sci.lang.japan Frequently Asked Questions

Welcome to the sci.lang.japan Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

This is a list of questions and answers about the Japanese language which have often cropped up in the Usenet newsgroup sci.lang.japan, (SLJ). (If you don't know what a Usenet newsgroup is, please look at 2.1. For new Usenet users .)

This is the Introduction and Contents. Here is the sci.lang.japan FAQ as one file.

Contents

• 1. About the sci.lang.japan FAQ
  • 1.1. Copyright
  • 1.2. Things to do in the sci.lang.japan FAQ
  • 1.3. What's new in the sci.lang.japan FAQ?
  • 1.4. Maintainer
  • 1.5. Thank yous
  • 1.6. Format
    • 1.6.1. Spelling
    • 1.6.2. Romanization
    • 1.6.3. Computer encoding
    • 1.6.4. Web page tech stuff
    • 1.6.5. Mirror site information
    • 1.6.6. Editing the sci.lang.japan FAQ text file
    • 1.6.7. HTML
  • 1.7. Goals of this FAQ
  • 1.8. The book pages
  • 1.9. History of the sci.lang.japan FAQ.
  • 1.10. Limitations of the sci.lang.japan FAQ
• 2. Introduction to the newsgroup sci.lang.japan
  • 2.1. For new Usenet users
  • 2.2. Topics of sci.lang.japan
  • 2.3. Languages used
  • 2.4. Abbreviations and other "lingo" often seen on sci.lang.japan
  • 2.5. Frequent sources of friction with the SLJ community
  • 2.6. Where are they now?
• 3. Other internet resources
  • 3.1. Related newsgroups
  • 3.2. Translation resources
  • 3.3. Computing resources
  • 3.4. Web forums and mailing lists for learners
  • 3.5. General web pages on Japanese language
  • 3.6. Web pages dealing with kanji
  • 3.7. Japanese language schools
  • 3.8. Online dictionaries
  • 3.9. Online glossaries
• 4. The Japanese writing system
  • 4.1. Hiragana and katakana
    • 4.1.1. How did katakana and hiragana originate?
    • 4.1.2. Is there a kana symbol for ye or yi?
    • 4.1.3. Is there a mnemonic for remembering the order of kana signs?
    • 4.1.4. What is the origin of the gojuuon kana ordering?
    • 4.1.5. How does the i-ro-ha ordering go?
  • 4.2. Kanji (漢字)
    • 4.2.1. What are the origins of the kanji for sushi?
    • 4.2.2. How many kanji are there?
    • 4.2.3. What is the difference between touyou kanji and jouyou kanji?
    • 4.2.4. Which kanji were created in Japan?
      • 4.2.4.1. A list of kokuji (国字).
    • 4.2.5. Why do some words taken from foreign languages have kanji?
    • 4.2.6. Why do kanji have several different pronunciations?
    • 4.2.7. Can a word have mixed on and kun readings?
    • 4.2.8. Can a kanji word have more than one reading?
    • 4.2.9. How do I look up a kanji in a dictionary?
    • 4.2.10. What are the names of the kanji radicals?
  • 4.3. Other questions on writing systems
    • 4.3.1. What is the small katakana ke in 霞ヶ丘 and 一ヶ月?
    • 4.3.2. How are animal and plant names written in Japanese?
    • 4.3.3. What is furigana?
    • 4.3.4. What is rubi?
    • 4.3.5. What are the systems of romanization of Japanese?
    • 4.3.6. How is Japanese writing taught to Japanese children?
    • 4.3.7. What are the names of the Japanese non-kana, non-kanji symbols?
    • 4.3.8. What are the names of the mathematical symbols in Japanese?
    • 4.3.9. Can Japanese be written right to left?
    • 4.3.10. What are the different styles of Japanese lettering?
    • 4.3.11. What is man'yougana?
• 5. Grammar
  • 5.1. Verbs
    • 5.1.1. What verbs are irregular?
    • 5.1.2. What are group I and group II (also consonant and vowel) verbs?
    • 5.1.3. Which iru and eru verbs are actually group I (consonant) verbs?
    • 5.1.4. What 's the difference between hajimeru and hajimaru?
  • 5.2. Verb endings
    • 5.2.1. What are the uses of the sou ending?
    • 5.2.2. How does the causative passive form of the verb work?
    • 5.2.3. What is the `i' verb ending?
  • 5.3. Miscellaneous grammar questions
