When studying Japanese, it can help greatly to know the terminology or jargon used. These may include different parts of speech, grammar structures, names of particles, etc. This is not an explanation of those forms, but a simple list of what they are called. Beginning students may not want to bother with these until they have completed the first lesson, although there may be some useful terms here.
| Kanji
|
Kana
|
English
|
| 文
|
ぶん
|
sentence
|
| 言葉
|
ことば
|
word/language
|
| 文法
|
ぶんぽう
|
grammar
|
| 単語
|
たんご
|
word / vocabulary
|
| 語彙
|
ごい
|
vocabulary / glossary
|
| 言語
|
げんご
|
language
|
| Kanji
|
Kana
|
English
|
Example
|
| 品詞
|
ひんし
|
Parts of speech
|
| 動詞
|
どうし
|
verb
|
動く
|
| (see "Verb Forms" for more...)
|
| 名詞
|
めいし
|
noun
|
大学
|
| 代名詞
|
だいめいし
|
pronoun
|
彼, 彼女, あなた
|
| 人称代名詞
|
にんしょうだいめいし
|
personal pronoun
|
|
| 時相名詞
|
じそうめいし
|
temporal noun
|
大体, 以上
|
| 形容詞
|
けいようし
|
"-i" ("true") adjective
|
新しい
|
| 形容動詞
|
けいようどうし
|
"-na" adjective
|
だめ(な)
|
| 副詞
|
ふくし
|
adverb
|
早速
|
| 接続詞
|
せつぞくし
|
conjunction
|
そして
|
| 助詞
|
じょし
|
particle
|
は, が, を
|
| 格助詞
|
かくじょし
|
case particles
|
が, を
|
| 係助詞
|
かかりじょし
|
binding particles
|
は,も
|
| ～形
|
～けい
|
~form
|
て形 te-form
|
| 助数詞
|
じょすうし
|
counter
|
本, 枚
|
| 感動詞
|
かんどうし
|
interjection
|
嗚呼, わあ
|
| Kanji
|
Kana
|
Romaji
|
English
|
Example
|
| 自動詞
|
じどうし
|
jidoushi
|
intransitive verb
|
消える - to go out (flame, etc.)
|
| 他動詞
|
たどうし
|
tadoushi
|
transitive verb
|
消す - to put out (fire, light, etc.)
|
| 可能動詞
|
かのうどうし
|
kanoudoushi
|
potential verb
|
飲める - able to drink
|
| 状態動詞
|
じょうたいどうし
|
joutaidoushi
|
stative verb
|
|
| 使役形
|
しえきけい
|
shiekikei
|
causative form
|
させる, しむ
|
| 受身形
|
うけみけい
|
ukemikei
|
passive form
|
される
|
| 命令形
|
めいれいけい
|
meireikei
|
imperative form
|
来い、しろ、食べろ、飲め
|
Particles / 助詞 (じょし)
edit
| Particle
|
Function
|
| は
|
topic marker
|
| が
|
subject marker
|
| を
|
direct object marker
|
| に
|
static location marker
|
| へ
|
directional marker
|
| で
|
"by means of" marker
|
| も
|
focus marker
|
| と
|
"and" marker, quote marker
|
| や
|
"and/etc." marker
|
| から
|
"from" marker
|
| まで
|
"until" marker
|
| より
|
comparison marker
|
| の
|
many uses mostly as a possessive particle, verb and adjective nominalizer
|
| Sentence-Final Particles
|
| か
|
question/doubt particle
|
| ね
|
agreeance particle
|
| よ
|
affirmative particle
|
| わ
|
agreeance/exclamation particle, used almost exclusively by females
|
| ぜ
|
agreeance particle, used mostly by men
|
| ぞ
|
Emphasizes one's opinion, used mostly by men
|
| の
|
emphatic question particle, used mostly by children and women
|
| なあ
|
indicates emphasis, question, or reflection
|
| Kanji
|
Kana
|
Meaning
|
| 標準語
|
ひょうじゅんご
|
standard language
|
| 発音
|
はつおん
|
pronunciation
|
| 共通語
|
きょうつうご
|
common language / common term
|
| 口語
|
こうご
|
colloquial language
|
| 俗語
|
ぞくご
|
slang
|
| 丁寧語
|
ていねいご
|
polite language
|
| 謙譲語
|
けんじょうご
|
humble language
|
| 尊敬語
|
そんけいご
|
honorific language
|
| 相対敬語
|
そうたいけいご
|
relative honorific language
|
| タメ語
|
ためご
|
casual language
|
| 毒舌
|
どくぜつ
|
abusive language
|
| 方言
|
ほうげん
|
dialect
|
| 訛り
|
なまり
|
accent
|
| 混成語
|
こんせいご
|
hybrid language / pidgin
|
| Kanji
|
Kana
|
Meaning
|
| 漢字
|
かんじ
|
Kanji (Chinese characters)
|
| 平仮名
|
ひらがな
|
Hiragana
|
| 片仮名
|
かたかな
|
Katakana
|
| 仮名
|
かな
|
Kana (Hiragana and Katakana)
|
| 万葉仮名
|
まんようがな
|
Man'yougana (Kanji used phonetically - from which Hiragana and Katakana were derived)
|
| 部首
|
ぶしゅ
|
radical
|
| 画数
|
かくすう
|
stroke count
|
| 筆順
|
ひつじゅん
|
stroke order
|
| 縦書
|
たてがき
|
vertical writing
|
| 横書
|
よこがき
|
horizontal writing
|
| 句読点
|
くとうてん
|
punctuation marks
|
| 半濁点
|
はんだくてん
|
circle that changes "h" to "p" on certain kana
|
| 点
|
てん
|
voicing marks added to certain kana
|
| 撥音
|
はつおん
|
the "ん" sound
|
| 母音
|
ぼいん
|
vowel
|
| 子音
|
しいん
|
consonant
|
| 長母音
|
ちょうぼいん
|
long vowel
|
| 子音重複
|
しいんちょうふく
|
geminate consonant(in romaji)
|
| 国字
|
こくじ
|
Kanji made in Japan. Example;峠, 俣, 働, 辻, 襷, 込, 凧, 〆, 塰, 屶, 岼, 峅, 椡, 樮, 畩...etc.
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