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Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [spoken-language]

音声言語（話し言葉）. Language that i​s more typical of speech than writing, including contractions, omissions, and other verbal mechanisms characteristic of speech.

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おっす！ An abbreviation for ... what exactly?

Going hiking here in Japan, you can hardly pass anyone without either saying お疲れさまです, おはようございます (I go hiking in the morning) or こんにちは. Some people (young males in particular) greet you with either チュワッ or オッス. A great idea, since everybody's out of…
Earthliŋ
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Are the Japanese and Korean spoken languages somehow related?

According to Wikipedia, Historical and modern linguists classify Korean as a language isolate. [A language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical ... relationship with other languages] Yet whenever…
Robusto
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Is this 全くだ meant to be irony?

「あそこで雪像作ってるのに混じってきたらどうですか？」 【湯花】「肉体労働とかあり得ないわー。学園の除雪だって面倒だから課外授業の一環として生徒にさせてるのに」 「思ってても言うべきじゃない事ってありますよね、特に大人は」 【湯花】「全くだ」 In the above extract, 湯花, said 全くだ in agreement with what the other character said. Her previous statement is not exactly in…
HawkingBeta
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What do Japanese say when they call their pet cats/dogs?

We sometimes say in English, Hey kitty come over here. Do they say, CatChan iku yo...
Rod Maniego
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Does using the characters です at the end of a sentence make almost everything(depending on the sentence) sound polite?

For example if i say something like,"あなたはやさしい人です”。 Versus if I say,"あなたはやさしい人". Is the second sentence (stated above) grammatically correct or does there "need" to be a particle at the end of my sentence? I appreciate all the help I can get from…
user4498
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Which is used more / is more natural in speech? 突然 or どっと?

As far as the translation of the word 'suddenly' my dictionary has these two^. Are they any different or is one more common than the other? ありがとう
Engima
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Is "初めてです、広島は。" ok in spoken Japanese?

In the context of my actually being in Hiroshima, I think I could say すごいすごい。初めてです、広島は。 to mean "This is my first time in Hiroshima". Is this correct? Is that natural Japanese? Do the gratuitous "すごい"s enhance the context? Somehow helps clarify…
david.t
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Is Japanese in danger of being subsumed by English?

As a beginner student of Japanese I noticed that Japanese uses an incredible amount of English vocab (pronounced the Japanese way of course). I have studied a few other languages and English has this effect on many languages due to it's global scope…
Kantura
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How to address / refer to a specific kanji in speech

Original Question When talking about kanjis or trying to explain a certain kanji, how do Japanese people usually refer to that specific kanji in speech without having to write anything or point to any writing, yet still be understood as to which…
Tomsofty33
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Reading/speaking of 「市場」, which one can I use kun'yomi or on'yomi?

I came across the word [市場], which means market. In google translate the reading is 'Ichiba' but when I played the sound it gave me the sound 'shinjyou'. I am aware that there are two readings for a character, i.e. kun'yomi (native japanese) and…
Lua
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Term for "maybe" when answering a question in conversation

If someone asks you a question, for example: 明日、一緒に行く？ What is a natural way to say "maybe"? I am familiar with various ways to express uncertainty: 多分 だろう かもしれない However I think none of these may sound too natural, or at least express the…
Locksleyu
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How to say 2000 people attend X High School

I was wondering how I would say 2000 people go to (Name) High School in Japanese. It might be easier to say 毎日、二千の生徒はX高校に通ういます。but it would like to know how to phrase it more like X高校は二千の生徒が（verb)。How would I do this? Thanks
Younennsei
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Any common, noteworthy changes in speech when a 日本人 is totally wasted?

Now, I've never met a Japanese person who's gotten hammered, much less creepily observed their speaking patterns. Thus, I must ask: are there any common or noteworthy changes in how people speak while they're drunk? In English we don't really get…
Tirous
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How to say "I told him that XXX"?

I have a question regarding the word "tell/told" I want to say "I told him that XXX" After some research, this is what I came up with. 彼に「XXX」を伝えた。 彼に「XXX」を言った。 I was wondering if they both have different level of formality? or which one is better…
Maru
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Does 「兄/姉をやめたい」 sound natural?

Related to a manga which is named お兄ちゃんはおしまい! Imagine a transgender girl who has a young brother says 兄をやめたい (I don’t want be your brother anymore), is this wired to be heard by a native speaker?
Iori
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