji study apps to aid in memorization and practice.

Navigating Cultural Differences

Understanding Japanese culture and customs is essential for effective communication. Engage with Japanese media, participate in cultural events, and learn about social norms to gain a deeper understanding of the language in context.

Managing Learning Time and Consistency

Consistency is key to successful Japanese Language Learning. Set aside dedicated time for study and practice, and try to incorporate the language into your daily routine. Consistent practice, even in small amounts, will lead to significant improvements over time.

Conclusion

Mastering Japanese Language Learning is a rewarding journey that offers a wealth of cultural, personal, and professional benefits. By understanding the basics of the writing system, building a strong vocabulary, mastering grammar, and engaging in consistent practice, you can achieve fluency and connect with a new world of opportunities.

Utilize a variety of resources, set clear goals, and stay motivated throughout your learning process. Embrace the challenges, celebrate your progress, and enjoy the journey of discovering the rich and fascinating world of Japanese.

#japanese #learnlanguages #language

0 notes

bestworstcase · 4 years ago

Note

I dont know if this has been asked before, but what was your process when developing the seporian language? What tips/advice would you give other beginner writers who want to develop their own language and make it realistic/believable?

i have talked about this before actually! here’s one post and here’s another

my biggest tip is Use VulgarLang because it is a phenomenal tool for designing a conlang. my approach to developing saporian was to figure out some phonemes that i thought made some sense based on the saporian words that are canon (zarotho/zarothay) and then plug those into vulgarlang and start fiddling with phonological and spelling rules until it started spitting out results that looked “right” to me.

my second biggest tip is to do some cursory research on some other languages, including your native language and any other languages you’re fluent in. the best way to grok what the building blocks of a language are is to study real examples. what are the phonemes of, say, german? or korean? or welsh? how are those phonemes represented through script (ie how are they spelled)? what phonological changes are present? what’s the grammar and how does it fit together?

other tips:

pick one or two complex grammatical and phonological rules and implement those while keeping everything else simple. for example, saporian has a form of vowel harmony (look that up! it’s very interesting!) and has contrastive stress (when two words are identical but stressed differently and mean different things: like ADDress (noun) vs addRESS (verb) in english). but the spelling is completely phonetic.

decide on a few exception cases for your rules. for example in saporian, loanwords use saporian phonetic spelling but ignore the vowel harmony rule: zarothay breaks vowel harmony (a and o are broad vowels while ae/ay is slender so should not be allowed in the same word)… but bananas aren’t native to saporia so this is a loanword from another language that ignores that rule. or as another example the broad “a” is treated as a sort of wildcard vowel in the charcāthēn dialect in that it is broad or slender depending on the other vowels in a word.

having exceptions makes a language feel more real! there isn’t a single natural language in existence that doesn’t have some irregularities or inconsistencies, so if you want a naturalistic conlang make sure to give it a little weirdness!

think about grammar and how phrases are structured. in saporian word order is verb-subject-object [took he his hat] and prepositions are affixes that are attached to the word in a sentence the speaker most wants to emphasize, meaning that literal, direct translations would look like this:

he put the cat on the table -> put he-[on] the cat the table

he put the cat on the table -> put he the cat-[on] the table

he put the cat on the table -> put he the cat the table-[on]

so where emphasis in english is encoded by putting extra stress on the important part of the sentence, in saporian its encoded by attaching the preposition there; this is a very different way of encoding this kind of meaning but i think this flexiblity suits saporian even though it sounds very awkward in english, because saporian overall has a…spongier, more impressionistic approach to describing things.

which brings me to my next tip; steal things from real languages! i’m fascinated by the concept of kennings in old norse and old english poetry so i borrowed that kind of poetic construction and incorporated it into saporian in how descriptive phrases or words are utilized in the language: kenning-esque epithets for the ternary gods are common, like cresilinar (flower-maker) for zhan tiri, and there are words that are similarly oblique terms for mundane objects as well.

consider what culturally significant things might have an impact on the vocabulary. saporians worship zhan tiri and have at least a dozen different words for “tree.” consider also what words they might have that aren’t translatable: choimghē is a saporian word whose approximate meaning is “cusp” or “threshold” but it actually means like…the pursuit of balance, the yearning for the sublime and love for the profane, the primal need to dissolve the intrinsic tension between the magical and the mundane. or to use another pair of (much less developed) bitter snow conlangs: the vodnikian language of hvassish has the word qasz which is typical translated as “depth” but is actually an emotion: the feeling of black water and crushing pressure, sort of awe and dread and loneliness and intrigue all rolled into one. and lorbish has lörchkrawünschen, whose closest translation is something like “give-and-take” and is related to the lorbish understanding of “ownership” which is that nothing is truly owned; you just have something until it is taken away from you either by someone else or by natural circumstances beyond your control or because you no longer want or need it and choose to let it go.

coming up with these sorts of words is fun and a good worldbuilding exercise because it forces you to think outside the box: what kind of phenomena or feelings or perspectives might this culture value that your own does not, and how might they give a name to that? how would this word be translated? how would a speaker of this language struggle to convey this concept in a language that has no word for it? go nuts.

lastly: figure out the things that drive non-native speakers crazy when they’re trying to learn. are there like a million noun cases? is it an agglutinative language? does it have rare phonemes that are difficult for non-native speakers to articulate? (saporian has z,ź,zh and s,ś,sh all of which are very similar sounds that can be hard for non-native speakers to distinguish—and gender meaning is encoded in z/ź/ś/zh so the stakes are pretty high if you fuck up and accidentally imply someone is an “it” by using zh when you meant ź or ś). this is fun for flavor, especially if you have a character who is trying to learn a language that is very different from their native tongue. and it is also pretty good for creating a sense of naturalism: even very superficially similar languages can have differences that might trip a non-native speaker up, and then you can get languages that are geographically close but developed in very different ways like say, irish vs english.

10 notes · View notes

probably-voldemort · 6 years ago

Note

Would you mind telling us a bit about studying linguistics? Like what do you like most/least about it? What do kind of classes do you have? What jobs can you have after? I‘m just totally clueless about what to do after finishing school this year and trying to figure out what i could like... I‘m sorry to bother you, feel free to ignore if you don‘t know how to/ want to answer or take your time answering 🙈

Yeah for sure!

(below the line cause this got kinda long lol)

So at my uni you can get either a diploma in applied linguistics, a bachelor of arts in linguistics, or a bachelor of science in linguistics. The courses you’d take for each different path are different, and I can only really speak for the bachelor of science, since that’s the one I’m doing.

So I needed basic first year science courses (a couple of bio, physics, math, maybe others I’m not 100% sure and I was a science major first year so like I definitely ended up with some sciency courses I don’t actually need for the degree) and then after that it’s basically a lot of linguistics and psychology courses.

From your ask, I’m guessing you’re graduating high school? Sorry if that ends up not being accurate but that’s what I’m going with for this answer.

So if you think you could be interested in linguistics, I would definitely recommend taking a first year linguistics course as an elective before completely setting yourself up on the path. First year is pretty basic stuff and pretty general (you learn about sentence structures and what the phonetic alphabet is and how to use it and all the other basics you’d need to know for future courses). While I personally thought it was super interesting and ended up switching my major to it, there were definitely people in my class who were not into it at all and thought it was dumb. So like basically what I’m saying is make sure you’re actually into the topic before setting yourself up to get a degree in it.

After that, classes on straight up linguistics are either in phonetics, phonology, morphology, or syntax. Phonetics and phonology are speech sounds and how they work like physically and within a language and between languages and all that fun stuff. Morphology is how words work and you learn about like affixes and compounding and that kind of thing. Syntax is like sentence structure and that kind of thing and is the bane of my existence because it’s generally really prescriptive and that’s not my thing.

So you take a bunch of classes like that, and generally they’re pretty cool. You can also take classes in like second language acquisition and child language acquisition and sociolinguistics (how language works pertaining to society) and pretty much any other area you can possibly think of.

Some linguistics degrees also make you take a second language to a certain level. The applied and BA make you do that here but the BSc doesn’t. I don’t know why. I’ve taken a lot of ASL courses, though, and some Italian because like I like languages and think they’re cool. As you can probably tell by the fact that I’m majoring in linguistics.

Also, linguistics is more focused on how languages work than actually learning languages yourself (first question you get asked every single time you say you’re a ling major: how many languages do you speak? like…no). Like you can definitely take a lot of languages if you want to and that’ll just help you with being a linguist generally but like I have profs who only speak English and they’re still highly respected in the field.

