Rahsten's Japanese Language FAQ

From Aenos:

Great information here regarding the pronunciation and alphabet. Some modifications have been made by wife who is Japanese.

The basic sounds in Japanese are based on vowels and a set of consonants in set with the vowels.

Our basic vowels are:

A = a, as in ‘father’

I = ee, as in ‘free’

U = oo, as in ‘boo’

E = ay, as in ‘day’

O = oe, as in ‘toe’

Now, the consonants we use are: K, S, T, N, H, M, Y, R, W,

Which will be like:

KA, KI, KU, KE, KO

SA, SHI, SU, SE, SO

TA, TI(CHI), TSU, TE, TO

NA, NI, NU, NE, NO

HA, HI, HU(FU), HE, HO

MA, MI, MU, ME, MO

YA, I (YI*), YU, E (YE*), YO

RA, RI, RU, RE, RO

WA, I (WI*), U (WU*), E (WE*), WO

In Japanese characters, The basic vowels are expressed with a single character for each, and also the consonant+vowel sounds are also expressed with a single character.

(the ones with * mark are there technically, but we just use the sounds of the vowels only, since in Japanese, it is hard to make the distinction between the two sounds.)

(TI is pronounced CHI as in CHIc, TU is pronounced TSU as in TSUnami)

We also have a single N, pronounced as in (waNt) and ‘n’=also pronounced as ‘m’

ie. eng.-Combo….jpn.-Konbo (KO N BO)

So, the sounds of a Japanese word pronunciation is basically a combination of the pronunciation sets described above. EXAMPLE:

KO-N-NI-TI(CHI)-WA (hello)

SA-YO-NA-RA (goodbye)

A-NA-TA (you)

WA-TA-SI(SHI) (I)

In addition to the vowels and basic consonant+vowel set, we have sub-sets deriving from the basic set. These are, in Japanese hiragana characters, expressed by a 2 small lines (similar to a quotation mark " ) or little circle (like celcius) added to the the upper right hand side of the basic character.

KA-KO variation:

GA, GI, GU, GE, GO (2 lines " )

SA-SO variation:

ZA, ZI, ZU, ZE, ZO (2 lines " )

TA-TO variation:

DA, DI, DU, DE, DO (2 lines " )

HA-HO 2 variations:

BA, BI, BU, BE, BO (2 lines " )

PA, PI, PU, PE, PO (little circle)

Kind of confusing if you can’t see the actual writing….

EXAMPLES:

A-RI-GA-TO (thank you)

ME-GA-MI (goddess)

BA-ME-N (scene)

(DI is pronounced JI as in JIngle, DU is pronounced the same as ZU, but the character is different)

So, when you see a Rouma-ji, you will be able to breakdown the word in to these basic characters to see how many characters it is expressed by in Japanese.

These are all pronunciation characters, and it doesn't have any meaning alone, just like the English alphabets.

Kanji are Chinese characters that have both a Japanese and Chinese reading (kunyomi and onyumi respectively) Sometimes 2 of each, but sometimes however there is only one reading for a Kanji:

For example:
There is a single Character that means "ELECTRICITY", which is pronounced "DE-N".
There is a single character that means "SPEAK", which is pronounced "WA".***

When these two characters are combined to form a word of two chinese characters, it becomes a new word pronounced "DE-N-WA", which means "Telephone". Literally ‘electric speak’.

I know it's confusing, but at least, you will know where to break up the pronunciation, when you see a Rouma-ji (ro-u-ma-ji, rouma means Rome, ji means characters.

***The Kanji for WA is also the same kanji for the verb ‘to talk’. (HANA-SU). In present form= ‘HA-NA’-SHI-MA-SU

HANA-SU is the Kunyomi

WA is the Onyomi

This kanji has another kunyomi as well ‘hanashi’. Hanashi can mean talk, speech, tale, story, rumor or news.

-Aenos

Easy, eh! Now for the real useful stuff!
EDIT: Confusing, eh…..

PHRASES

1. Could I join your party?
   Party ni irete itadakemasuka?
   PT ni irete kudasai?
   
   

   2)Sorry, i don't understand kanji and hiragana.

   Sumimasen, kanji to hiragana wakarimasen.
   
   

   )Romaji is OK or Romaji please.

