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Modern Kana Usage
is the present official ''kanazukai'' (system of spelling the Japanese syllabary). Also known as , it is derived from historical usage. History As long ago as the Meiji Restoration, there had been dissatisfaction regarding the growing discrepancy between spelling and speech. On November 16, 1946, soon after World War II, the cabinet instituted the modern Japanese orthography as part of a general orthographic reform. The system was further amended in 1986. General differences There were no small kana in the pre-reform system; thus, for example, would be ambiguous between ''kiyo'' and ''kyo'' while could be either ''katsuta'' or ''katta''. The pronunciation of medial ''h''-row kana as ''w''-row kana in the pre-reform system does not extend to compound words; thus, was pronounced ''nihon'', not ''nion'' (via **''niwon''). There are a small number of counterexamples; e.g., "duck", pronounced ''ahiru'' rather than ''airu'', or , pronounced Fujiwara, despite being a compound ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kanazukai
are the orthographic rules for spelling Japanese in kana. All phonographic systems (of which kana is an example) attempt to account accurately the pronunciation in their spellings. However, pronunciation and accents change over time and phonemic distinctions are often lost. Various systems of ''kanazukai'' were introduced to deal with the disparity between the written and spoken versions of Japanese. Historical systems The former mainstream kana usage, or the '' Kyū-Kanazukai'' (, ‘old kana usage’), is based on classical texts, especially ''man'yōgana''. Created by Keichū in the early Edo period, it is also known as the ''Keichū Kanazukai''. It was the mainstream ''kanazukai'' until the ''Gendai Kanazukai'' was introduced in 1946. There were other minor systems throughout history that are now defunct: * '' Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai'': a modified ''Man'yōgana'' where /e, je/ are distinct. * ''Teika Kanazukai'': created by Fujiwara no Teika, it distinguishes between /wo, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mora (linguistics)
A mora (plural ''morae'' or ''moras''; often symbolized μ) is a basic timing unit in the phonology of some spoken languages, equal to or shorter than a syllable. For example, a short syllable such as ''ba'' consists of one mora (''monomoraic''), while a long syllable such as ''baa'' consists of two (''bimoraic''); extra-long syllables with three moras (''trimoraic'') are relatively rare. Such metrics are also referred to as syllable weight. The term comes from the Latin word for "linger, delay", which was also used to translate the Greek word χρόνος : ''chrónos'' (time) in its metrical sense. Formation The general principles for assigning moras to segments are as follows (see Hayes 1989 and Hyman 1985 for detailed discussion): # A syllable onset (the first consonant or consonants of the syllable) does not represent any mora. # The syllable nucleus represents one mora in the case of a short vowel, and two morae in the case of a long vowel or diphthong. Consonants se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kana
The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters (kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most prominent magana system being ; the two descendants of man'yōgana, (2) , and (3) . There are also , which are historical variants of the now-standard hiragana. In current usage, 'kana' can simply mean ''hiragana'' and ''katakana''. Katakana, with a few additions, are also used to write Ainu. A number of systems exist to write the Ryūkyūan languages, in particular Okinawan, in hiragana. Taiwanese kana were used in Taiwanese Hokkien as glosses (ruby text or ''furigana'') for Chinese characters in Taiwan when it was under Japanese rule. Each kana character (syllabogram) corresponds to one sound or whole syllable in the Japanese language, unlike kanji regular script, which corresponds to a meaning (logogram). Apart from the five vowels, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kagoshima Dialect
The , often referred to as the , is a group of dialects or dialect continuum of the Japanese language spoken mainly within the area of the former Ōsumi and Satsuma provinces now incorporated into the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima. It may also be collectively referred to as the Satsuma dialect ( or ), owing to both the prominence of the Satsuma Province and the region of the Satsuma Domain which spanned the former Japanese provinces of Satsuma, Ōsumi and the southwestern part of Hyūga. Although not classified as a separate language, the Satsugū dialect is commonly cited for its mutual unintelligibility to even its neighboring Kyūshū variants. It shares over three-quarters of the Standard Japanese vocabulary corpus and some areal features of Kyūshū. Distribution and subdialects The boundaries of the Satsugū dialect are traditionally defined as the former region controlled by the Satsuma Domain, which primarily encompassed the main portion of the Kagoshima ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tosa Dialect
The Tosa dialect (Japanese: 土佐弁 ''tosa-ben'') is a Japanese Shikoku dialect spoken in central and eastern Kochi Prefecture (former Tosa Province), including Kochi City. The dialect of the Western region of Kochi Prefecture is called the Hata dialect (Japanese: 幡多弁 ''hata-ben'') and is drastically different from the Central and Eastern dialect. Classification Shikoku dialects are divided into Western (Tokushima, Kagawa and Ehime), Southern (Kochi), and also occasionally Southwest (western Kochi and southern Ehime). The Tosa dialect exists in a somewhat unique position due to being historically isolated from other prefectures because of the Shikoku Mountains. Kochi Prefecture dialects are broadly divided into Western and Eastern-Central. * Western dialect - Shimanto (city), Tosashimizu, Sukumo, Otsuki, Mihara, Kuroshio (excluding the former town of Saga), Shimanto (town) (excluding the former town of Kubokawa), Yusuhara. Possesses a Tokyo standard pitch acc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Okinawan Japanese
