Kobun jodoushi are pretty old (we are talking about classical Japanese, after all!), but they do still show up in modern Japanese from time to time. We’ll see them fixed with verbs, in set phrases, or even adverbs. Some exist as useable grammar points. Most, however, appear in much the way that everything else in Kobun does: in the monogatari’s and nikki’s and other classical Japanese texts. That is, after all, why we’re learning so much about Kobun!

Timeless Jodoushi

Somehow, these dinosaurs made it into Modern Japanese, but they often sound formal or eloquent. Like, “Asteroid scientist, I am Danneth of Sharpteeth Abbey. You know the whereabouts of the asteroid which vanquished my ancestors. Kindly take me to it, or kindly prepare yourself for death”, kind of eloquent. Not so old-timey sounding, but definitely eloquent.

For each jodoushi below, I’ve provided a Kobun sentence taken from my favorite online Kogo-jiten where that jodoushi makes an appearance.

——

べし

べし was the base form of a jodoushi that has survived through two evolutionary tracks to the Modern: べき (the old Rentaikei) and べく (the old Mizenkei and Renyoukei). べき is used these days to talk about the way things ought to be done, like English “should”, and doesn’t sound particularly high-brow or anything like the rest of these. べく is less common, and is a conjunction that indicates a direct cause or prerequisite. But in Kobun, べし could also mean that someone is assuming or framing a situation a certain way.

Kobun:「人は、形・有り様のすぐれたらんこそ、あらまほしかるべけれ」(From Tsurezuregusa)

Modern: 人間は容貌（ようぼう）や風采（ふうさい）がすぐれていることこそ、望ましいだろう。

English: “It is desirable that a man’s face and figure be of excelling beauty” (Keene 3-4).

——

ず

In both Modern Japanese and in Kobun, ず is a negative, like “not”. In Modern, ず can sound pretty formal. The ず jodoushi is ぬ in the Rentaikei (see part 2 of this series, scroll down to step 2), and that form appears in Modern as well, though less frequently. There’s important nuance to the ぬ breed of negation, so ask around before using it or you might sound like a better-than-thou snob (or, in Mami’s words, “a bossy Shogun”). In Kobun, however, ず/ぬ is a frequent (non-snobbish) -ない kind of negation.

Kobun:「京には見えぬ鳥なれば、みな人見知らず」(From Ise Monogatari)

Modern: 都では見かけない鳥であるので、そこにいる人は皆、よく知らない。

English: “Since it was of a [bird] species unknown in the capital, none of them could identify it” (Tales of Ise 76).

——

ごとし

I’ve only run into ごとし once in Contemporary Japanese literature　（as ごとく), if that tells you anything about its frequency. ごとく is a sophisticated-sounding ～のようだ, in Modern Japanese. The Kobun ごとし, however, could mean a variety of things. Like the modern version, it could be used for comparison, but also for equivalence or as an example-provision:

Kobun:「世の中にある人とすみかと、またかくのごとし」(From Houjouki)

Modern: 世の中にいる人間と住居と（が無常なこと）は、また、これと似ている。

English: “In this world, people and their dwelling places are like that, always changing” (from here).

——

る、 さす、and す

Yeah, I know, there’s -る in almost every verb garden out there. This one is pretending to be a Kobun weed when really it’s the base form of almost the same passive or potential you’d recognize today. The others – さす、しむ、 and す – are causative, which also kind of overlap with modern. Go here for a more detailed breakdown of them.

Kobun:「涙のこぼるるに、目も見えず、物も言はれず」(From Ise Monogatari)

Modern: 涙があふれ出て、目も見えず、物も言うこともできない。

English: ”I am blind and speechless with tears” (Tales of Ise 110).

——

Debbie Downer Jodoushi

These Jodoushi are negatives. When Classical writers saw an affirmative verb’s bridge of dreams and wanted to crush it, they used one of these bad boys. What’s that, Taketori Monogatari? Bamboo cutter “有りけり”? NOPE. Author guy’s Pokémon Pen slams the sentence with “有らぬ” and there wasn’t an old bamboo cutter.

——

まじ

Do you remember this advertisement from　the very first part of the Kobun series?

Written there you can see maji、which negates “forgive” and generally seasons the sentence with some negative feelings:

Kobun-ized ad: 許すまじ！

Modern: 許すな! or 許さないぞ!

English: Don’t yield (to pollen)!

——

じ

This is pretty equivalent to the modern 「まい」. It’s a negative + “probably” or negative + intention. See here:

Kobun:「京にはあらじ、あづまの方に住むべき国求めにとて行きけり」 (From Ise Monogatari)

Modern: 京には住むつもりはない、東国の方に住むのにふさわしい国を探し求めるためにと思って。

English: “Perhaps because he found it awkward to stay in the capital”… “[He] journeyed toward the east in search of a place to live” (Tales of Ise 74).

——

Yesterday’s News

“That outfit is so past tense.”

The following jodoushi relate to time. Most of them are for the past, but not all.

——

けり、き、and けむ

We encountered けり in the Kobun verbs article – it’s a past tense thing. き is the same, but it has a crazy line of conjugation, so be sure to check out the chart I include at the end of this article. けむ、meanwhile, talks about something that has happened and is part conjecture (see the -ただろう in the sentence translation).

Kobun:「昔、こはたと言ひけむが孫といふ」(From Sarashina Nikki)

Modern: 昔、こはたと言ったとかいう（人）の孫という。

English: “They said that they were the descendants of a [once-]famous singer called Kobata” (Doi and Omori 11).

——

らむ

Like in Disney’s Mulan, when Mushu says, “Dishonor on you, dishonor on your cow….” This jodoushi casts “Deshou” on the situation, “deshou” on a reason for the situation, and general vagueness all around, in my opinion, since らむ can also equate to euphemism or simile.

Kobun:「などや苦しき目を見るらむ」(From Sarashina Nikki)

Modern: どうしてつらい目に遭うのだろうか。

English: How did it come to such a rough time as this? (my translation)

——

む/むず

This jodoushi can be the volitional (modern ～しよう！） or a “deshou”. As in modern, a “deshou” or volitional can go a long way towards soft suggestions for the way things ought to be. Likewise, む/むず in Konbun could represent a suggestion and even, as with らむ, simile.

Kobun:「かのもとの国より、迎へに人々まうで来（こ）むず」(From Taketori Monogatari)

Modern: あのもとの国 から、迎えに人々がやってまいるだろう。

English: “People are going to come from my original land for me” (Behr 128).

——

Completion

These jodoushi are flip-a-table, pull-the-plug, 800% done. Or, the verb they attach to sounds like a completed action, at least.

——

つ

The Renyoukei (see part 1 of this series and scroll to “step 2”) for つ is て. Classical Japanese had a few other sentence parts (like particles) with ‘て’ at the border between words, so you’ll want to list out some guesses when translating. In addition to completion, つ was written for lists (like “…たり…たり、…” in modern) or a “deshou”-tinted “certainly” or “without mistake” (“たしかに…だろう”).

Kobun:「蠅（はへ）こそ、憎きもののうちに入れつべく」(From Makura no Soushi)

Modern: はえ（という虫）こそ、憎らしいものの中に確かに入れてしまいたいもので

English: “The fly should have been included in my list of hateful things . . .” (Morris 70).

——

ぬ

This is a different ぬ than the negative ず/ぬ. This ぬ is completion. How do you know which ぬ is being used in the sentence? You’ll have to look at charts and forms. Remember that the Mizenkei usually precedes negatives, while the Renyoukei is usually used as a connective form. So verb in Mizenkei + ぬ　= negative action, while Renyoukei + ぬ = completed action (probably). There’s more to it than that, but here’s an example sentence to get you started – it’s a beautiful poem from the Kokin Wakashuu, as translated by Kuma Papa-san).

