I like to make word lists as I read/watch series. Here are the series Iโve posted about so far! Most are just partial lists from here and there, but others Iโm trying for more complete lists.
Japanese in Manga:
Ajin
Akatsuki no Yona/Yona of the Dawn
Asobi Asobase
Boys Run the Riot
Deadman Wonderland
Fumetsu no Anata e/To Your Eternity
Gangsta
Gokushufudล/Way of the House Husband
Helvetica
Karneval
Lookback
Mushishi
Noragami
Nukoduke!
ลoku
Ouran High School Host Club
Qualia under the Snow
Something's Wrong With Us
The Promised Neverland
Tonari no Seki-kun
generic list of manga words
Japanese in Anime:
Aggretsuko
Ajin (incl. drama CDs)
Beastars
Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba
Dorohedoro
first episodes (various)
Non Non Biyori
Usagi Drop
I also have some vocab lists for use with anime clubs
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
โ Live Streamingโ Interactive Chatโ Private Showsโ HD Qualityโ Free Actions
Free to watch โข No registration required โข HD streaming
Today's name is ไธ้ฃฏๅ Kami-ฤซzaka, Kami-ฤซsaka, or Kami-izaka. It's unusual to have a triple-i sound like this!
ไธ, which has about a billion readings, means up, upper, raise, above, on, etc. ้ฃฏ is read meshi or han, and it means meal or (cooked) rice. ๅ is a variant of ้ช, which you might know from ๅคง้ช Osaka. Both mean hill or slope and are read saka or han.
So what's the deal with this name, "up food hill"? There's probably a place somewhere named just ้ฃฏๅ, and this family's ancestors came from the upper part of it. This is often the case if you see "up" or "down" at the start of a place name or family name. ไธ in this sense is read kami, and ไธ is read shimo, like the hip Tokyo neighborhood ไธๅๆฒข Shimokitazawa, for example.
Actually, yeah, you guys wanna see my favorite way a translator ever handled the furigana shenanigans in a manga?
Some background: Japanese is written with a mix of kana (which are phonetic characters that each represent a sound) and kanji (more complex characters which have both a meaning and often multiple possible sounds).
But little kids aren't expected to know every kanji yet, and there can be obscure words or names with oddball pronunciations that would puzzle any reader. So you can also put some small kana alongside the kanji to tell people how to pronounce it. Those are called furigana, and they're common in a lot of manga for youngish audiences.
As an example, here's the kanji ็ฅ (meaning "god") with the furigana that say ใใฟ (kami) in case you didn't know how to spell that one in kanji yet:
But at some point someone figured out that, hey, you don't HAVE to have the furigana match the kanji. There's nothing stopping you from just...
Using a foreign or made-up word but with a built-in definition: the kanji ็ฅ้ญๅธซ (exorcise-demon-professional) pronounced as the English word ใจใฏใฝใทในใ (ekusoshisuto = exorcist)
Letting a character talk to himself really literally: ไฟบ (me) with the furigana ใใพใ (omae = you). You, by which I mean me,
Harping on the fact that you have a light themed villain this arc: ๅ (light) but with the OTHER WHOLE KANJI ้ (darkness) as the pronunciation. Darkness, but our darkness is Different because it's actually Light...
Clarifying what someone means like a little parenthetical statement: ไฟบ้ (us/we) pronounced ใคใซใใใใฃ (iruminati = Illuminati). We, the Illuminati...
And many more. Those were just examples from Blue Exorcist that I already had saved to my hard drive. I cannot emphasize enough how much manga likes to create double meanings this way.
As you might imagine, this can be awkward to translate into a language that doesn't have even the slightest concept of furigana.
Usually you end up doing something that either ignores it (just pick the word that was most important of the two, or use the made up word but only define it the first time) or gets the job done but feels a bit like a cop-out (list both words, or put one in parentheses after the other)
But not always. Not in this one case from the first chapter of Blue Exorcist, translated for Viz by John Werry:
็ฉ่ณช็๏ผใขใใทใฃใผ๏ผThe material realm, Assiah (kanji say material realm, furigana say Assiah)
ใซ in/at
ๅญๅจใใ to exist
ใชใใ during/while
ใซใใฆ despite (็ฉ่ณช็ใซๅญๅจใใชใใใซใใฆ = Despite/even while existing in the material world...)
