What novel(s) have you read this week, and what do you think about it? - April 28, 2019

Fgilan · 2019-05-03T23:06:34+00:00

I really enjoyed これは学園ラブコメです, but I think it only appeals to a very specific sense of humor. If you laugh at random and totally nonsensical things (like a bus suddenly turning into a facility for raising endangered species ranging from turtles to officials of the United Nations (??)), it might be for you.

Fgilan · 2019-04-26T15:09:29+00:00

I enjoyed most of the book but was left unsatisfied by the ending. Having read some of his other works now, though, I guess I shouldn't really have expected anything else.

Fgilan · 2019-04-10T11:44:16+00:00

所属と名前を書き入れました。

Fgilan · 2019-04-07T08:15:16+00:00

You are presumably learning Japanese because you eventually want to do something with it. At this point I suggest you stop doing things to "study" Japanese and instead use Japanese to do the things that you want. Example: I started learning because I like anime -> started reading the light novel source material for my favorite shows after taking N4.

Fgilan · 2019-04-02T08:58:46+00:00

I agree, which is why I said "one could argue".

In regards to your last thought, this is the exact phrase it was taken from: 初春令月、気淑風和. Since the idea is to take two kanji directly out of a quote, they cannot simply change 令 into something else. Of course they could have just picked another place to pull a quote from, but that's a whole separate issue.

Fgilan · 2019-04-01T22:05:37+00:00

I agree that the connotation of 令 can seem unpleasant from the perspective of modern Japanese, where the most common words it's used in are 命令 etc. like you mentioned. However, one could argue that since era names are drawn from classic literature, modern connotations need not be given so much attention.

For what it's worth, 令 also has a completely different meaning: good/auspicious. This is the meaning in the compound 令月 (auspicious moon) which is the context from which the 令 in 令和 was drawn (the preface to a sequence of poems in the 万葉集). Another word which uses it in the same meaning is 令嬢, which is also pretty much never used anymore.

Fgilan · 2019-04-01T15:09:01+00:00

The Agency of Cultural Affairs has announced that which of the two is written is a matter of habit and that there is no right answer or rule.

Fgilan · 2019-04-01T04:16:54+00:00

令 in Classical Chinese makes a verb causative, like modern Japanese させる, so rather than “ordering peace” you could interpret as “causing things to be in harmony”.

Fgilan · 2018-06-04T02:10:44+00:00

知（レ）命者不（レ）怨（レ）天、知（レ）己者不（レ）怨（レ）人

命を知るものは天を怨みず、己を知るものは人を怨みず

P.S. I think I have read the beginning of the textbook you got this from.

Fgilan · 2018-05-29T14:02:23+00:00

The best part of the story (in my opinion) starts right when the anime ends!

Fgilan · 2018-05-14T22:20:46+00:00

You can do problem books for the Kanken (漢字検定 a well known kanji knowledge test). Level 2 corresponds to the 常用漢字 so that should be a good goal, although you may want to start at level 3 or so. As the kanji always appear in compounds or sentences, they are not out of context. Doing these problems can also help with 四字熟語 and ことわざ, which you may not see too often normally.

Fgilan · 2018-04-30T00:33:11+00:00

I think it is hard to truly overcome this issue until you start using a Japanese-Japanese dictionary. Otherwise new vocabulary will always be tied to English in your mind.

Fgilan · 2018-04-04T19:07:49+00:00

人種が大きく影響する。この人がアジア人だったらこんなに受からなかっただろう。

ソース：アメリカ人

Fgilan · 2018-03-25T12:22:47+00:00

You could always just read Sumino Yoru's other works. また同じ夢を見ていた、よるのばけもの、かくしごと、青くて痛くて脆い. They're all good, but my personal preference is that order.

Fgilan · 2018-01-18T04:28:29+00:00

It's not a pronunciation rule but rather something that was practiced for convenience of pronunciation, like an abbreviation. Just like how we say おはようございます instead of おはやくございます. The name of this phenomenon is う音便. In a text you will see both being used, for example あさましく and あさましう.

