because that app is so underrated and simply amazing for real life target language content practice! let me know if you’re interested and ill make an in depth post!
i come from a strain of fundamentalism where it is VERY taboo to talk about God outside a strictly theological context, meaning saying things like “he’s richer than God” is considered using the Lord’s name in vain and you will be scolded if you do it. so throwing around phrases like this and also things like “oh my god” or “good Lord” gives me the same agreeable feeling of taboo-violation as proper swearing does.
UNFORTUNATELY….when i say it in general company it makes me sound like i am in fact very christian. which is the opposite of what i want. so anyway the point is. when you catch me saying things like “he doesn’t have the common sense God gave a cantaloupe” PLEASE know that my intent is reclamatorily blasphemous not reverential
Corn is a New World crop that was unknown throughout the rest of the world until Columbus accidentally connected Europe with the Americas. But the native words for corn did not become universal: many cultures have names for corn that reference other nation.
In some African languages, the word for corn means “Egyptian grain”; in Egypt, corn is called “Syrian” or “Turkish grain”; in France, it is “Indian wheat”; and in India, corn is referred to as “wheat from Mecca.”
The fact of the matter is that most authors of classic sword and sorcery fantasy couldn’t write dialogue that sounds like a human person to save their lives, and that’s why we invented wizards.
Also barbarians
What Robert E Howard said: “He was a man of gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth.”
What Robert E Howard meant: He talked like the English language owed him money and he was determined to get every cent’s worth.
Conan the Linguist
Okay, but seriously, it irrationally upsets me both comic book adaptations of Scarlet Citadel change the dialogue so that Conan doesn’t casually say “genealogy” in a sentence.
I would literally pay money for a Conan the Barbarian adaptation where he’s as inconguously well-spoken as he is in the source material.
http://black-asian.org has officially online. Yesterday was our soft launch. A soft launch is a preview release of a product or service that is limited. During this time we are testing the functionality and allowing for adjustments to be made before a wider release. We are utilizing the power of Google Translate to make the site more culturally diverse and inclusive one language at a time by adding support for different languages. We value every culture, every race, every person. Stay informed new articles, videos, website features, events, etc. by subscribing to our newsletter. We don’t like spam either. http://eepurl.com/c8QKTj
One of my favorite aspects of language learning is studying dialects. I am fascinated by how language branches and adapts to new environments like some form of linguistic natural selection. Japanese is rife with interesting dialects, some of which are so different from the standard that they can sound like a totally different language to the untrained ear. I thought I’d make a series of posts highlighting different dialects in Japanese. Since this sort of post will take a bit more research on my end and I plan to find native speakers of the dialect to confirm with, they won’t be very regular, but I hope that you enjoy them!
What are some of the main Japanese dialects?
Firstly, let me tell you how to say “dialect” in Japanese, because I know I’m gonna use it and I don’t want to cause any confusion.
方言 (hougen) Dialect
___弁 (__-ben) __ Dialect, so “Osaka Dialect” is “Osaka-ben.”
I daresay that just about 100% of all Japanese learners are familiar with Tokyo-ben, because it is Standard Japanese. The next most popular dialect is Kansai-ben, which is spoken in the Kansai region (Osaka, Hiroshima, etc.). The Kansai Dialect can be broken down into several smaller, regional dialects. Next would probably be Okinawa-ben.
(Caution! Some people, particularly Okinawans, consider Okinawan Japanese to be a language independent from Japanese, and they can be offended if you refer to it as a dialect. Japan’s official stance is that Okinawan is a dialect, though, so I am calling it a dialect in my posts.)
Now without further ado, let’s actually start learning about one of these dialects!
Hokkaido-ben, namara ii!
Hokkaido is the island in green. It’s the biggest prefecture in Japan by far.
I am a foreigner and Japanese is not my native language, but I have been living on the island of Hokkaido for 5 years now and am very comfortable with the Hokkaido dialect, so I chose to introduce it to you first. Also, it’s not one that gets talked about a lot, so I figured maybe there weren’t many posts about it.
Hokkaido is the northernmost island of Japan, and it wasn’t settled and officially incorporated as part of Japan until the late 1800′s. There is a group of indigenous people here called the Ainu who speak a language completely different from Japanese, but their language has not bled into Hokkaido-ben. (Many place names in Hokkaido are from Ainu, though).