Kobun: 「散りぬとも香をだに残せ梅の花」

Modern: 散ってしまっても香りだけは残していってくれ、梅の花よ

English: “If these plum blossoms must wither/scatter, at the very least leave your fragrance. . ..” (Kafka-Fuura).

——

り

This jodoushi can signify either completion or an on-going action – use your best judgement when translating.

Kobun:「くらもちの皇子（みこ）は優曇華（うどんげ）の花持ちて上り給（たま）へり」 (From Taketori Monogatari)

Modern: くらもちの皇子は優曇華の花を持って都へお上りになった。

English: “Prince Kuramochi has returned with the Udonge flower!” (Behr 108-109).

——

The Wishlist

Ambrose Bierce, in The Devil’s Dictionary, defines hope as “Desire and expectation rolled into one”, which is exactly what 希望（kibou) sounds like. Guess what these jodoushi express? Hopes, wishes, and dreams, like the modern -たい form.

——

たし and まほし

These are both like the modern -たい or （て）ほしい, depending on the subjects and objects in the sentence.

Kobun:「帰りたければ、ひとりつい立ちて行きけり」(From Tsurezuregusa)

Modern: 帰りたいときはいつでも、（自分）一人ふいと立って行ってしまった。

English: “When he was ready to go home, he at once got up and went off all alone” (Porter 53-54).

——

The Circus Group

The final group of jodoushi are a hodgepodge mix. Some resemble verbs, while some simply have unique meaning or classification.

——

なり

This jodoushi only sounds like the regular verb “なり” by coincidence. なり tags onto a verb to convey an assumption of some sort, hearsay, or to point out that something has been physically heard, as in:

Kobun:「音羽山（おとはやま）今朝（けさ）越えくればほととぎす梢（こずゑ）はるかに今ぞ鳴くなる」(From Kokin Wakashuu)

Modern: 音羽山を今朝越えて来ると、ほととぎすが梢はるかに今鳴いているのが聞こえるよ。

English: “Journeying onward over Otowa Mountain while the day is young, I hear a cuckoo singing high in the distant treetops” (Kokin Wakashu 41).

——

まし

まし is what’s called a “counter-factual supposition”. It’s inherently hypothetical – sometimes just an observation, but sometimes conveying wistfulness. It often connects to the conditional ～ば, but it doesn’t have to. “Would that I had eaten ice cream one last time before the zombie apocalypse began!” is an example in English.

Kobun: 「雪降れば木毎（ごと）に花ぞ咲きにけるいづれを梅と分きて折らまし」(From Kokin Wakashuu; more breakdown here)

Modern: 雪が降って、木に白い花が咲いたように見える。どの木を本当の梅の木と区別して折ったらよいだろうか。

English: “After the snowfall, flowers have burst into bloom on every tree. How am I to find the plum and break off a laden bough?” (Kokin Wakashu 81).

——

めり

Like a lot of things on this list, めり indicates a projection of circumstances, but, unlike most of the others, has a strong tinge of uncertainty or neutrality. In English, this would be the difference between “Someone forgot their bag” and “It looks as if someone forgot their bag”.

Kobun: 「簾（すだれ）少し上げて、花奉るめり」(From Genji Monogatari)

Modern:（尼君は）すだれを少し上げて、（仏に）花をお供えしているように見える。

English: “A nun, raising a curtain before Buddha, offered a garland of flowers on the alter” (Suematsu 92).

——

らし

The Kobun らし acts exactly like the Modern らしい, but I don’t know that they are actually related (changing from a jodoushi to an adjective?). But like so many others on this list, らし is conjecture, a statement about the appearances of a situation or thing, including the reason something came to be.

Kobun:「ぬき乱る人こそあるらし」(From Kokin Wakashuu)

Modern: 糸を抜いて玉を乱れ散らす人がいるらしい。

English: “There must be a man unstringing them at the top” (McCullough 482).

——

らる

らる is classified on charts and in Kobun discourse as 自発. Spontaneous? As in “Spontaneous Combustion Man”? Yeah, I didn’t get it either, at first. But if you reframe it as an expression of naturally occuring or unplanned actions and circumstances, then it makes more sense.

Kobun:「なほ梅の匂（にほ）ひにぞ、いにしへの事も立ちかへり恋しう思ひ出（い）でらるる」(From Tsurezuregusa)

Modern: やはり梅の香りによって、以前のことも（当時に）さかのぼって、自然となつかしく思い出される。

English: “It is the perfume of the plum which sends our thoughts lovingly back to the days of old” (Porter 21).

——

Wrap-up: A Kobun Jodoshi Chart

As promised, here is a jodoushi chart, made by the education site “Wiquitous”. The top row is the verb form (Renyoukei, etc.) that the jodoushi tags onto, while the right side scales down the forms the jodoushi conjugate through. Empty circles mean that the jodoushi doesn’t appear in that form. Meireikei (command form), for example, doesn’t go hand-in-hand with many helper verbs, and that makes sense when you think about it.

Jodoushi were way easier than verbs, right? The verb patterns I talked about before permeate everything, so knowing the forms is truly essential. Hopefully, learning about helper verbs just made the previous lesson snap into focus. We’re not completely done looking at conjugations, though, because adjectives are still to come.

Sources:

• Behr, Maiko R.. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter: A Study in Contextualization. Diss. Vancouver: University of British Columbia, 1998.
• Bierce, Ambrose. The Devil’s Dictionary.
• Doi, Kōchi and Annie S. Omori. Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan. Boston; New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1920.
• Kafka-Fuura’s Classical Japanese Blog
• Keene, Donald, trans., and Kenkō Yoshida. Essays in Idleness; the Tsurezuregusa of Kenkō. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
• Kokin Wakashu: The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry : with Tosa Nikki and Shinsen Waka. Trans. Helen Craig McCullough. Stanford Univ. Press, 1985.
• Kuman Papa-san. (“散りぬとも香をだに残せ梅の花恋しきときの思ひ出にせむ”.](http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/meganebiz/diary/201303190006/)
• McCullough, Helen Craig. Brocade by Night: “Kokin Wakashu” and the Court Style in Japanese Classical Poetry. Stanford University Press, 1985.
• Morris, Ivan, trans. The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon. New York: Columbia University Press, 1991.
• Porter, William, trans., and Kenkō Yoshida. The Miscellany of a Japanese Priest, Being a Translation of Tsure-zure Gusa. London: Humphrey Milford, 1914.
• Suematsu, Kencho. Genji Monogatari by Lady Murasaki Shikibu. 1982. Reprint. New York: Colonial Press, 1900.
• Tales of Ise: Lyrical Episodes from Tenth-Century Japan. Trans. Helen Craig McCullough. Stanford University Press, 1968.

母娘 (Mother-Daughter)
馬娘 (Horse-Daughter)
破家 (Broken-House)

If asked, “Who do you like that is stupid”? I’d guess many of you would answer, “Nobody.” However, things are quite different in Japan. It’s really pathetic, but there is a famous phrase in Japan: “女は馬鹿な方がいい“（おんなはばかなほうがいい/onnnawa bakana houga ii) and it means “Stupid women are better.” Sadly, you actually see this question online quite often:

“A stupid woman or a smart woman, which do you prefer?”

You don’t have to answer, don’t worry.

A Stupid Woman vs A Smart Woman

On January 16, 2013, Goo’s Oshiete Watcher conducted several interviews to try to answer this question. Of course there are people that come down on either side of the fence, those who prefer smart women and those who prefer stupid women. The reasons for men who prefer stupid women were things like:

“I prefer stupid women because I’m scared of smart women”

“When I think of my personality, I’m actually stupid, so I prefer a woman to be similar to me”

The men who prefer smart women said things like:

“I prefer smart women. If she was smart, then I can be stupid. If I do something stupid in front of a stupid woman, it will develop into a fight”

“I definitely prefer a smart woman who can pretend as if she is stupid to encourage me”

“I prefer women who are smart enough to be stupid and make hengao (funny faces), but if she is actually stupid, she wouldn’t know when to be stupid and where not to be. Thus, I prefer smart women.”

