User:Porkey & Toothy/sandbox

Japanese Language

Counters

One of the differences between English and Japanese is that the Japanese languages use “counters,” which are added directly after numbers . There are numerous counters and different counters are used depending on the kind or shape of nouns the adjectives describe .

Counter for Rabbits

The counter for rabbits is -wa (羽), which is the same as the counter for birds. Usually, -hiki  (匹) is used for “small-to medium-size animals such as cats and dogs ," therefore, the counter for rabbits is an exception. There are many theories about why -wa (羽) is used for rabbits instead of  -hiki (匹).

One of the theories is that in Edo-era, eating four-legged animals was strictly forbidden by the government, and people were not allowed to consume rabbit meat . Then, people started to categorize rabbits as birds, and thus, the counter was changed from  -hiki (匹) to  -wa (羽),  and rabbit meats were consumed . Another theory is that taste of rabbit meat is similar to bird meat, and in addition, the rabbits were captured using a net just like birds . Takemitsu says that the origin of the word rabbit, 兎 (usagi), is 羽 (u) which describes birts feather, therefore, The counter, -wa (羽), is used for rabbits .

Rendaku Alternations

In many Tohoku dialects, rendaku can be expressed in the form of prenasalized voicing . This prenasalized sound production was not uniformed at all, and depending on the individual and the words pronounced, significant variation was observed .

There was a relationship between the rate of prenasalized voicing and the speakers’ age: older individuals display it at a higher rate than younger individuals . On the other hand, differences in the speakers’ gender and socioeconomic status did not affect the rate of prenasalized voicing .

For example, “[kara] ‘shoulder’ and [haka] ‘tomb’ are pronounced [kada] and [haga]” .

The extensive examples of allophonic variation in the Tohoku dialect are as follows :

Allophonic Variation

Header text	word-initial		intervocalic
a.	K/t/ K/take/	[taɡe̝] ‘bamboo	K/hata/	[hɑdɑ] ‘flag’
	K/k/ K/kaki/	[kɑɡɨ] ‘persimmon’	K/gake/	[ɡɑɡe̝] ‘cliff ’
	K/c/ K/cume/	[tsɯme̝] ‘fingernail’	K/macu/	[mɑdzɯ] ‘town
	K/č/ K/čoko/	[tɕoɡo] ‘saké cup	K/oča/	[odʑɑ] ‘tea’
b.	K/p/ K/paN/	[pɑ̃nː] ‘bread’	K/kopii/	[kopɨː] ‘(photo)copy
	K/s/ K/sake/	[sɑɡe̝] ‘saké’	K/kasa/	[kɑsɑ] ‘umbrella
	K/š/ K/šake/	[ɕɑɡe̝] ‘salmon’	K/bašo/	[bɑɕo] ‘place’
c.	K/b/ K/baN/	[bɑ̃nː] ‘evening’	K/baba/	[bɑ̃mbɑ] ‘grandmother’
	K/d/ K/dake/	[dɑɡe̝] ‘only’	K/mado/	[mɑ̃ndo] ‘window
	K/g/ K/gaki/	[ɡɑɡɨ] ‘brat’	K/kagi/	[kɑ̃ŋɡɨ] ‘key’
	K/ȷ̌/ K/ȷ̌oNda/	[dʑõnːdɑ] ‘skillful’	K/maȷ̌o/	[mɑ̃ɲdʑo] ‘witch’
	K/z/ K/zaru/	[dzɑɾɯ] ‘colaner’	K/kazu/	[kɑ̃ndzɯ] ‘number’

Gender in the Japanese language

Depending on the speakers’ gender, different linguistic features might be used . The typical language used by females is called “joseego” and one used by males is called “danseigo” . The joseego and danseigo are different in various ways including self-reference terms (“watashi” or “atashi'' for women and “boku for men) , sentence-final particles (such as wa, nano, or kashira are typically added at the end of the sentence in joseigo while zo, da, or dayo are added in danseigo) . In addition to these specific differences, there can be differences in the way of expression . For example, joseigo is more gentle, polite, refined, indirect, modest, and exclamatory, and often accompanied by raised pitch .

Kogal slang

In the 1990s, the traditional female languages and stereotyped female behaviors were challenged, and “naughty” teenage girls called “Kogal” emerged . Their mischievous behaviors, deviant language, culture, peculiar make-up called “ganguro,” and fashionwere focused on in the mainstream media .  Though Kogal's slang was not appreciated by their parent's generationtheir girls kept fabricating new words and novel styles of expression .  “Kogal” culture changed Japanese norms of gender and the Japanese language . 

References

Tanimori, Masahiro, and Eriko Sato. Essential Japanese Grammar a Comprehensive Guide to Contemporary Usage. Tokyo ; Tuttle Pub., 2012. Print. (p.p.17-18)

Hepburn, J. C. -. A Japanese-English and English-Japanese Dictionary, by J. C. Hepburn. Various places: Z. P. Maryua & co., limited; Trübner & co.; [etc., etc.] 1903, 1903. Print. (p.xx)

Okamoto, Shigeko; Shibamoto Smith, Shigeko Okamoto, and Janet S. Shibamoto-Smith. Japanese Language, Gender, and Ideology : Cultural Models and Real People. Ed. Shigeko Okamoto and Janet S. Shibamoto-Smith. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print.

Inouye, Jukichi. Inouye’s Japanese-English Dictionary ... [Tokio? Sanseido,, 1909. Print.

Vance, Timothy J., and Mark Irwin. Sequential Voicing in Japanese : Papers from the NINJAL Rendaku Project. Ed. Timothy J. Vance and Mark Irwin. Amsterdam ;: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2016. Print.

Japonica時事百科 : 大日本百科事典編. 1980. Japan.  Shogakukan. Print. p.p. 85-86

Tsurumi, Noriaki. 干支ってなぁ～に？2000. Japan. Chikuma Shubansha. Print. p92

平凡社大百科事典. 1984. Japan: Heibinsya. Print.  p.p 221-222

Takemitsu, Makoto. 歴史から生まれた日常語の由来辞典. 1998. Japan, Tokyodo Shuppan.

MILLER, LAURA. “Those Naughty Teenage Girls: Japanese Kogals, Slang, and Media Assessments.” Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, vol. 14, no. 2, 2004, pp. 225–47, https://doi.org/10.1525/jlin.2004.14.2.225.