่็ก็๏ผใฒใใ๏ผThe realm of void, Gehenna (same deal as Assiah above)
ใฎ 's, of
็ฅ๏ผใใฟ๏ผgod
ใงใใ is
ใใฎ this
ใชใฌ me, I (it's not weird in Japanese to say "this me." It just emphasizes the me. I, who am the god of Gehenna...)
ใฎ 's
็ (normally pronounced ใปใฎใ) flame
ใกใใฒใใ(normally spelled ่ก for that ใก) to inherit/be descended from (literally, to pull in their blood)
So we've got ็ (flame) but we're pronouncing it ใก (blood) here due to shenanigans
We've already defined Assiah and Gehenna earlier in the chapter, so we can just call them Assiah and Gehenna and not worry about the kanji. It's the ็๏ผใก๏ผใใฒใ that's a pain to deal with. Rin, our half-demon main character, has inherited Satan's flame in the same way that you have your ancestors' blood in you. Which means we gotta come up with a way to say bloodflames on the fly in English.
And this was a good way, okay?
You exist in Assiah, but the flame of the god of Gehenna runs through your veins!
Goddamn that was slick. You guys saw that, right? I'm not the only one who saw how smoothly that went, am I?
What a good use of the idiom "my blood runs through your veins." You've got word A as furigana on word B, so you find an English set phrase that uses word A and swap word B in instead. Reader expected A and got B, so now both words are in their head and you've gotten the unconventional double meaning across. It's as near a perfect solution as you're probably gonna get.
I'm sure it's not the first time a translator landed on that general solution to the problem, but it was the first time I saw someone do it and it left an impression y'all.
็พ็ถใใใใใใใpresent condition; existing state; status quo; current state
้ฒใใใใใใใใto advance; to move forward; to put (a clock, watch) forwardใปto carry forward (plans, work, etc.); to proceed with; to make progress in; to further; to advance; to hasten; to speed up
ๆฅ้ฝใใใ ใใใใhurriedly; in a hurry; hastily; in haste
ๆฆๅใใใใใใpre-war days; before the war
ๅ ฌ้ใใใใใใopening to the public; making available to the public; exhibiting; unveiling; release (of a film, information, etc.); disclosure; publication
ใจใใฆใAs (i.e. in the role of), For
ๅฃใใใใใใใใto be broken; to break; to fall apart; to collapse; to be destroyed; to be damaged
ใใฃใฑใใas expected; sure enough; just as one thoughtโ
้คใใใฎใใใto remove; to get rid of; to take away; to eliminate
The Imi Wa (Kotoba) app changed and I feel like a friend died or something... I've been using this longer than all of my full time jobs and since before I had a smartphone ๐ญ
It appears to still be functional (thank all the deities) but it's a big change with no warning
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
โ Live Streamingโ Interactive Chatโ Private Showsโ HD Qualityโ Free Actions
Free to watch โข No registration required โข HD streaming
The Imi Wa (Kotoba) app changed and I feel like a friend died or something... I've been using this longer than all of my full time jobs and since before I had a smartphone ๐ญ
It appears to still be functional (thank all the deities) but it's a big change with no warning
Because in ancient China they grouped everything like snakes and insects into ่ซ without it really meaning "insect" but rather a garbage can term for anything not mammal, bird, or fish. So this has carried on through many other words, such as ็ฌ่ซ้ก.
That's why you can write octopus (ใใ) as ่ธ with the ่ซ radical.
Some more info: https://bestiary.japanesewithanime.com/animals/mushi
If you study Japanese you may have noticed that there are a lot of kanji and words that have the pronunciation of ใใใ (kaeru).
I wanted to make a quick list of words with this pronunciation and their meanings and kanji.
Verbs
ๅธฐใใใใใใto return; to come home; to go home; to go back
็งใฏๆฏๆฅๅ ญๆใซๅฎถใธๅธฐใใพใใ
ใใใ ใฏ ใพใใซใก ใใใ ใซ ใใ ใธ ใใใใพใใ
I go home at six oโclock every day.
่ฟใใใใใใโ to return; to be returned; to go back; โก to revert; to be restored to an original state
ๅใใๆฌใๅณๆธ้คจใซ่ฟใใพใใใ
ใใใ ใปใ ใ ใจใใใใ ใซ ใใใใพใใใ
The borrowed book was returned to the library.
ๅคใใใใใใใto change; to alter; to modify; to transform
็งใฏ้ซชๅใๅคใใพใใใ
ใใใ ใฏ ใใฟใใ ใ ใใใพใใใ
I changed my hairstyle.