Because Hokkaido was settled so late in history compared to the other islands of Japan, their dialect doesn’t differ drastically from Tokyo-ben. There are some minor intonation differences that, frankly, I don’t feel confident explaining. I have internalized the intonations through exposure, but I’ve never been taught it and don’t really know what is correct. So I’m not going to talk about tonal differences, and instead focus on the different words and a wee bit of grammar.
投げる Nageru
Standard Japanese: 捨てる suteru
English: to dispose of (lit. “to throw/toss”)
To an English speaker, “throw away” feels just as natural as “dispose of.” But to people outside of Hokkaido, it sounds very unusual and the image it conjures is comedic, like someone is hurling trash into the garbage can like it’s the opening pitch at the World Series.
Example: そこの古い新聞を投げていいよ。 Romaji: Soko no furui shinbun wonagete ii yo.
Standard: そこの古い新聞を捨てていいよ。 Romaji: Soko no furui shinbun wo sutete ii yo.
English: You can throw away those old newspapers there.
Learn a whole bunch more by clicking below!
おっかない Okkanai
Standard: 危ない abunai
English: dangerous, scary, a “close call”
My hostmom uses this with me, like, all the time. According to her, I’m always doing okkanai things, like walking alone at night or*gasp* going outside with wet hair. I love her so much haha.
Example: うちの子が熊のぬいぐるみだと思って遊んでいたのは本当の子グマだった。おっかなかったわ！ Romaji: Uchi no ko ga kuma no nuigurumi da to omotte asonde ita noha hontou no koguma datta. Okkanakatta wa!
Standard: うちの子が熊のぬいぐるみだと思って遊んでいたのは本当の子グマだった。危なかったわ！ Romaji: Uchi no ko ga kuma no nuigurumi da to omotte asonde ita noha hontou no koguma datta. Abunakatta wa!
English: Our kid thought he was playing with a teddy bear, but it was actually a live bear cub. What a close call!
（手袋を）履く (Tebukuro wo) haku
Standard:（手袋を）はめる (tebukuro wo) hameru
English: to put on (gloves)
Winter in Hokkaido is long and cold. Gloves are one of the most essential articles of clothing here, and I have heard/used “haku” so much that “hameru” sounds incorrect to me. The “haku” sounds funny to other Japanese people because it is used for putting on socks, underwear, and pants, and they will imagine you putting socks or panties on your hands instead of gloves.
Example: 外は寒いから、手袋を履きなさい。 Romaji: Soto ha samui kara, tebukuro wo hakinasai.
Standard: 外は寒いから、手袋をはめなさい。 Romaji: Soto ha samui kara, tebukuro wo hamenasai.
English: It’s cold out, so put on your gloves.
めんこい Menkoi
Standard Japanese: 可愛い kawaii
English: cute
I included this because it’s one of the famous aspects of Hokkaido-ben, but I actually don’t hear it used that much. I tend to see it on souvenir shirts for tourists more than in actual conversations.
Example: この子猫はめっちゃめんこい！ Romaji: Kono koneko ha meccha menkoi!
Standard: この子猫はめっちゃかわいい！ Romaji: Kono koneko ha meccha kawaii!
English: This kitten is super cute!
Note: Even though it is functioning as an adjective and ends with an “i,” it is not an “i” adjective. It is a “na” adjective.
あずましくない Azumashikunai
Standard: 居心地が悪い、嫌 igokochi ga warui, iya
English: uncomfortable (surroundings), unpleasant
This is a word that many Hokkaido people use but struggle to explain. Azumashikunai describes any place that you find unpleasant or uncomfortable, maybe due to it being too crowded, or too empty, or because it’s very cramped, for example.
Example: 日曜日の札幌駅が人混みであずましくない。 Romaji. Nichiyoubi no Sapporo-eki ga hitogomi de azumashikunai.
Standard: 日曜日の札幌駅が人混みで嫌だ。 Romaji: Nichiyoubi no Sapporo-eki ga hitogomi deiyada.
English: Sapporo Station is always crowded on Sundays and I don’t likeit.
いずい Izui
Standard: none
English: different (in a bad way), off-kilter, something is “off”
Hokkaido people really struggle to explain izuibecause Standard Japanese doesn’t have an equivalent for it, but I think it can be likened to “off” in English. You got something in your eye but can’t find it and your eye feels funny? Your eye is izui. You have a hair in your shirt and can’t find it? That feels izui. Sometimes it can be a mysterious ache not painful enough to warrant a visit to the doctor, or sometimes it can just be a sense that something is “off.”