But wait a minute! What do they mean by “pretending to be stupid”? Although they say they like smart women, doesn’t it also mean that they like a woman who is stupid anyways?

The Stupid Boom!

In fact, a category of Japanese TV people called “obaka-talent” (stupid-talent) or “obaka-Chara” (stupid-character) has even been created. Those women act childish and pretend to be dumb in order to appear “cute”. They usually show up on quiz shows or other comedy related trivia shows and are asked to answer questions really stupidly in order to be laughed at. This phenomenon was called the “Obaka-talent-boom” (Stupid-talent-boom) and they have been very popular since around 2007.

Because of this “stupid woman” demand, one Japanese woman, ＠ya, who married British guy and lives in the UK, was surprised to learn that guys in the UK don’t really like stupid women.

In the UK, men select women very carefully and much of it has to do with the woman’s capabilities. For example, a guy who cares about his career tends to choose a woman who is similar to him. There are many men who don’t choose women solely on their looks, but rather on the complete balance of looks, income and ability, with the latter two holding more weight. Of course, women choose men very selectively, too. Women who are popular choices for many men are often very social and competent at their work. It would also be a big bonus to be both physically and mentally healthy. Conversely, women who tend to just smile and do not have any opinions are called “plain” and are not very popular. You’d be invincible in either scenario if you were a beautiful blonde with a gorgeous body, though.

A Japanese Male Doctor’s Perspective

So, do Japanese men seriously think that women should be stupid? As a woman, I’m personally against the idea and feel compelled to say that men must not think that way, even if it is just one facet of sexual attraction. I don’t understand why this is even a phrase, but I came across blogs written by a plastic surgeon, and in his blog he writes about why men say “stupid women are better” and why he himself actually often says “stupid women are cuter.”

He begins his blog by saying that he doesn’t believe that the abilities of women are of a lesser value than men’s and that he doesn’t look down on women in the slightest. He then continues on to the purpose of writing the blog and does so from his doctor’s perspective.

In Japan, the family roles for men and women are still obviously different: men work to feed their family and women take care of the house. The Japanese work system is actually created for men while the framework for women to continue working while raising a family is not yet provided. In countries like America, where people can “out-source” house workers from different countries, women who have higher education and income also have a higher marriage rate. However, in Japan, even though women graduate from elite universities and start working for very reputable companies, there won’t be a position to return to, nor would they be able to resume their careers at the same level if they quit their jobs following marriage or give birth. Thus, if a woman winds up being a housewife despite her efforts, people conclude that being a stupid, yet cute, woman is better than being a smart woman. I’m pretty sure that if the system was altered, smart women would be more popular among men than stupid women because it’s already happening in the world of medical practice. We earn enough income to hire domestic workers, so wives don’t need to become a housewife and simply continue working. So, male doctors tend to marry female doctors or other such smart women of respectable professions, rather than choosing to marry a stupid women who is also cute.

I think he explains himself very well, thought I’m still not convinced. Let’s look a little deeper into what he’s saying, though.

Job Environment

Although many companies have been trying to change, there are still companies whose system is not good for working women. I worked for the biggest stock and investment exchange company in Japan and held a position that required me to work wherever the company ask me to. There are local positions, but in order to get a higher position, such as a branch manager or area manger, you have to hold a position in which being transferred is possible. I know many Japanese companies have a similar system and the IT company I worked for did this too. Anyways, my point is that it is so tough for women to continue working in the same career after starting a family if the system is like that.

I had a married female superior, who had the same position as I did when she got pregnant. Shortly after finding out that she was pregnant, the company ordered her to transfer from Kyoto to Tokyo, even though she and her husband lived in Osaka. So, until she went on maternity leave, she had to work in Tokyo, thus living separately from her husband. After her maternity leave finished, she had to move back to Tokyo with her baby but without her husband, all too keep her career. Transferring can be quite cruel, but from a company’s perspective it’s fair and equal because that’s how men work in the company. So, I agree that to continue working after marriage or giving birth can be very tough for women.

So, does this mean the reason for the phrase “Stupid Women Are Better” is because Japanese society has generally accepted that work environments are not yet fully developed to accommodate women? So is the solution then to continuously fight for women’s rights, including that of providing some allowances for returning to work after giving birth, and slowly progressing towards a better society for women, one in which they can work wherever and whenever they want? Well, it might surprise you to learn that this may not be what many Japanese women desire.

Japanese Wife = Housewife?

According to an official survey conducted by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, which quizzed over 3,000 people aged 15-39 in March, 2013, 19.3% of Japanese men still prefer the woman they are with to become a housewife after getting married. I believe that the above mentioned work environment is one of the reasons why men want to keep their wives in house, otherwise there’s the possibility of not seeing her very often. You know, many Japanese men’s priority is work, but if a women pursues their careers, it means they have to make work a priority as well.

Surprisingly, it’s not every man’s ideal and a great many women also think this way. According to the same research, 1 in 3 single women in Japan want to be a full-time housewife, despite the growing demand for their participation in the male-dominated Japanese workforce.

I hope you noticed something interesting here. From that survey, more women wanted to become housewives than men who wanted their wives to become housewives. That means women want to be housewives on their own, much of the time. Why is that?

The Reasons Why Women Want To Be Housewives

So, why do women want to be housewives? According to another research study conducted by U-Can and I-Share where over 1,243 women were quizzed from July 16-20, 2010, 53.9% of women said they wanted to be a housewife.

55.2% of them said it was “because I want to attend to housework and raising children.”

25.5% said they wanted to focus on their hobbies.

15% said it was because they don’t like working.

Even though the women feel this way, 68% of women who wanted to become a housewife said that it’s difficult to become a housewife nowadays because of their family’s financial responsibilities. In fact, there are more and more wives who unwillingly continue to work because they need the money. 85% of them answered that they would find a job if their husband asked them to (because there is no other option) and 42.7% said they would choose a part time job (an arubaito) so that they could have some flexibility with their time and location and therefore be able to stay closer to home. Sort of the best(ish) of both worlds.

It’s A Stereotype, But Still Alive

So, regardless of whether they have to continue working or not, being a housewife and wanting your wife to be a housewife is often a mutual desire of both Japanese men and women. Therefore, when a Japanese person dates someone from another country, there can be some differences in thought. Take the following Japanese man’s comments, for example.

My girlfriend is Irish-Scottish. I’ve lived with her for half a year now and I don’t find many differences between her and Japanese girls. If there was one thing that I would highlight, it would be that she may have different ideas about work than a Japanese girl. She says she doesn’t understand having to quit her job just because she gets married. (source: 彼氏彼女が外国人)

Now, if the work environment is not the only reason, was it just men’s preference after all, then? According to Rocket News24′s The top 10 things foreign women hate about Japanese men, “Acting like they are better than women” was ranked number 8. Sometimes it’s fun to be a little stupid at parties or other such events, but it’s not fun at all to be called “stupid” all the time.

As for me, I’m not sure if I am smart because I do and say a lot of stupid stuff, but I don’t ever want to pretend as if I am stupid for the sake of men. If I am stupid or do stupid things, I want it to be for good reasons, like making my friends laugh – with me, not at me.

Actually, writing about this topic reminded me of my ex-boyfriend who didn’t like me giving him any advice. For example, when he complained about his superior, he just wanted me to smile and be sympathetic. At the time, we were both working for the same company, so I told him what I thought after he told me his complaint and it turned out to be the end of our relationship. He told me that an opinionated girl was not his type, so I guess he was one of those guys that like “obaka-character” girls. I considered his way of thinking to be rather appropriate for this article, STUPID! へへへへ。

In reality, Japan, like any other nation, is an ocean of diversity, home to multiple minority groups. One of these groups is Japan’s indigenous people, or the Ainu. Don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of the Ainu. In fact, many Japanese themselves are unaware of the existence of their own country’s indigenous people.