And then for my degree there’s also a lot of psych courses. As someone not super into psych, that’s tough, but like it is what it is and there are definitely psych courses I do enjoy and like learning the psychology behind speech and everything is important so like I’ll make it.

My least favourite thing about studying linguistics is the amount of research courses you have to do, at least at my uni. I can 100% say that I do not want to go into research. I have never wanted to go into research. And yet every semester I have at least one course focused on either ling or psych research. It’s rough. But there are definitely a ton of research opportunities in linguistics since it’s still a relatively recent branch of science so like if you’re into research and enjoy linguistics this is definitely somewhere you can do that.

I also really don’t like syntax classes, as I already mentioned. So in ling there’s like prescriptivism and descriptivism (both of which may be spelled wrong cause they’ve got a red underline here and I’m too lazy to look up the proper spelling but whatevs). Prescriptivism is like there is a right way to use language and that is the only way language should be used, while descriptivism is like well no like language is made up and our rules are made up and like as long as I can understand you congrats you’re using language right (obviously this doesn’t apply to a language you don’t know but like within a language). Me (and most linguists, as far as I can tell) are a lot closer to the descriptivist end. Your grandma who gets upset when you don’t say something a certain way would be at the prescriptivist end.

Syntax from what I’ve seen is generally pretty prescriptivist, because it focuses more on writing (I think. I only took like two pretty low level syntax courses because they were required and then was like nope we’re done here so like take all this with a grain of salt) and even though writing is made up there is a general stigma around it and there being a proper way to make your sentences and everything. So yeah. But I mean if that’s your thing don’t let me talk you out of doing syntax.

My favourite area would definitely be sociolinguistics in general. It looks at how languages work with regards to society and like different accents and dialects and basically just from that you can see it’s super descriptivist. Like no dialect or accent is inherently better than another. It’s really cool. I’ve taken classes on like language evolution and variation within communities and it’s honestly just a cool time. Definitely recommend looking into that.

I also really liked my courses on child language acquisition. Kids are just super cool and we got to watch a lot of videos of babies learning to talk and it was a super fun time.

So jobs. I’m gonna link you to this list which I haven’t read through entirely but just looked up for you.

You can go into speech language pathology or audiology. SLPs work with kids who are having trouble learning to speak properly (if you got speech therapy as a kid you saw an SLP). They also work with adults who have had a stroke or a brain injury or some other aspect that’s made it so they need help with their speech. There are definitely other areas, too, but if I get into a masters program I’d want to work with kids so like I don’t really know the other areas. Oh yeah, this is an area I’m thinking of going into.

Audiologists work on the hearing end of things. If you need a hearing aid or a cochlear implant or anything like that, this is where you’d go. I don’t know too much about audiology, but what I’ve heard is pretty cool.

Other areas: teaching your native language as a second language (I’ve got a friend who’s family is from Korea and her plan is to move there after and teach English classes), alternative and augmentative communications (ie working to develop software or non-electronic things for people to use when they can’t use speech), AI developers (if you want your robot to talk, better hire a linguist to help you out), interpreters and translators, you can work in like movies or tv helping coach people on their accents if that’s your thing (personally I think this is super cool but like I have no idea how to get into it), or developing fake languages (like in Lord of the Rings or Arrival. You need to understand how languages work in order for your made up one to be believable), you can work in publishing, and, like I already mentioned, there are a lot of research opportunities if research is your thing.

There’s a lot of types of jobs with a linguistic degree. A lot of them also require a masters, though, so like you might be in for a lot of schooling there.

Personally, I’ve been thinking of applying for the SLP masters programs. Not 100% set on that as a career. I also think working in publishing would be cool (especially as someone who is also a writer lol) and like I said being an accent coach for tv and movies would be super cool but I have zero idea how you’d go about doing that.

Yeah! Definitely hit me up again if you want more info. Hopefully this was helpful, and I wish you the best of luck in figuring out what you want to do!!

#linguistics

114 notes · View notes

jibunstudies · 6 years ago

Photo

A GUIDE TO JAPANESE PITCH ACCENT

Japanese pitch accent is something so rarely taught in Japanese language classrooms -- or textbooks for that matter -- that learners from beginner to advanced levels have no idea what it is. Pitch accent is called 高低（こうてい）アクセント in Japanese, and it refers to the high and low pitches placed on Japanese words in order to help distinguish them from other, similar-sounding words.

For example, let’s look at 橋端 and 箸. All 3 of these kanji are read “はし,” but the difference is that the first はし means bridge, the second means edge, and the third means chopsticks. But how are you supposed to differentiate these words outside of context or reading their kanji?

Pitch accent.

There are a lot of Japanese natives that don’t even understand what 高低アクセント is, but it’s what makes or breaks native- versus foreign-sounding speech. While in context a native will understand that the かえる you mean is 帰る (to return) and not 蛙 (frog), one is pronounced differently, and using 蛙’s pitch accent where 帰る’s would be used is something a native will notice.

DISCLAIMER: This is not a full lesson on pitch accent, but merely an introduction and overview. At the end I’ve listed additional resources to further Japanese pitch accent study, but it’s something that takes time and effort. A single Tumblr guide will not teach you Japanese pitch accent.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction & FAQ 2. Essential Vocabulary 3. Indicating Pitch Accent 4. Golden Rules 5. Examples 6. Additional Resources 7. Conclusion

1. INTRODUCTION & FAQ

WHAT IS PITCH ACCENT? Pitch accent is a similar concept to English stress, but it’s executed differently and sounds different as well. If you’ve ever noticed that Japanese has a slight “wave-like” sound to it, it’s because of pitch accent. Without any study, non-Japanese natives have a tendency to transfer their own accent structure onto Japanese. This leads to the foreign pronunciation of Japanese.

SO WHAT IS PITCH? Pitch is characterized by how high or low you make your voice. In contrast, English stress is characterized by pitch, loudness, and vowel length.

WHAT DOES IT DO? It’ll help you distinguish homophones, and it’ll make it easier for Japanese people to understand you! A homophone is a word that looks the same as another word -- generally because of spelling -- but is pronounced differently. In English, these words look like perMIT and PERmit, GREENhouse and green HOUSE, and so on.

WHY IS IT NECESSARY TO LEARN? I would say that nearly all Japanese learners -- whether self studying or taking formal lessons -- don’t learn about pitch accent until it’s too late, and by then they’ve learned bad pronunciation habits that are hard to break. Learning correct pitch accent will improve your pronunciation and improve your listening. You’ll no longer have to rely solely on context to understand a word, and neither will the person you’re talking to!

BUT WON’T JAPANESE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND ME ANYWAY? Well...yes. But your Japanese will sound foreign, and it’ll be slightly harder for them to understand than if you pronounced words correctly. This is particularly true in the case of homophones. Also, improper pitch (or excessive stressing) can change the tone of your Japanese.

DO I HAVE TO RELEARN EVERY WORD I KNOW? No! Once you pick up the Golden Rules of Pitch Accent and become familiar with these rules, it’ll become easier. Also, I recommend both actively studying Pitch Accent and passively picking up pronunciation. There’s no better way to study than to shadow native speakers, so do that along with your studies!

2. ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY

Learning pitch accent means learning some vocabulary you may not have been privy to before. In order to understand all of the lingo needed to master pitch accent, here are a few handy words to remember!

mora (pl. morae)

one Japanese kana equals one mora 1　ぬ 2　おん 3　たべた 4　コーヒー　(ー is a mora) 5　おそわった　(っ is a mora, too) 6　エクササイズ

small kana (ぁぃぅぇぉ and っ) don’t count 1　きゃ 2　ショー 3　みょうじ

accent nucleus

this is the most important mora in a word

it has the highest pitch, and the pitch of the next mora drops

3. INDICATING PITCH ACCENT

This is done in a variety of ways depending on the resource, and some are more confusing than others. I prefer to use arrows (↑↓) or low/high markers (LH).

In this particular guide, I’ll use the 3 letter symbol: L (low), h (medium-high), and H (high). The H will mark the accent nucleus of a word.

Other systems include placing emphasis on the letter or the kana (みる), using the “pitch accent number” system (PA 0, PA 1, PA -3, etc), and numbers to mark the accent nucleus. There are a variety of ways, but it isn’t necessary to know them all. Simply understand that they’re marking the accent nucleus, and it’s important to know where that is in a word because...

