Monday, December 5, 2011

Composition 3 二十年後のわたし

北京は一番すきなまちですから、二十年後のわたしは北京にいます。北京の天気がとてもすきでです。いちねんであきはいちばんきれいなきせつです。北京のりょうりはとてもおいしいです。すしてひとはしんせつです。

二十年後のわたしはちゅうごくのけいざいのけんきゅうしゃです。まいにちしごとはいそがしいですが、とてもたのしいです。


二十年後のわたしはかぞくが三人います。おっととこどもがふたりいます。おとこのこひとりとおんなのこひとりです。いぬもいっびきいます。ひろいうちがあります。そしてうちのまえにきれいなにわがあります。いちねんににかいりょこうへいきたいです。そして 故郷へりょうしんとおとうとにあいによくかえりたいます。


二十年後のわたしはしわせなせいかつが ほしいです!





Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Katakana Analysis final

Two typical examples of kanakana usage
(1)  Onomatopoeia
Dog——ワンワン     Cat――ニヤーニヤー       Frog――ケロケロ
Pig――ブーブー     Bird――ピッピッピッ      Duck――ガーガー
Bee――ブーンブーン
(2) Loan Words
カレーライス スポツ、ダンス、レストラン、バス




The following are some special katakana usage examples I find.
1. Though loan words from ancient Chinese are usually written in kanji. For loanwords from modern Chinese, katakana is used.
Japanese
Rōmaji
Meaning
Kanji
Romanization
Source language
マージャン mājan mahjong 麻將 májiàng Mandarin
ウーロン茶 ūroncha Oolong tea 烏龍茶 wūlóngchá
チャーハン chāhan fried rice 炒飯 chǎofàn
チャーシュー chāshū barbecued pork 叉焼 cha siu Cantonese
シューマイ shūmai a form of dim sum 焼売 siu maai

I think the reason why this is the case is that the modern Chinese words cannot be well or correctly understood by Japanese people. The kanji Japanese people are using almost keeping their original meaning in ancient Chinese, while we Chinese add a lot of new meanings to Chinese characters. Even though some words are written in the same way, we have different understanding with Japanese. A simple example, "勉强" as kanji in Japanese it means study, however in Chinese it means “force somebody to do something he'/she does not want to do”; Totally different meanings! Given there is no advantage of understanding for use kanji in these loanwords, I think katakana is more convenient for reading. ^^ 

2. Katakana is also used for emphasis, especially on signs, advertisements, and hoardings. For example, it is common to see ココ ("here"), ゴミ ("trash"), or メガネ ("glasses").
Words the writer wishes to emphasize in a sentence are also sometimes written in katakana, mirroring the European usage of italics.

Actually I fail to fully understand when katakana words can be used for emphasis for Japanese people. Like posted メガネ  on glasses to remind people do not run into it. I think a big word written in red or other shining colors is striking enough to attract people's attention.
However, I can understand if it is in a long paragraph, katakana words are special compared with other words. Just like same capital words in Japanese. BTW, there is no similar situation in Chinese, though there are simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese, I do not think transforming from these two kinds of Chinese has such function.

3. ヒフ科("dermatology"). 
Some difficult-to-read kanji are written with katakana. For this example, the kanji is "皮膚科". The second kanji is rather complicated and difficult to read. Thus this word is commonly written as 皮フ科 or ヒフ科, mixing kanji and katakana.

I think the reason why katakana has such function is that katakana is a kind of phonetic symbol. For people who know all the katakana, they can read it, and then get the meaning. However, kanji does not have that characteristic. That’s why Chinese is so difficult even for Chinese people.

katakana literary works final

(1)

    祭りの日  On the day of festival 
    花火の姿    Beautiful fireworks there is
    ピカピカだ  Dazzling and shining



(2)


     あの子の目   The man's eyes
     キラキラ光る Glimmering and twinkling
     美しい       How breathtaking


(3)

   

    夏の晩   Summer night
    大雨が降る A hammering rain pouring and
    ガザカザだ Swishing



For the first three はいく, カタカナ is used as onomatopoeic words.