ๆฟใใใใใใใto replace; to exchange; to substitute; to switch
่ปใฎใฟใคใคใๆฐใใใใฎใซๆฟใใพใใใ
ใใใพ ใฎ ใฟใคใค ใ ใใใใใ ใใฎ ใซ ใใใพใใใ
I replaced the car tires with new ones.
ๆใใใใใใใโ to exchange; to convert; to trade; โก to change something into something else
ๆฅๆฌๅใใใซใซๆใใพใใใ
ใซใปใใใ ใ ใใซ ใซ ใใใพใใใ
I exchanged Japanese yen for dollars.
ไปฃใใใใใใใโ to substitute; to replace; โก to take the place of; to act on behalf of
ๅฝผใๅ ็ใซไปฃใใฆ่ชฌๆใใพใใใ
ใใ ใ ใใใใ ใซ ใใใฆ ใใคใใ ใใพใใใ
He explained it in place of the teacher.
Noun
่ใใใใใfrog (often written as ใซใจใซ)
ๅบญใซๅคงใใช่ใใใพใใใ
ใซใ ใซ ใใใใช ใใใ ใ ใใพใใใ
There was a big frog in the garden.
[Image description: A photo of a newspaper ad for Kinchoโs anti-mosquito products. At the top, the text translates to โ(connect the flying mosquitoes in the numbered order)โ. The person who took the photo has connected the dots and shown that the result spells out โBored?โ.]
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
โ Live Streamingโ Interactive Chatโ Private Showsโ HD Qualityโ Free Actions
Free to watch โข No registration required โข HD streaming
I do kinda feel like ppl who teach languages approach it not dissimilarly to drug dealers giving you that first hit for free. They tell you that according to science if you learn like 100 words or something you'll understand 50% of the whole language.
This is a lie.
Often if you don't know one word, you're lost, you're done for. If I'm reading a book and I only recognize 50% of the words, then I'm not reading a book at all. There's no story playing in my head, no sensible meaning I'm able to derive from the page.
If I'm reading about a research study that concluded that eating one packet of natto a day will help me live forever, and I'm suspicious of this conclusion but am willing to believe, but the one word I don't know is the *kind* of research that was conducted (double-blind test, or survey sent via email?), then I have no ability to assess whether I trust this study or not.
Yesterday I was in the doctor's office and she diagnosed my condition, but the diagnosis was the only word I couldn't understand. All the other words I'd ever learned in my life up to that moment were of no use to me at all.
Yadda yadda. Basically what I am saying is god dear god when can I stop needing so many words i am so tired help helpppp
Aligner is a free lightweight web tool for creating aligned bilingual examples and glossed linguistic illustrations. It is useful for language documentation, language-learning materials, translation pedagogy, conlang presentation, and general linguistics teaching because it makes word-level correspondences, reordering, and phrase-to-phrase mappings visually explicit.
Web-app link: https://aligner.tinygods.dev/
Repo link: https://github.com/tinygodsdev/bitext-word-alignment
License: MIT http://dlvr.it/TSxSdN
ใใใฏๆญฃ็ๆญฃ้ใฎไน่ฐท็ผใไฟ่จผใใใใพใใ
ใใ ใฏ ใใใใใใใใใใ ใฎ ใใใซใใ ใ ใปใใใ ใใใใพใใ
I guarantee that this is genuine Kutani ware.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
โ Live Streamingโ Interactive Chatโ Private Showsโ HD Qualityโ Free Actions
Free to watch โข No registration required โข HD streaming
This month weโre readingย ๆฌใชใๅฃฒใใปใฉ 1. Join us for this read inย Seitokaiโs Discord!
This is a place where books and people meet once again. The secondhand bookstore "Jugatsudo" is run by a dour young man with close-cropped hair. Attracted by the owner's personality and his wonderful selection of goods, various customers visit the store today. There are book-loving regulars, high school girls who want to grow up, A man comes to throw away unwanted books, and a widow comes to sell her husband's collection. A book in one's hand leads to an unexpected connection. This is a gem of a human drama for all those who love books and whose lives have been changed by them!
ใใจใใ are Japanese proverbs, and I have listed some basic proverbs, their equivalents in English, and a rough translation of the meanings of the Japanese phrase.
There is a test for ใใจใใ called the ใใจใใ่ฝๅๆคๅฎ (ใใจใใใฎใใใใใใใฆใ) and these are some of the phrases that appear in level 8 or 8็ด (10 being the lowest level). Try one or two of these out the next time you speak with a native Japanese speaker!