4. GOLDEN RULES

There are a few golden rules in regard to pitch accent that’ll help you both determine pitch accent of words in the future and understand what pitch accent is doing in words you already know.

1. The accent nucleus has the highest pitch in a word.

2. The 1st and 2nd morae of a word always have different pitch.

This means that the beginning of a word only has 3 options:

Lh (low to medium-high)

LH (low to high)

HL (high to low)

There are no Hh or hH patterns in the beginning of words.

3. A word can have a maximum of one accent nucleus.

This means that once the pitch drops it cannot rise again in the same word!

So a word like かんがえつく(to think of; to come up with) looks like this: L h h h H L, and it will never look like L h h H L h or L H L H L H.

So once you’ve hit the accent nucleus, it’s only downhill from there! This is particularly key to remember with 頭高 (HL) and 中高 (LHL) words, which will have rises and falls in their sounds that 平板 (LH) words will not have.

5. EXAMPLES

These are examples of words that different only in pitch.

はし chopsticks: 箸　HL（頭高） bridge: 橋　LH（尾高） edge: 端　LH（平板）

いま now: 今　HL（頭高） living room: 居間　LH（尾高）

かき oyster: 牡蠣　HL（頭高） fence: 垣　LH（尾高） persimmon: 柿　LH（平板）

さけ salmon: 鮭　HL（頭高） alcohol: 酒　LH（平板）

にほん two sticks: 二本　HLL（頭高） japan: 日本　LHL（中高）

Keep in mind that while I provided examples for nouns, verbs are also subject to pitch accent and don’t all exist within the same pitch accent realm. It’s common for them to follow a 平板 pattern, but some irregularities occur.

6. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Dogen’s Japanese Phonetics Course Arguably the best Japanese pitch accent guide on the Internet, Dogen is fantastic in his explanations and totally thorough. He covers a variety of pitch accents as well as talks about how they change in sentences, when verbs are conjugated, and more. It costs $10 to subscribe to his Patreon for access to the video series, but it’s completely worth it.

Japanese Pitch Accent Memrise Course If you can’t afford Dogen’s course, this is a great secondary option! It’s a full Memrise course that helps you learn to identify pitch accent and comes with introductory slides as well as quizzes.

Shigeto Kawahara’s “The Phonology of Japanese accent” It’s long and incredibly detailed, but for those of you that would prefer a much longer and more in-depth guide, I’d recommend this paper. It’s basically Dogen’s video series, but in paper format.

Online Japanese Accent Dictionary A massive database of Japanese words and their pitch accents. The vocabulary is also broken up by the most commonly used textbooks.

7. CONCLUSION

Pitch accent is not impossible, and it’s worth learning. Learning pitch accent is no different than mastering tones in Chinese. They’re necessary for proper pronunciation, and they’ll make your Japanese sound more native.

Remember that pitch accent changes throughout Japanese, and because of this it’s impossible to master through singular study alone. Your best bet is to consume as much Japanese as possible through television, music, podcasts, YouTube... it’s endless. Hearing spoken Japanese will help you fix your accent and sound more native!

I hope this was helpful for those of you that were particularly confused about pitch accent and didn’t know where to start or how to learn it. It’s a little daunting, especially because it’s never formally taught, but it’s worth learning and will dramatically improve your Japanese.

頑張ってください！

As always, if you have any questions/concerns or feel that you'd like more information about this topic, feel free to send me a message and I'll answer it as soon and thoroughly as possible!

#mine #japanese #japanese language #languages #language learning #learning languages #日本語 #高低アクセント #pitch accent #japanese pitch accent #japanese langblr #langblr

781 notes · View notes

bironism · 5 years ago

Text

Continuing my translation log with Byatt’s Possession, specifically one of Ash’s letters. {intro: the book follows two literary researchers’ discovery of correspondence between two 19th century poets, Ash and LeMott, modelled after the correspondence between Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett}

{1} diction

The letters emulate the Victorian style of Browning, so obviously, does one emulate target language’s 19th century variety? I chose not to.

First, I just really don’t know the principles of 19th century Czech well enough and one afternoon spent reading about it could hardly aim for authenticity. Second, I’m not sure the two are really analogous -- Victorian English is structure-wise much closer to its contemporary variety than 19th century Czech is to the current language -- the differences are more varied: morphology, syntax, fsp -- so I honestly feel it would alienate the reader -- while the whole point of the letters is to showcase their author as profoundly human.

So I translated into contemporary Czech with a more bookish diction than I’d normally use. Although I honestly think the best solution would’ve been an early/mid-20th century variety. (I was pressed for time, not to mention the whole archaisation business is tricky with me being non-native etc.)

{2} capitalisation

Lyrical Verse and Impulse and all that. I thought it an emphasis tool and so I mostly kept it, compensating for the times I didn’t by capitalising You (as is the local convention).

{3} oh strike me with a glancing shaft

“... always certain that I cannot appreciate your next striking thought or glancing shaft of wit.”

This evokes quite an image, you can almost see the two minds dancing around each other like two fencers – I kept it as best I could – “vždy jist, že nedokážu docenit Vaši další údernou myšlenku nebo letmý výpad důvtipu.”

{4} of hounds and firedogs

“But poets don’t want homes – do they? – they are not creatures of hearths and firedogs but heaths and raging hounds.”

Two corresponding couples here: “hearths”/”heaths” and “firedogs”/”hounds”. And I’ll be honest, I’m straight up dissatisfied with how I handled these. I tried to keep to both the associative opposition and an alliteration at least (since I could not find a word so close phonetically, or close via the words’ root), and ended up with a weaker, diluted version of the original image’s unwavering strength. “Poets aren’t made for sitting by the hearth with firedogs but for roaming the heath with hounds.” Weak. Like using the same teabag twice.

{5} the general(ized) and the particular

“You know, all poetry may be a cry of generalized love, for this, or that, or the universe – which must be loved in its particularity, not its generality, but for its universal life in every minute particular.”

I’m not dissatisfied per se, though my prof was right to remark that the word I chose for particular (“konkrétní”) could be jarring and a less modern and technical one is probably the better solution (“jednotlivost”).

Later, there’s the abstract versus the particular in Ash’s description of other poets’ love in practice:

“.... this state of being in love, which they regard as most particular, as inspired by item, one pair of black eyes or indifferent blue, item, one graceful attitude of body or mind, item, one female history of some twenty-two years (…) – I have always believed this being in love something of the most abstract masking itself under the particular forms of both lover and beloved. And Poet, who assumes and informs both.”

So yeah, I used the same word for particular as above and since there’s no other way for expressing the abstract than “abstraktno” I kept to that. No choice so far. What’s more interesting is the various ways people translate the “item”s – repeated this way, it’s an enumeration, but no matter what I did, it came off as rather unnatural. So I emphasised the ‘oneness’ of the items that followed and simply named them.

As for “particular forms”, perhaps I could’ve avoided the clumsiness of my particular’s, as above, yeah, still, I’m def not dissatisfied with my “forms”. I was forced to gender both lover and beloved – eh – and for a brief second I thought about translating these as just “lovers” – but hey, I can’t let personal hangups prevent me from accuracy.

The Poet part is funny. I translated that as “the Poet, who imagines and creates both”. And I don’t think I’m off the mark there, though I did interprete more than necessary.

{6} impaling my own head

“You see the fork I have impaled myself on…”

Attemps at Vlad the Impaler imagery are going out on a leg, I guess, and my prof didn’t like this one, either. The rest of the paragraph I got right – only I impaled myself on grammar’s fork in one detail.

{7} partial and partial

“something restless and myriad-minded and partial and observing and analytic and curious” (Ash describing the ‘source’ of his writing’s conception)

On second thoughts I see the partial, following the “myriad-minded”, as “divided into parts”. I didn’t on my first reading and his being “observing” right after “partial” swayed me to view it as “non-objective” and translate it as what could mean either “non-objective” or “interested”.

{8} Balzac and English female gentility

Can I admit I did not entirely get the sentence? Because I do. Admit. To that. I got the individual words. And the phrases. And like, what he’s on about. I just didn’t get why, and why he’s saying it in this manner. The Frenchwoman bit was plain confusing, I first thought he’s suggesting it’s Balzac who’s the Frenchwoman, or maybe I was getting tired, I don’t know. Either way, the weakest part of my text.

{9} Par-Is

“The city of Is, the reverse of Par-Is…”

The trouble here was TL’s slightly different spelling of Paris, so I went for a little bit of explication here: “Město Ys, protějšek Paříže neboli Par-Yse” Some people in my class went for just the “counterpart of Paris” or just Par-Is, but like idk.

