If かたな “刀” is simply sword in Japanese, and we called this Japanese sword Katana in English, then what is that Japanese sword name called in its own language? Couldn’t be “sword” since there are other swords, which would be called 刀 regardless if I’m not wrong.

Keep in mind there’s some considerations made for non-experts using the words, both in dictionaries and in Wanikani’s choice of words to pass. My impression from clicking around JP wikipedia and dictionaries a bit is that 刀 is mainly about swords with one sharp edge. Especially, but not necessaril…

Well that makes perfect sense, lesson of the day!

You seen those warriors from 日本？They’ve got 曲刀。曲…刀！

What we think of a katana is often also called 打刀 (うちがたな) in Japanese. The slightly shorter one also worn at the same time is called a 脇差 (わきざし), though if it’s particularly short, it’s a 短刀 (たんとう) instead. While we’re on the subject, you’re gonna come across 酒 (さけ) in the next level, which just me…

I think this is a fairly common phenomenon (at least in English, I can’t really speak for other languages) where a general term for something in a language is imported into English to mean a specific kind of that thing associated with the language in question; chai tea and naan bread come to mind as…

[image] rodan: 剣 (I think that’s a later wanikani level) is mainly about swords with two sharp edges I actually find this quite easy to remember because there‘s the expression 諸刃の剣(もろはのつるぎ), which means double-edged sword.

Honestly I just thought an English person just pointed at a Japanese sword and went “what’s that” and the Japanese person went like “Sword” so they said “katana”, and the English person thought the specific sword was called a katana instead of it being a general term. Just like that myth that when …

[image] Pep95: Just like that myth that when settler’s pointed at a kangaroo and asked what it was, the natives answered Guugu Yimithirr which meant for “I don’t know” or “I don’t understand”. (It doesn’t mean that btw.) Fun fact: in the language of the Paakantyi people (who lived along the D…

So wait, about the kanji 刀

Japanese Language

Mike_Nekoski April 20, 2021, 2:47am 7

And Yurt, the English* word I’ve most frequently seen in the “What’s the latest English word you learned thanks to WK” thread.

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So wait, about the kanji 刀

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