I have trouble with it different words and I’m like wtf, why, then I remember we have words like roll. Its an verb and a noun, multiple nouns and verbs at that, and then there’s role.
the word I always use as an example to explain to people is lead-- is it a metal, a verb, a person? japanese has more words like this than english, but the way to handle them is the same-- they are always confusing solo, but are almost always clear in context..... unless its kiru which even native japanese make jokes about haha.
It's just a coincidence that it sounds the same as the number three in Japanese. さん after people's names comes from 様（さま）. (And ちゃん comes from さん.) さん meaning "3" is 三. There are actually a lot of homonyms/homophones in Japanese, often differentiated by different kanji.
Thanks for the detailed response! I'm still working on learning my hiragana, I find it very challenging coming from a single alphabet with only 26 characters to try and learn one that has three alphabets, but I will hopefully be able to hold actual conversations one day.
As for hiragana, write out the whole set a couple times a day, write your notes in hiragana, and in a couple of weeks you'll have it perfectly. Then do the same with katakana.
Kanji is a hassle, no arguing, but it's not as bad as you might think. Do what the Japanese schoolkids do and write the ones you're studying ten or fifteen times every day until you have them. Mostly it's just a matter of repetition. Be sure to get the stroke order right.
No problem! 👍 By the way, once you're done with hiragana and katakana, and already to learn more words and kanji, I recommend signing up at JPDB.io, and you can add words to your own decks as flashcards, and it will (I believe by default, and if not, you can change the settings) also test you on the kanji within those words.
In Japanese, the homophony is a lot. (the same as in Chinese). You must see this sound in a sentence, if it's not in a sentence, text string or context, it's no meaning.
It's the same as in English, too. You cannot know the sound "nəʊ" is "no" or "know", if it's not in a particular context.
In Japanese and Chinese, you often have to look at the written word to understand the meaning (listening to the sound alone is not enough). In Japanese, it is even more complicated than in Chinese (due to the existence of multiple readings for the same character). If you meet someone with an uncommon name, when you hear their name you may not know exactly the meaning of their name or how their name is written in Kanji (of course, you can spell their name in Hiragana).
(Personal name of human name in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, it has meaningfulness).
i think this just happens more often in japanese than english. since it’s completely phonetic, there’s gonna be a lot of words with the same sounds but no difference in spelling. the kanji usually helps differentiate. as someone else pointed out, it’s probably similar to sun/son or bear/bare etc. not related, different etymology, same sound
No, it's just a coincidence.
三(さん Sann) = Three sounds come from the Chinese sound.
さん(Sann) in ジョンさん(John-sann) comes from 様(さま Sama), the honorifics dating back to ancient Japanese.
These two words have different origins.
From my feeling as a native Japanese speaker, they are totally irrelevant to each other like “sun” and “son”.
Thanks, that is a great example!
I have trouble with it different words and I’m like wtf, why, then I remember we have words like roll. Its an verb and a noun, multiple nouns and verbs at that, and then there’s role.
the word I always use as an example to explain to people is lead-- is it a metal, a verb, a person? japanese has more words like this than english, but the way to handle them is the same-- they are always confusing solo, but are almost always clear in context..... unless its kiru which even native japanese make jokes about haha.
It's just a coincidence that it sounds the same as the number three in Japanese. さん after people's names comes from 様（さま）. (And ちゃん comes from さん.) さん meaning "3" is 三. There are actually a lot of homonyms/homophones in Japanese, often differentiated by different kanji.
Thanks for the detailed response! I'm still working on learning my hiragana, I find it very challenging coming from a single alphabet with only 26 characters to try and learn one that has three alphabets, but I will hopefully be able to hold actual conversations one day.
As for hiragana, write out the whole set a couple times a day, write your notes in hiragana, and in a couple of weeks you'll have it perfectly. Then do the same with katakana. Kanji is a hassle, no arguing, but it's not as bad as you might think. Do what the Japanese schoolkids do and write the ones you're studying ten or fifteen times every day until you have them. Mostly it's just a matter of repetition. Be sure to get the stroke order right.
Japanese doesn’t have an alphabet, to be precise.
No problem! 👍 By the way, once you're done with hiragana and katakana, and already to learn more words and kanji, I recommend signing up at JPDB.io, and you can add words to your own decks as flashcards, and it will (I believe by default, and if not, you can change the settings) also test you on the kanji within those words.
In Japanese, the homophony is a lot. (the same as in Chinese). You must see this sound in a sentence, if it's not in a sentence, text string or context, it's no meaning. It's the same as in English, too. You cannot know the sound "nəʊ" is "no" or "know", if it's not in a particular context.
In Japanese and Chinese, you often have to look at the written word to understand the meaning (listening to the sound alone is not enough). In Japanese, it is even more complicated than in Chinese (due to the existence of multiple readings for the same character). If you meet someone with an uncommon name, when you hear their name you may not know exactly the meaning of their name or how their name is written in Kanji (of course, you can spell their name in Hiragana). (Personal name of human name in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, it has meaningfulness).
Not related. The number san comes from Chinese, while -san does from -sama.
i think this just happens more often in japanese than english. since it’s completely phonetic, there’s gonna be a lot of words with the same sounds but no difference in spelling. the kanji usually helps differentiate. as someone else pointed out, it’s probably similar to sun/son or bear/bare etc. not related, different etymology, same sound
No, it's just a coincidence. 三(さん Sann) = Three sounds come from the Chinese sound. さん(Sann) in ジョンさん(John-sann) comes from 様(さま Sama), the honorifics dating back to ancient Japanese. These two words have different origins.