Example: 目にゴミが入って、いずい。 Romaji: Me ni gomi ga haitte,izui.
Standard:目にゴミが入って、痛い。 Romaji: Me ni gomi ga haitte,itai.
English: Something got in my eye and now it feels off.
汽車 Kisha
Standard: 電車 densha
English: (train, lit. “steam engine”)
The first time I came to Japan, I could just barely hold down an everyday conversation in Japanese. My hostparents (hostdad especially) both spoke very strong Hokkaido-ben, and during my first meal with them my hostdad asked if I had traveled from the airport to their city by “steam engine,” and I was just baffled. Wait, did he just say locomotive? What year is it? Are steam engines still a thing in Japan?! Then my kind hostmother explained that he meant regular, modern trains.
Hokkaido is famous for their sweet corn, and “toukibi” is a word you will hear a lot here as a result. A popular summer snack is corn on the cob with soy sauce and butter, and it’s made just like in the gif above! Japanese people tend to eat it using a toothpick, picking off kernel by kernel. So when I just rocked up, grabbed an ear and started going to town on it, they thought I was a barbarian hahaha.
Example: やっぱり、とうきびに醤油だね！ Romaji: Yappari, toukibini shouyu da ne!
Standard: やっぱり、とうもろこしに醤油だね！ Romaji: Yappri,toumorokoshi ni shouyu da ne!
English: Soy sauce really does go good with corn!
なまら Namara
Standard: とても totemo、結構 kekkou
English: very, super, rather
This word is like “menkoi,” in that it is famous throughout Japan for being Hokkaido-ben, but I rarely hear it in actual conversations. I hear people use it when they are surprised by something. “Namara oishii” has a nuance of “It’s (actually) very tasty.”
Example: 曇ってるけど、今日の天気はなまらいい。 Romaji: Kumotteru kedo, kyou no tenki ha namaraii.
Standard: 曇ってるけど、今日の天気はけっこういい。 Romaji: Kumotteru kedo, kyou no tenki ha kekkouii.
English: It’s cloudy today, but it’s still pretty good weather.
なんぼ？ Nanbo?
Standard: いくら？ Ikura?
English: How much?
My friend asked me to go get a couple drinks from the convenience store. I came back with a bottle for her and for me and she asked, “Nanbo datta?” I thought that bo was maybe a counter for things, and desperately tried to figure out what we were supposed to be counting. Then she explained that, for whatever reason, “nanbo” means “how much (does something cost)?”
Example: そのお弁当はめっちゃ美味しそう！なんぼだった？ Romaji: Sono obentou ha meccha oishisou! Nanbodatta?
Standard: そのお弁当はめっちゃ美味しそう！いくらだった？ Romaji: Sono obentou ha meccha oishisou! Ikuradatta?
English: That bento looks super good! How much was it?
ボケる Bokeru (for produce)
Standard: 腐る kusaru
English: go bad (produce)
In standard Japanese, “bokeru” means “to go senile” or “to develop dementia/Alzheimer’s.” While I wouldn’t say it’s a slur bad enough that it would be bleeped out, it certainly isn’t a kind way to refer to aging.
So when my host mom told me, “I would give you some apples, but they’re all senile” I had no clue what she was going on about. But then she showed them to me, and they were all wrinkled like this:
Not exactly the most appetizing, but also not entirely rotten. I’m really not sure why Hokkaido-ben likens produce to senility, but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s because pretty much every single person with Alzheimer’s/dementia is wrinkled.
Example: このリンゴはボケてるから、パイでも作ろうか… Romaji: Kono ringo ha boketeru kara, pai demo tsukurou ka…
Standard: このリンゴは腐りかけてるから、パイでも作ろうか… Romaji: Kono ringo hakusarikaketeru kara, pai demo tsukurou ka…
English: These apples are about to go bad, so I guess I’ll make a pie…
～べ ~be
Standard ～だろう、～でしょう darou, deshou
English: …, right?
This is probably the most famous aspect of Hokkaido-ben. Japanese people get a real kick out of it when this white girl uses it haha. “~be” is a sentence-ending particle that functions about the same as “darou” or “deshou” in that it:
asserts the speaker’s confidence in the likelihood of something
asks for the listener’s confirmation
This sentence-final particle has its roots in the particle ～べし (~beshi) found in Classical Japanese, which had a similar purpose. Other forms of ~beshi survive in Modern Standard Japanese with the words べき (beki) and すべく (subeku).