But why? For hundreds of years, the Ainu have been either ignored, discriminated against, or forced to assimilate with mainstream Japanese culture. Obviously, none of these circumstances are favorable for propagating cultural stability or awareness. And unfortunately, this has led the Ainu language and culture to the brink of extinction.

However, with the government’s (long awaited) official recognition of the Ainu as Japan’s indigenous people in 2008, it appears that there has been a revival of Ainu pride among the few Ainu that remain, as they desperately try to preserve what culture they have left. Here, I hope to outline some of the most important aspects of the Ainu language and briefly touch upon the culture in hopes to bring light to one facet of Japan’s diversity.

The Origins of the Ainu

The Ainu people are historically residents of parts of Hokkaido (the Northern island of Japan) the Kuril Islands, and Sakhalin. According to the government, there are currently 25,000 Ainu living in Japan, but other sources claim there are up to 200,000. The origin of the Ainu people and language is, for the most part, unknown. However, there have been many theories on the subject.

One theory suggests that the Ainu people are remnants of the Jomon-jin, or the hunter-gathers who inhabited Japan during the Jomon Period (14,500 BC – 300 AD) and perhaps even before. Around the year 300 AD, another group of immigrants known as the Yayoi people made their way to the islands of Japan, introducing new agricultural techniques and technology and integrating with the Jomon people. It is believed that the Yayoi group may not have reached as far as the Northern island of Hokkaido, allowing the Jomon hunter-gatherer way of life to survive in that area.

The model of a Jomon period boy

One Ainu myth claims that “They lived in this place a hundred thousand years before the Children of the Sun came.” It’s interesting that this myth seems consistent with the theory of the Ainu descending from Jomon-jin. More recent research suggests that the historical Ainu culture could have come about through the merging of the Okhotsk culture and the Sastumon, a Jomon group very similar to the Ainu.

Physically, the Ainu stand out distinctly from the Japanese as a separate ethnic group. Ainu people tend to have light skin, a stout frame, deep-set eyes with a European shape, and thick, wavy hair. Full-blooded Ainu may have even had blue eyes or brown hair. In the past, the Ainu were proposed to be of Caucasian decent, given their appearance, but recently it has been proved through dental morphology and fingerprinting that the Ainu are in fact Mongoloid, not Caucasoid.

An old Ainu man

These days, the concept of a pure Ainu is very blurred. Distinguishing the Ainu from other Japanese is almost impossible due to intermarriage with the Japanese, migration, and denial of the Ainu identity to avoid discrimination.

Ainu Culture

You can see just by the appearance of the Ainu that traditional Ainu culture is significantly different from Japanese culture. First of all, both men and women keep their hair at shoulder length and wear traditional Ainu garb. Men, never shaving after a certain age, usually have full beards, and women undergo mouth tattooing to signify their coming to adulthood.

As hunter-gatherers, the Ainu lived off of the land. Common foods included deer, bear, rabbit, fox, salmon, root vegetables, and much more. Unlike the Japanese, the Ainu always cooked their food, never eating anything raw. Common hunting weapons included poisoned spears and bow and arrows.

One way that the Ainu were similar to the Japanese is in the way of religion. The Ainu, just like the Japanese people, were animists and believed that all things are inhabited by spirits known as kamuy. While there are many gods in Ainu belief, one of the most important is known as Kim-un Kamuy, or the god of bears and the mountains. All animals are thought to be the manifestations of gods on Earth in Ainu culture, however, the bear is believed to be the head of gods and is therefore known as kamuy, or “God.”

Traditionally, the Ainu sacrificed bears in order to release the kamuy within them to the spirit world. One tradition, called lotame, involves the raising of a young bear cub as if it were an Ainu child and then sacrificing once it has come of age.

a tourist with two Ainu people and a bear

During the Tokugawa Period (1600-1868) the Ainu became increasing involved in trade with the Japanese. At this time, they were able to maintain their culture and way of life to a certain extent, although there is some evidence that the Ainu became slaves.

However, the Meiji restoration brought great change upon the Ainu people in 1899. As Japan began reforming to Western standards, the government decided to unify Japan by annexing the Northern island of Hokkaido and creating a law that restricted the Ainu from participating in their own cultural activities. In other words, the Ainu people were stripped of their land, customs, and language in hopes that they would assimilate to Japanese culture. It wasn’t until 1997 that this law was lifted and the Ainu people were allowed to practice their own customs again, but by that time, much of the damage was done.

The Ainu Language: Something Unique

The indigenous language of Japan is, much like the Ainu people, of unknown origins. With the restrictions placed on the use of the language in 1899, Ainu speakers have all but disappeared. Today the language is said to have less than 15 “native” speakers, all of which are above he age of 60, making Ainu a “critically endangered” language. Originally, the Ainu language had three main dialects: Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and Kuril. However, the Hokkaido dialect is the only one that survives today.

One interesting point about Ainu is that it does not have a written form. The language has lived by being passed down from parent to child for countless years and has historically been transcribed using Japanese kana. The lack of a writing system has of course hindered the ability of the Ainu to preserve their language after it was banned, and the use of Japanese kana has even influenced some Ainu pronunciations. Even so, the language has been able to live in the tradition of Ainu story telling, or Yukar, the language of which is mutually understood by all Ainu groups and is known as Classical Ainu.

Here is an example of a Yukar, or epic story, using Classical Ainu:

In the past, there have been many attempts to place Ainu and Japanese in the same language group, but such claims have been shot down again and again. As of now, there is no widely accepted theory regarding the relationship of Ainu to any other language and it is therefore known as a language isolate.

If you look closely at Japanese and Ainu, it is tempting to conclude the two languages are related, however, there are four features of Ainu that mark it as distinctly different from Japanese:

1. Person is marked on predicates (person is expressed in predicates)
2. Ainu is a polysynthetic language (ideas my be expressed through “sentence words”)
3. There are no verbal inflections (verbs are not changed to express tense)
4. There are verbal suffixes for plurals (plural forms are expressed in verbs)

One of the most prominent features of Ainu is the fact that it is a polysynthetic language. In other words, Ainu is a language in which main ideas are expressed through words composed of smaller word parts with individual meanings, also known as “sentence words”. A basic example of this would be the Ainu word ku-pirka, meaning “I am good.” A more extreme example would be the Yupik word tuntussuqatarniksaitengqiggtuq which means “He had not yet said again that he was going to hunt reindeer.” Interestingly enough, the polysyntheitic nature of Ainu is very similar to the languages of many North American indigenous groups.

So what does Ainu sound like? To the untrained ear, Ainu might sound a lot like Japanese. Just like Japanese, the Ainu language is an SOV (subject, object, verb) language using the five vowels a, i, u, e, and o. However, Ainu only has twelve consonants, excluding d, b, g from Japanese, and vowels are never elongated. In fact, Ainu does not differentiate between several consonants, such as b and p, and in this way it is more similar to Korean.  Another way in which Ainu is significantly different from modern Japanese is that it avoids vowel sequences. In order to avoid vowels “touching,” semi-vowels such as y or w are inserted between them. Sometimes vowels are even pronounced more like consonants, such as in the word Ainu where the “a” is pronounced with a glottal stop.

If you want to hear recordings of the Ainu language or learn some for yourself, check out this great Ainu talking dictionary.

Revitalizing Indigenous Spirit

For nearly 100 years the Ainu people lived in Japan under a policy of extinction by assimilation. They were forbidden by the Japanese government to practice Ainu customs or even speak their own language in hopes that the Ainu would vanish from the face of the planet, but did they succeed? With so few Ainu speakers left and many Ainu denying their own heritage to avoid discrimination, you might say so, but things seem to be looking up lately for Japan’s indigenous people.

