Welcome to the room of interesting trivia! vol.7

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Welcome to the room of interesting trivia!

Today’s theme is ギザギザ[giza giza](in Katakana, ぎざぎざ in Hiragana).

It is classified as Gitaigo (mimetic word) and it means jagged.

What do you think the origin of the Gitaigo is historically?

The answer is “gather[ギャザー]” in English.
For example “gathered” skirt is made by cloth folded.

One day when Japanese coins came to be made, there was a desire to put groove edge on the coins. But it was hard to explain it because there was no word for it. So, it is said that using the word, ギャザー, people gradually said the condition which is jagged as “ギャザ” then it transformed to “ギザギザ[giza giza]”

Today’s Yojijukugo – four-character idiomatic phrase

Today’s Yojijukugo – four-character idiomatic phrase

七転八起　（しちてんはっき）
Shichiten Hakki

key words:
七[shichi] = seven
八[hachi] = eight

implications:
転[ten] -> 転ぶ[korobu] = fall -> the time when life knocks you down and you face troubles
起[ki] -> 起きる[okiru] = stand up ->
the time when you never give up and stand up to the troubles
The number eight is larger than seven. -> the frequency of standing up to the troubles
-> No matter how many times you face any trouble, you never give up and stand up to it.

usage:
Literally it means that you fall seven times and you stand up eight times.
You can say when you are facing any trouble, you never give up and
七転八起[shichiten hakki]して[shite = suru(= do) and]　you will overcome it.

Interestingly in King James version of the Bible you can find it; Proverbs 24 verse 16 tells you that “For a just man, falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.”

Do you “七転八起” suru when you are in trouble? (^^)/

similar:
七転び八起き[nanakorobi yaoki]
不撓不屈[futou fukutsu]

Welcome to the room of interesting trivia! vol.6

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Welcome to the room of interesting trivia!

Today’s theme is 聴く[kiku].

Each Kanji has each meaning and each part of each kanji has each meaning as well.

How about this kanji, 聞く[kiku]?

The pronunciation is the same and the meaning is similar, but not exactly the same.

What is the difference between 聴く[kiku] and 聞く[kiku]?

Then can you find 耳[mimi] inside the kanji, 聞く?
So, 聞く is to hear something/sound using just ears.

On the other hand, 聴く[kiku]’s 聴 consists of at least 3 parts such as 耳 and 心.

耳[mimi] means ear(s) and 心[kokoro] means mind/spirit/heart.
One more part symbolizes 目[me (it is not [mi:] but [me])] which means eye(s).

So, how can you imagine this kanji which is a combination of 耳[mimi],目[me] and 心[kokoro]?

It is the ability to use ears, eyes and heart or mind or spirit.
It is to listen to something. It is to listen attentively, not just hear the sound naturally.

The attitude/behavior for 聴く is different from that for 聞く.

Like the difference between “hear” and “listen” in English,
the two Kanji are different and each one has each different meaning and implication.

So, when you listen to something such as music, using your ears, eyes, and mind/spirit/heart,
the Kanji would be 聴([き[ki]/チョウ[cho]).

For example, 音楽を聴く [ongaku wo kiku]as a sentence. It means to listen to the music.
When you use the Kanji for people, then you should listen to people carefully with your ears, eyes and mind/spirit/heart.

There are some combinations of kanji using 聴.
ex)傾聴[kei-cho] = listening

Welcome to the room of interesting trivia! vol.5

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Welcome to the room of interesting trivia!

Today’s theme is Katakana from loan words.

Katakana is useful for loan words we adopted from various languages.
Katakana is a Japanese character expression mainly for sound expressions and the pronunciations of loan words.

Old Japanese people have adopted various kinds of words and phrases from many languages.
They have learned them and hoped to use them as loan words from other people across the world. They were eager to learn and study various new words and phrases from diverse group of people and diverse culture.
It’s a Japanese history.

So, mostly those people who felt the need to study new things which they didn’t know were very hard workers, discovering their future. They dedicated themselves to develop Japanese people, society, nation and culture, although some people felt some threats from the unknown world.

For instance, medical terms;
various kinds of medical terms were imported by Dutch in Edo period.
Philipp Franz von Siebold came in Japan for a doctor of Dutch Mercantile establishment(オランダ商館) located at Nagasaki(長崎), Hirado(平戸) in 1823. He taught and conveyed many medical terms and skills to Japanese people. He was originally German.

Therefore, those people who studied them listened to each pronunciation of the medical terms and tried to adopt them into their Katakana.

However, it was often too hard to listen to and express them in their language.
It is still common for most people who have grown up in a different environment to have their own ears for the sounds; which means a different group of people tend to hear or listen to the same words or phrases in a different way.

