じょ まく
序幕 Jomaku
Introduction
☊Instructional Expressions Part 1
Listen to the audio files and practice responding to these instructions with an appropriate action.
Remember, you need not learn to say these expressions yourself, but need to react promptly when you
hear your instructor say them.
はい。
はじ
始 めましょう。
き
聞いてください。
い
言ってください。
こた
答 えてください。
いっ かい い
もう 一 回 言ってください。
い
みんなで言ってください。
ひと り
い
一 人ずつ言ってください。
おお
こえ
もっと 大 きな 声 で話してく
ださい。
ほん
み
本 を見ないでください。
けい たい
み
携 帯 を見ないでください。
か
書いてください。
おわ
終 わります。
Ha⸣i.
Okay.
Ha⸢jimemasho⸣o.
Let’s begin.
Ki⸢ite kudasa⸣i.
Please listen.
I⸢tte kudasa⸣i.
Please say it.
Ko⸢ta⸣ete ku⸢dasa⸣i.
Please answer.
Mo⸢o ik-kai itte kudasa⸣i.
Please say it again.
Mi⸢n’na⸣ de i⸢tte kudasa⸣i.
Please say it all together.
Hi⸢tori-zu⸣tsu i⸢tte kudasa⸣i.
Please say it one at a time.
Mo⸣tto ⸢o⸣oki na koe de
ha⸢na⸣shite kudasai.
Please talk louder.
Ho⸣n o ⸢mi⸣nai de ku⸢dasa⸣i.
Please don’t look at the book.
Ke⸢itai o mi⸣nai de ku⸢dasa⸣i.
Please don’t look at your phone.
Ka⸣ite ku⸢dasa⸣i.
Please write it.
O⸢warima⸣su.
That’s all for today (used at the end
of a class).
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NihonGO NOW! Introduction
☊Basic Greetings
Work with the audio files until you are able to use these phrases intentionally and you are comfortable
responding to others appropriately when you hear them use the phrases.
おはようございます。
O⸢hayoo gozaima⸣su.
Good morning (formal).
こんにちは。
Ko⸢nnichi wa.
Hello.
こんばんは。
Ko⸢nban wa.
Good evening.
ありがとうございました。
A⸢ri⸣gatoo go⸢zaima⸣shita.
Thank you (for what you have done).
Basic Greetings
a. Ohayoo gozaimasu is the first greeting of the day. If you know the person well, ohayoo is fine. You
should always greet your teacher or other superiors with the full form, ohayoo gozaimasu, because it is
more polite. It is also expected that lower-ranking people initiate the greeting (speak first) to their
superiors.
b. Konnichi wa is used at other times of the day, before evening. But konnichi wa is not used between
family members or friends. (See otsukaresama in Act 1 Scene 10.)
c. Konban wa is the standard greeting when you meet people in the evening.
c. Arigatoo gozaimashita is used to thank someone for what they have done. This is an appropriate thing
to say to your instructor after class, before leaving the classroom.
じ ぎ
お辞儀 Ojigi ‘Bowing’
All languages have gestures and body language that are peculiar to the culture. Japanese are well known
for bowing—when they are introduced, when they say goodbye, when they leave a room or office.
Depending on the gravity of the situation, the bow might be a quick nod of the head (acknowledging a
colleague in the hall) or a formal bow (when meeting a superior for the first time, when accepting a
diploma). It is important to remember that your eyes should look down, not at the person you are
addressing.
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NihonGO NOW! Introduction
かく ちょう
拡 張 Expansion
1. Observe someone bowing, either as they interact with you or with someone else. Pay
attention to how deeply they bow, how many times they bow, the social situation (i.e., the
type of relationship that the people who are bowing have with each other), and the immediate
situation (i.e., why they are interacting with each other; for example, thanking, apologizing,
greeting, etc.).
2. Ask someone how deeply they would bow in various situations, such as (a) greeting a friend,
a teacher, a boss; (b) being introduced to someone else; (c) thanking someone for something
small (e.g., picking up something for you that you dropped) or something big (e.g., staying at
someone’s home for several days).
