Japanese language

class=skin-invert-image|thumb|In fact, the Japanese language of today is the result of centuries of effort by translators struggling to match Chinese characters and Japanese words, affixing native pronunciation in some cases, adopting approximations of Chinese pronunciation in others, and developing two different syllabaries: one—katakana—initially used by men; the other—hiragana—by women (the eleventh-century Tale of Genji was written in the latter).~In Translation: Translators on Their Work and What It Means Japanese is an East Asian language spoken by about 125 million speakers, primarily in Japan, where it is the national language. Quotes Japanese culture is often characterized as a culture of translation. In fact, the Japanese language of today is the result of centuries of effort by translators struggling to match Chinese characters and Japanese words, affixing native pronunciation in some cases, adopting approximations of Chinese pronunciation in others, and developing two different syllabaries: one—katakana—initially used by men; the other—hiragana—by women (the eleventh-century Tale of Genji was written in the latter). Esther Allen Susan Bernofsky In Translation: Translators on Their Work and What It Means http://www.translationindustry.ir/Uploads/Pdf/In_Translation__(www.EnglishPro.ir).pdf 4 June 2013 Columbia University Press 978-0-231-15969-2 183 In the first place, the construction of the Japanese language is such that, with some imagination, literally thousands of words and phrases can have odd, salacious, or potentially embarrassing or inauspicious double meanings. (We're talking about a language where komon, depending on the emphasis of syllables, can mean either an anus or a consultant.) Dave Lowry The Connoisseur's Guide to Sushi: Everything You Need to Know about Sushi Varieties and Accompaniments, Etiquette and Dining Tips, and More https://books.google.com/books?id=0ut9nOwsFegC&pg=PA391 January 2010 ReadHowYouWant.com 978-1-4587-6414-0 391 Mark Twain has never attempted Japanese, else he would never have written his essay on "The Awful German Language." The sturdy speech of the Teutons, complicated as it is in its constructions, cumbersome in its verbal forms, and perplexing in its genders, is simple by the side of Nihon-Go. While it is almost true, as Mr. Clemens asserts, that there are more exceptions to some German rules of grammar than correspondents, it is certainly true that the German language is a system, with a well-articulated skeleton and a logical growth of compact flesh; but colloquial Japanese is a dislocated heap of bones waiting for an anatomist to set them in place. The anatomist has not yet been found. Consequently the language sadly lacks system. It is dislocated and often illogical. Many of its growths, and even elements, are as yet quite unexplained. It is hard. James A. B. Scherer Japan To-day https://books.google.com/books?id=Jp1GCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT75 30 July 2015 Taylor & Francis 978-1-317-43106-0 75 External links