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ProjectVirtue
06-29-2007, 04:21 PM
I'm trying to learn japanese by myself but recently i've noticed in writing there are normal sized characters and smaller characters. During an episode of lucky star it really hit me...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v637/moocowguy/a.jpg

"I see" I'm not sure if i'm right but its always been "Sou ka"
Over here though, they have "So" with a small "Tsu" following...and "Ka" with a small "A" following. What do those mean / do.

Can anyone explain the general rule for smaller characters? My friend told me it usually slurs the 2 together. So, a big "Ka" and a small "yo" would make "Kyo". He also told me a small "Tsu" makes a double letter, stop before pronouncing the next syllable thing making a small pause.

Can anyone clarify this for me?

Ertai87
06-29-2007, 08:18 PM
It's different for Hiragana and Katakana. In Hiragana, you can have small "tsu", "ya", "yu", and "yo". A small "tsu" can come before any other character except at the beginning of a word and is equivalent to having a double consonant. For example, words like "zasshi" (magazine) and "kitte" (stamp) have small "tsu"s in them. It's hard to describe how to say it online, since it's actually pronounced as an absence of sound, but you can sort of think of it as breaking the word into parts, so, for example, "zasshi" is pronounced closer to "za shi" instead of "zashi" (not exactly like that, but that'll give you a close idea). Small "ya", "yu", and "yo" come after "i" characters ("ki", "mi", "ni", etc., except "i") and make the _ya, _yu, and _yo versions (so "kya" is "ki" with a small "ya" after it). Sometimes in manga, you'll see small vowels in Hiragana, but that's usually like in English when you say "Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!" or "Boooooooooommmmm!!!!", just to emphasize the long sound. You'll never see that in "real" Japanese.

In Katakana, you have small tsu and ya, yu, and yo, as well as some others. Small "i" will often follow "te", "de", "wa", and "se" (I think se) to make the _i versions (the "i" version of the "t" consonant in Japanese is actually "chi", so "ti" is a "te" with a small "i". Similarly, "wa" with a small "i" is "wi", etc.) Sometimes you'll see other vowels, usually "u" with "te" to make "tu" and pretty much anything except "a" with "wa". The other day I had to use a small "a" for something, but I forget why.

shinnraiu
06-29-2007, 08:39 PM
In Katakana, you have small tsu and ya, yu, and yo, as well as some others. Small "i" will often follow "te", "de", "wa", and "se" (I think se) to make the _i versions (the "i" version of the "t" consonant in Japanese is actually "chi", so "ti" is a "te" with a small "i". Similarly, "wa" with a small "i" is "wi", etc.) Sometimes you'll see other vowels, usually "u" with "te" to make "tu" and pretty much anything except "a" with "wa". The other day I had to use a small "a" for something, but I forget why.

They follow 'fu' also... and 'u'... and 'u"'... And "wa" with small "i" is not "wi"... that would be Ui... ウィ(wi) ヴィ(vi)

"a" was probably for "fa"

Also, there デュ

....I will stop because I didn't read the entry =x

shinnraiu
06-29-2007, 08:48 PM
"I see" I'm not sure if i'm right but its always been "Sou ka"
Over here though, they have "So" with a small "Tsu" following...and "Ka" with a small "A" following. What do those mean / do.

Can anyone explain the general rule for smaller characters? My friend told me it usually slurs the 2 together. So, a big "Ka" and a small "yo" would make "Kyo". He also told me a small "Tsu" makes a double letter, stop before pronouncing the next syllable thing making a small pause.

Can anyone clarify this for me?


"Sokkah" - come on, no one speaks like they write. Sokkaa is more like people casually pronounce something such as that. "Sou ka" sounds so... strange. ): To actually say it that way. Like when you just say "Sate.." ...*shrug* ^^;

Better example - "atatakai" is pronounce "attakai" (for me, at least...). "Iroiro na" pronounce "ironna". Etc... ((Then again, I pronounce things that way sometime that shouldn't be... like "chikatta"... but I'm special so I'm allowed to.))

KA+yo is nothing. it's KI+yo to be "Kyo"

"tsu" wah...

So'-kka... I don't know how to write it out....

ja, ganbare zo :3

kekepania
07-29-2007, 04:20 PM
Yes, it's just slang. Small a, i, u, e, o hiragana are not used in "proper" written Japanese, (however, they are used in Katakana to write foreign words.) but teenagers will use small hiragana characters often because it's cool/slang/whatever.

It's the same way in English - in a text message, it's like writing "I C" instead of "I see", or "c u tmrw" instead of "see you tomorrow". Kids love slang, so they'd rather write something like, " えぇ、そっかぁ~" rather than proper language.

MistressPookyChan
07-31-2007, 01:33 AM
you're right! A small a e i o u is not used in proper Japanese- only in slang. Think of it as "hellooooo!"

VraieEsprit
08-15-2007, 01:56 AM
It's just hanging onto the last syllable, isn't it?

It happens a lot in the speech in the Yuugi Gaiden novels, so I just assumed it was a way of them writing elongated vowels in speech...

Vraie