{10} feeling one’s way into a glove

“I shall feel my way into your thought – like a hand into a glove –”

Why ruin a good image? So I kept it –

(P.S.) though I’m not half as fond of Ash as the novel’s researchers are – he’s a bit of an asshat – I mean, the whole letter goes like: let me express how I may not be enough to keep your attention, let me tell you what love should be, let me tell you how poets do it wrong, haha now that’s self-sabotage so hello, I’m different from other boys wink wink, I’ll get into your head I’m getting there already wink wink wink please write back. Pathetic little twit. Sorry.

#texts d'outre-tombe

1 note · View note

xlel-soen · 4 years ago

Text

LITAJA: THE LANGUAGE OF THE XLEL & lYKOSHA

The word "Litaja" means "tongue;" as in English tongue, and is the native language of a race of people who called themselves "xlel" (which means people, as in "human race"). The language has one particular characteristic, which is that every word-ending will tell you what kind of word it is.

An animal word (horse, bird, fish, etc.) ends in "l", a word having to do with numbers, including words like "unity," ends in "h." All verbs end in "k," all adjectives end in "nem" or "m," and all adverbs end in either "teo" or "o".

Also: except for specific words which refer to a person of the masculine gender, or a person of the feminine gender, all Litaja nouns are nongender-specific. There is no such thing as a guardsman, or guardswoman: both are wahtar which means "guard." Even the word teymar, which means "sir" or "madam," actually means "respected one," and refers to either a man or woman, adult or child

The language can be used by anyone who wishes to speak it; it requires no special knowledge or body-parts, nor is t especially difficult to write, using English phonemes, or read. There is a fairly large dictionary/thesaurus.

I will write everything out in English phonemes, giving you a part of that dictionary, with verb conjugation and simple sentence structure. I am not really a teacher; I will only do my best.

The actual writing is runic (like Nordic or Celtic languages are; there are 44 symbols (called jerunas [jeh-rooh-nahs] or pho- nemes/"letters") in Litaja, (which are phonetic, meaning that each symbol has its own sound. Further information (for those who are seriously masochistic) provided upon request.

Sepcial words: Because Litaja was originally the language of an alien race, there are words which have no true significance to people of Earth. For example: the xlel use psionic power as people of Earth use prayer or magic spells, to effect change (to heal, to divine the truth, etc.).

In addition, their word for "god" is a bit different. The word "sha" actually refers to the totality of all spirits, all power, etc., and this "god" does not interfer in the affairs of people. The Xlel believe that, instead, "god" saw to it that people had the intelligence and power to make things happen, if they were willing to pay a price for it.

So those things which are associated with sacred and holy concepts are those where the person connected with them is specially in tune with his or her inner self (that part of himself that "touches" Sha especially well). Power is every- where, and it only requires talent and training to make it work.

Therefore, How Litaja should sound: There are very few hard consonants in this language (k, ch, t, g), but otherwise, you can almost chant their speech, much like the old Norse tongues or even Welsh (especially with its nearly impossible pronunciations at times).

Pronunciation: Unless a different syllable is underlined, the accent goes on the second-to-last syllable (use a as in "cap"/ah as in "father"/ay as in "race"/eh as in "set"/ee as "see"/er as in "father"/ih as in "it"/ai as in "ice"/o as in "on"/oh as in "no"/ooh as in "move"/oo as in "look"/oy as in "toy"/uh as in "ugly"/yoo as in "music").

What follows is a brief glossary of words, complete with pronunciation instructions:

Time (Refer to As Time Goes By)

