Welcome to Japanese! Saying words you know

[music playing] Your expert is Yuki Sasaki Caldwell, an Instructor of Japanese Language at the University of Georgia, where she also received her master of education degree in Foreign Language Education. In her more than 20 years at UGA, she has taught every Japanese language course offered and coached prize-winning students in speech contests. [music playing] Minasan, konnichiwa. Nihongo no koosu e yookoso! 'Hello everyone!' 'Welcome to this Japanese language course!' My name is Yuki Sasaki Caldwell. I have been teaching Japanese at a university for more than twenty years, and I am excited to help you learn Japanese. In fact, there are many Japanese words around us, and you may see them and hear them all the time. So, let's use words you may already know - or be curious about - to learn the sounds you'll hear and speak in Japanese. Now, the sounds of standard Japanese are really quite simple. To start with, there are only 5 distinct vowel sounds: a, i, u, e, o. These are similar to Spanish. Anyway, the sounds are very simple, and the spelling is also very regular! Ok, let's say the five vowels again: a, i, u, e, o. Notice that 'o' is a single, pure sound 'o'. This is different from English. In English, your mouth actually makes two sounds "oh-oo." In Japanese, your mouth stays in one place for each vowel. Try it: o-ha-yo-u! 'Yo-u' at the end is pronounced with a long sound 'oo' rather than 'o-u'. By the way, to get you started, I am showing you Roman letters (called 'romaji' in Japanese), divided with hyphens, to show the syllables. But I show this together with how Japanese sounds are actually written, using syllables. Most often, Japanese syllables are written in hiragana. But there also is a second way of writing Japanese syllables called katakana. The ways katakana is used is a little bit like italics in English: katakana is used to write words imported from European languages, and also for emphasis. Hiragana and katakana are called syllabaries. Each character in a syllabary represents a single syllable (like 'ka' or 'no') rather than a single sound (like 'k' or 'n'). In this lesson, and throughout the course, I will show hiragana or katakana next to the alphabet transcription called 'romaji'. We will learn to read and write hiragana in lessons 2 to 8. We will learn to read and write katakana in lessons 12 through 15. In addition to the two kana writing systems, Japanese also uses Chinese characters, known as kanji. You will learn a few simple Chinese characters at the end of this lesson. Now, Japanese syllables are also very easy, just as easy as the sounds. Each syllable uses only one of the five vowel sounds; Japanese has only about 15 consonant sounds, most of which are also familiar in English. And almost all of these consonants appear only at the front of a syllable. Let's try several place names, as a way to practice Japanese syllables: Yo-ko-ha-ma. Yo-ko-ha-ma—Japan's second largest city is Yokohama. Ka-ma-ku-ra, Ka-ma-ku-ra. Hi-ro-shi-ma, Hi-ro-shi-ma. Fu-ku-o-ka, Fu-ku-o-ka. O-ki-na-wa, O-ki-na-wa. If you see a word that appears to have two vowels in one syllable, just divide it into two syllables. For example, Ueno is the name of an area in Tokyo with a very large park. It has three syllables: U-e-no. Ueno. Similarly, the word for English 'Eigo' might look like two syllables, but it's actually three syllables: E-i-go. The initial 'e-i' is a double vowel or long vowel pronounced 'ee'. You can have syllables without a consonant. But almost all the consonants in Japanese can only appear before a vowel. The only exception is that sometimes the nasal sound 'n' or 'm' can be a syllable on its own, like Ni-ho-n-go. Nihongo. That's 'Japanese.' Listen and imitate some words with this nasal "n". Notice there's an extra beat: se-n-se-i, se-n-se-i. This "n" sound appears twice in words like ka-m-ba-n. Kamban. The "n" sound appears three times in: shi-n-ka-n-se-n. Shinkansen. So, let's say Japanese syllables in the order they appear in Japanese: a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, sa, shi, su, se, so, Japanese: a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, sa, shi, su, se, so, ta, chi, tsu, te, to, na, ni, nu, ne, no, ha, hi, hu, he, ho, ma, mi, mu, me, mo, ya, yu, yo, ra, ri, ru, re, ro, wa, (w)o, ma, mi, mu, me, mo, ya, yu, yo, ra, ri, ru, re, ro, wa, (w)o, n (m). There are only two Japanese consonants that are quite different from English. One of these is a sound often written with "f," which is actually far more gentle in Japanese, and sometimes written with an 'h' instead of an 'f'. It's like gently blowing out a candle: Fu. Fu. Fu. Fu. Fuji, fuji. Futon, futon. Just pucker your lips, and gently blow: Fukushima, Fukushima. Fukuoka, Fukuoka. The other consonant that's different in Japanese is written "R" or "L," but this consonant is also a far more gentle and "liquid" sound in Japanese. To say a word like ramen, you put your tongue just briefly at the roof of your mouth, like a soft "d," then quickly bring your tongue back down. Raamen, raamen. In fact, this sound written with "R" is actually somewhere between English "L" and "D." For example, the Toyota Corolla in Japanese actually has this same consonant twice: ka-roo-ra. Ka-roo-ra. The actual sound could have been written "Toyota Karoora" or "Toyota Kaloola"— it was simply clever marketing to put the English word "roll" into the global brand name for a car. Let's practice this "r" sound with: Nara. Nara. That's Japan's first capital city. Sayonara, sayonara. Some people might tell you to use 'sayonara' only for limited occasions. They may argue this is how to say "farewell forever," although I have personally used it every day at school when I was growing up to the teachers, adult neighbors, and so on. And I still use it on occasion to this day. Japanese has also doubled vowels and doubled consonants. That means the syllable is twice as long. For example, 'sayonara' is the shortened and more everyday form the original, more formal 'sayounara'. The literal meaning of 'sayounara' is 'if that's the way it is', so it's like saying 'well then, I'm leaving'. Because Japanese only has five vowels, there are vowel sounds from Chinese and from English that are represented with doubled vowels in Japanese. For example, 'tofu' is a food word that traveled from China to Japan and has a long "o." Instead of "tofu," it's "toufu." Toufu. Similarly, the word "sudoku" in English has three syllables. But in Japanese, there's a double vowel, so it's four syllables: suudoku, suudoku. That's because the "suu" reading of the character originally came from China. 'Toukyou' has two doubled vowel sounds, so it's a total of four syllables. The pronunciation of 'Toukyou' is based on two Chinese characters meaning 'east capital'. Toukyou. Toukyou. The same doubled vowel for 'capital' had already been used for a thousand years in Kyouto. Kyouto. Kyouto. That name means 'capital city' with 'kyou' representing where the emperors lived. 'Kyou' has a double vowel, while the part 'to' has the short "o." Kyouto. Kyouto. Oosaka, Oosaka - Japan's third largest city means 'big hill'. And the Chinese reading for 'big' is a double vowel 'oo." Oosaka. Oosaka. Japanese also uses double vowels for many words from English. For example, the American word 'elevator' becomes 'erebeetaa'. Erebeetaa. Notice that these double vowels are most often used to handle English words that have long vowels or a vowel combination, such as vowels followed by the letter 'r': esukareetaa. Esukareetaa. Coffee becomes koohii. Koohii. An apartment is called apaato. Apaato. A department store is depaato. Depaato. Notice that Japanese also adds an extra syllable for English sounds that end with a consonant. In fact, an English word that ends with two consonants will end with two extra syllables in Japanese. For example, the English word 'post' becomes a three-syllable word in Japanese: posuto. Posuto. That's a post box or mailbox. This adding of extra syllables is one reason that foreign words are also often truncated. Toiretto has been shortened to toire. Toire. Animeeshon is shortened to anime. Anime. Konbiniensu sutoa is shortened to konbini. Konbini. Eaa kondishonaa is eakon. Eakon. Rimooto kontorooru is rimokon. Rimokon. Sumaatofon is shortened to sumaho. Sumaho. Let's try a couple: 'terebi' is short for ... 'television'. 