Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [nouns]

名詞. A part of speech typically denoting a person, thing, place or idea.

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Why does 皮肉 mean "irony"?

I gather that 皮肉 can literally mean "skin-meat." I also see that one definition for 皮 is "mask (hiding one's true nature);  seeming." So perhaps 皮肉 can be understood as "hiding the real meat," which can be related to irony. What is the real answer?
yadokari
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How can you figure out whether 鍵【かぎ】 means "lock" or "key"?

Recently, I forgot whether 鍵【かぎ】 meant lock or key, so I looked it up quickly on my phone's dictionary... And then I found out that it actually means both. What are the best ways to figure out if someone who is saying 鍵【かぎ】 is talking about a lock…
atlantiza
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Nouns exhibiting vowel fronting

As touched upon in another thread, there are several nouns that exhibit a kind of vowel shift in older forms, where the ending vowel is fronted when the noun is used on its own to become /i/ or /e/, compared to unfronted vowel forms /u/ or /o/ or…
Eiríkr Útlendi
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What is the difference between 仲間 and 友達?

I've seen nakama used in One Piece a lot, but I've learned tomodachi in my text book. Is there a different in usage?
Friso
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Adverbial Nouns and Temporal Nouns

I'm wondering about the difference between adverbs, adverbial nouns, and temporal nouns.* I know that adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs. They usually tell amount, weight, time, distance, etc. So here are my questions: Does that…
newyorkaru
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What's up with animal names ending in る?

猿・ツル・ホタル・カエル る is a rather uncommon mora in nouns, especially at the end. But there seem to be an unproportional amount of animal names that end in る. Is that just a coincidence? For 猿 at least, there seems to be a theory that it's name is derived…
user40476
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Are 近畿【きんき】 and 関西【かんさい】 two nouns for the same concept and same region or there is an actual difference?

I have learnt that the 関西【かんさい】 area of Japan is also called 近畿【きんき】. According to my findings (see this entry on another stackexchange site), 関西 is a more popular term than 近畿. I would like to know: 1) Do they refer exactly to the same geographical…
jarmanso7
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Difference between 自己 and 自分

I am wondering if there are any differences in the usage of 自己 and 自分, or are they simply synonyms? It seems that the two are interchangeable with nouns stemming from them. I.e, 非自己 and 非自分 also appear to be synonyms.
Tim F.
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Did standalone noun “好き” mean a person in classical Japanese?

In classical Japanese, did standalone noun “好き” mean a person who likes something? I do not think that it does in modern Japanese, although it sometimes means a person when used as a suffix (e.g. 野球好きが集まる公園). If it did, it explains why 好き can be…
Tsuyoshi Ito
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What is the meaning of 両岸 in this context?

I was reading a news article but I am not sure what 両岸 means in this context. 中台の間では経済や人的(てき)交流が進んでいるとしたうえで、両岸の関係は過去６６年間で最も平和的な状態にある. Dictionary search result is as follows: りょうがん 両岸 both banks (of a river) After the heavy rains, the river…
RajSharma
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Is it true that all verbs have a corresponding noun form?

Is it true that all verbs have a corresponding noun form (which is formed by making the -masu form and removing the -masu)? Like 遊び and 遊びます 飲み and 飲みます 生き and 生きます 死に and 死にます
Pacerier
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始まる->始まり Is there a rule of making nouns from verbs (besides nominalization)?

Lately my ears started catching words ending in り that seem like nouns created from verbs. I'm sorry I don't have any other examples besides the one from the title 始まる (to start) -> 始まり (the start). Is it just a small number of word pairs like that…
dimadesu
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What does ぉ character mean in のぉ?

Can somebody explain the purpose of ぉ character in the end of the following sentence? What part of speech can be assigned to ぉ ? Can the ending の be glued up with ぉ? アドビにうまいことやられたのぉ。
minerals
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Counters and their placements with nouns

I have been practicing writing recently where I use counters, but I keep getting corrected by native speakers on there usage. For example I write 3個のりんごを食べたいです。 I want to eat 3 apples. But I keep getting corrected to りんご3個を食べたいです。 I don't really…
Tylersanzura
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What is the difference between 調子【ちょうし】 (choushi) and 具合【ぐあい】 (guai)?

Both words mean condition. In what context do we use them? Is one for expressing the condition of living things and the other one for the non-living things?
Zaks
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