   Romaji wa daijyoubu or Romaji onegaishimasu.
   
   

   I would like to learn some japanese.

   Nihongo wo benkyo shitai.
   
   

   Thank you very much

   domou arigatou gozaimasu
   
   

   I'm truly thankful

   hontoni arigatou
   
   

   Sorry, excuse me

   sumimasen *

   *Good to use this when ever JP do something good for you! it means you're sorry or 'excuse me'...but in a different sense then we use th word. A typical response will be ieie (pr.ee ay ee ay) this scenario is equiv to 'thanks and np'
   
   

   Yes and no

   Hai and iie (respectively) are typical responses.
   
   

   Goodbye

   Jya-ne (a great and casual way to say 'good-bye)
   
   

   Let's go!

   Ikimashou!
   
   

   Shall we go?

   Ikimashou ka?
   
   

   The monster is big!

   Monster wa okii desu.
   
   

   I fought a goblin and an orc.

   Goblin to Orc wo kenka shita.
   
   

   Level Up

   A katakana word! 'leberu appu' but u can simply write it as 'level up' and JP will know what u mean. When u level up...big gold 'LEVEL UP' pops up, but in the text window it reads in katakana 'leberu appu'.
   
   

   Get xp

   ‘exp o fuyasu’....i dont know if JP use the term 'xp' but they may understand 'experience' because that word is in english in the status menu.

   ‘exp o kasegu’….earn xp
   
   

   Disband

   ‘kaisan shimasu’ (if it's just you wanting to leave the party say: "Party onukemasu")
   
   

   Logout

   ‘logout’ or in katakana ‘roguauto’(i think)
   
   

   Cast(spell)

   ‘magic o tsukatte’(literally, asking to'use spell'), tsukau is the Dict. form...difficult conjugation so just use what i say to get by.

   ‘magic o tsukau’…..to use magic
   
   

   Seek(party)

   ‘party o sagashite imasu’ (I'm looking for a party)...sagashite imasu is the 'continuous or progressive verb tense' anything that has ‘....te imasu’ equals english 'be (verb)ing'
   
   

   How do you say " ???" in Japanese?

   ‘Nihon de "???" wa nan desu ka?’ Lit. ‘Japanese in "?" as for what is?’

   ***NOTE the "wa" particle is a TOPIC MARKER literally translating to 'as for'
   

   ex. Gohan wa? = lit. Dinner as for? but in Eng. we would say As for dinner? So the above phrase is really asking 'As for "?", what is it in Japanese?'
   
   

   Please use the auto translator.

   ‘Jidou honyaku kino o tsukate kudasai.’ Lit. ‘Auto translator function use please.’

   ‘Tab henkan o tsukatte kudasai’
   
   

   I'm sorry my Japanese is not good.(or any variation on this...just use the below phrase)

   ‘Sumimasen, watashi no nihongo wa yokunai desu yo!’

   Lit. ‘Excuse me, my(watashi no) Japanese good is not I tell you!’

   Yokunai=not good

   yo!=I tell you! ne(at end of sentence)=Isn't it? the diff is ‘telling’ and ‘asking’ someone about something you said!

   "Grammar wa yokunai desu" all japanese know the word grammar...it's been drilled into them since birth.
   
   

   I want to learn some Japanese.

   ‘Nihongo o benkyo shitai.’ Lit. ‘Japanese learn doing!’JP will understand this as u r asking to learn a little.
   
   

   Sorry, I don't understand.

   ‘Sumimasen, wakarimasen.’ or 'Sorry, I dont understand "???".' or ‘Sumimasen, "???" wakrimasen.’
   
   

   Hello, I'd like to join your(a) party.

   ‘Konnichiwa, party ni irete kurete arigatou’

   As a general /shout ‘Sumimasen, party ni irete kurete arigatou’(polite)

   ‘PT ni irete kudasai’
   
   

   Gotta go in 30 minutes!

   ‘Gomennasai, ato 30pun gurai de ochimasu.’ the term 'ato de' means 'later'
   
   

   Gotta reboot, i will be back soon!

   ‘Pasokon o saikido shitara sugu modorimasu.’ OR "PC o REBOOT shite, sugu modorimasu" OR SIMPLY REBOOT CAN BE: ‘saikidou’
   
   

   Where's a good place to hunt?