So, there are many loan words which were adopted as a different sound or pronunciation in Katakana, still left and used.

ex.)
karte [in German] — カルテ [karute] ; medical record [in English]
morphine [mrfin:in Dutch] — モルヒネ [moruhine] ; morphine [mɔːrfiːn :in English]
allergie [in German] — アレルギー [arerugi:] ; allergy [in English]

Not only medical world,
old Japanese people adopted and studied various kinds of words and phrases from the world.

Today’s Word

>>>Today’s Word>>>

Let’s learn one word from today so that you can expand your vocabulary!

Today’s word is ごはん(ご飯)[gohan]

ご[go*1] is a prefix*2 for the following noun.

飯 means rice.

Are you interested in why the kanji “飯” means rice?

Each Kanji has each meaning.

(I always tell learners of Japanese about it.)

Trivia:
The kanji is composed of two parts;
the left part of the kanji means to eat and
the right part “反[tan]” is a unit of an area.

反[tan] was originally used for an area of rice field.

Therefore, the kanji 飯 means rice out of the historical background.

Do you know most Japanese people eat rice every day even if we have already adopted
various kinds of Western culture?

Rice is very important for us and is our staple diet.

(I eat rice every day even in America..)

Usage:
So, when we ask someone, “did you eat ‘gohan’?,”
the ‘gohan’ implies and means not rice but a meal.

In Japanese we would ask you, “(anata-wa*3) gohan (wo*4) tabemashitaka/tabeta*5?”

*1)the pronunciation is not go[gou] in English but [go] in Japanese.
*2)美化語[Bikago] – more refined language by prefixing “O” or “Go”
*3)you can omit the word in a casual conversation. it means “you”.
*4)you can omit the word in a casual conversation.
*5)’tabeta’ is a casual form of the past tense of “taberu= eat” while ‘tabemashita’ is a polite form of the past tense of “taberu= eat”. If you add “ka” then it turns to be a question. However, in a casual way, you can omit “ka” with a tone of a question.

Welcome to the room of interesting trivia! vol.4

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Welcome to the room of interesting trivia!

Today’s theme is Kuki wo yomenai hito – 空気を読めない人.

Have you met such a “kuki wo yomenai hito”?
Then did you feel like saying, “kuki wo yome!*”?

空気[ku:ki] = air
読めない[yomenai] = cannot read
人[hito] = human, person

So, it is a human/person who cannot read the air.
What is it?
In English it will fit into that you cannot read between the lines.
It implies that you cannot feel out the situation.

The 空気[ku:ki] implies not just the air but the situation.
So, we say it is 場の空気 [bano ku:ki] as well.

In fact, we have a Kanyoku(idiom) using the word.
場の空気を読む.

場[ba] = situation
読む[yomu] = read but it implies 意識する[ishikisuru] = be conscious about/concern about/be aware of/sense.

It is called ‘social intelligence’ in psychology or what you call EQ or EI.

In Japan, first, this phrase, “Kuki(wo) Yomenai” spread among young people.
Then it was reported as “KY” in the media in 2007 and was even about to be awarded the grand prize in the annual new words and buzzwords-of-the-year contest. It actually became one of the most popular words from 2007 to 2008.
Is it too old to use it then?

We can still understand this phrase and use it sometimes as long as you find such a person even if some people might say it is already a dead word..
So, are you KY instead of high EQ or high EI?
* kuki (wo) yome! –> informal, tone of command: “yome” is an informal form of yominasai; Feel out the situation!
():you can omit it in a conversation.

Today’s Word

>>>Today’s Word>>>

Let’s learn one word from today so that you can expand your vocabulary!

Today’s word is パン/ぱん[pan]!

We adopted various kinds of words into Japanese as loan words and usually describe them in Katakana replacing the pronunciation/sound with Katakana character.

パン is the Katakana base on the pronunciation while ぱん is the Hiragana character.
You can describe the loan word in both ways but the Katakana is mainly used.

What’s the meaning?

It’s bread.

Trivia:
Bread is common and almost everywhere in the world.
It’s interesting to know some other languages have the same word or similar pronunciation/sound such as pan or pain which means the same meaning, bread.
Japanese パン[pan] was originally brought by Portuguese missionaries who came in Japan in 1540s.

Usage:
There are many kinds of Japanese パン.
These are the list of the Katakana, the pronunciation/sound, and the meaning.

