oh wow, wasn’t aware of this neat trick.
Thanks for the tip 
1 Like
For example sentences I also like https://tatoeba.org/ - it has a lot of examples and translations into different languages, which can sometimes help with nuances.
1 Like
@LivingDead As always, you should be exceedingly cautious of the example sentences on Jisho and any EDICT dictionary as they are part of the Tanaka Corpus which was made originally by non-natives and contains many bad, incorrect and unnatural sentences. See the warning here:
If you are looking for example sentences, ALC and the other corpora on Weblio are your best bet.
8 Likes
A few levels ago I think I started to get a pretty good sense for predicting when the first kanji in a jukugo I was learning for the first time would have its reading shortened with っ, not that I could tell you the actual rules for how this works. As in, I could guess that 決定 gets shortened but 発売 does not.
Is there a word for that like “rendaku”?
1 Like
The general linguistics term for what’s happening with the small つ is gemination.
3 Likes
Since you asked for the word, you probably want to research this more on your own, but I figure it won’t hurt to share that it most often occurs when the initial consonant of the mora/kana is the same, ie tu/te, ki/ku. Mora with u and i are highly susceptible to this since u and i are the vowels Japanese adds when breaking up consonants into parsable Japanese. There’s a linguistics word for adding vowels like this too, but I can’t remember it right now.
I don’t remember the rules for lengthening in stuff like 日本, but if I do, I’ll try to add/link them.
2 Likes
If you want the Japanese word for doubled consonants, it’s 促音（そくおん）. However, whether or not there’s a word for the phenomenon of a kana being reduced to っ? I don’t know. I found 促音化 as a possibility.
3 Likes
It is called Gemination, as mentioned above, and the phrase in Japanese is literally 長子音. In less linguistic speech you can call it 詰まる音.
1 Like
I’m aware that it’s called ‘gemination’. I figured it might interest KickSixx to have a Japanese term for it since ‘rendaku’ was in the original question. I didn’t know the expression 長子音, so thanks, I learnt something. 促音 is defined using 詰まる音 in this definition and the two are listed as synonyms in 大辞林 as well.
The translation I got from the Wisdom Dictionary was ‘a double consonant (in Japanese)’, which is why I thought it was appropriate. However, given the elaboration in the definition, it might be more accurate to say 促音 refers to the glottal stop that produces the doubling.
3 Likes
How do you differentiate 相談 and 対談? I can see 相談 as being more cooperative maybe, but the difference between ‘consultation/discussion’ and ‘conversation/talk’ doesn’t seem like much of a difference in English. Is it the seriousness of the topic or something else?
Weblio has:
相談：問題の解決のために話し合ったり、他人の意見を聞いたりすること。また、その話し合い。
対談：向かい合って話し合うこと。また、ある事柄について二人で話し合うこと。対話。
It sounds like 相談 is specifically about seeking and discussing views/opinions towards solving a problem.
Whereas 対談 would be more like discussion between two sides, or about a topic.
4 Likes
Consultation implies that one person has more knowledge than the other and is possibly seeking advice. I mixed them up once in conversation and got corrected.
4 Likes
In my experience so far, 相談 is usually used when getting advice is involved. I guess that’s already covered by what’s been said, but I figured I’d give a semi-concrete example of what I tend to hear.
3 Likes
Hi! I was wondering which one would be the best to answer in an official form at the section “国籍”
- フランス人
-フランス国籍 - フランス
Ultimately wouldn’t make a huge difference but genuinely curious. Cheers!
I believe that’s the right way to do it. Here’s another example:
It’s from the website of the Consulate General of Japan in New York.
I know that in English and French, there’s a tendency to put an adjective in that box (like ‘French’ or “Française” – because “nationalité” is feminine), but in Japanese, it seems you just put the country name in there.
4 Likes
Many thanks for your researched answer. You’re awesome!
2 Likes
「誰そ彼と われをな問ひそ 九月の 露に濡れつつ 君待つわれそ」
Is a sentence from 君の名は。I don’t get it at all. What does the そ mean in this context?
2 Likes
It’s classical grammar (古文). (Does that still count for the “not grammar” thread since it’s not modern grammar? haha)
～な～そ is apparently a way of saying something is not allowed.
Another hint that you’re looking at classical Japanese is stuff like the spelling, for instance 問い as 問ひ
3 Likes
Thanks! I didn’t know it’s classical grammar so I just asked it here instead.
We’re reading this in the bookclub! How far along are you?
1 Like