Introductory lesson 004: Hiragana part 3

Hi! Welcome to MEEK SPEEK introductory lesson 004.

Let’s kick off where we left in the previous lesson and look further at Hiragana. This time we’ll be looking at U & O sounds and Sokuon, as well as a few greetings. However, we’ll return to greetings in more detail in in later lessons.

Let’s start!

Changing U sounds to O

さようなら sayonara (Good bye)

This should be a pretty famous Japanese word – one you use when saying good bye to people. When the vowel "u" comes after "o" sounds (o, ko, so, to, no, etc), it is pronounced "o." So, we say "sa yo o na ra" instead of "sa yo u na ra." When reading this in Romaji, be mindful of not translating the double o as English “oo”, as in “cook”, but rather “oh- oh”!

Have a look at the examples below:

おはよう ohayou [pronunciation; o ha yo o] (Good morning)

ありがとう arigatou [pronunciation; a ri ga to o] (Thank you)

にちようび nichiyoubi [pronunciation; ni chi yo o bi] (Sunday)

Easy enough! Let’s move onto the next example.

Sokuon/small tsu character

Japanese has "sokuon" which is composed of a consonant and a small "tsu". Sokuon is added between two characters whereby it makes the word easier to pronounce.

For example, the continuous version of matsu (wait) is supposed to be “matsute”, but to native Japanese, it is a little bit hard to say fluently, so instead we read it as “matte”. This sokuon sound is similar to "black", "cat", "red" etc. In English when you say “black cat”, it’s normal to merge the ck and c sounds so it sounds more like “blackat.” Another example is “red door” – it often sounds more like“redoor”, don’t you think? Sokuon works in a similar way. Similar to “matte” (be waiting), soukon often appears in continuous forms such as “katte” (be buying), “totte” (be taking), ”itte” (be saying/going) .

Also, in Japanese, we can use continuous tense for the custom/habit and perceptive verb such as know (“motte”) or have (“shitte”).

Pronunciation requires a bit of practice! Why don’t you practise with a friend?

Practise

Practise: Sokuon and U&O sounds

Choose the correct word and slot it into its corresponding bracket.

 Pronounce these words out loud, but be mindful of the pronunciation!

ねむって かって （×２） うって のって (nemutte) (katte) (utte) (notte)

まって(matte) とって(totte) はしって(hashitte) しって(shitte) もって(motte)

Hints … ねむる=sleep かう=buy, have ( a pet), うる=sell, のる=get on, ride まつ=wait, とる=take, pass, はしる＝run, しる=know, もつ=have

1 くるまを（ ）いる。 2 あの人を（ ）いますか？ (kuruma wo ( ) iru.) (Ano hito wo ( ) imasu ka?) I have a car. Do you know the person?

3 いまびようしつでかみを（ ）いる。 4 えきでかのじょを（ ）います。 (ima biyoushitsu de kami wo ( ) iru.) (Eki de kanojyo wo ( ) imasu.) I’m having my hair cut at the hair salon. I’m waiting for her at the station.

5 いまでんしゃに（ ）いる。 6 いぬを（ ）いる。 (ima densha ni ( ) iru.) (inu wo ( ) iru.) I’m getting on the train. I have a dog.

7 こんびにでげーむが（ ）いる。 8 まいにちじむで（ ）いる。 (konbini de game ga ( ) iru.) (mainichi gym de( ) iru.) Games are sold in the convenience store. I run at the gym every day.

9 しおを（ ）ください。 10 かれはまだ（ ）いる。 (shio wo ( ) kudasai.) (kare wa mada ( ) iru.) Could you pass me the salt? He is still sleeping.

 Fill in the right greetings in the dialogue below. Dialogue; にほんご nihongo translation Akiko : ( ), だにえる! ( ), Daniel! Good morning, Daniel! Daniel : ( ), あきこ! ( ), Akiko! Good morning, Akiko! Akiko : これ、ぷれぜんと! Kore, present! This is a present for you! Daniel : わぁ、( )! Wah, ( )! Wow, thank you! Akiko : じゃあ、またね! ( )! Jya, matane! ( )! Ok, see you! Bye bye!

Word bank: Greetings

The following words are key phrases you can use in communicating with other people in Japanese. We’ll cover more later, but these are the basics.

1 おはよう (ohayou) Good morning 2 こんにちは (konnichiwa) Good afternoon 3 こんばんは (konbanwa) Good evening 4 おやすみ・おやすみなさい (oyasumi/oyasuminasai) Good night 5 ありがとう (arigatou) Thank you 6 どういたしまして (douitashimashite) You’re welcome 7 さようなら (sayounara) Good bye 8 ごめんね・ごめんなさい (gomenne/gomennasai) I’m sorry 9 ようこそ (youkoso) Welcome

When memorizing these, please remember the pronunciation of “さようなら” or “ありがとう” - “sa yo o na ra” and “a rig a to o”, ne! The same rule is applied to other words such as “どういたしまして” and ”ようこそ”, yo!

With that said, sayounara, until next time!

Column: Ojigi

As a Japanese, I am really proud that the Japanese are broadly regarded as polite and modest people. I think our humble attitude makes people think so. One of the ways of being humble in Japan is to bow - “Ojigi”! The Japanese bow in many different scenarios; for appreciation, apology and greeting, and it’s very common.

Guidelines to polite bows:

When you bow to someone, you shouldn’t look into the other person’s eyes. It’s better to cast down your eyes as you lean forward. The angle is at most 45°but usually we only lean a little bit. (Often the angle implies how much feelings you show)

Among friends and family, you don’t have to bow so much. It’s mostly applied to people like business partners, customers (if you’re in a service industry) or strangers.

When I first moved to London, whenever I crossed the road I had a habit of bowing to the drivers who stopped for me. Only later I realized that in the UK that might be considered a little strange…. Regardless, it’s very useful in Japan, so keep it in mind if you’re traveling!

No high fives!