   ‘Doko de kari o shimasu ka?’ but my wife seems to think it would be easier to just say 'Good hunting place wa doko?'...afterall they did have the movie good will hunting here...LOL. As for opinion of where to hunt(after asking the above Q first) ‘Iken arimasu ka?’(iken means 'suggestion')
   
   

   To find out your role or job in a party ask:

   "Watashi no jyobu/yakume wa nan desu ka?"

   jyobu=job

   yakume=role

   lit. My job/role what is?****NOTE if you are a male you can use ‘Boku’ instead of ‘watashi’….women can use ‘atashi’ instead of ‘watashi’.
   
   

   Who is “tank”?

   ‘“Tate yaku(nikutate)” wa dare?’

GOING AFK

Not sure if it was already posted but how do you say you need to go AFK for a bio break (potty break,bathroom, pitstop, whatever)?

Well typically JP never take breaks when they play but….

"Chotto riseki shimasu" = "AFK, BRB", However this sounds very serious, like, you’re at a business meeting or something.

"Chotto seki o hanaremasu." Is more casual sounding

0r simply…. ‘Riseki~’

May I check your charcter level?

‘Anata no leberu o shirabetemo ii desu ka?’ this is a trans. from my wife who doesn’t know the game lingo…anyone know a better way to ask this?

***otsukaresama desita = (At end of party, used as) Thanks for the good PT. (closer to) Thanks for your hard work.

Depending how casual everyone gets, it may be shortened to either: otsukaresama otsukare

One very important phrase is:

'Ganbate'

Sometimes 'Ganbate kudasai'. This is said by every Japanese, it could be their national motto! It means 'to do one's best', 'persevere', 'keep your chin up', 'fight, fight, fight' Japanese will sometimes respond to it using the word 'fight' in katakana. All japanese know the word fight, it is a common expression meaning the same as Ganbate. A polite way to respond to Ganbate is....GANBARIMASU (means-I will 'ganbate')

In Japanese, names are often if not always followed by some form of an honorific much like we use Sir, Mrs. or Dr. in English!

Name-san

'san' - is Mr or Mrs or Miss/Ms. It is used often when speaking to a peer, but also used in many other instances.

Name-sensei

'sensei' - is Master, Professor, Teacher, Lawyer, Doctor. It is used often when talking to a person who is senior to you. I often use this when I join JP parties b?c they are generally quite experienced and I think I’ve flattered a few with it because they keep inviting me back to PT..LOL.

Name-sama

'sama' - is the same as ‘san’ but is typically used when writing the person’s name on an envelope. It is considered more polite than ‘san’ and has it’s own kanji character whereas ‘san’ does not. Lord or Lady I guess but it seems quite intense…

Name-chan

'chan' - is dear. Can be patronizing but commonly used amongst friends and family especially when speaking to a female. I call my wife Megu-chan and do the same for my niece and nephew.

"sumimasen" is used for "Sorry", and can be used when approaching a stranger for the first time as in "I'm sorry to bother you but..."

"shitsurei shimashita" means, literally, "I've done something rude", and is used to mean "Excuse me". You'll see this as a /shout prefix when Japanese shout. "/Shout shitsurei shimasu. Blah blah blah"

EDIT: shitsurei shimasu can also be used when you have to leave abruptly or interrupt something in progress. I often say shitsurei shimasu when the ‘after dinner’ conversation at my house commences….LOL…after saying it I say ‘sumimasen’ and leave the room.

If you want to apologize for pulling 2 fiends, you'd probably want to use either "sumimasen" or "gomennasai", both would work. Shitsure shimashita wouldn't really feel right there.

"gomennasai" literally means "Please forgive me".

BEASTS

(note that beast names appear in English on Japanese Ver. of the game, so you can just use the names as they are). The words listed here are typically slang for differing mobs like how we call Mandoragora's, Mandys, etc.

***Beast Difficulty(if anyone knows the full list of trans for this lemme know)

(usually have different names in Japanese…)

(50/50 split Eng/Jap…but in katakana…so you have a 50% chance that JP players will know what item you’re talking about…actually probably a much higher chance than you would have guessing what they were asking for in Hiragana or Kanji or even Katakana)

ADJECTIVES

(D=dictionary,Pr=Present(same as future),past=past)Dictionary form is not usually used in conversation!