calendar: pergeras [pehr-gehr-ahs] (lit. "the days") (water) clock: bjalla [b'jahl-lah] year: zeera [zee-rah] month: gelba [gehl-bah] week: vafa [vah-fah] day: gera [gehr-rah] hour: zelua [zeeh-loo-ah] minute: zefa [zeh-fah] "moment": zoda [zoh-dah] second: zida [zai-dah] *now: jyte [j(uh)-yih-teeh] (at this moment) Seasons & Time of Day: winter: kolothe [koh-lah-the] summer: komenthe [koh-men-the] spring: lorevale [loh-reh-vah-leh] fall: simame [sihm-ahm-meh] dawn: kwacha [kwah-chah] day: joura [jow-oorah] evening: abanda [ah-ban-dah] midnight: oulma [owl-mah or ool-mah] generation: nomrat [nohm-raht] (16 years) past, the: vithbla [vith-blah] present, the: kidarsa [kih-dahr-sah] future, the: kzuna [kuh-zoohna] Common words: (You) be (the one who's) careful: everjogher (ste) [eh-vehr-joh-gher] "Hi": huja [hoo-jah] (I'll) see you: Tey(tav) vaar(ik) (stal) [Tay(tahv) vahr(rihk) (stahl)] Hello/Greetings: Hujatins [hooh-jah-tinz] Good-bye: see "hello" Hey!: heej! [heezh] Stay!: Pazik (ste)! [pah-zihk (steh)] Yes: lan [lahn] No: tro [troh] what: eknap? [ehk-nahp] (huh?) Who?: kestap [kehs-tahp] Here (I am!): hiteo [hih-teh-oh] When?: hwango [huh-wan-goh] Do You Know?: Witak (ste)? [wih-tah (steh)] please: plahj [plahzh] thank you: levarezh/esbahik/charak (sta) [leh-vahr-ezh/ehs-bah-hihk/chahr-rahk (stah)] Excuse (me): Ugrehk (sta) (I regret) [ooh-grehk (stah)] (Your) welcome: (formal) Morak (sta) [moh-rahk (stah)] Your welcome: charak (ste) ("de nada") [chahr-rahk (steh)] To explain: Levarezh is a formal term-it means: (you've) relieved (me - of obligation, mostly). Esbahik (sta) means "(I'm) astonished" and Charak (sta) means "(I'm) delighted." Morak (sta) means: "I demure" or "Twas nothing," whereas Charak (ste) basically means says: (oh no!) it is you who has delighted me!") I, me: mintav [mihn-tahv] you(singular): antav [ahn-tahv] (idiomatic: teytav [tay-tahv]) he/she: ditav/sitav [dih-tahv/sih-tahv] it: fotav [foh-tahv] he/she (both): woditav [woh-dih-tahv] we: sertav [sehr-tahv] they: tertav [tehr-tahv] you (plural): yaltav [yawl-tahv] left-hand: xifodasta [ksai-foh-dahs-tah] (swordhand) right-hand: yexadasta [yehks-ah-das-tah] (daggerhand) Geography/Weather: cliff: ukliva [ook-lih-vah] continent: lezona [leh-zoh-nah] desert: lerana [leh-rah-nah] forest: vana [vah-nah] hill: loma [loh-mah] island: eya [eeh-yah] ice: ngla [(i)ng-lah] lake: thelassa [theh-lays-sah] lightning: (los)nazala [lohs-nah-zah-lah] cloud fire marsh: howusa [how-wooh-sah] meadowland: ngesta [(i)ngeh-stah] moor(land): shida [shai-dah] mountains: hotas [hoh-tas] planet: shofa [shoh-fah] pond: tjorna [t(uh)-zhor-nah] prairie: jludita [j(uh)-looh-dih-tah] river: rithea [rai-thee-ah] sea water: halsa [hahl-sah] star: sidra [sih-drah] sun: zona [zoh-nah] timber: wida [wai-dah] valley: hofa [hoh-fah] wind: winsa [wihn-sah] world: ylda [yil-dah] Parts of the body: arm: etara [eeh-tahr-rah] brain: ditha [dih-thah] ear: aelifna [ah-ehl-lihf-nah] eye: avaga [ay-vah-gah] back(side): baeka [bah-eeh-kah] face: gesika [gee-see-kah] fang: vanga [vang-gah] finger/digit: vinnea [vih-nee-ah] foot: busa [booh-sah] hair: ergra [ehr-grah] hand/paw: dasta [dah-stah] head: kepha [kehp-hah] mouth: arpara [ahr-pah-rah] (jaw) nose: fuma [fooh-mah] skin: ila [ai-lah] tail: ngofra [(i)ngoh-frah] tooth: danta [dahn-tah] Clothing/Toiletries: belt: balza [bahl-zah] boot: babusa [bah-booh-sah] brush: xroza [ks'roh-zah] cloak: aesa [ah-ee-sah] comb: okara [oh-kah-rah] glove: badasta [bah-dahs-tah] pants: xehra [kseh-rah] slippers: erasas [ehr-rah-sas] tabard: baxhemda [baks-hehm-dah] tunic: xhemda [kshem-dah] (Inside the) House: bed: beta [bee-tah] blanket: kensa [kehn-sah] box/chest: kampsa [kamp-sah] cup/mug: epana [eeh-pay-nah] dish: fanxa [fanks-sah] door: dara [dahr-rah] floor: llawra [luh-lahw-rah] pillow: fula [f'yoo-lah] privy: oraypa [oh-ray-pah] wall: odava [oh-day-vah] Other Things: book: lboha [l'boh-hah] paper: thipza [thihp-zah] quill: erpa [ehr-pah] (pen) ship: shabba [shahb-bah] People & trade: stranger: jefir [jeh-fihr] non-person: see stranger & also lalasa [lah-lah-sah] (someone not of the "people") dragon: kidikal [kih-dih-kahl] monster: zamil [zah-mihl] friend (but outsider): aiter [ah-ih-teer] government: walta [wahl-tah] city: erkaiha (clanhold) [ehr-kah-ai-hah] ally: akilar (of another clan) [ay-kih-lahr] village: wika [wih-kah] guest rights: zenat [zeh-naht] (hospitality) money: araiga [ahr-ai-gah] (coins) market: fora [fohr-rah] Sir/Madam: teymar (respected one; from teyma: respect) lord/lady (sir/madam): sargonr [sahr-g(o)n-ner] (As a title: Sar [Name]) Measurements: "foot": gerda [ger-dah] (14") "meter": kuvit [kooh-viht] (42") Common Phrases: How much?: Eknap loga? [ehk-nap loh-gah] (What price?) I don't understand you: Tro seynikk sta [troh see-yih-nikk stah] (It's) mine: mintay [mihn-tay] (It's) yours: antay [ahn-tay] I like that: thrik (sti) [thrihk (stih)] (It pleases me) What is your name: Eknap sti zhomek? [ehk-nap stih zhoh-mehk] Stop!: Pazik (ste)! [pah-zihk (steh)] Dammit, stop!!: Deej! [deezh!] Get out! (Go away!): Farak! [fah-rahk] Speak! (Say something): Fanak (ste) [fah-nahk (steh)] (Pay) Attention!: Kimha! [kihm-hah!] (My) god!: Sha-sa (more as in: wow) [sha-sah] 'Tis false (no way!): fakorr (ste)! [fah-koor (steh)] My apologies: Groatose ("Sorry!") [groh-ah-toh-seh] And some all-important words: nejur: psionic "priest" [neh-joor] (who has trained to use his or psychic power) kedar: priest/cleric of Sha/God [keh-dahr] (who lives to serve people with less talent) kuymal: greatwolf (dire wolf-sized) [kuh-yai-mahl] lowell: coyote/little wolf [loh-wehll] kolunel: dog/wolf (usu. "dog") [koh-looh-nehl] likosal: canine species (generic) [lih-koh-sahl] jedir: puppy/youth/child [jee-dihr] "little one" A short sample of insults: false-seer: fakorr [fah-kohr] brawler: thatchir [that-chihr] liar: italser [ih-tahl-ser] thief: lunatir [looh-nah-tihr] (one who is) garbage: tanter gef daag [tahn-ter gehf daahg] coward: isgarenem [ihs-gah-reh-nem] brainless: so-dihthar [soh dih-thahr] dandy/fop: osukar [oh-sooh-kahr] smelly: smula [smooh-lah] cheater: thanter [thahn-tahr] waster: sielwar [sih-ehl-wahr] (major insult!) dishonored one: chijer [chih-jer] unclean (one): punate(r) [pooh-nah-teh(r)] misfit: chepar [cheh-pahr] demon: degar [dee-gahr] (who causes dishonor) "cat": jypil [juh-yai-pahl] god-rejected: tanter gef sha [tahn-ter gehf shah] (It) does not please: sothrik (stih) [soh-thrihk (stih)] (I don't like that) A short sampling of weaponry: spear: lonka [lohn-kah] or shinka [shihn-kah] shortsword: kowtila [kowh-tih-lah] blade (any): yexa [yeh-ksah] axe (any): iglina [ihg-lih-nah] sword/longsword: xifosa [ksai-foh-sah] sling: klinga [klihn-gah] bow/longbow: arwa [ahr-wah] (sling)bullets: koxa [koh-ksah] arrow/dart: saijkda [saihjk-dah] net/snare: zhosri [zhos-rih] armor (any): zhumne [zhoom-neh] rope/lariat: esuga [eh-soo-gah] sickle/scythe: elba [ehl-bah] weapons (general): xhopa [ksai-hoh-pah] mind-sword: shaymora [shay-moh-rah] boomerang: zhyma [zhai-mah] fang(s): vanga(s) [van-ga(s)] claw(s): yexdasta(s) [yehks-dahs-tahs] (hand-knives) (always plural) daggarclaw: yexdasta-yexa [yehks-dah-stah-yeksah] (claw-blade) Numbers one: veh [veh] six: vifsah [vihf-sah] two: kah [kah] seven: hesah [heh-sah] three: eltuh [ehl-tuh] eight: dokah [doh-kah] four: relah [reh-lah] nine: gih [gih] five: jafah [jah-fah] ten: dakalah [dah-kah-lah] DOG COMMANDS (Verb infinitives end in "k") Lan: good (dog) [lahn] ("yes") Tro: no (bad dog) [troh] venir: come (here) [veh-nihr] (from venirik) kotak: "place" [koh-tahk] kuvik: kill, slay [kooh-vihk] usek: heel [ooh-sehk] (follow me) jakkak: fetch [jahk-kahk] (hunt) shemek: shut up! [shehm-mehk] welek: (go for a) walk [weh-lehk] ruhik: lie down [rooh-hihk] osorik: drop (it) [oh-sohr-rihk] beta: bed [bee-tah] beita: food [bee-aih-tah] (or ogesfa/oh-gees-fah) odytok: (go in) enter [ow-dyuh-tohk] pitas: bones, biscuits [pih-tas] odose: O.K.! ("good") [oh-dos-seh, from odosen, goodness] Sti kakk: Want that? [stih kahkk] trohek: "show me" (what you want) [troh-hehk] chulla(k): roll over [chooh-lah(k)] risak: stand (up) [rai-sahk] erfleha: (play) ball [ehr-flee-hah] seder: sit (down) [seh-der, from sederikk, to sit] rangeh: wrong! (uh-uh!) [ran-gheh] frappik: attack!!! [frap-pihk!] pazir: stay (steady) [pah-zihr, from pazirik, to stay still] fanak: Speak (bark)! [fah-nak] farak: (go) outside [fahr-ahk] Food/Drink: drink (generic): ada [ah-dah] food (generic): beita [bee-aih-tah] bread: arana [ayr-rah-nah] butter: erima [er-rai-mah] buttermilk: ahna [ahn-nah] carrot: asola [ay-soh-lah] egg(s): shersa(s) [sher-sa(s)] ice: ngla [(i)ng-lah] meat: ogesfa (animal flesh) [oh-gees-fah] milk: alba [ayl-bah] "cheese": ailbeita [ayl-bee-aih-tah] nut(s): zhixa(s) [zhihk-sa(s)] grain(s): erkia [ehr-kih-ah] salt: sara [sah-rah] tea: ronada [roh-nah-dah] water: thunda [thoohn-dah] Muscial instruments (etc): Wind chimes: (Ceramic) erfora [er-foh-rah] Wind chimes: (Metal) erloga [er-loh-gah] Wind chimes: (Wood) erwila [er-wai-lah] harpsicord: jabekua [jah-beeh-koo-ah] Flute: lawana [lah-wah-nah] oboe: ubeka [ooh-bee-kah] zither: jithara [jih-thahr-rah] lyre: ngerla [(i)ng-ehr-lah] harp: shumbeka [shoom-bee-kah] "cube" player: ngimba [(i)ngihm-bah] (quartz) cube: thamba [tham-bah] (See Psionics) music (all): abina [ah-bih-nah] symphony: elsura [ehl-soo-rah] singer/chanter: aedir [ah-ee-dihr] choir: kaypalla [kay-pahl-lah] musician: waitar [wah-ih-tahr] one who has good hearing: alfir [ahl-fihr] silver-tongued: aular [ay-yoo-lahr] Cycles/Sexual Terms Please note: As do wolves, the Xlel experience a sprimg breeding cycle. The turning of the seasons is an important part of these peoples' life, as it would be with any race. And yet: no sexually explicit word will ever be used as an insult, except perhaps the immortal phrase uttered in a defunct television show about another alien race ("Your mother mates out of season"). And, since such things are important among the Xlel, some "sexual" words (etc.) follow below: desire/lust: lubyata [loob-yah-tah] spring cycle: reoke [reh-oh-keh] breeder: ruasir [roo-ah-sir] (from ruasek: to breed: male or female) Nongendered nonbreeder: soruas(nem or nir) [soh-roo-ahs-(nehm/nihr)] "Hermaphroditic" nonbreeder (gender): ilasar [ih-lah-sahr] heterosexual: sosam(nem or nir) or see "breeder" [soh-sam-nihr] homosexual: koxsamnir/samnir [koks-sam-nihr/sam-nihr] bi/pan-sexual: iendar [ai-ehn-dahr] Hermaphrodite: siwosa (essentially: both) [sih-woh-sah] female (gender): wosa [woh-sah] "sheathing": minbayexa [mihn-bah-yeh-ksah] to sheathe: (Polite) bayexak [bah-yeh-zahk] "blade": minyexa [mihn-yeh-ksah] male (gender): siwoa [sih-woh-ah] childhood (age): tyife [tuh-yih-feh] adolescence: tylerife [t'yai-leh-rih-feh] adulthood (age): tyhinfe [t'yai-hihn-feh] noncopulatory sex (fore/after-play): frigkak [frihg-kahkk] male "husband" neela [nee-lah] lesbian "wife:" nina [nai-nah] (Note: these are not marriages, but among samnir, is recognized as a relationship and legal). FAMILY AND CLAN-ORIENTED TERMS: Xlel group together in clans (the natural extension of a wolfpack, actually). All clans are patrilinear and patrilocal, so that each term refers to which side/family they come from, as well as their importance as far as (clan) alliances ar concerned. Group terms (those words that relate to more than one part of the clan) are astericked (refer to the bottom of this page) Legend: f=father, m=mother, s=son, d=daughter, br=brother, si=sister, h=husband, w=wife, ff - dhama/[duh-hah-mah] "grandfather"/paternal mf - desa/[deh-sah] "grandfather"/maternal fm - boshka/[bohsh-kah] "grandmother"/paternal mm - fwesa/[f'weh-sah] "grandmother"/maternal fbr - dhema/[duh-hee-mah] "uncle"/paternal mbr - dava/[day-vah] "uncle"/maternal fbrw - nana/[nay-nah] "aunt"/paternal mbrw - noka/[noh-kah] "aunt"/maternal f - dawoa/[dah-woh-ah] "father" m - woda/[woh-dah] "mother" h - nila/[nai-lah]"husband" w - neena/[nee-nah] "wife" br - knafa/[k-nah-fah] "brother" si - disisa/[dih-sih-sah] "sister" sih - fusa*/[fooh-sah] "brother-in-law" fbrs - dalta"(1st) cousin"/paternal mbrs - naga/[nah-gah] "(1st) cousin"/maternal fbrd - fela*/[fee-lah] "cousin" off - eide(r)/[ee-ih-de(r)] "offspring/child" s - choda/[choh-dah] "son" d - chepana/[cheh-pay-nah] "daughter" brs - chosa/[choh-sah] "nephew" brd - fela*/[fee-lah] "niece" dh - fusa*/[fooh-sah] "son-in-law" sw - pena/[pee-nah] "daughter-in-law" ss - mihda/[mih-dah] "grandson"/paternal ds - nofa*/[noh-fah] "grandson"/maternal sd - mihla/[mih-lah] "grandaughter"/paternal dd - nofa*/[noh-fah] "grandaughter"/maternal +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NON-RELATED AFFILIATES: "aunt"/paternal: fsi - fela* [fee-lah] "aunt"/maternal: msi - fela* [fee-lah] "uncle"/material: fsih - fusa* [foo-sah], & msih - fylja [f'yil-jah] "cousin"/maternal: includes fsis - nofa* [noh-fah], msis - fonsa* [fohn-sah], fsid - nofa* [noh-fah], msid - fonsa* [fohn-sah] "niece"/maternal: sid - nofa* [noh-fah] "nephew"/maternal: sis - nofa* [noh-fah] +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FAMILY AND CLAN-ORIENTED TERMS: Remember that all clans are patrilinear and patrilocal, so that each term refers to which side/family they come from, as well as their importance as far as (clan) alliances ar concerned. Group terms (those words that relate to more than one part of the clan) are astericked (refer to the bottom of this page) Legend: f=father, m=mother, s=son, d=daughter, br=brother, si=sister, h=husband, w=wife, ff - dhama/[duh-hah-mah] "grandfather"/paternal mf - desa/[deh-sah] "grandfather"/maternal fm - boshka/[bohsh-kah] "grandmother"/paternal mm - fwesa/[f'weh-sah] "grandmother"/maternal fbr - dhema/[duh-hee-mah] "uncle"/paternal mbr - dava/[day-vah] "uncle"/maternal fbrw - nana/[nay-nah] "aunt"/paternal mbrw - noka/[noh-kah] "aunt"/maternal f - dawoa/[dah-woh-ah] "father" m - woda/[woh-dah] "mother" h - nila/[nai-lah]"husband" w - neena/[nee-nah] "wife" br - knafa/[k-nah-fah] "brother" si - disisa/[dih-sih-sah] "sister" sih - fusa*/[fooh-sah] "brother-in-law" fbrs - dalta"(1st) cousin"/paternal mbrs - naga/[nah-gah] "(1st) cousin"/maternal fbrd - fela*/[fee-lah] "cousin" off - eide(r)/[ee-ih-de(r)] "offspring/child" s - choda/[choh-dah] "son" d - chepana/[cheh-pay-nah] "daughter" brs - chosa/[choh-sah] "nephew" brd - fela*/[fee-lah] "niece" dh - fusa*/[fooh-sah] "son-in-law" sw - pena/[pee-nah] "daughter-in-law" ss - mihda/[mih-dah] "grandson"/paternal ds - nofa*/[noh-fah] "grandson"/maternal sd - mihla/[mih-lah] "grandaughter"/paternal dd - nofa*/[noh-fah] "grandaughter"/maternal +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NON-RELATED AFFILIATES: "aunt"/paternal: fsi - fela* [fee-lah] "aunt"/maternal: msi - fela* [fee-lah] "uncle"/material: fsih - fusa* [foo-sah], & msih - fylja [f'yil-jah] "cousin"/maternal: includes fsis - nofa* [noh-fah], msis - fonsa* [fohn-sah], fsid - nofa* [noh-fah], msid - fonsa* [fohn-sah] "niece"/maternal: sid - nofa* [noh-fah] "nephew"/maternal: sis - nofa* [noh-fah] +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GROUP TERMS: Fonsa: children-cousins of non-clanmembers (mother's clan) Fela: any former (or female) clanmember (except daughter) Fusa: any male who marries a former (or female) clanmember Nofa: any offspring of a former (or female) clanmember Chyana: (Nuclear) family member [ch'yah-nah] Merla: (any) clan member [mer-lah] WHITHER COMES THE NAMES THEY GAVE THEE? Proper names come from many things: the names of plants (lobea/loh-bee-ah> rose, jlana/j'lah- nah> daisy), animals & birds (shangral/shan-grahl> eagle, kopiral/koh-pih-rahl> greyfox, shalal/shay- lahl> weasel), the elements & nature (lee/leeh> wind, kzala/k'zah-lah> fire, mara/mah-rah> sea, sidra/sih- drah> star), seasons (kolothe/koh-law-theh> winter, komenthe/koh-men-theh> summer), qualities both desirable and not-so-desirable (like sarvan/sahr-vahn> stubborn, evade/ee-vah-deh> beautifullyblossoming, sadhe/sah-deh> simple, pure), and especially colors (ghura/ghrr-rah> ravenblack, abletta/ah-bleht-tah> white, mare/mahr-reh> dark or twilight, ragila/rah-gih-lah> silver-colored), etc. You will actually find many animal names here, as many other languages do, as well as plants, etc. Names are all highly symbolic and (usually) appropriate to its possessor. Some names have -- in due course of time -- been altered to become other names. Examples: Kahn, meaning strength, can become Kang. Koraxal, meaning raven, also can be Korax (usually this is due to varying dialects in different areas, and other planets). Other alterations occur in the merging of two (sometimes three or more) words to become one name. One example: Shadakk comes from sha (meaning god) and dokah (which is the number 8. Eight is a sacred number to them, for it is the four elements and the four seasons entwined). Another example: Pohmir comes from pohkene (meaning dark or lightlessness) and lianmir (which means grey or silver-tipped, as in fur). Always, when names are made this way, they are ALL highly symbolic and appropriate to the possessor. In native Xlel culture, an adult will have a total of five names in his or her lifetime. The first name is given at birth by his or her mother --- indictative of her first impressions, or her wishes for his future; the second name is given by the youth's father at eight years old --- also indicating his impressions, or the child's deeds by that age; the third name is given to the adolescent, by the clan's leader, upon hitting puberty (usually at fourteen or fifteen years of age) --- this gives the clanleader's impressions of the young adult, and is often the "use" or profession's name (a name known by all, sometimes instead of the birth or 1st name). The fourth name is a secret, spiritual name and is said to be given by their nameless, uncaring god called Sha in visions or dreams (in fact, this is one of the most important days of their lives, where they will go off by themselves, into a locked room or out in the wilds, to find this name. And finally, there is the clan name, which they are given provisionally at birth, and earn the right to bear at the age of eight (after they pass a survival test & physical/psychic examination), as well as the right to wear the clanpin thereafter. Among these people, the first name is one's "use" name (the one "used" by all); the second is known among friends and other intimates and the third name is used in ceremonies and rituals, and some artists, writers and musicians often use this last name on their compositions. Often, parts of 2 or more names can be combined to make one (these names are usually reserved for highly- ranked & psionically powerful individuals). In this culture, parents are quite fond of playing "tricks" with words, especially in naming their most powerful and talented people. So alliterations of words sacred or otherwise important to the way of life are also used, usually for highly-ranked or special people (like vangar [fanged one] or aular [silver-tongued] as a kenning for wolf or dog, for example). A short glossary of names common to this language follows at the end of this chapter. In addition: one might also look through all the other chapters and find appropriate words there [NOTE: Almost any name might also have an "r" or "gher" added to it (or it can be removed if here). This means (for "r") one who is and (for "gher") one who does.] Aarda> rock/stone [ah-ahr-dah] Abir> swimmer [ah-bihr] Abletta> white [ah-bleht-tah] Aemosa> gale/windstorm [ay-ee-moh-sah] Ager> active one [ah-ger] Ahual> gazelle/deer [ah-hoo-ahl] Akuiner> wise one [ay-kwih-ner] Alfir> one w/good hearing [ahl-feehr] Aular> silver-tongued [ay-yoo-lahr] Baidar> brave one [bah-ai-dahr] Balusur> delayer [bah-looh-soor] Batakhe> precious [bah-tak-hee] Bifskar> strong-willed [bihf-skahr] Chroger> proud one [chroh-gehr or khroh-gher] Chuma> smoke, fog [choo-mah] Dabar> follower [dah-bahr] Dantar> toothed one [dahn-tahr] Diamar> thinker, careful one [dih-ah-mahr] Donir> honored one [doh-neehr] Dutgente> steadfast, durable [doot-jehnt-teh] Ealine> determined [eh-ah-lih-neh] Eidirner> little one(undersized) [eh-ih-dihr-ner] Elaer> stalwart one, strong one [ee-lah-(h)ehr] Elahal> elk [ee-lah-hal] Enivir> achiever [eh-nih-veehr] Esbahir> astonishing one [es-bah-heehr] Eschir> player [ees-chah-ir, as in higher] Eskuer> one who escapes [ehs-koo-ehr] Everjor> cautious, wary one [eh-ver-johr] Eyrlea> elf [ee-yeer-le-ah] Eryr> (one) who soars [eer-ee-ir] Finehdin> immoveable [fihn-neh-dihn] Fliba> southeast wind [flih-bah] Gallin> splendid, bright [gahl-lihn] Gensar> flexible, pliant one [gehn-sahr] Ghura> black, ravenblack [ghur-rah] Gurde> intelligent, knowing [gur-deh, as grrr] Heynir> creative one [heh-y(ih)-nir, as in higher] Hoska> reflection, shadow [hohs-kah] Hota(s)> mountain(s) [hoh-ta(s)] Hreysar> one who hides [h'ray-sahr] Humar> wise one [hooh-mahr] Hundater> gatherer, hunter [hoohn-dah-tehr] Ikemshe> strong-minded [ih-kehm-shee] Jabril> stork/ibis [jah-brihl] Jedir> "little one" [jee-dihr] (puppy) Jestre> unyielding [jehs-treh] Jkise> small [j'kais(eh)] Jlana> daisy-like flower [j'lah-nah] Juhner> giant one [jooh-nehr] Juyegher> killer [joo-yeh-ghehr] Kahletaar> phoenix [kah-lee-taahr] Kahn> strong man [kahn] Kanus> mousegrey, grey (a rare name) [kah-noos] Kathless>transparency, clarity [kath-lehss] Kolothe> winter [koh-lawth-(eh)] Komenthe> summer [koh-mehn-theh] Kopiral> fox [koh-pih-rahl] Kor> one w/keen eyesight [koor] Koraxal> raven [kohr-raks-sahl] Korban> of great worth [kohr-bahn] Kostille> hot-tempered [kows-tihl-leh] Krass> boulder(s) [kras(s)] Krathose> hardness, stoniness [kra-thoh-seh] Kurir> spear-fighter [koo-rir, as in rear] Kwacha> dawn [kwah-cha] Kykrin> quickness, agility [k-yai-krihn] Kyme> fit, suitable [k-yih-mee] Kyon> loyalty [k'yai-on] Lee> wind [lee] Leemara> seawind [lee-mah-rah] Lianmir> silver tipped [lih-ahn-mihr] Liatha> smokegrey [lih-ah-tha] Liyana> waterfall [lih-yahn-nah] Lobea> rose [loh-bee-ah] Lokor> looker, searcher [loh-koor] Lonka> spear/lance [lohn-kah] Lorevale> spring [lor-ree-vah-lee] Maha> moon [mah-hah] Mala> maelstorm, turmoil [mahl-lah] Mara> sea [mahr-rah] Mare> dark, twilight [mahr-ree] Myrvyn> sea-spirit [mir-rivhn] Ngeyosa> meadowspirit [(i)ng-ay-yoh-sah] Ngosa> (small) wood-spirit [(i)ng-oh-sah] Nu-i-kar> probe, scout [noo-ih-kahr] Nyejela> ivory-black [n'yeh-jehl-lah] Odinar> gentle, tame one [oh-dihn-nahr] Ogerer> defiant one [oh-geh-rehr] Ogyer> citadel [awg-yehr] Olfa>elf/old concept of Kynrrel) [ohl-fah] Olgera> elf-spear [ohl-geh-rah] Orastiner> beloved [oh-rahs-tih-nehr] Orgor> actor, performer, doer [ohr-gohr] Ornil> white eagle [ohr-nihl] Ortikoskar> shepherd, leader [ohr-tai-koh-skar] Osaskar> defender [oh-sas(s)-kahr] Oterana> fort [awt-teh-rah-nah] Otloner> lawmaker, proxy [awt-loh-nehr] Oulma> midnight [owl-mah or oohl-mah] Ovil> black-tipped white eagle [oh-vihl] Owhre> elf-wise [ow-hreh] Palar> protector [pah-lahr] Peter> repeater [pee-tehr] Piran> merit, value [pai-rahn] Pohkene> lightlessness, dark [poh-kee-nee] Raedinir> explainer [rah-ehd-dihn-nihr] Ragila> silver-coloured [rah-tihl-lah] Rhet> authority, power, right [r'heht] Riregher> one who laughes [ree-rih-ghehr] Ru> migrant (usu. prefix or suffix) [roo] Sadhe> pure, simple [sahd-heh] Saijkda> arrow, dart (stilleto) [sah-ihj-k'dah] Sargon> nobleness [sahr-gohn] Sarvan> stubborn [sahr-vahn] Selwyn> friend (clan) [sel-w'yihnn] Shala> weasel [shay-lah, or shah-lah] Shan> singleness, unity [shahn] Shangral> black & white eagle [shang-grahl] Shen> introspective [shehn] Shida> moor [shai-dah] Shinkar> spear-thruster [shihn-kahr] Simame> autumn, fall [sih-mah-mee] Skeohan> proud spirit [skee-oh-hahn] Smiljan> unfading, immortal [smihl-jahn] Strihar> striking one, hitter [strai-hahr] Tan> individual, entity [tahn] Tarl> sparrow-hawk [tahrl] Tayhan> inquisitive, curious [tay-hahn] Tengar> swift one [tehn-gahr] Tesjuval> (bald) eagle [tehs-joo-vahl] Tesmel> hawk [tehs-mehl] Teyki> guardedness [teh-keh] Thachir> scuffler [that-chihr] Theian> honour [thee-ai-ahn] Thelassa> freshwater lake [theh-lay-sah] Themar> spry one [theh-mahr] Thyre> gay, merriness [th'yai-reh] Tior> tamer [tee-ohr, rhymes with Eeyore] Toher> one who is unbreakable [toh-hehr] Torin> watchtower [tohr-rihn] Tuhan> running [too-hahn] Uela> windspirit [yoo-ee-lah] Uhola> island woods/forest [yoo-hohl-lah] Urobe> immortal, everlasting [yoo-roh-beh] Usama> palegrey, pearlgrey [ooh-sahm-mah] Vaar> one who sees [vah-ahr] Vangar> fanged one [van-gahr] Velain> swiftness, promptness [veh-lah-ihn] Verlina> enclosed sea [vehr-lih-nah] Visan> cleverness [vai-sahn] Voigher> wanderer (obs) [voy-ghehr] Voir> wanderer [voy-ir, ir as in "ear"] Vyiser> guardian [v'yih'-sir, as above] Vytir> pursuer, chaser [v'yuh-tir] Wahtar> watcher [wah-tahr] Wida> timber [wih-dah] Winsa> wind [wihn-sah] Witar> sage [wih-tahr] Wudua> wood [woo-doo-ah] Xifra> brawl, fight [ksai-frah] Xifosa> knife, sword [ksai-foh-sah] Yexa> hunting blade [yehk-sah] Yua> jewel, gemstone (yoo-ah) Zafra> cobalt blue [zah-frah] Zatir> director, guide [zah-teer] Zheke> illusion, phantom [zheh-keh] SPECIAL COMBINED NAMES & SHORT FORMS These following are special names: either combined from two (sometimes three) names to make one, or short names ("nicknames") used for first names. Generally, these sorts of names are only given to highly-ranked (for that: read high-powered) individuals, or to Kynrrel, or to those whose place in life is unique, prophetically appropriate, or if s/he will change things in an unusual or dramatic way. Agerhumar> active wise one [ah-gehr-hoo-mahr] Agernal> active man [ah-gehr-nahl] Ahualvytir> deer-chaser [ah-hoo-ahl-v-yih-teer] Chrogedantar> proud toothed one [chroh-geh-dahn-tahr] Chrogeenivir> proud achiever [chroh-geh-eh-nih-veer] Chrogegallin> bright & proud [chroh-geh-gahl-lihn] Chrogeheynir> proud creative one [chroh-geh-heh-yih-neer] Chrogekopiral> proud fox [chroh-geh-koh-pih-rahl] Chrogeornil> proud eagle [chroh-geh-ohr-nihl] Chumadanter> grey toothed one [chooh-mah-dahn-tahr] Chumagallin> bright fog [chooh-mah-gahl-lihn] Chumanal> smoky man (smoke=grey) [chooh-nah-nahl] ChumaZheke> shadowy fog [chooh-ma-zheh-keh] Donicherrin> duty (to) honour [dohn-nih-cher-rihn] Donirtheian> twofold honour [dohn-nih-thee-ai-ahn] Eidirvangar> little fanged one [eh-ih-dihr-vang-gahr] Elaerkyon> stalwart & loyal [ee-lah-her-k'yai-ohn] Enivirskeohan> achieving proudspirit [eh-nih-vihr-skee-oh-hahr] Eskverelahal> escaping elk [ehs-vehr-ee-lah-hal] Gallindantar> splendid toothed one [gahl-lihn-ee-lah-her] Gallinelaer> splendid & stalwart [gahl-lihn-ee-lah-her] Gallinornil> splendid eagle [gahl-lihn-ohr-nihl] Gallinvaar> splendid bright seer [gahl-lihn-vahr] Gar> short for "Vangar"(also spelled: gaar) [gahr] Ghuradantar> black toothed one [ghoor-rah-dahn-tahr] Humanal> wise man [hooh-mah-nahl] Jkisedantar> small toothed one [j(uh)-kais-dahn-tahr] Jkisetesmel> small hawk [j(uh)-kais-dahn-tahr] Juval> short for "Tesjuval" [jooh-vahl] Kang> strong one (from "kahn") (pron. southern dialect) [kang] Koskar> leader (from"ortikoskar") [koh-skahr] Kuin> wise one (from "akuiner") [k'yoo-ihn] Ky> (usu.) Kykrin or Kyon [kai] Kyonager> actively loyal [k(uh)-yon-ah-gehr] Letta> white (from "abletta") [leht-tah] Maramalar> sea-storm [mahr-rah-mah-lahr] Odinahual> tame deer [oh-dihn-ah-hooh-ahl] Ornilhoska> eagle's shadow [ohr-nihl-hohs-kah] Poh> short for "pohkene" [poh] Pohkenemalar> dark turmoil [poh-kee-nee-mah-lahr] Pohma> short for "pohkenemalar" [poh-mah] Pohmyrvyn> dark sea-spirit [poh-m'yir-v'yihn] Pohoikoat> dark spirit [poh-oy-koh-aht] Pohoikoatgar> dark fanged soul [poh-oy-koh-aht-vang-gahr] Sargonvangar> noble fanged one [sahr-gon-vang-gahr] Tan Ru> migrant bird [tan-rooh] (Note: this is also a kenning for "starship") Tengaornil> swift eagle [tehn-gahr-ohr-nihl] Tengarvangar> swift fanged one [tehn-gahr-van-gahr] Tes> short for "Tesmel" or "Tesjuval" [tehs] Theiandonir> honour (twofold) [thee-ai-ahn-doh-nihr] (note: see Donirtheian also) Theianvangar> noble fanged one [thee-ai-ahn-van-gahr] Themakopiral> spry fox [theh-mah-koh-pihr-rahl] Urobeuela>immortal wind(spirit) [yoo-roh-beh-yoo-ee-lah] Usamachroge> grey pride [ooh-sah-mah-chroh-geh] Usamadantar> grey toothed one [ooh-sah-mah-dahn-tahr] Usamavangar> grey fanged one [ooh-sah-mah-van-gahr] Vangadaar> fang-toothed one [van-gah-dahr] Velainelahal> swift elk [veh-lah-ihn-ee-lah-hahl] Visankopiral> clever fox [vai-sahn-koh-pihr-rahl] Voivangar> wandering fanged one [voy-van-gahr] Zatishar> god-directed one [za-tih-shahr] Zhekevangar> phantom fanged one [zheh-keh-van-gahr] Simple sentence structure: The way it goes is like this: (The) Subject-Noun [adjective] Object-Noun [adjective] verb verb-tense (plus anything which relates to the verb) For example: [Mintav] teytav zhurek sta pernem opall ghura. Strict translation: I-subject you-object gave I-do the horse black. Or: I give you the black horse. The first noun or pronoun seen will be the subject, the second is the object, and any adjectives which relate to the subject or object. After that comes the verb & verb-tense, followed by any adverbs needed, and then any noun associated with the verb (what I gave you & what it looked like). Very often, the subject is left out, because it is assumed in the verb tense (I do, you do, he/she does, we do, they do, you-all do). And sometimes, the word "the" is left out. So the sentence might really be: Teytav zhurek sta opall-ghura. This assumes you know that "sta" means "I-do" and that you know that there is no need for the word "the." In a simple question: the verb and the verb-tense come first, followed by the subject (plus adjectives) and then the object-noun. So a question might read: Stu kakk [sertav] [pernem] kolunel? Strict translation: ?we-do to-want [we] [the] dogwolf? Or: Do we want the dog? All verbs are accompanied by a verb-tense. Verb-tenses are conjugated, like so: Present tense: I do: sta you do: ste he/she/it does: sti we do: sto they do: stu you-all do: sty (pronounced "yuh") Past tense: I did: stak you did: stek he/she/it did: stik we did: stok they did: stuk you-all did: styk (pronounced "yuh") Future tense: I will: stal you will: stel he/she/it will: stil we will: stol they will: stul you-all will: styl

#long post #language guide

0 notes