Idiot's Guide (lol)

[FadedOne]

Okay, so I decided to admit my total lack of knowledge(hehe...hence the 'idiot's guide' title.

I keep coming up with random questions that I don't have answers for and while I can guess....I get the feeling i'm guessing wrong. (for example...i had to reteach myself the pronunciations of 'anime' and 'manga'...i'm still stunned @ that last one )

So yeah...a couple questions which will make me sound really stupid, but I can't help it. LoL. just take in mind the fact that what I know about anime/manga I had to pick up from watching and making random assumptions.

1. What does OVA mean? I've tried to figure it out from logical deduction, but quite honestly the only thing I know for certain is that A stands for anime. my guess would be online something anime...but I really could go for a real defintion.

Aight, so I JUST started dl'ing and watching subbed stuff last week. This is a brand new venture. So far, i'm actually enjoying it.
Anyways, I try to pay attention and see if I can pick up a few basic words just for the heck of it since Japanese is a very nice sounding language(imho) and I like to be a nerd and learn random foreign words if I can.
Anyways...

2. I've heard the word 'arigatou' (note: i have NO idea how to spell it...but i've seen that spelling before lol) used as 'thank you'. Can someone correct my spelling and give me an accurate pronunciation?

3. When apologizing, characters say something like....'gomen' and sometimes 'gomen-sai'. lol, can someone tell me the accurate spelling for that and (if it's not too annoying lol) what the difference is between the two?


haha, well I have a couple other basic questions but I think i'll leave it here for now. Sorry if I sound stupid....and yeah, REALLY tired right now too and that doesn't help.

thanks!

Lara

[Debitt]

2. arigatou - correct. ^^; I'm not good with explaining pronunciation, so I'll leave that to someone else
3. It's gomen and gomen-nasai. The latter being the more formal way to say it.

[Jeikobu]

Okay, so I decided to admit my total lack of knowledge(hehe...hence the 'idiot's guide' title.

I keep coming up with random questions that I don't have answers for and while I can guess....I get the feeling i'm guessing wrong. (for example...i had to reteach myself the pronunciations of 'anime' and 'manga'...i'm still stunned @ that last one )

So yeah...a couple questions which will make me sound really stupid, but I can't help it. LoL. just take in mind the fact that what I know about anime/manga I had to pick up from watching and making random assumptions.

1. What does OVA mean? I've tried to figure it out from logical deduction, but quite honestly the only thing I know for certain is that A stands for anime. my guess would be online something anime...but I really could go for a real defintion.

Aight, so I JUST started dl'ing and watching subbed stuff last week. This is a brand new venture. So far, i'm actually enjoying it.
Anyways, I try to pay attention and see if I can pick up a few basic words just for the heck of it since Japanese is a very nice sounding language(imho) and I like to be a nerd and learn random foreign words if I can.
Anyways...

2. I've heard the word 'arigatou' (note: i have NO idea how to spell it...but i've seen that spelling before lol) used as 'thank you'. Can someone correct my spelling and give me an accurate pronunciation?

3. When apologizing, characters say something like....'gomen' and sometimes 'gomen-sai'. lol, can someone tell me the accurate spelling for that and (if it's not too annoying lol) what the difference is between the two?


haha, well I have a couple other basic questions but I think i'll leave it here for now. Sorry if I sound stupid....and yeah, REALLY tired right now too and that doesn't help.

thanks!

Lara

1. OVA=Original Video Animation. It can also be listed as OAV. Doesn't matter. Basically it's anime that is sent straight to video rather than airing on TV.
2. Don't worry, you spelled it correctly. It's pronounced as "A (like the "o" in "God")-RI (like the "ee" in "see")-GA (again like like the "o" in "God")-TOU (like the "o" in "spoke"). The "u" at the end means the "o" sound is a bit longer than normal.
3.Gomen=Sorry, Gomen nasai=A more apologetic sorry, like "I'm very sorry".