The year 1994 marked a great turning point for the Ainu people, as the first ever Ainu, Shigeru Kayano, entered the Japanese diet. Shigeru dedicated his life to promoting the well-being and awareness of the Ainu people. It was thanks to him as well as other supporters that the law forbidding Ainu culture was lifted in 1997. Since then, government funding and cultural freedom has allowed the Ainu people to start regaining and preserving their precious way of life through Ainu language courses, radio stations, and public performances.

Below is a woman playing the tonkori, a traditional Ainu instrument:

Still more recent landmarks in Ainu history include the official recognition of the Ainu as the indigenous people of Japan in 2008 and the formation of the Ainu political party in 2012. It seems that while there is still some discrimination of the Ainu people, those who rejected their heritage before are beginning to admit it openly or even embrace their identity with pride.  A great example of this is the band known as The Ainu Rebels. This band is a group of proud young Ainu who have mixed hip-hop and traditional Ainu music, and I have to say, I’m a fan.

Although the Ainu culture is on the brink of extinction, it seems that more and more effort is going into bringing it back to life. These days, young Ainu such as The Ainu Rebels are doing their best to create a new identity for their people and a Japan more open to minorities. Since the depth of the Ainu culture and language can’t be expressed in so few words, I recommend reading more about them or, if possible, experiencing Ainu culture for yourself.

Although you could make the learning process much easier by understanding these three important differences between the English and Japanese languages, I’d say understanding ‘formality’ is very difficult even for Japanese people. In fact, it may be even more difficult for the Japanese people, as some leeway is usually given to those who aren’t Japanese.

Formality

I believe that it is generally considered a positive thing to be friendly to someone in Western countries. Although there are certain situations where more formality is required, friendly personalities usually tend to be well received. In Japan however, the situation is quite different, since the Japanese language has a “formality” system.

It is often considered rude to sound too friendly to a person who is older than you, has higher social standing, or is someone you have just met. I mean, Japanese people like people who have friendly personalities and the same is true for people of other countries.  However, it is generally preferable to be formal and polite when talking to acquaintances until you have developed a closer relationship that allows for more friendliness. Does this make sense?

“This isn’t a good morning no matter how you say it.”

In English, it is just fine to speak the same way to everyone, within reason, right? For example, you would say the phrase “Good morning,” to your spouse, your boss, your friends, and to a complete stranger. Some people might omit “good” and just say “morning” but it doesn’t matter who you are talking to. Things are quite different in Japan.

Tell me, did you think, “Seriously? Even good morning is different in Japan?” Unfortunately, the answer is yes. There, you must speak differently to different people based on their age and their relationship to you, even when saying something as simple as ‘good morning’.

Good Morning

Okay, let me illustrate how the morning greeting can be different.  The formal Japanese morning greeting is “お早うございます/Ohayou gozaimasu”, the informal one is “おはよう/Ohayou” and a very casual one is “おっは〜/Ohha~.” This doesn’t mean that good morning in Japanese can mean various things like Gandalf wondered when Bilbo said ‘Good morning’ in ‘The Hobbit’:  ’Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?’

It’s merely a greeting with formal and informal ways to say it.  It is important to remember not only how to speak formally and informally, but to know when to do so.

When you get up and see your family such as your kids/spouse/parents/siblings, you would say, “Ohayou.” Some parents who are very strict about seniority, or even the order of family members, may force their kids to say  “Ohayou gozaimasu” to them.

When you arrive at your office and see your boss, you must use, “Ohayou gozaimasu.” I’m scared to imagine what would happen if you use “Ohayou” or “Ohha~” to your boss… your neck may fly right after you say it.  Did any of you just tilt your head to the side in confusion wondering what that meant? 首が飛ぶ (kubi ga tobu), which literally means my neck flies, is a Japanese phrase meaning to be fired.

Then, what about your colleagues? They won’t be able to exert their authority to let your neck fly like your boss can, but you would speak formally to most of them, especially if they are older than you and/or they had started working there before you did. Many Japanese people think that colleagues who started working before you are all your superiors unless newer ones have the higher title.

Newer ones are called 後輩 (こうはい/kouhai) and older ones are called 先輩 (せんぱい/senpai). For a thorough explanation, check out our guide here. It’s “first come higher status” like “first come first serve”. To the ones you have developed close relationships with, you could drop the formalities and say “Ohayou”, but it may only be outside of office hours because some companies require you to be polite to any colleagues while working. The office is not the place to chat with your friends, but to work.

Now it’s getting more complicated, isn’t it? To simplify things, just keep in mind that newer members usually speak formally to older members, unless the newcomer has higher position in the company (I will say however, even though you may have a better title, it is good practice to speak formally to co-workers that were there before you just out of respect). When speaking to strangers, it is always a safe bet to use the more formal version.

When speaking to friends at school, you use “Ohayou” to all of your classmates but not “Ohha~”. It could sound too casual to someone who is not your close friend. Of course to teachers and to higher grade kids, you would use the formal “Ohayou Gozaimasu”. In school, lower grade kids are called 後輩 (こうはい/kouhai) and higher grade kids are called 先輩 (せんぱい/senpai).

Mistakes by Non-Native Speakers

“Get out of my house.”

Now, imagine that a teenage daughter brings her boyfriend home for supper. This boy comes into her home for the first time, approaches her father, and says, “Hey gramps, what’s up?” What would you think of his manners? It’s just as rude as when Anthony Weiner called Republican mayoral candidate George McDonald “grandpa”, isn’t it? If you were her father, and even though you may be be too nice of a person to throw him out of your house right away, you probably wouldn’t invite him back anymore, would you?

However, language mistakes made by non-native speakers usually aren’t as important as mistakes made my native speakers.  I remember the day when my Canadian boyfriend at the time, who is now my husband, met my mother for the first time at a Japanese restaurant. At that time, she was working at an elementary school taking care of a kid who was suspected of having severe ADHD (though his parents never agreed).

He was such a brat.

Whenever she said ‘good morning’ to him, he answered back with ‘f**k you’, ‘shut the f**k up, Grandma’ or something else in his long list of shocking replies.  He also punched and kicked her whenever he was in a particularly bad mood. Needless to say, my mother became so exhausted working there. So while we were at dinner, my husband tried to use Japanese to speak to my mother. His intention was to ask her about that little boy.

He began his sentence like this – “Anata no (your) mukatsuku (annoying/troublesome) kodomo (child)…”. He didn’t know how to say ‘made you upset’ in a polite way so used the word ‘mukatsuku’ instead, which among Japanese people is considered to be a somewhat rude word that is mostly used among friends.  The other problem with his attempt was that he never said ‘school’ or ‘student’, so it seemed as though he was referring to me.  I was the annoying/troublesome child.

My mother’s face was classic and my husband quickly realized that he should ask for my help.  After everything was explained, it was laughed off by everyone because he was Canadian.  If he was Japanese, it would have been a disaster.  Now it is simply a funny story that we still bring up from time to time, though my husband still cringes when he thinks back on his first meeting with my mother. He wishes that he knew how to speak formal Japanese at the time. He was very happy to get invited back.

Mistakes by Native Speakers

Being a native speaker, I get a special thrill every time I encounter a situation when I have to use formal Japanese. As you can see, it’s ridiculously complex even when you just say good morning. The Japanese language has many formal word forms and their use is mandatory in many social situations.

In keigo, there are three main categories: respectful language (尊敬語/sonkeigo), humble/modest language (謙譲語/kenjougo) and polite language (丁寧語/teineigo). Sometimes two more categories are also used, too: courteous language (丁重語/teichougo) and word beautification (美化語/bikago).

I won’t mention the details about any of them today, but it’s very difficult to use them properly in a perfect situation, even for Japanese people. So, when we start working after graduating school, companies usually offer training sessions on the proper use of formal Japanese and other business manners.

However, lacking some proper formalities is not a big problem as long as you are talking to someone in person. You can show your politeness with your face, the way you talk, or your behavior. So, I’d say the most difficult situation is chatting online or emailing when you can’t see their face or hear their voice.