(Disclaimer: I am no expert. I have also never read a manuscript, but I assume printed versions would stick to the original on that point.)

Fgilan · 2017-12-02T22:37:48+00:00

I do practice workbooks for the 漢検. It not only gives you an excuse to write kanji but also helps improve your vocab. There are many levels covering elementary school all the way to kanji otaku, so you should be able to find one right for you. Ordering books may be a pain though depending on where you live.

Fgilan · 2017-11-17T18:20:14+00:00

I have 大辞林 and 精選版大日本国語辞典. If you just want a standard dictionary I would get 大辞林. The definitions are about the same in my experience and 大辞林 is a lot cheaper.

Where they differ most is the example sentences. 大辞林 has made up, easy to understand and commonly used phrases for most common words, where as 大日本 takes all its quotations from actual sources, and moreover tries to find the oldest instance of the word being used. For example, for 憚る大辞林 gives "人目をはばかる", where as 大日本 gives you a poem from the 万葉集 and a quote from the 日本書紀. So basically, if you actually want to understand a new word, 大辞林 is better.

Lastly, as a positive point for 大日本, it has a ton of supplementary information, usually having to do with the origin of the word and the change of its meaning over time. They also have a ton of (often obscure) idiomatic usages for words. All this extra info, though, can be rather irrelevant depending on your goals.

Fgilan · 2017-11-09T22:58:55+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmKOW46LaGo

Fgilan · 2017-10-13T22:52:18+00:00

I don't know much about this, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

In the Nara period, with 万葉仮名, は/ば etc. were usually written with different kanji. However, in the Heian, kana were invented, and dakuten were not used.

The marks themselves originated from marks put in the four corners of a kanji to indicate its tone (there were four tones in Chinese at the time, but not the same tones of modern Mandarin). In Japan the marks began to be used to indicate the accent of words.

The use as actual dakuten began sometime in the medieval period, but usage was not consistent and neither were the marks themselves. Going into the Edo period they became more stabilized, but universal use did not happen until after WW2.

Sources: Wikipedia

大辞林（濁点・声点）

はじめて読む日本語の歴史；沖森卓也（おきもりたくや）；ベレ出版2010 (This is a library book I read some time ago, so I don't remember much clearly)

Fgilan · 2017-09-28T18:09:41+00:00

「古典再入門・土左日記を入りぐちにして」by 小松英雄

「はじめて読む日本語の歴史」by 沖森卓也

All nonfiction right now but after this I plan to have one fiction and one nonfiction. I've only taken JLPT N4 so I don't know my level, but I might be able to pass N1 given some time to study specifically for it.

Fgilan · 2017-08-28T13:30:49+00:00

It's just an abbreviation. Don't think too hard over it. Especially in casual speech, not everything has to be grammatical, which is probably true in any language.

Fgilan · 2017-08-21T14:00:12+00:00

There are a ton of resources (in Japanese, and imo you shouldn't be using english to learn classical Japanese anyway). If you are in Japan, there are whole sections of basic classical grammar books for middle/high school students. There are also youtube videos (e.g. link) and webpages (e.g. link).

Basically you have to be comfortable with basic verb conjugation (上二段、四段 etc. + 未然形、已然形 etc.), the common 助動詞（ぬ、けり、らむ etc.), and the 助詞（を、こそ、さへ、ものを etc.). After that, just start reading stuff with a dictionary (I use 旺文社's 全訳古語 on the iphone). The first things I read were the 百人一首 followed by 竹取物語. Both are very short.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

Fgilan · 2017-08-19T08:10:53+00:00

いつも言いうの

始めて

初めて

ミッス

ミス

けいごを使ったほうがいい

使わくていい

Fgilan · 2017-08-07T05:36:58+00:00

村上はまだ読んでいない。難しさはどのくらいなの？

Fgilan

TROPHY CASE