EDIT: A quick note on pronunciation, with Japanese the vowels always make the same sounds.
A=like the "o" in "God"
E=like the "e" in "bed"
I=like the "ee" in "see"
O=like the "o" in "spoke"
U=like the "ue" in "blue"
Notice with words like "nasai", when vowels are grouped together, though the "ai" sounds like the "ie" in "pie", when you think about it, it's the "a" and "i" sounds spoken fast together. Sorry if this sounds confusing. ^^; The exception I guess is "ou" (like "arigatou"), in which case, as I said, the "u" serves to make a longer "o" sound.

[FadedOne]

arigatou! ^_^

lol, thanks for the information all. Now *curious* can anyone tell me the pronunciation/spelling of 'yes' and 'no'? I thought i'd caught yes a couple times, but then I got confused...so yeah.

[indyrocker]

Hi=yes
I dont know what no is but another fun one is baka that one means idot.

[Arnobius]

arigatou! ^_^

lol, thanks for the information all. Now *curious* can anyone tell me the pronunciation/spelling of 'yes' and 'no'? I thought i'd caught yes a couple times, but then I got confused...so yeah.

Keep in mind it's better to think of yes and no as "true" and "false". If you ask someone "This isn't the road to Tokyo, is it?" The Japanese person might answer Yes, meaning "Yes, what you say is correct-- this *isn't* the road

In Japanese:
Yes = Hai, ee and aa can be used in descending levels of politeness (pronounced "Hi", "aay" and "ah" respectively)

No = iie (sometimes just rendered ie in some manga) is pronounced "ee-yay". Keep in mind that in Japanese, it's too blunt to say "no" flat out, so there tends to be more indirectness used:

From one series:
Benten: When are you going to pay for that?
Oyuki: You are very persistant (that is: Never)

Also, there are many more affirmative and negative words in Japanese than English, and they tend to get translated into the simple yes/no instead of showing the deeper meaning...

[Ashley]

Keep in mind too when studying Japanese, their language is much more economical than english. The same word can have multiple meanings dependent upon context, like the word "ureshii" for example. I know that can mean a broad variety of happy feelings from pleasently happy to estatic.

I'm sure Animeheretic or Shoo will correct me if I'm wrong.

[Jeikobu]

arigatou! ^_^

lol, thanks for the information all. Now *curious* can anyone tell me the pronunciation/spelling of 'yes' and 'no'? I thought i'd caught yes a couple times, but then I got confused...so yeah.

Yes=Hai ("ai" pronounced alot like "eye", basically)
No=Iie ("ii" pronounced like "ee" in "see", and "e" pronounced like "e" in "bed", as I stated earlier)
I'll let you know a few other words/terms also, if you want (refer to my first post for pronunciation). ^^
Ohayou (add "gozaimasu" for more politeness)=Good morning
Konnichiwa=Hello (used after the morning but before evening)
Konbanwa=Good evening
Oyasumi (add "nasai" for more politeness, I believe. I know there must be a difference between "gozaimasu" and "nasai", but I can't think of it, or maybe I just don't know it really. I won't be actually taking Japanese until this fall ^^; )=Good night
Baka=Idiot (you seem to here this one enough in anime, lol. I've heard it numerous times in InuYasha and I'm not even that far in)
Atashi=I/me, only used by females
Ore=I/me, only used by males, more cocky
Watashi=I/me, used by both genders
Ogenki desu ka=How are you (let me explain this one: desu is a common verb in Japanese, in this case, it matches with the "are" in "how are you". It's often a verb of being I believe. This also applies to something like "Watashi Jeikobu desu". This is how I could introduce myself. It's like saying "I am Jeikobu". So the "desu" is obviously "am". Back to "Ogenki desu ka", "ka" is a way of ending a sentence, and I believe it implies a question is being asked.

If you want to know more, let me know. ^^

[Arnobius]

Keep in mind too when studying Japanese, their language is much more economical than english. The same word can have multiple meanings dependent upon context, like the word "ureshii" for example. I know that can mean a broad variety of happy feelings from pleasently happy to estatic.

I'm sure Animeheretic or Shoo will correct me if I'm wrong.