Here are two examples, one for each function ~be fulfills.
Example 1: 君の飛行機はあと5分に出発するって？間に合わないべ！ Romaji: Kimi no hikouki ha ato 5 fun ni shuppatsu suru tte? Maniawanai be!
Standard: 君の飛行機はあと5分に出発するって？間に合わないでしょう！ Romaji: Kimi no hikouki ha ato 5 fun ni shuppatsu suru tte? Maniawanai deshou!
English: You said your plane takes off in 5 minutes? There’s no way you’ll make it!
Example 2: このサラダに白菜も入ってたべ？ Romaji: Kono sarada ni hakusai mo haitteta be?
Standard: このサラダに白菜も入ってたでしょう？ Romaji: Kono sarada ni hakusai mo haitteta deshou?
Standard: There was napa cabbage in this salad too, wasn’t there?
～れ ~re
Standard: ～なさい ~nasai
English: imperative command
I really don’t like giving grammar explanations because it’s been a long time since I’ve formally studied Japanese grammar and I’m scared of explaining something poorly or incorrectly. But an upper-elementary level Japanese learner should know that there are many different levels of imperatives in Japanese that vary in politeness. In order of rude to polite, we have:
Imperatives that end in an “e” sound or ろ, as in:
死ね！Shine! Die!
待て！Mate! Wait!
食べろ！Tabero! Eat!
Imperatives that end in tte, te, or de and are not followed by kudasai
死んで Shinde. Die.
待って Matte. Wait.
食べて Tabete. Tabete.
Imperatives that end in nasai. (These are most often used by parents/teachers to their children.)
死になさい Shininasai. Die.
待ちなさい Machinasai. Wait.
食べなさい Tabenasai. Eat.
Imperatives that end in tte, te, or de and have kudasai after them.
And then there’s super formal Japanese, but that’s a whole other kettle of fish.
Anyways. Back to the Hokkaido-ben. I went to a picnic here with a Japanese friend’s family, and her aunt gave me a plate of food and said, “Tabere!” I knew that this had to be an imperative, but I had never studied it before. It felt like it was the same as the rudest imperative, and I spent the whole rest of the picnic wondering what on earth I had done to have her family speak to me like that. Conventionally, they should have been using the -tte form or -nasai form with me.
After the party, I asked her, “Dude, what’s the ~re stuff for? Do they not like me?” I was close to tears I was so hurt and confused.
And that when she laughed and explained that the ~re is a facet of Hokkaido-ben, and it is the same in politeness and nuance as the ~nasai imperative used by parents and teachers to their children.
So I had spent several hours thinking that her family hated me, when really they were treating me like I was their own child!
Example: ちゃんと野菜を食べれ！ Romaji: Chanto yasai wo tabere!
Standard: ちゃんと野菜を食べなさい！ Romaji: Chanto yasai wo tabenasai!
English:Eat all of your vegetables properly.
The End!
This was a monster of a post. There are actually a few more words I wanted to introduce, but I had to cut it off at some point haha. I hope that you enjoyed this segment of Moderately Interesting Japanese. I plan to make more on the other dialects within Japanese, but they will take a considerable amount of time so they won’t be very often.
Decolonisation, Stereotypes and The “Mis-Education” of African Fashion
Decolonisation, Stereotypes and The “Mis-Education” of African Fashion
We recently interviewed Dr Erica de Greef for our youtube channel. She shared with us about a new online course offered by her company – AFRI / the African Fashion Research Institute which explores why African fashion stereotypes exist and persist. (Do watch the full interview here and make sure to subscribe, like and share.) In this interview she shares her thoughts on the need to decolonise…
It’s pronounced [u] in most orthographies, but in French, Occitan, Azorean and inner-central European Portuguese, Dutch, Afrikaans, Icelandic and Occitan, <u> represents [y]. In Afrikaans it also represents the more common [œ].
In Swedish, Norwegian, Somali, Faroese, Southern Sami, Ume Sami, Maori, Madeiran Portuguese and Californian English it’s central [ʉ].
In English it has a variety of values namely [ʌ] as in “cut”, [juː] as in “music” and [ʊ] as in “put”. Less commons values are: [ɪ] as in “busy” or [ɛ] as in “bury”.