Actually, I just encountered this problem recently when I sent a business message. It was a mass email so everyone read the exact same thing. Many of the recipients were just fine, but there were two people that got upset: one thought it was so vague because of the keigo and the other one thought it was unfriendly because it had too much keigo.

Later on, I did a little investigating which involved my correspondence and I found out that many of them liked its politeness. Honestly, I got bit confused and felt a little regret that my native language is one that requires these formalities.  I do understand its purpose, but it can be tough to please everyone.  On a more positive note, I was given a great lesson on how difficult it can be to walk the thin line of using formal Japanese.

A Controversy Over if Keigo is Necessary?

As you see, using keigo is very difficult, so if you’re someone who would like to avoid learning formal Japanese because you find it unnecessary, you wouldn’t be the only one. On 2-Channel, I came across a thread discussing the controversy over whether keigo is necessary, or not. Please let me introduce you to some opinions out of it.

1他人と人間関係を築くという事は大変煩わしい事だと思いますが、

「敬語」を上手く駆使しなければ円滑な社会生活を送れないという日本の文化によって、より一層人間関係が大変なものになっていると思うのです。

俺は敬語を多用する日本の言語文化が嫌いです。

皆さんはどう思われますか？

It’s difficult as it is already getting along with someone and trying to make friends, but what makes things even more complicated is that we aren’t able to speak freely to each other because we need to stick to the cultural formalities. I hate the Japanese culture, which forces us to use keigo. What do you guys think about this?

7敬語がある事によって人とのコミュニケーションおいてに求められる能力のハードルが すごく高くなっていると思うんです。

コミュ障と言われている方達が沢山いますが、もしも日本に今ほど敬語が存在しないのであれば彼らはコミュ障ではなかったもしれません。

I think keigo makes communication more difficult. There are a lot of people called コミュ障 (comyu-shou), which is an abbriveation of コミュニケーション障害 (communication shougai) meaning communication disabilities. If there weren’t as many forms of keigo in the language that there are, those people might not have been coined comyu-shou.

8下級生にタメ口使われてる

I’ve been spoken to by lower grade students with informal Japanese.

13距離を置けるからむしろハードル下がってる

It’s easier to communicate (for comyu-shou) because you can create more personal space by using keigo.

15敬語は楽でいいよね

上でも下でも同格でもとりあえず敬語喋っとけば問題ない!

I like keigo because it’s easier.

It wouldn’t cause problems when using keigo, regardless of whether you are talking to higher, or lower standing people.

25以前床屋でこんな事がありました。

新人の店員が俺にタメ口で話しかけてきたんです。

俺はこう思いました。

（俺の事なめてんのかこいつ）

俺は腹が立ちその店員の態度に不快感を感じたまま店を後にしました。

その店員は、親しみを込めてタメ口を使ったのかもしれません。

しかし、店では敬語を使われるという事に慣れている俺は、

それをフレンドリーさの表現とは受け取る事ができませんでした。

これは敬語が多用され浸透している国ならではの問題ではないでしょうか。

The following occurred in a hair salon just the other day.

A freshman started talking to me with casual Japanese.

I thought, “Is he looking down at me?”

I got upset and left the place with an unpleasant feeling.

He might have used casual Japanese trying to be friendly.

However, I’ve got used to hearing formal Japanese as a customer, so it really didn’t seem to be a friendly expression to me.

This problem only occurs in countries that use a lot of formalities, doesn’t it?

30 年上年下を気にする必要が無いのでいいと思います。

It’s good with me as long as I use keigo not only to older people but also to younger people.

35そうですね。

私もそう思います。

私はこう思うんです。

完全に敬語、もしくは、完全にタメ口、

どちらかに完全に統一すればいいと思うんです。

そうすれば言葉を使い分ける労力が無くなりますし、

敬語を使われなかったから腹が立つ、といった事も無くなります。

Yeah, I agree. I’d say, we should standardize our language and use strictly, either casual Japanese, or formal Japanese. If we could, we wouldn’t need to waste our energy choosing words and we wouldn’t be upset by being spoken to without keigo.

45敬語で話すの会議とタメ口で話すの会議はタメ口の方が意見バンバンでるんだとさ”

Did you know that more ideas come up in a meeting when people speak with casual Japanese in comparison to speaking with formal Japanese?

5敬語は現代には必要ない

Keigo is unnecessary these days.

These opinions are from 2-channelers who are known to have comyu-shou, so they might be slightly biased. Personally, I agree that it would be much easier to communicate with people if the Japanese language was standardized in either the formal or casual form, but it doesn’t seem like it will happen any time in the near future. So, for now, mastering the Japanese language must include mastering formal Japanese.

It’s very likely that the way the language is today is the very way that it should be and couldn’t work any other way.  Perhaps there are unseen disadvantages to having a language without keigo, or solely with keigo.  One thing is certain however, I really do like the following quote, but I’m sure this won’t mean the end to this discussion for many of you.

Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untravelled, the naive, the unsophisticated deplore these formalities as “empty,” “meaningless,” or “dishonest,” and scorn to use them. No matter how “pure” their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best.

-Robert Heinlein

Bonus Wallpapers!

[2560x1600] ∙ [1280x800] ∙ [1280x800 Animated] ∙ [700x438 Animated]

Don’t get me wrong – I love Japanese just as much as the next weeaboo – but there were times that I got so bored with the vocabulary I was learning, especially verbs. I wanted to be able to express myself, be more animated, but I didn’t know how. I felt like a stale saltine cracker, using the same boring verbs over and over again amongst my friends. That was, until I learned how easy it was to modify the verbs I already knew by using onomatopoeia in Japanese.

The Power of Onomatopoeia

It’s probably not a question your Japanese teacher will bring up, but have you ever noticed how vague many verbs in Japanese really are? For instance, the word 笑う can refer to smiling, laughing, chuckling, or any other type of laughter. The verb 飛ぶ (tobu)、or 跳ぶ (tobu)、covers jumping, springing, and flying! As a rule, Japanese verbs have far more general meanings in comparison to English. However, this “insufficiency” is more than compensated for by the almighty onomatopoeia.

If you’re familiar with the term onomatopoeia in English, you’ll already know that it refers to words that mimic sounds like “sizzle,” “pop,” “bang,” or “cock-a-doodle-doo!” However, onomatopoeia in Japanese are a much more important part of the language, covering words that describe emotions, mental states, actions, and much more.

In fact, onomatopoeia are so prevalent in Japanese that there are three different categories of them: giseigo, giongo, and gitaigo. If you are interested in learning more on this subject, I’d recommend checking out Tofugu’s Japanese Onomatopoeia Guide. Japanese onomatopoeia also tend to follow one of the following forms: り endings、as in ゆっくり (slowly); duplication, as in ワンワン (bark-bark); and と endings, as in ちょっと (a little). The are written in either hiragana or katakana, but sometimes both are okay.

Onomatopoeia in Japanese are very in-depth, making them confusing for learners at times, but the basic function of an onomatopoeia is to describe things, whether it be actions or states of being. Onomatopoeia have the power to describe many things, but for now, let’s just stick with the verbs.

Onomatopoeia in Action

Grammatically speaking, the adverb usage (describing an action or process) is the default function of an onomatopoeia in Japanese, making it also the easiest. For the most part, you can just plop an onomatopoeia right in front of a verb and call it good.

“BUT WAIT, THERE’S NO PARTICLE!?” you may be thinking. Well, you’re not off that easy. The particle you should learn to associate with onomatopoeia is the particle “と.” In fact, the “と” in と-ending onomatopoeia is the particle と (it’s just been made easier for you)! Just as “と” is used to quote speech in Japanese, it is also used for sounds and onomatopoeia, though most times it is optional. When と is employed optionally however, it’s main effect is making one’s language more poetic.

So what verbs can you use with onomatopoeia? This is a difficult question. Onomatopoeia are often used with general verbs in order to further specify them. In addition to that, they can also be used with the verb する, to do. The use of onomatopoeia with the verb する often seems to be the result of simplification, having been paired with a more specific verb originally, just as ニコニコ笑う (nikoniko warau) has become　にこにこする (nikoniko suru) over time.