'Pokemon' is short for 'poketto monsutaa'. In addition to doubled vowels, Japanese also has doubled consonants, like in Sapporo, Sapporo. Hokkaidou, Hokkaidou. Listen to how there is a little pause with the double consonant: Sapporo, Sapporo. Hokkaidou, Hokkaidou. Double consonants are also used for words from English, like "poketto." Poketto. Often these are English words with vowels not found in Japanese. For example, the game of sakkaa has a little pause on the double "kk" - sakkaa. Sakkaa. The more you get a feel for Japanese pronunciation, the more you will be able to understand hundreds of words imported from English. Words for eating out, like: resutoran, resutoran; teeburu, teeburu; oodaa, oodaa; biiru, biiru; hanbaagaa, hanbaagaa. Technology words, like: kamera, kamera; compyuutaa, compyuutaa; erekutoronikusu, erekutoronikusu Travel words, like: hoteru, hoteru, takushii, takushii; gasoriin, gasoriin; chiketo, chiketo. Activities, like: tenisu, tenisu gorufu, gorufu; haikingu, haikingu; dansu, dansu. Words about work, such as: ofisu ofisu; karendaa, karendaa; purojekuto, purojekuto; kyaria, kyaria; kurieitibu, kurieitibu. You will also find hundreds of other words from English that take on a more specific meaning in Japanese. For example, 'Birudingu' - now shortened to biru. Biru. This refers only to a modern, steel-and-concrete type building, and typically a tall building. Sometimes English words refashioned in Japan have made their way back into English, like: aidoru, aidoru; kosupure, kosupure. The English word 'emoji' might seem to have something to do with 'emotions', but it actually started in Japan from emoji. Emoji. 'E' means 'picture' or 'drawing.' 'Moji' means 'letter', 'character,' or 'writing.' And there are many other old and new examples of English-sounding words that are "made in Japan." For example, sarariiman. Sarariiman. A male office worker. The rearview mirror in a car or 'torraku' is called "bakku miraa." Bakku miraa. During summer, simpler business clothes worn to the office to stay cool are called kooru bijinesu. Kooru bijinesu. Toukyou Sukaitsurii. Toukyou Sukaitsurii is Japan's tallest structure—and the tallest tower in the world! [sound effect] Now, beyond the vowels and consonants, there is an additional reason why English words sound so different in Japanese (and vice versa). This is because English is a language with stress accent. Think of the English words REC-ord and re-CORD. By contrast, in Japanese, each syllable gets an even amount of stress. Listen to the sounds—just the sounds—of this famous haiku from Basho Matsuo: Furuike ya, Kawazu tobikomu, Mizu no oto. Reading the English translation of haiku, there would be stress on some syllables, like "SOUND of the WA-ter." But in Japanese, it's 'mizu no oto.' Each syllable gets the same amount of stress. What Japanese does have is something called pitch accent. Now, for the most part, this is not something you need to memorize separately, unlike the tone system of Chinese. For the most part, just being aware that pitch is something to listen for can be enough as you learn how to say a new word. It's mainly the words you already know where pitch deserves some extra attention. For example, listen to this familiar word, pronounced in Japanese: sushi. Listen how I say 'sushi' in Japanese: sushi. Both syllables have the same length and strength. The only difference is 'su' is pronounced with low accent and 'shi' with high pitch. Sushi. Sushi. The word 'kimono' also has the same pitch pattern of low to high. Kimono. Kimino means 'wear thing'. 'Kimono' has the same pitch pattern as 'sushi'. And for longer words with this pattern, the high pitch that starts in the second syllable continues to the end. Kimono. The word 'manga' also has the same low-high pitch pattern. Manga. This word consists of 3 syllables, where the second sound 'n' makes up an entire sound unit. Manga. Tsunami. English puts stress on the middle syllable. But in Japanese, the pitch accent is the same for the second and third syllables: tsu-na-mi. Tsunami. Three other Japanese words very familiar in English also sounds different in Japanese. Again, this is the low-high pitch pattern, which for longer words is also called the "flat" pattern: samurai, samurai, samurai; karaoke, karaoke, karaoke; bonsai, bonsai. samurai; karaoke, karaoke, karaoke; bonsai, bonsai. Let's pitch by learning to say some things you like from Japan. Notice that you don't typically need the word "I" in order to say 'I like something'. For example, to say "I like sushi": You start with the word "sushi", attach the grammar particle "ga," then say "suki desu." Sushi ga suki desu. Ga suki desu. Notice the