In Northern Welsh it’s [ɨ] and in Southern Welsh it’s [i].
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I’m back with another post relating to studying, but keep in mind that these tips are not one-size-fit-all, so please feel free to implement if you think it will be helpful for you! I personally don’t like forcing myself chunks of words, so I think that learning through music and any activities you like such as watching movies actively would also be really fun!
Please share below if you have any helpful tips too!
1. I saw a trailer for this film before “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri,” and it revealed, no kidding, *every* key plot point in the movie. I knew or could easily guess what would happen at any key moment. And you know what? I still had a great time. While suspense can be important and fun, any good film will be enjoyable because of *how* things happen, not just because of *what* happens.
2. I love director Guillermo del Toro for his lush, carefully designed visuals, and this film does not disappoint! The 60s are evoked sensuously throughout the film, in dark apartments populated by wood-framed televisions; greenish, fluorescent-lit, linoleumed science labs; a classic diner with a smooth-talking counter boy; and a creaky theater with too much red velvet and not enough paying customers. The unnamed amphibian man is also beautifully crafted, of course, evoking wildness and menace, timidity and vivacity and humanity all balanced against one another. (I looked it up, just to be sure, and the effects on him are practical—it’s not a motion capture performance.)
3.Doug Jones (no, not that Doug Jones), the man in that carefully crafted monster makeup, really is the best. His physical presence is electric; he’s at once believably alien and authentically personal. I wish he got to do more mainstream film stuff; I’ve really only seen him in his collaborations with del Toro (he was Abe Sapien in the Hellboy movies and the Faun/Pale Man in “Pan’s Labyrinth”). Apparently he’s on Star Trek: Discovery, which, uh, yeah, I would love to be able to watch that sometime!
4. The main character is Eliza Esposito, played by Sally Hawkins, who cannot speak due to an injury to her vocal cords, and instead speaks American Sign Language. Though not a native signer, Hawkins does a fine job with ASL and delivers a terrific performance overall—engaging and lovable throughout. That makes this the second movie I’ve loved this year with a central ASL performance, the first being “Baby Driver”.
5. The movie presents Eliza as a whole person. She’s aware that other people mostly don’t see her that way—many characters ignore or even degrade her, while one fetishizes her silence—but is shown from the very start to be fulfilled and happy, with friends and a good life. I think it would be easy to present Eliza, a person with a rare but still challenging disability, as fundamentally alone and broken and in need of a fishman (or, you know, whoever) to rescue her and fix her, and I think the film avoids falling into that trap, presenting us instead with two characters who come to care for and even need each other.
6. I made the mistake of reading a review right before I wrote my own, something I try never to do (unless I’m on the fence about a film and need to be talked into/out of it), and the reviewer criticized the film for being too comfortable, a message movie about widely accepted liberal values (most notably, tolerance). Some time ago, I read a review of the movie “In the Heat of the Night,” maybe the quintessential liberal message movie (it’s about how racism…is bad!), which pointed out that such movies are generally condescending and annoying; the only thing that can redeem a liberal message movie is for it to be *really good*. (“In the Heat of the Night” is really good.) While “The Shape of Water” is unusually dark, sexual, and violent (though, note, not sexually violent) for a liberal message movie, I think you can still call it one. But the thing is, it’s redeemed by being really good: the performances are thrilling, not just Hawkins and Jones, but everyone, from Michael Shannon’s scenery-chewing villain, to Richard Jenkins’ humble put-upon roommate, to Michael Stuhlbarg’s empathetic scientist, and Octavia Spencer’s plucky and loyal friend and coworker. The plot is predictable but winning, well-paced and exciting throughout, with few if any missed opportunities or loose threads. Add del Toro’s exquisite visual sense from scattered thought #2, and you get a movie that is beautiful and good. If some frank sexuality and occasional but visceral violence won’t bother you…see it! It’s out in some US cities now, and will be in wide release this weekend.
![Pronounciation of the Latin alphabet letter <U>It’s pronounced [u] in most orthographies, but](https://64.media.tumblr.com/5451afbc4bccadda6ccb7884286e7e53/tumblr_pxox5279XT1uuqf4fo1_r1_1280.png "Pronounciation of the Latin alphabet letter <U>It’s pronounced [u] in most orthographies, but")
