Types of Words



It is more clear in Japanese than in any other language to see where the word came from. The study of words and their origins is called lexography. All languages contain words than were at one point in history taken from another language or evolved from it. In Japanese, the method of pronounciation and writting a word gives a clue to where it came from. There are three different types of Japanese words.

Native Japanese words, or Yamato-kotoba, are words that existed in Japan before they came into contact with any other nations. Most verbs and adjectives are native Japanese words as well as a few common nouns. Such words like "utau" to sing, "miru" to watch, to see, "mimi" ear, "tsuchi" soil, etc. These words are usually written in kanji, but there are a few which don't have a kanji or the kanji isn't used. Examples include "isu" chair, "kirei na" pretty, and "kureru" to give (to me). These words are usually 1 to 4 syllables long and are.

Chinese loan-words, or Kango, are words that were borrowed from the Chinese after the Japanese adopted kanji. They are also called Sino-Japanese words in English. As you know, there are two different readings: KUN and ON. The "KUN" is the native Japanese word (Yamato-kotoba). This kind of word is independent and you can just add it to a sentence as soon as you learn it. The "ON" is a replication of the Chinese pronounciation. Sino-Japanese words are ones created by combining two kanji together to form a new words. These new words are usually pronoucned with the ON reading instead of KUN reading.
For example:
The word for "heaven" is pronoucned TEN as its ON reading or ame for its KUN reading.
The word for "spirit" or "mood" has only an ON reading of KI
The word TEN KI means "weather" (litterally: the mood of the heavens).
As you can see, both ON readings are used. You can't say ame KI. But be aware that there are some native Japanese words that are sometimes written with two kanji characters. Also theorectically, you can play around with these words, but in real life, there are set words. But that doesn't mean you can't have fun making up long words with your friends.

Kanji can be very confusing, so here comes the releif. Foreign import words, or Gai-rai-go, are foreign words that don't come from China and thus, aren't written in kanji. These take some time getting used to hearing and saying, but they are by far the easiest to learn. Words like RAJIO (radio), KONPYUUTA (computer), PIANO (piano), KAATEN (curtain), RANPU (lamp), etc. They look funny when written in Roman letters (our alphabet), but they are pretty eye catching in written Japanese (since they get the square symbols). Many times the Japanese simplify our words almost to the point we don't know what they are. This includes words like RABO (laboratory), TEREBI (television), PASOKON (personal computer), FAMIKON ('family computer' ie, video game system). Don't be afraid to use these. Many people feel it is "cheating" to use these words, but in reality, the Japanese find these words interesting. A lot of times, the Japanese replace old kanji expressions with English words, which are easier to write and so you have a choice to use either.

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