    • 5.3.1. What is the no da or n da ending?
  • 5.4. Particles (助詞)
    • 5.4.1. How do I choose between wa and ga?
    • 5.4.2. What is the difference between ringo ga tabetai and ringo wo tabetai?
    • 5.4.3. What is the particle nite?
    • 5.4.4. How do I choose between de and ni?
• 6. Word origins
  • 6.1. What is the name of Mount Fuji?
  • 6.2. What are the origins of the san suffix for names?
  • 6.3. What is the origin of the name Godzilla?
  • 6.4. Why is America called bei?
  • 6.5. What are the names of Japan?
  • 6.6. Where did the Japanese get their names for the weekdays?
  • 6.7. What is the origin of yakuza?
  • 6.8. What is the meaning of the word maru in the names of Japanese boats?
  • 6.9. What is the origin of the name of the number puzzle "sudoku"?
  • 6.10. What is the origin of the name hotchikisu meaning "stapler"?
  • 6.11. Why are there so many adjectives ending in yaka?
  • 6.12. Words from foreign languages
    • 6.12.1. Is arigatou related to Portuguese "obrigado"?
    • 6.12.2. Which Japanese words originate from Portuguese?
    • 6.12.3. Which Japanese words originate from German?
    • 6.12.4. Which Japanese words originate from Dutch?
  • 6.13. Is desu a contraction of de arimasu?
• 7. Word meanings
  • 7.1. What is an otaku?
  • 7.2. Is gaijin a derogatory term?
  • 7.3. What colour is ao?
  • 7.4. What is yamato nadeshiko?
  • 7.5. Is a tanuki a badger?
  • 7.6. What is yamato kotoba?
  • 7.7. What is an ikemen?
• 8. Pronunciation
  • 8.1. What are the differences between kana writing and real pronunciation?
  • 8.2. What is that small tsu at the end of a sentence?
  • 8.3. What is rōmaji `r' really?
  • 8.4. What parts of Japanese are difficult for English speakers to pronounce?
  • 8.5. Differences between Japanese and English pronunciations
• 9. Japanese slang and colloquialisms
  • 9.1. What is the yagaru verb ending?
  • 9.2. What are the chau, cha verb endings?
  • 9.3. What are these funny words like rimokon?
  • 9.4. What are these i words kimoi and muzui which aren't in the dictionary?
  • 9.5. What are some Japanese insults?
• 10. Japanese names
  • 10.1. What are the personal pronouns of Japanese?
  • 10.2. How can I read a Japanese name?
  • 10.3. How do Japanese names work?
  • 10.4. What personal names are the same in Japanese and other languages?
• 11. Japanese examinations
  • 11.1. What is the Japanese language proficiency test?
  • 11.2. What is the Kanji kentei?
  • 11.3. What is the Jetro Business Japanese test?
  • 11.4. Japanese University Exam for Foreign Students
• 12. Japanese and English
  • 12.1. How do I write an English word in Japanese?
  • 12.2. Where does the word `yen' come from?
  • 12.3. Where does the name Japan come from?
  • 12.4. What are these pseudo English words like salaryman?
  • 12.5. What English words come from Japanese?
• 13. Miscellaneous
  • 13.1. How can I say "I love you"?
  • 13.2. Is Japanese related to Turkish and other `Altaic' languages?
  • 13.3. How does the Japanese addressing system work?
  • 13.4. Do you know any Japanese palindromes?
  • 13.5. What Western dates correspond to what Japanese dates?
  • 13.6. What are the old Japanese units like shaku?
  • 13.7. Numbers and counting
    • 13.7.1. Large numbers
    • 13.7.2. Bank numbers
    • 13.7.3. What is the counter for ...?
    • 13.7.4. How do I write or say a mathematical expression in Japanese?
  • 13.8. How do I find this Japanese word for a tattoo?
• 14. How is Japanese encoded on computers?
  • 14.1. What is JIS coding?
    • 14.1.1. What is ISO 2022 JP?
    • 14.1.2. What is Shift-JIS?
    • 14.1.3. What is EUC?
  • 14.2. What is Unicode?
    • 14.2.1. What is UTF-8?
• 15. Glossary

Copyright (c) 1994-2006 Ben Bullock

Questions? Corrections? Comments? Contact: benkasminbullock@gmail.com