Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [written-language]

書き言葉. Words and language generally used in writing rather than speech.

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If Kanji are necessary to disambiguate homophones, how come it's still used, being that Japanese people seem to know the difference when speaking?

I'm a beginner. People argue for Kanji being that it helps disambiguate homophones in written Japanese, but in spoken Japanese, kanji (or any other visual aid) are not available, yet people seem to know the difference between [話]{はな}す, [離]{はな}す,…
Matcha
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What do I do when I encounter "Written Japanese"?

I have read in grammar dictionaries some words/phrases that are labelled as "Written Japanese" and should not be used in normal speech. Let's take for example the sentence-ending こと indicating a command: プールサイドを走らないこと。 "Do not run on the pool…
Flaw
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How to express “X (and parenthetically Y)”?

When writing in English, quite often I'll want to express a connection between two noun phrases as “X (or Y)” or “X (and Y)”, where the punctuation adds a notion of “Y is a little beside the point, but to be completely correct I'll mention it in…
Lynn
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Why are Japanese fonts different to Chinese?

I’ve noticed that Japanese and Chinese writing tends to use different fonts. Japanese fonts tend use wider lines and more curves. Chinese fonts tend to use narrow angular lines and there are differences at the end of strokes as well. I’ve noticed…
Tom Kelly
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漢文・古文-type expressions that survive in modern Japanese

I was translating an academic paper that quoted some articles that were written before WW2, and I came across the expressions [noun]+たらしむべく and きたらしめる (from 来る) for the first time. Thanks to these posts/articles, I was able to translate the…
tabidots
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How can I differentiate if a word is (either fully or preferentially) used for spoken or written language?

Sorry if this has been answered before, but I couldn't find it. I understand that when the on'yomi reading is used, this is associated with words with a more "literary" feeling or with written usage. However, I don't know if this is a relatively…
JPB
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Are there general guidelines regarding the length of sentences in Japanese written text for the sake of readability?

Inspired by this question, I'm curious as to whether there are similar guidelines for the length of Japanese sentences (Maybe in Japanese clauses are more relevant?) to maximize readability, whether that length is measured by # of kana or # of kanji…
Ringil
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Farewell letter in Japanese to a little sister

I am going to leave Japan soon and I need to say farewell to many people. One of the people I know is a little girl who is about 6 years old. She is very cute and very close to me during the time I stay here in Japan. Now, I want to write a letter…
The Lazy Log
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「上のごとく」対「上述」：現在では「〜のごとく」は使わないほうがいいですか。

Japanese 前書き ２ヶ月前、私は国内会議で発表しました。そのときは、まだ日本語のミスがたくさんある原稿を使っていました。今、文学の博士課程の友人に修正してもらっています。もちろん、これは勉強になります。修正された部分は、たいてい（私の言おうとしている意味に）的確だとわかりますし、なぜそう修正されるのかわかるのですが、ときどき私の使った表現が古かったせいなのだろうかと思うことがあり、確認したいです。 質問本文 私の質問は「〜のごとく」に関してです。 原稿には私は以下の文を書いていました： …
virmaior
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重用 - Reading Preference

Reading some 読解 Material I stumbled upon the word 重用. I read it as じゅうよう without much attention, only to notice that the furigana on top read "ちょうよう". Searching a bit on dictionaries I saw that actually both readings are acceptable, and actually a…
悪戯猫
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How do you say "some", "many", "a few", and "few" when referring to people?

So, of course, I know words like 多い, たくさん, 少ない, 少し, and 何+[counter]+か to express "many", "few", "a few", and "some" in most contexts. However, I have absolutely no idea what are the Japanese equivalents for these words when they're used on their own…
Ranquil
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Japanese reports

I have a question about Japanese reports. I am studying at a university in Japan. And when I came here, I found out that Japanese people use ～だ instead ～です, ～たinstead ～ます and so on. And it seems rude to me. I'm afraid that I could misunderstand…
へびひめ
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Does Okinawan have syllables Japanese doesn't?

I know Okinawan is usually (nowadays) written in katakana. However, katakana only has a limited number of different syllables, fewer than can be produced in, say, English (e.g. th). Does Okinawan have any syllables that don't fit in standard…
kuwaly
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また as moreover?

I was trying to read this wikipedia page a little while ago and came across this sentence : またその娘であるイラストレーターの藤森玲子はいとこにあたる。 Here is the link for more context, it's at the end of the first paragraph :…
dobondobondo
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Can「箱の中を手で探った」be shortened to 「箱を探った」?

By using default meanings, couldn't the title be shortened to: 箱を探った。 Isn't の中 so obvious, it is assumed to be the location you searched? If I were to search under the box, then I would write の下? Isn't 手で so obvious, it is assumed to be with…
konishiki
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