クリーム[kuri:m]パン[pan] – usually custard cream is stuffed in the bread
アン[an]パン[pan] – bean sweet paste is stuffed in the bread, it is originally created in Japan, so we often describe it in Hiragana, あん[an]パン[pan] or あん[an]ぱん[pan].
チーズ[chi:zu]パン[pan] – cheese is stuffed in the bread
チョコ[choko]パン[pan] – chocolate is stuffed in the bread
カレー[kare:]パン[pan] – curry is stuffed in the bread
フランス[furansu]パン[pan] – French bread
メロン[meron]パン[pan] – melon flavor sweet paste or cream is stuffed in the bread

Welcome to the room of interesting trivia! vol.3

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Welcome to the room of interesting trivia!

Today’s theme is “Emoji” – 絵文字.

Do you think a symbol on a map called “Chizu Kigou” (地図記号) is common in the world?
The answer is no. It’s because there are unique/particular places in different circumstances. In Japan, Geospatial Information Authority of Japan(国土地理院 – Kokudochiriin) decides Chizu Kigou (a symbol on a map). They occasionally advertise for ideas in public. In particular, the symbol of Japanese “Onsen” (温泉) is a unique and popular symbol in the world. Japanese onsen is hot spring, mostly natural hot spring in Japan. We have many Onsen(natural hot spring).

How about “Emoji” (絵文字)?

Do you know Emoji is originated in Japan?
E (絵) means picture and moji (文字) means character. So, Emoji means a character made by a picture. Japan has had Emoji culture since old times. For instance, it is said in 江戸時代(Edo jidai)- Edo period(1603-1868) Emoji has been already used in engravings.

Now, Emoji has spread in the world by various kinds of technology, such as mobile phones. In Japanese Keitai denwa (携帯 電話 – mobile phone), we have had already adopted various kinds of Emoji as a character in the early stage and Japanese people have used it among Japanese mobile phones. At the beginning, it was limited by the model of the mobile phones.

Long afterwards, Google was very impressed by the Emoji culture and adopted Japanese Emoji to Unicode 6.0 as a common character in the world. In fact Emoji is recognized as a Japanese culture.

Now, you can find various interesting or cute emoji here and there. Today I show you some examples of Japanese Chizu Kigou including Onsen. At least, the symbol of Onsen is adopted in mobile phones! – to be continued next time..

Onsen

Jinjya (shrine)

Otera (temple)

Byouin (hospital)

Keisatsusho (police office)

Koujou (factory)

Today’s Kanyoku – idiom

Today’s Kanyoku – idiom
【Related with BODY – 体 (からだ) [Karada]】

目から鱗が落ちる
Mekara Urokoga Ochiru

key words:
目[Me] – eye(s)
から[kara] – from
鱗[Uroko] – scale(s)
落ちる[Ochiru] – fall

implications:
目[Me] -> see
鱗[Uroko] -> covering -> with covering, you can’t see
落ちる[Ochiru] -> fall off
鱗が落ちる[Uroko ga Ochiru] -> scale -> without covering, you can see

* Amazingly, it is cited by the Bible, Acts 9.
“At once something like fish scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and
he was able to see again.”

usage:
When you found this connection between Kotowaza(proverbs) and the Bible,
you would be amazed. In fact Mekara Urokoga Ochiru[目から鱗が落ちる]
yodeshita[ようでした].= In fact it was like “Mekara Urokoga Ochiru”.
When you say “Mekara Urokoga Ochiru yodesu or yodeshita”, the situation implies you could now discover one amazing thing for the first time.

Welcome to the room of interesting trivia! vol.2

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Welcome to the room of interesting trivia!

Today’s theme is “Ai (愛)”.
I heard some languages had no word of ‘love’ today. Is it true?
I’ve never thought about that there was no word of ‘love’ in some languages, because I was thinking it would be common in the world..
I share our readers’ good questions and my answers this time.

Q>
I was always curious about the difference between 恋　and 愛. I guess maybe one has slightly stronger connotations than the other.

A>
Yes, 愛 is stronger than 恋(Koi). Koi could be just a romance. but you can also say 恋愛(Renai). Generally speaking, Ai implies stronger or deeper feeling or emotion. So, for example, you can say your family’s love as 家族(Kazoku) no 愛情(Aijo) or 愛(Ai) as well.

Q>
So, if you say 恋愛, how strong or weak is that?

A>
it’s just a combined noun. I guess it could be combined because some people think their Koi are very strong and not just a crush or something like that and then you can’t tell the difference between Koi and Ai well..However, you can’t say your family’s deep love as “Renai(恋愛)”. So, Renai or Koi is an emotional relationship between one person and another, not the family so to speak.
—
THANK YOU! Yes, I have a better understanding now
—
Q>
I’m not sure if there’s a better way to say “love” in English.
Sometimes I hate my mother tongue because it really makes no sense.
I guess maybe like 本当大好き。

A>
yes, you can also say 大好き. 好き = like but 大 you know, implies very much!
Yet, you know, like and love are still a little bit different.