script representation

I would like to know forum members' thoughts on writing a couple of Persian-origin words in Panjabi. These words are not particularly common in daily speech, but they have been used for hundreds of years, so are part of Panjabi vocab. which would presumably affect pronunciation. So can you tell...

In Gurmukhi the symbol ੱ is used to represent a double/geminated sound, to differentiate between (eg) know ਪਤਾ/pataa leaf ਪੱਤਾ/pattaa (gemination on the 't') BTW I believe the term is 'gemination' is correct, but I could be wrong!. If you are a Panjabi speaker I hope this will make sense...

Hello everyone! I have this big doubt about the pronunciation for this number. Is it "jū san" or "jū zō". Before today, I always thought it was the first one, but I just listened an audio file where someone pronounces "jū zō" instead. Thanks for the help! :)

Hi! Well, english is not my mother language neither, but i will try: Im writting a 'story' (yeah, classic) that includes a japanese boy character and the name here is important. Anyways, the background really doesn´t matter, but just the name itselt, that´s why i came here for help, since i...

Quick question about form when writing. Is it okay, when writing quickly, to draw the dot on top of 良 slanting slightly to the left, as in 白? (see image) I find this easier than writing it straight up and down, and think I have seen Japanese teachers write it this way as well.

"Because of the way they have been adopted into Japanese, a single kanji may be used to write one or more different words (or, in some cases, morphemes), and thus the same character may be pronounced in different ways. From the point of view of the reader, kanji are said to have one or more...

When making a SASE (返信用封筒) in Japan, as part of your address, it is customary to write: 「your name 行」 I have two questions about this: 1. Where did this custom originate? 2. Is it acceptable simply to write 「your name」(no 行) on a SASE? Of course, it's incorrect to write 「your name 様」...

Hello, I started learning Japanese a few months ago but I gave up many times because of Kanji, I didn't know how I am supposed to learn them. I know that every kanji has two different readings ( On: which is the chinese way of reading it when there are more then 2 kanjis, Kun: which is the...

I have noticed that some games that use kanji in texts include the pronunciation above the characters in kana. I am fully aware that there are homo-phonic compounds, however what exactly is the point of using kanji in the first place in such contexts if the writers feel necessary to also include...

Hi, I've heard that Chinese names can be directly pronounced in Japanese through kanji, since kanji is basically Chinese characters. I'd like to know if this Chinese name can be pronounced in Japanese: 胡 敬 為 I've done an exhaustive search on the net. Could only get translated meanings but...

I am working on kanji reference book in which I'm including on and kun readings from online sources. And I am bummed by inconsistency of the number of kun or on readings a kanji can have according to different sources. For example, the kanji 承 has: -according to jisho.org, 6 kun readings...

I have this sentence: 私たちは舟を降りて、陸に上がったんだ。 I was expecting 陸 to be read りく, but it was read おか. Is there any difference in nuance or meaning between them?

今日は、 いつ「昇る」の漢字が使われていますか。　「上る」と「登る」の使い方は「昇る」の使い方より分かりやすいと思います。 ありがとう！

Hello, I was just wondering which of the following verbs would be best to say, "Are you open tomorrow?" (refering to a shop etc..). 明日は空いていますか。 明日は開いていますか。 Thanks in advance. :)

Hey! Should they dots really be upside or downside when in katakana? When looking upon http://japanesetranslator.co.uk/your-name-in-japanese/temp/tpnPsHVnqSqQwqzbMpnSgdBKTKTTkKDqptWrhqGW/Gabriel.png the dots are on the downside. But when looking upon this...

Hello everyone! I've just started Japanese, and I'm wondering how the "double consonant" rule works. eg: I tried to write konnichi wa and I wrote "こっにち　は” I now understand that there is a hiragana letter for "n" and that is why I would not use っ　but ん. What are the consonants which are...

上の表現の使い方を知りたくて、Googleの色んな文章を探して見ましたが '～に従う'を漢字で書いた文章も、ひらがなのまま書いたのも見ました。 例を挙げるならば、 '良心に従って...' '収入が増えるにしたがって...' 漢字で書くにしろ書かないにしろ、どちでもいいですか。 もし私の日本語に変なことや間違ってることがあってら、 口語で、文章には使えない言葉があったら（もっと丁寧な表現があったら） お教え下さい。 ありがとうございます。 :)

Until I stumbled across it today, I didn't even know that there was a kanji for the honorific prefixes o- and go-. I thought it was always written in hiragana. In fact, according to the denshi jisho, it's "usually written using kana alone." When would one use the kanji rather than relying on...

when using -おわる at the end of a verb to make it "finish doing" do you write it in 終わる form as in 食べ終わって、直ぐ出かけました。 or in 終る form as in 食べ終って、直ぐ出かけました。 thanks :)

My question is if names of country's should be written in hirgana or katakana? I have 2 beginner books about japanese language, but they don't give me an answer to this question. Greetings, Tim

Hello everybody! Can anyone please transliterate the female name VALÉRIA into Japanese for me? Thanks in advance

Hi all, I'm a bit confused by the fact that I often find certain Japanese words written as both kana and kanji at different times. An example is 'anata' — written as both あなた and 貴方. Another is 'ureshii' — both うれしい and 嬉しい. Are there specific contexts that determine which one to use? Does...

Can I make a request? Can you translate my full name? Alvin Michael Sarael Thanks. I really appreciate it. I just want to know what my name would be in Japanese. If ever it's possible. Writing my name in katakana is good but it would be better if I could also write my name in kanji. Thanks...

Is there some kind of grammatical convention as to how to write words in Japanese? I mean: I sometimes see in my book, きません　でした　or 来ません　でした。 Why is it that words are sometimes written in ひらがな　and at other times in 漢字？ Feel free to direct me is those questions have been...

Hey folks, I was curious if any of you know a way I could translate some of these example sentences in this forum into kana. I'm not yet familiar with very many kanji yet and would love to know of a simple means to translate the kanji used on this forum. I know this may not be simple, knowing...

Hello, I was wondering why, when rendered into romaji, 天ぷら becomes tempura, and 新橋 becomes Shimbashi. "M" does not appear in the romaji translations of kana, so why does it appear on these examples? If anyone has any information or ideas, I would be most interested!

Hello. I see the following phrase: 食べます. I understand it reads たべます. If 食 means "to eat," then what is the role or meaning of べ ? Thank you!

Excuse my ignorance, but my question is: Is it possible to write common names in kanji? In that case: Lindsay or Jennifer how could be written? Thanks in advance!

Aoyama, You've got to demand that Japanese press stop calling キャメロン・ディアス　and ヤンキース　and write instead キャメロン・ディアズ　and ヤンキーズ, because they are outright mistakes and should be avoided.

Often, there will be a kanji word in a title of something, or the body of the text, that has a furigana reading that differs from its normal reading. If you are rendering such a thing into romaji, would you include both the normal reading AND the indicated furigana reading, or simply only the...

I think "wa" (わ) can express emotion or admiration, whereas "ha" (は) maks a topic. In the following example from this page, they seem to be mixed up (if I'm not mistaken) - and even the Rômaji sentences left to the Japanese ones show "wa" where they wrote "ha": Watashi wa nihongo ga suki desu...