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Hiragana
pronunciation of Kanji will pop up when you run your mouse over
the character. |
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 大和言葉,
the ancient Japanese language, developed without a form of written
expression; it was first written down in 漢字,
characters which had been introduced from China. By the 8th
century a system of writing, 万葉仮名,
had emerged which transcribed 大和言葉 into
characters largely according to their phonetic value. During
the Heian Period (794-1185) while court nobles favoured
漢文 (classical Chinese)
as the literary language, court women, denied access to its
study, developed simplified versions of 万葉仮名 written
in a free-flowing style called 女手 (literally
'women's hands'). These became the first 平仮名,
while 片仮名,
(literally 'incomplete kana') were formed by using one part
of the character used in 万葉仮名.
Over time a hybrid written language developed incorporating
漢字 used semantically
and 仮名 used
phonetically, and the rest, as they say, is history!
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Here
are some works which mark the history of the Japanese language: |
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| 「古事記」 |
712
'Record of Ancient Matters' - the oldest chronicle of
myth and history ( written
in a form of
漢文)
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| 「万葉集」 |
circa
760 'Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves' or 'Collection
for Ten Thousand Generations' - earliest collection of
poetry and prose spanning 400 years (written
in
万葉仮名) |
| 「源氏物語」 |
11th
century 'Tale of Genji' - masterpiece of Japanese literature,
it has been called the first great novel, written by a
lady of the court 紫式部
( written
in 女手)
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A popular
early verse form found in the万葉集 was
短歌, consisting of
syllables of 5-7-5-7-7. Haiku evolved from this with syllables
of 5-7-5, becoming a true art form in the 17th century through
the poet 芭蕉. The
subjects of haiku are predominantly nature and life experiences.
The form has spread beyond Japan, and haiku are now composed
in English and other languages. |
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| 古池や |
Old pond... |
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| かわず飛び込む |
a frog jumps in |
| 水の音 |
water's sound |
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Another
poet beloved by the Japanese, 一茶,
wrote this moving haiku which reflects his lonely childhood. |
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| われときて
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Come,
let's play |
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| あそべよ親の |
with each other - little sparrow |
| ないすずめ
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without any mother |
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See
the SLC website for the contributions to our haiku competition
of January 2002! You will find the winning haiku along with
photos of the event in our Gallery. |
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 In
modern Japanese カタカナ語 is
used to write borrowed words. (Although the first borrowed words
were from Chinese, they have been thoroughly absorbed!) Some
borrowed words from various languages, reflecting Japan's historical
connections, are:
| カステラ |
a sweet sponge cake (from the Portuguese castella) |
| ランドセル |
a
school satchel (from the Dutch ransel) |
| レントゲン |
x-ray (after the German scientist Roentgen who invented
it) |
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Many
English words have been borrowed, but in some cases their meaning
has shifted, and some have actually been 'made in Japan'!
Can you guess the meaning of the following? Answers below. |
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ストーブ |
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スマート |
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ストリートライブ |
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ヘルスメーター |
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As mentioned
above, 平仮名
is a simplified cursive form of a character, while 片仮名
comes from one part of a character. Here are 5 examples.
(left) |
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Answers:
heater, slim, busking, scales
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LETTER
WRITING TASK |
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You
have received a letter from Keiko, your future host sister
in Japan. However, your dog has got hold of the letter
and torn pieces out of it! Can you put the letter back
together again? |
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こんにちは。あべけいこです。きょうは、私のかぞくをしょうかいします。
私のかぞくは４人__________、お母さんと、お父さんと、いもうとです。
お母さんはやさし__________ きれいです。お母さんのしゅみはどくしょと、えいがです。
お父さんは、おもしろい__________ときどきこわいです。 お父さんはサッカーが大好き__________よくテレビでしあいを見ます。__________、お母さんはサッカーがすきじゃないです。
__________、よく２人はけんかをします。（これはないしょ！）
しゅうまつは、みんな６時におき 、ジョギングに行きます。__________、ラジオたいそうを__________、プールで3000メートルおよぎます。__________ごごは、いつもテニスのれんしゅうをします。しゅうまつは、とてもたのしいです。__________、つかれます。
スポーツは好きですか？しゅうまつ、なにをしますか？
おへんじくださいね。また、てがみをかきますね。 さようなら。
けいこより |
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だから、で、でも、 けど、でも、して、 くて、それから、 そして、で、て |
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More advanced students may try to fill in the gaps without the
clues. |
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TRY
AN ONLINE VERSION OF THIS TASK! |
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Click on the following link to try the quiz:
http://lang.swarthmore.edu/cloze/dearsensei1_page.htm
How did you go? If you would like to use the quiz again, and
make some changes of your own, you can make edits here:
http://lang.swarthmore.edu/cloze/dearsensei1_edit.htm
If you would like to have a try at making your own cloze exercise
try: Swarthmore Makers http://lang.swarthmore.edu/makers/index.htm
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| 2.
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Write
a reply to Keiko's letter. To help you, look at how Keiko
structured her letter and what expressions she used, in
particular how she started and how she finished the letter. |
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expressions: |
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| (1)
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はじめのあいさつ Beginning
the letter |
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こんにちは 〜〜さん
暑く/寒く/あたたかく/すずしくなってきました。
お元気ですか。
今日は、〜〜について書きます。(saying
what you will write about) |
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おわりのあいさつ Ending
the letter |
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〜〜さんに、会える日を楽しみにしています。(saying
that you are looking forward to meeting him/her
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からだに気をつけて、がんばってください。
また、てがみを書きます。
では、また。 |
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