You're not wrong, though I think it's more like the Japanese word tends to be less specialized than the English ones

(and for some useless trivia, ureshii is used to describe one's own feelings, not someone elses)

BTW, this is a useful site for quick lookups...
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/wwwjdic.html

[Sync]

Oyasumi (add "nasai" for more politeness, I believe. I know there must be a difference between "gozaimasu" and "nasai")=Good night

Politeness and I believe familiarity with the person can dictate in some situations; also that thing about multiple meanings comes in, I find it quite inconvenient actually.

[CobaltAngel]

My English used to teacher English to Japanese students and she's teaching us some Japanese. She says "hai" more like "hight" lol

[FadedOne]

This has been so helpful so far, thanks!

lol....one more at least. Can someone ID for me the different name suffixes like '-san' and '-chan' and such? lol, back when i was reading the first Kenshin manga I had them relatively straight,but now im pretty darn confused. lol.

[shooraijin]

You can also spell it arigatoo or arigato (with a line over the o), depending on your transliteration method. I use modified Hepburn which is what I'm used to, although nowadays Kunrei (arigatou) is being pushed.

[MasterDias]

lol....one more at least. Can someone ID for me the different name suffixes like '-san' and '-chan' and such? lol, back when i was reading the first Kenshin manga I had them relatively straight,but now im pretty darn confused. lol.

-san - most common honorific. In English, it would be roughly equivelent to Mr. and Ms.

-chan - Informal honorific used to indicate affection. Mostly used with girls, family members and young children.

-kun - Informal honorfic that is mostly used with males.

-sama - Extremely formal honorific used to show extreme respect.

-dono - Archaic and formal honorific that is roughly equivelent to "lord." Use this in modern Japan and people will give you funny looks...

-sensei - Used with any kind of teacher.

I'm no expert on all of the usages but I believe that is about right.

[Kaori]

Here are a few more:

-senpai - senior. Used for older colleagues and, I believe, upperclassmen.

-kohai - junior.

-sensei can refer to anyone who is a master of his or her profession, not just teachers; this is why you will sometimes see doctors referred to as "sensei."

[Arnobius]

don't forget that using NO suffix implies either very close relationships or very rude behavior.

An example from Azumanga Daioh with the character Kaorin having a dream about Sakaki. Sakaki addresses her as Kaorin, and Kaorin asks Sakaki to call her Kaori, which means that (in the dream) Kaorin wanted to move their relationship to a deeper level of intimacy.

In Negima, Asuna and Konoka address their teacher as Takahata-sensei, and are shocked when Negi refers to him by his first name only, implies that they're either very close friends or Negi is being very rude

-rin and -pyon are also terms of endearment along the lines of -chan, except they're attached to names only. (technically, Kaorin is Kaori + the -rin suffix, shrunk into Kaorin)

You can also spell it arigatoo or arigato (with a line over the o), depending on your transliteration method. I use modified Hepburn which is what I'm used to, although nowadays Kunrei (arigatou) is being pushed.

Actually, I think Hepburn uses the ou, ( おう ) except with older words that actually uses the oo ( おお ), while Kunrei tends to do the macron/circumflex. Anyway, I use Hepburn because that matches the kana, while Kunrei does not (ti instead of chi, si instead of shi, tu instead of tsu)

[FadedOne]

lol..here's a random question...where do you guys get your anime related soundtracks? I've found that if I buy anything locally, I'm likely getting ripped off.
So yeah..thinking about buying online. I honestly don't care for amazon after some DVD-buying troubles, so yeah....any reccomendations for places to buy anime soundtracks online?

[Ashley]

Hmm, well I've bought a few on ebay, but you have to know your stuff. VOE is another good, reliable store in California (http://www.chibitokyo.com) And if you don't mind downloading, PM me because I know of a little somewhere that's always rotating their OSTs. ^^

[Arnobius]

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp is where I go nowadays, but it's expensive. Unfortunately, it's one of the few places that doesn't deal in boots. Animenation is OK for that too. Most of the other places I don't trust because they tend to ship boots.