However, be careful: sometimes the meaning of an onomatopoeia can vary depending on which verb they are paired with. For example, ガツガツ食べる (gatsugatsu taberu) means to gobble something down, but “ガツガツする (gatsugatsu suru)”　means to do something with an obvious sense of greed (Where’s my money man? Where’s my money!?). Overall, there is not much consistency, and that’s what makes onomatopoeia tricky.

Enhancing Your Verbs

To make things easier, I’ve made a list of some common general verbs that can be made specific by adding onomatopoeia below. From an English speaker’s perspective, Japanese verbs may seem vague, but the difference between words like smile and laugh, or between jump and fly, can be communicated far more expressively through the use of onomatopoeia:

Key:
(と) = optional と usage
と = required と usage
strike-through = verb has been simplified to  する
verb / する = both する and the general verb can be used

寝る　（ねる）

ぐうぐう寝てる

コックリ寝る する　to nod off
ぐうぐう (と) 寝る　 fast asleep and snoring
すやすや (と) 寝る　sleep peacefully
うとうと寝る する　to doze off

歩く　（あるく）
とぼとぼ (と) 歩く trudge
ちょこちょこ (と) 歩く trot
のろのろ (と) 歩く / する　inch (along)
よろよろ (と) 歩く / するstagger, stumble
ふらふら (と) 歩く / する　shamble, teeter
ブラブラ (と) 歩く /する　stroll, loiter
ぞろぞろ (と) 歩く　swarm, cluster

食べる　（たべる）

ガツガツ食べてる

ガツガツ (と) 食べる to eat greedily or with a burning desire
パクパク (と) 食べる to eat with your mouth flapping open and shut
むしゃむしゃ (と) 食べる to munch and crunch on something
ぺろぺろ (と) 食べる to lick (e.g. ice cream)

見る　（みる）
じろじろ (と) 見る　to stare scrutinizingly
ジーと見る　to stare someone/something down
キョロキョロ 見る する　to look around restlessly
チラチラ (と) 見る　to glance at here and there
まじまじ (と) 見る　to look at something with astonishment

飲む　（のむ）
がぶがぶ (と) 飲む    to gulp something down
ちびちび (と) 飲む　to take a small sip, just to wet the mouth (used with sake)
ぐびぐび (と) 飲む　to drink (used with sake)
ごくごく (と) 飲む　normal drinking

飛ぶ/跳ぶ　（とぶ）

ビュンビュン飛んでる

ひらひら (と) 飛ぶ　to flutter (like a butterfly)
ビュンビュン (と) 飛ぶ　to soar through the air (like a fish from the water)
ポンポン (と) 跳ぶ　to jump up and down (like on a trampoline）
ぴょんぴょん (と) 跳ぶ　to leap (like a frog）
ふわーふわー (と) 飛ぶ　to float lightly
ぶんぶん (と) 飛ぶ　to fly with wings buzzing

泣く　（なく）
ワーワー (と) なく　to cry
メソメソ (と) 泣く　to weep
ぐすんぐすん (と) 泣く　to sob
おいおい (と) 泣く　to blubber
しくしく (と) 泣く　to whimper
わんわん (と) 泣く　to howl
ヒーヒー (と) 泣く / する　to pule
えんえんと泣く　to mew

笑う　（わらう）

ニヤニヤしてる (I don’t know why he’s smiling…)

にっこり笑う する　to grin
げらげら（と）笑う　to laugh out loud
ニヤニヤ　(と) 笑う / する　to grin stupidly (to laugh/smile for no reason)
はははと笑う　to laugh ”hahaha”
ニコニコ　(と) 笑う / する　to smile
くつくつ (と) 笑う　to titter (used in classical Japanese)
ワハハ と笑う　to laugh “haw-haw!”
ニタニタ　(と) 笑う / する　to grin broadly
おほほと笑う　to laugh like a rich old woman, “ohoho!”
クスクス (と) 笑う　to giggle, to laugh under one’s breath

Adding More Emotion

Besides adding extra words, the way you say something can also strongly affect the emotive quality of speech, no matter what language. Now, I know that we’ve all been taught that Japanese is a very precise language, with flat tone quality and clear vowels, and that might all be true, assuming we were talking about a country of robot zombies.

Onomatopoeia are like the rebels of the Japanese world – they like to break all the rules. Since onomatopoeia are used to express emotion and describe details, the way they are said is often different from normal speech.

For example, if someone says “ruff-ruff” in English, they would most likely do so in a way that mimics a dog, rather than saying it in their normal voice. Japanese onomatopoeia are similar in that they too are said in a more expressive fashion. More specifically, the sound qualities of onomatopoeia are directly correlated to their intended emotional effect, more so than other word classes. This phenomenon can be seen clearly in the different forms of onomatopoeia:

と ending

Although the rules of Japanese state that all sounds must end in a vowel (expect ん) because of the syllablery nature of the language, onomatopoeia ending in  と are often pronounced with an abrupt stop, changing the と ending into a sharp “t” sound.  For instance, the onomatopoeia ドサっと (dosatto, with a thud) would be pronounced “dosat.” This abrupt “t” sound symbolizes quickness, the stopping of action, of the single occurrence of an action.

ん ending

Onomatopoeia that end in ん are pronounced with a nasal sound, producing a feeling of “prolonged resonance” or rhythm. An example of this would be どかん （dokan） which symbolizes the sound of a boom or explosion. Can you imagine hearing the sound of an explosion resonating in the distance?

Long vowel ending

The presence of a long-vowel at the end of a onomatopoeia represents the feeling of “prolongation or continuity.” Therefore, onomatopoeia like フワー (fuwaa, to float or drift) are pronounced with special attention to the elongated vowel sound to really capture a sense of airlessness.

り ending

The onomatopoeia form ending in り conveys a feeling of softness or slowness.　のそり (nosori) means slow movement, and is usually pronounced with a gentle り sound.

Reduplication

Just as in many other languages, the reduplication of a sound symbolizes repetition in sound or action.  Usually these onomatopoeia are produced more quickly, but that depends on what sound is being mimicked.  An example of this would be ごろごろ (to roll). You might hear this onomatopoeia over and over again like “ごろごろごろごろごろごろ”, especially by little children when they roll down hills for fun!

Here’s a small sample of reduplication in onomatopoeia, presented in a very *ahem* interesting way:

[hr]

Onomatopoeia make things fun in Japanese! They give the language pizzazz, spice, jazz – they bring words to life. Without them, all we could talk about would be the stock exchange, the weather, or types of fish – you decide.

Using onomatopoeia with the verbs you already know can give you a quick vocabulary boost. The use of onomatopoeia is also a big contributor to true fluency in Japanese, so you can totally impress your Japanese friends with these fun little words. Fun, easy, and useful words? I feel like there should be a loophole somewhere here.

Are onomatopoeia in Japanese fun for you, or are they just a pain? Let us know in the comments section below! Also, let us see what kind of sentences you can create now that you know some crazy cool new verbage!

[hr]

Sources:
Japanese Onomatopoeia

The phenomenon of language borrowing is in no way unique, but it seems to stand out more in the Japanese language than others. And in a way, this presumption is true. Japanese has adopted an astounding number of loanwords. Even the written language, consisting of 3 distinct writing systems, gives way to the amount of borrowing that has gone on over the centuries.

However, borrowing, especially from English, has become even more exaggerated in the post WWII era, almost certainly kicked off by the occupation period. Loanwords are everywhere in Japan. They’re like air. You can’t get away from them.

But are they air? Or are they a pollution in the air? That is the question asked by many people in Japan. Taking in loanwords at such a rate has not been a trouble-free, clean-cut process. In fact, so much borrowing has created a bit of a sticky mess in the language; the whole process has rendered many words elusive to both second language learners and native speakers alike.