pitch: Sushi ga suki desu. So, how do you say, 'I like karaoke'? Karaoke ga suki desu. Similarly, to ask a question, you don't need the word "you" to say, 'Do you like something?' Just a rising intonation and the sound 'ka' at the end indicate that this sentence is a question. You may use wa or ga after sushi in the question. Sushi wa suki desu ka? And how do you ask, 'Do you like manga?' Manga wa suki desu ka? You can answer simply by saying 'hai' or 'iie'. You can also express your interest by using this pattern: [Noun] ni kyoumi ga arimasu. If you want to say, 'I'm interested in Japan', you say: Nihon ni kyoumi ga arimasu. As we start using words like 'arimasu' and 'desu', I also want to point out that sometimes a vowel is virtually silent. Typically, this kind of unvoiced vowel happens to the "u" sound in syllables at the end of a verb, like 'arimasu' or 'desu'. The final "u" is virtually silent in typical speech, even though the consonant for the syllable is still there. Another place the "u" vowel is unvoiced is when "u" is between two consonants that are also unvoiced. That's why "suki" is pronounced with an unvoiced "u." You can put your hand on your throat to feel the difference. The "s" is unvoiced before the "u." And the "k" is unvoiced after the "u." No vibration, no voicing in your throat. So, the "u" vowel in between is also unvoiced. The syllable with the unvoiced vowel still gets a beat, it's just the vowel is unvoiced: suki desu. Suki desu. So, some syllables end up having an unvoiced vowel. OK, let's look at a second type of pitch accent: We looked at words with a low-high pattern. Now let's turn to some words that have a high-low pitch pattern. Here's a familiar word in English, but in Japanese it has four syllables: juudou. Juudou. Same pitch for the traditional martial art of fighting with bamboo sword, which is: kendou. Kendou. The art of traditional calligraphy is: shodou. All of these have high-low pitch accent. For example, 'Kendou ni kyoumi ga arimasu.' Another familiar word in the same pattern going from high to low is: ninja. 'Ninja' literally means a 'stealthy person.' This word consists of 3 syllables, where the second sound 'n' makes up an entire sound unit. Ninja, ninja. Anime. What would you say if I asked you this question? Anime ni kyoumi ga arimasu ka? 'Hai' or 'iie'? Now, let's meet the third pitch pattern, with pitch low at the start, rising in the middle, and then low again at the end: Origami. 'Origami' means 'folding paper' or 'paper for folding'. 'Ri' was pronounced high, but the other sounds were lower, with a low-high-low pattern. Origami, origami. Ikebana, "flower arrangement." Ikebana. How about the question, "Are you interested in origami?' Origami ni kyoomi wa arimasu ka? Now, let's talk some more about the writing system. The 'kanji' are the Chinese characters. Some are simple pictograms or ideograms that show their meaning quite directly: For example, here are the characters for 1, 2, and 3. Ichi, ni, san. The Chinese characters are also fun to learn. For formal practice, we write them inside a box. This helps you write with correct spacing. As we'll see in later lessons, the stroke order for each character is important to getting the shape right. Here, pay attention to the length of the lines. Chinese characters were Japan's first writing system. In fact, both hiragana and katakana were created based on some of the Chinese characters more than a thousand years ago. The difference is that the gentle curves of hiragana were created as flowing approximations of entire characters. The sharper, more angular look of katakana, by contrast, were created by taking pieces of a Chinese character. [sound effect] To finish this lesson, I will teach you the numbers 1 through 10 in Japanese, showing them written in both hiragana and kanji. Please repeat after me. Ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyuu, juu. Ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyuu, juu. A few of these numbers have an alternate variant, which will be introduced later. Try saying this sequence over and over until you can say it with ease. Ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyuu, juu. Ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyuu, juu. We'll look more closely at Japanese characters beginning in lesson 2. Well then, until next time! Sore de wa, mata!