Katakana, Kanji, Romanji oh my!

nikki_the_insane · Nov 1, 2003, 11:26

Please tell me what all these diffrent types of japanese mean. I know katakana is primarily used for names. and I think Kanji is used for verbs and english to japanese names. Please could you explain these to me or give me a webiste that explains them pretty well. Doumo arigatou gozaimasu in advance.

Keiichi · Nov 1, 2003, 11:36

I don't know much links but I remember browsing a link from http://www.japan-101.com someone posted recently. Check there near the bottom left under "Language of Japan." I might sound complicated though. ^^;

nikki_the_insane · Nov 1, 2003, 12:53

Oooo, too confusing. anyone have something my simple mind can understand?

Carolgirl00 · Nov 1, 2003, 13:49

Check this out! They explain all those weird japanese writings quite simply.

http://www.kanjisite.com/html/wak/wak1.html

Keiichi · Nov 1, 2003, 15:11

That's a good one.

*nods*

candypop · Nov 1, 2003, 23:39

Lets put it this way, hiragana is used purely for japanese words, katakana is used for words of foreign origin (eg. hando baggu came from english, and is hand bag). Kanji are chinese characters and romaji are the latin alphabet, like 'a' 'i' 'ki'....

Okies ^^

nikki_the_insane · Nov 2, 2003, 04:59

Okay, I kinda get it now thank you all!

dogcountry · Nov 3, 2003, 01:31

Well, here's my 2 cents worth. Most of my Japanese was learned during my three years in Japan and my 500 hours at Berlitz. I've forgotten now more than I've learned. But I hit the books from time to time even now. I always thought Katagana was more like the printing style where the hiragana is more like the writing style. Kanji, of course, is taken from the Chinese characters. For example, you might see a store sign and most letters are in katagana. That's the best I can come up with.

nikki_the_insane · Nov 3, 2003, 08:59

doumo arigatou, I really appreciate your 2 cents worth! *pockets 2 cents worth*

samuraitora · Nov 3, 2003, 21:44

That is a good Cliff-Notes version, and an excellent link. Read them both a few times and you should get a good feel for them. Plus, the more you learn, the easier everything becomes.

Nov 1, 2003, 11:26	#1
nikki_the_insane Ramen Lover :3 Join Date: Oct 31, 2003 Location: Under my refridgerator Age: 21 Posts: 223	Katakana, Kanji, Romanji oh my! Please tell me what all these diffrent types of japanese mean. I know katakana is primarily used for names. and I think Kanji is used for verbs and english to japanese names. Please could you explain these to me or give me a webiste that explains them pretty well. Doumo arigatou gozaimasu in advance. __________________ Ramen Lover

Nov 1, 2003, 11:36	#2
Keiichi Hi Join Date: Mar 9, 2003 Posts: 818	I don't know much links but I remember browsing a link from http://www.japan-101.com someone posted recently. Check there near the bottom left under "Language of Japan." I might sound complicated though. ^^; __________________ K1

Nov 1, 2003, 23:39	#6
candypop Regular Member Join Date: Nov 1, 2003 Location: Chinese (Cantonese) Posts: 27	Lets put it this way, hiragana is used purely for japanese words, katakana is used for words of foreign origin (eg. hando baggu came from english, and is hand bag). Kanji are chinese characters and romaji are the latin alphabet, like 'a' 'i' 'ki'.... Okies ^^ __________________ Watashi no namae wa CandyPop desu ^^ Anata no namae wa?

Nov 3, 2003, 21:44	#10
samuraitora Regular Member Join Date: May 29, 2002 Location: Detroit MI Age: 35 Posts: 782	That is a good Cliff-Notes version, and an excellent link. Read them both a few times and you should get a good feel for them. Plus, the more you learn, the easier everything becomes. __________________ ja mata samuraitora (^_-)/

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Nov 1, 2003, 12:53	#3
nikki_the_insane Ramen Lover :3 Join Date: Oct 31, 2003 Location: Under my refridgerator Age: 21 Posts: 223	Oooo, too confusing. anyone have something my simple mind can understand?

Nov 1, 2003, 13:49	#4
Carolgirl00 ~~ Join Date: Aug 2, 2003 Location: IL Age: 21 Posts: 173	Check this out! They explain all those weird japanese writings quite simply. http://www.kanjisite.com/html/wak/wak1.html

Nov 1, 2003, 15:11	#5
Keiichi Hi Join Date: Mar 9, 2003 Posts: 818	That's a good one. nods

Nov 2, 2003, 04:59	#7
nikki_the_insane Ramen Lover :3 Join Date: Oct 31, 2003 Location: Under my refridgerator Age: 21 Posts: 223	Okay, I kinda get it now thank you all!

Nov 3, 2003, 01:31	#8
dogcountry Dogcountry Join Date: Dec 14, 2002 Location: Lake Placid, Florida Posts: 48	Well, here's my 2 cents worth. Most of my Japanese was learned during my three years in Japan and my 500 hours at Berlitz. I've forgotten now more than I've learned. But I hit the books from time to time even now. I always thought Katagana was more like the printing style where the hiragana is more like the writing style. Kanji, of course, is taken from the Chinese characters. For example, you might see a store sign and most letters are in katagana. That's the best I can come up with.

Nov 3, 2003, 08:59	#9
nikki_the_insane Ramen Lover :3 Join Date: Oct 31, 2003 Location: Under my refridgerator Age: 21 Posts: 223	doumo arigatou, I really appreciate your 2 cents worth! pockets 2 cents worth

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