(4)



   誰かの手   Whose hand
   私をなでる Is stroking me gently
   うちのハハ Ah, my dear papa




Here ハハ is used for emphasis.I want to express surprise and happy when I find it turns to be my father who is stoking me.

(5)


   ココに停め!Stop here 
   赤い字で書く Says the red warning sign
   ポスターに    On a poster




In this case, ココ is also used for emphasis. Stop! Do not go any further.
ポスタ is a loan word, which comes from the English word "poster".

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

katakana literary works draft

1.祭りの日
    花火の姿
    ピカピカだ

2.あの子の目
キラキラ光る
美しい

3.夏の晩
    大雨が降る
ガザカザだ

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Composition 2

やまださんへ、
おけんきですか。わたしはチェンユーです。ちゅうぐくじんです。コロンビアだいがくのだいがくいんせいです。わたしのせんもんはとうけいがくです。いまをたしはにほんごがあまりわかりませんから、ことしのしちがつににほんへいきます。そしてにほんごをべんきょうします。だいがくのせんかつはいそがしいですが、おもしろいです。スボーツがとてもすきですが、テニスがにがてです。わたしはにほんのりょうりがとてもすきです。しちがつよっかににほんにとうちゃくします。よろしくおねがいします。

Monday, October 24, 2011

Katakana Analysis Draft

The following are several examples I find.
1. Though loan words from ancient Chinese are usually written in kanji. For loanwords from modern Chinese, katakana is used.
Japanese
Rōmaji
Meaning
Kanji
Romanization
Source language
マージャン
mājan
麻將
májiàng
ウーロン茶
ūroncha
Oolong tea
烏龍茶
wūlóngchá
チャーハン
chāhan
炒飯
chǎofàn
チャーシュー
chāshū
barbecued pork
叉焼
シューマイ
shūmai
a form of dim sum
焼売
siu maai

I think the reason why this is the case is that the modern Chinese words can not be well or correctly understood  by Japanese people. The kanji Japanese people are using almost keeping their original meaning in ancient Chinese, while we Chinese add a lot of new meanings to Chinese characters. Even though some words are written in the same way, we have different understanding with Japanese. A simple example, "勉强" as kanji in Japanese it means study, however in Chinese it means “force somebody to do something he'/she does not want to do”; totally different meanings! Given there is no advantage of understanding for use kanji in these loanwords, I think katakana is more convenient for reading.^^ 

2. Katakana are also used for emphasis, especially on signs, advertisements, and hoardings. For example, it is common to see ココ ("here"), ゴミ ("trash"), or メガネ ("glasses").
Words the writer wishes to emphasize in a sentence are also sometimes written in katakana, mirroring the European usage of itlics.

3. ヒフ科("dermatology"). 
Some difficult-to-read kanji are written with katakana. For this example, the kanji is "皮膚科". The second kanji is rather complicated and difficult to read. Thus this word is commonly written as 皮フ科 or ヒフ科, mixing kanji and katakana.

    Monday, October 10, 2011

    萌日

    きょう は じゅうがつとおか です。
    In Kanji it is 十月十日.
    There is a Kanji 萌. Which seems like a combination of the four Kanjis.
    Actually, there is a special meaning of 萌 in Japanese culture, about which
    we had a interesting discussion with 松本先生 と Martin さん.
    We were told that 萌 means weird かわい.
    Here I give some examples of 萌の物。
    宅男 like this kind of things.







    Recently in China, there is a popular Japanese dog. It is a symbol of 萌 in China. Extremely cute!





    For Martin さん:The original meaning of 萌(芽) in Chinese is
    A small protuberance on a stem or branch, sometimes enclosed in protective scales and containing an undeveloped shoot, leaf, or flower.