is the Japanese language as spoken by the people of Okinawa Islands. Okinawan Japanese's accents and words are influenced by the traditional Okinawan and Kunigami languages. Okinawan Japanese has some loanwords from American English due to the United States administration after the Battle of Okinawa. Okinawan Japanese is a Japanese dialect (), unlike the Northern Ryukyuan Okinawan and Kunigami languages (which are, nevertheless, also officially considered as "Japanese" dialects in Japan). History The Ryukyuan languages were once widely spoken throughout the Ryukyu Islands, but saw a decline in speakers as a result of assimilation policies during much of pre-WW2 Japan. This event caused the Ryukyuan people to experience a language shift towards Japanese. In the Okinawa Islands specifically, many learners of Japanese spoke it with a substrate from the Okinawan languages, causing a distinct variety of Standard Japanese to form, known as Okinawan Japanese. Differences ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tōhoku Dialect
The , commonly called 東北弁 ''Tōhoku-ben'', is a group of the Japanese dialects spoken in the Tōhoku region, the northeastern region of Honshū. Toward the northern part of Honshū, the Tōhoku dialect can differ so dramatically from standard Japanese that it is sometimes rendered with subtitles in the nationwide media and it has been treated as the typical rural accent in Japanese popular culture. Phonetics A notable linguistic feature of the Tōhoku dialect is its neutralization of the high vowels "i" and "u" (Standard and ), so that the words ''sushi'', ''susu'' ('soot'), and ''shishi'' ('lion') are rendered homophonous, where they would have been distinct in other dialects. In light of this, Tōhoku dialect is sometimes referred to as ''Zūzū-ben''. The vowels tend to be neutralized to in Northern Tohoku dialect and in Southern Tohoku dialect. In addition, all unvoiced stops become voiced intervocalically, rendering the pronunciation of the word ''kato'' ('trained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Dialects
The dialects of the Japanese language fall into two primary clades, Eastern (including Tokyo) and Western (including Kyoto), with the dialects of Kyushu and Hachijō Island often distinguished as additional branches, the latter perhaps the most divergent of all. The Ryukyuan languages of Okinawa Prefecture and the southern islands of Kagoshima Prefecture form a separate branch of the Japonic family, and are not Japanese dialects, although they are sometimes referred to as such. History Regional variants of Japanese have been confirmed since the Old Japanese era. The '' Man'yōshū'', the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry, includes poems written in dialects of the capital (Nara) and eastern Japan, but other dialects were not recorded. The recorded features of eastern dialects were rarely inherited by modern dialects, except for a few language islands such as Hachijo Island. In the Early Middle Japanese era, there were only vague records such as "rural dialects ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yotsugana
are a set of four specific kana, じ, ぢ, ず, づ (in the Nihon-shiki romanization system: ''zi'', ''di'', ''zu'', ''du''), used in the Japanese writing system. They historically represented four distinct voiced morae (syllables) in the Japanese language. However, most dialects, such as Standard Japanese-speakers, have undergone mergers and now pronounce two sounds. Modern sound usage in various dialects Most of the far northern dialects (Tōhoku dialects and Hokkaidō) and far southern dialects (notably Okinawan Japanese) and the Ryukyuan languages (the other Japonic languages) have also mostly merged the four sounds to one sound. However, a few dialects, mainly around Shikoku and Kyushu in the southwest, still distinguish three or even all four sounds. In the current Tokyo dialect, the base of the modern standard language, as well as in the widely spoken Kansai dialect, only two sounds are distinguished, as is represented in the Hepburn (''ji'', ''ji'', ''zu'', ''zu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yotsugana
are a set of four specific kana, じ, ぢ, ず, づ (in the Nihon-shiki romanization system: ''zi'', ''di'', ''zu'', ''du''), used in the Japanese writing system. They historically represented four distinct voiced morae (syllables) in the Japanese language. However, most dialects, such as Standard Japanese-speakers, have undergone mergers and now pronounce two sounds. Modern sound usage in various dialects Most of the far northern dialects (Tōhoku dialects and Hokkaidō) and far southern dialects (notably Okinawan Japanese) and the Ryukyuan languages (the other Japonic languages) have also mostly merged the four sounds to one sound. However, a few dialects, mainly around Shikoku and Kyushu in the southwest, still distinguish three or even all four sounds. In the current Tokyo dialect, the base of the modern standard language, as well as in the widely spoken Kansai dialect, only two sounds are distinguished, as is represented in the Hepburn (''ji'', ''ji'', ''zu'', ''zu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kana
The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters (kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most prominent magana system being ; the two descendants of man'yōgana, (2) , and (3) . There are also , which are historical variants of the now-standard hiragana. In current usage, 'kana' can simply mean ''hiragana'' and ''katakana''. Katakana, with a few additions, are also used to write Ainu. A number of systems exist to write the Ryūkyūan languages, in particular Okinawan, in hiragana. Taiwanese kana were used in Taiwanese Hokkien as glosses (ruby text or ''furigana'') for Chinese characters in Taiwan when it was under Japanese rule. Each kana character (syllabogram) corresponds to one sound or whole syllable in the Japanese language, unlike kanji regular script, which corresponds to a meaning (logogram). Apart from the five vowels, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edo Era
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterized by economic growth, strict social order, isolationist foreign policies, a stable population, perpetual peace, and popular enjoyment of arts and culture. The period derives its name from Edo (now Tokyo), where on March 24, 1603, the shogunate was officially established by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period came to an end with the Meiji Restoration and the Boshin War, which restored imperial rule to Japan. Consolidation of the shogunate The Edo period or Tokugawa period is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's regional '' daimyo''. A revolution took place from the time of the Kamakura shogunate, which existed with the Tennō's court, to the T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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