***to make a verb say “Let’s…..” ie. “Let’s go!” add ‘mashou’ ie. ‘ikimashou’ Also u can add ‘ka’ to make it a question.

Shall we go? = ikimashou ka?

***to make a verb negative take the ‘masu’ form and change it to ‘masen’. Ie. I can=dekimasu, I can’t=dekimasen(dekimasu/dekimasen can also translate to ‘I’m able’ and ‘I’m not able’ respectively.

‘be’ am,is,are
wa...desu
cast
D=kakeru, Pr=kakemasu, Pst=kakemashita
can
D=dekiru, Pr=dekimasu, Pst=dekimashita
drink
D=nomu, Pr.=nomimasu, Past=nonda
eat
D=taberu,Pr=tabemasu,Pst=tabemashita
fight, battle
D=tatakau, Pr=tatakaimasu, Pst=tatakaimashita
go
D=iku, Pr=ikimasu, Pst=ikimashita
write
D=kaku, Pr=kakimasu, Pst=kakimashita
hurry
D=isogu, Pr=isogimasu, Pst=isogimashita
look
D=miru, Pr.=mimasu, Past=mita
panic
D=awateru,Pr=awateteimasu, Pt=awatemashita
walk
D=aruku, Pr.=arukimasu, Past=aruita

(that can be used as verbs with the irr. (v) suru)

fight

kenka shimasu

Walk

sampo shimasu

although, but

dakedo

and then

Soshite

but

demo

therefore, so

dakara

English

eigo (ei=english,nihon=japan,go=language)

first

saisho

congratz

omedetou

hour

ji, jikan (ji is like a specific time, jikan is like a duration. IE> ichiji = 1 o'clock, ichijikan = 1 hour)

last

saigo

late

osoi

less

sukanai

me

watashi, also boku(M) and atashi(F)

mine

kouzan

minute

hun, pun, bun...too difficult to explain...sorry

mold

nennkin**

next

tsugi , also ‘as for next?’=tsugi wa?

next time

kondo ne

dictionary

jiten

paper

kami

totemo

very

wait

chotto matte (chotto by itself means ‘Hey you!)

wax

miturou **

why

naze or nande(how so?)

work

shigoto

zinc

aen

zinc ore

aenkou

Here or this way

Kochira

there or that way

Sochira

over there

achira

where

dochira (or as a Q like 'where is it?'...Doko desu ka?)

***use the above when referring to people off in those directions too! ex Kochira wa Takuan-san desu....This person here is Takuan-san.(very poplite)

****except for 'who' we say 'donata' or 'dare'

This

kore

That

sore

that over there

are

which

dore

Here

koko

There

soko

over there

asoko

where

doko

this sheep

kono hitsuji

that orc

sono orc(o-ku)

that goblin over there

ano goblin(goburin)

which bear

dono kuma

'no'= possesive particle, equivalent to" 's " in English.

Ex. Rahsten no kearu sukuro-ru.....lit. Rahsten's cure scroll! btw...JP should understand 'cure' and 'scroll' in Eng....

Ex2. Watashi no tomodachi wa kanadajin desu yo. lit. My friend is Canadian(i tell you).

Watashi is the word used to refer to ones self! You can also use 'boku' more casual but only used by men. 'no' turns 'i' into 'my'. However when speaking to JP USE THEIR NAMES...don't use 'you' or the Japanese for for you..'anata'...it is considered rude...maybe not in game though?

'wa'=topic marker(subject is often the topic)...wa follows the first noun and than noun 2is identified. ex. Kore wa watashi no party desu!...lit. This my party is!...'wa' typically doesnot get translated to english rather it is used to complete the 'be' verb...'is' in this case. But if you were to trans. it, it would be 'as for'...dakara 'This as for my party is.' u can see that Japanese is alittle backwards to Eng. b/c we would say 'As for this, it is my party' or simply 'This is my party'.

• SHIGEMO.COM: FFXI Japanese / Nihongo Guide
• Useful Japanese Phrases
• Japanese-English Dictionary Interface (JEDI)

Care of Rahsten the Ranger from Sand'oria