Borrowing: A Linguistics Perspective

Swiper no… swiping?

So how has Japan, a relatively isolated country with its own distinct language, been able to borrow foreign words at the rate they have? Actually, Japanese has certain linguistic characteristics that have made borrowing much easier than some other languages.

The main reasons why Japanese has accepted foreign words so easily has to do with the lack of nominal inflections and the presence of a syllabary writing system. In other words, Japanese nouns do not change based on person, number, or gender like many other languages do, and since words are simply separated syllabary particles, it makes it easy to just plop a foreign word in the midst of a Japanese sentence where any native word might appear. As for adjectives and verbs, foreign words can be inserted as な (na) adjectives and する (to do) can convert anything into a verb without any changes to the original word. Magic! (I always wondered why there were so many な adjectives and する verbs in Japanese.)

So, foreign words have had an easy time slithering their way into Japanese language from a linguistics perspective, but that hasn’t stopped them from wreaking havoc across the land in their own special way, plaguing both Japanese learners and native speakers.

Making Changes

“I spy, with my little eye…English words!”

You’d think with number of foreign loanwords floating around in the language, Japanese would sound slightly less like “moon speak” to non-Japanese speakers. However, foreign loanwords have been warped and maimed beyond the point of recognition in many cases, making understanding Japanese all the more frustrating!

When a foreign word is adopted in Japanese, it goes through many changes (like a beautiful butterfly). First of all, loanwords are converted to Japanese characters (usually katakana), changing their pronunciation altogether. On top of that, the meaning of a word may shift, a word may be simplified, and sometimes words will even be completely invented! For me, it is particularly upsetting when I think I understand a loanword from English, when actually I don’t know squat. Basically, I can’t even understand my own language in Japanese a lot of the time. Yep. Let’s take a look at some of the changes foreign words have undergone to become a totally different animal.

Changes in Meaning

“Honey, them times… they are a changin’”

Changes in meaning often happen in the process of foreign borrowing. The meaning of a word may be narrowed, widened, specialized, shifted, downgraded, you name it. At this point, I’ve come to believe that it’s someone’s job to sit in an office and figure out the best way to mutilate the English language before it enters Japan. Honestly, I really want that job.

Narrowing and Specialization

When a word’s meaning is narrowed or specialized, only one aspect of its original meaning is adopted as the new loanword. So in other words, a word that originally has a more general meaning is changed to mean something very specific.

Examples:
ホテル  /  hotel  /  Western-style hotel
ステッキ  /  stick  /  cane
ライス  /  rice  /  rice served on a plate
アルバイト  /  work  /  part-time job (usually student)
ダイエット  /  diet  /  purposely losing weight
ストライキ  /  strike  /  demonstration, strike
ストライク  /  strike  /  strike (in baseball)
ゲイ  /  gay  /  relationship between men only
ドレス  /  dress  /  extravagant dress

Extension

The widening of a word’s meaning is not nearly as common as narrowing, but it does happen. In these cases, a word’s meaning is more generalized, or used to describe a broader range of ideas.

Examples:
レジ  /  register  /  cash register, cashier
ハンドル  /  handle  /  car steering wheel, bike handlebar, any other handle

Shifts in Meaning

It’s a fairly common occurrence for a word’s meaning to be shifted when it is enters another language. This means that the original meaning of a word is completely changed, and all hope of the foreign language’s speakers understanding it is lost. “What? サイダー (cider) means soda?!” Check it out:

Examples:
アベック  /  avec (with)  /  a romantic couple (old saying)
フェミニスト  /  feminist  /  a man who indulges in women; a gentlemen
マンション  /  mansion  /  large apartment complex
アイス  / ice  /  ice cream
カニング  /  cunning  /  cheating
バイキング  /  Viking  /  all-you-can-eat-buffet

Of course, Koichi’s post “These Words Are English, But You Won’t Understand Them” goes over even more examples.

Downgrading

“Downgrade? Honey, I only do upgrades.”

The meaning of a word can sometimes be downgraded, too. Downgrading is the lowering of importance or rank in terms of the social significance a word holds.

The examples below clarify this phenomenon.

Examples:
ボス  /  boss  /  the head of a group of politicians or gangsters
マダム/ママさん  /   Madam/mother  /  owner of a drinking establishment

Inventing Words

“Mathmatical!”

Just as many words were created in Japan from Chinese characters in the past, today many new “foreign” words are just inventions. I don’t know about you, but the concept of new English words being created in another language makes me feel both amazed and downright strange.

Often times new foreign words are created in Japanese by combining two or more already existing terms to make a completely new one. Sometime only parts of words such as the -er suffix are used. Some of the most bewildering words are invented by creating acronyms from foreign phrases. As you can imagine, this renders “foreign” words completely unrecognizable to speakers of the word’s language of origin. Mama mia! Invented words are so numerous, it would be insane to list as many as I could here, but here’s a nice sampling:

バックミラー  /  back + mirror  /  rearview mirror
テーブルスピーチ  /  table + speech  /  dinner speech
オーエル  /  OL  /  office lady
オールドミス  /  old + miss  /  an old, childless woman
ヘルスメーター  /  health + meter  /  a bathroom scale
ソープランド  / soap + land  /  a brothel
アイスキャンディース  /  ice + candy  /  popcicle
マイホーム  /  my home  /  a privately owned home
マイカー  /  my car  /  a privately owned car
パートタイマー  /  part-timer  /  someone who works part-time
ナイター  /  nigher  /  a night baseball game

Simplification

Taking words directly from another language is often times not the most convenient thing, especially when the word is 100 letters long and no one can pronounce it (antidisestablimentarianism? Riiiiighht). So, why not make it shorter? The Japanese have a tendency to shorten words more so than other languages. Four syllable abbreviations seem to be preferred, but you may also see other variations.

Examples:
アルミカン  /  aluminum can
セクハラ  /  sexual harassment
プリクラ  /  print club (purikura)
テレビ  /  television
トイレ  /  toilet
パソコン  /  (personal) computer
リモコン  /  remote control
エアコン  /  air conditioner
デジカメ  /  digital camera
ワープロ  /  Word processor

Confusion at Home

“English? You have wrong number.”

If learning loanwords is confusing for foreigners, it’s really not that much better for the Japanese population themselves. Since foreign loanwords are not written in Chinese characters anymore, Japanese people can’t easily guess their meanings if they don’t already know them. On top of that, foreign words are being poured into Japan at such a rate that even natives don’t understand them anymore. It is also difficult to learn these words because they are often introduced and then dropped faster than a hot potato, leaving no time for full absorption into the language.

NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) conducted a multiple choice survey to see just how well foreign adopted words are understood by people in Japan. The results turned out to be very mixed and depended largely upon respondent groups. In other words, comprehension of foreign words depends largely on factors such as educational and occupational background. The survey also showed that foreign words were mostly understood in their Japanized forms, not in the context of their language of origin. It’s no wonder learning English can be difficult for Japanese students, they know a completely alternate version of it!

Movements have been made (mainly by angry old men) to stop the flow of foreign words into Japanese at the rate it’s been happening, but the madness continues. Stopping such a formidable force is no small feat, and language purist are undoubtedly fighting a losing battle as the “foreigners” take hold of their language. In fact, one 71 year old tried to sue NHK Broadcasting for the “mental distress” caused upon him because of all these foreign words.

But, when foreign words are being adopted, abandoned, changed, and invented the way they are in Japan, it really begs the question: “what is a loanword?” Can I call “back mirror” an English loanword? I honestly don’t know anymore. What do you think about loanwords in Japanese? Have you had trouble learning them? Do you think adopting so many words is advantageous or just silly? Let me know in the comments below, yo.

Read All the Posts in This Series:
Japanese, The Borrower Language Part 1: Where the Japanese Language Came From
Japanese, The Borrower Language Part 2: Twisting Words
Japanese, The Borrower Language Part 3: Why They Do It