Japanese Sounds and Romanization
This book will present Japanese in two formats—romanization (roomaji) (the use of the Roman alphabet
to represent Japanese sounds) and Japanese script. The Japanese writing system is extremely complex,
and it can be helpful for beginning students to use romanization as a reminder of what Japanese sounds
like when first learning how to speak. You will see Japanese represented in Romanization for the first five
lessons. At that point, you will have learned hiragana, and that will allow you to move to reading only in
Japanese.
The romanization used here is a variation of one called Hepburn with slight modifications.
a. The Syllable or Mora
The mora (syllable-like unit) is the basic unit of pronunciation in Japanese. The writing system is based
on it, and Japanese literature, especially poetry, has syllable count at its very core. All Japanese words are
made up of syllables that consist of:
a vowel (5 vowels in all: a, i, u, e, o in the first column on the left below);
or
a consonant plus a vowel (62 possible combinations in blue below);
or
a consonant plus a /y/ plus a vowel (33 possible combinations in the last three rows below) (note that /s/
plus/ /y/ is pronounced /sh/, /z/ plus /y/ is pronounced /j/, and /t/ plus /y/ is pronounced /ch/);
or
syllabic n (highlighted in the last column on the right below). This /n/ is the only consonant that
constitutes a syllable all by itself in Japanese. It also assimilates to whatever follows, so before /m/ or /b/
it is pronounced /m/ (shinbun ‘newspaper’ is pronounced shimbun), before /t/ or /d/ it is pronounced /n/
(hontoo ‘true’ is pronounced hontoo), and before /k/ or /g/ it is pronounced /ng/ (ginkoo ‘bank’ is
pronounced gingkoo). At the end of an utterance or before a vowel, it is pronounced with the tongue
raised at the back of the mouth without making contact.
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NihonGO NOW! Introduction
The Syllables of Japanese
a
ka
ga
sa
za
ta
na
ha
pa
ba
ma
i
ki
gi
shi
ji
chi
ni
hi
pi
bi
mi
u
ku
gu
su
zu
tsu
nu
fu
pu
bu
mu
e
ke
ge
se
ze
te
de
ne
he
pe
be
me
o
ko
go
so
zo
to
do
no
ho
po
bo
mo
kya
gya
sha
ja
cha
nya
hya
pya
bya
mya
rya
kyu
gyu
shu
ju
chu
nyu
hyu
pyu
byu
myu
ryu
kyo
gyo
sho
jo
cho
nyo
hyo
pyo
byo
myo
ryo
1
da
ya
ra
wa
ri
yu
ru
re
yo
ro
n
The vowels are pronounced as follows:
a as in /father/
i as in /peak/
u as in /food/
e as in /egg/
o as in / tote/
In the column headed by sa note that sh (shi, sha, shu, sho) is pronounced with your tongue somewhere
between your teeth and your alveolar ridge—not as far back as English /she/ and not as far forward as
English /see/.
In the column headed by ta, note that ch (chi, cha, chu, cho) is similar. Try saying “cheese” with your
tongue further forward and smiling.
Note that the Japanese /r/ is a flap of the tongue against the roof of your mouth, and that there is no l/r
distinction in Japanese.
There is no l/r or b/v distinction in Japanese. So English right and light sound the same when borrowed
into Japanese: raito. Similarly, love and rub collapse into rabu.
Sometimes the /g/ sound of Japanese is a hard sound, as in give. Sometimes it is a softer sound like the
/ng/ in singer. This is a matter of dialect. The soft /g/ never starts a word.
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4
NihonGO NOW! Introduction
Finally, Japanese fu is pronounced by blowing air softly between rounded lips, not at all like English fu
which finds your top teeth against your lower lip.
b. Long Vowels and Long Consonants
Unlike English, Japanese has long—in terms of duration—vowels and consonants. (This should not be
confused with long and short vowels in English). One-syllable chi (血) ‘blood’ is not the same as twosyllable chii (地位) ‘rank.’ Obasan (おばさん) ‘aunt’ should not be confused with obaasan (おばあさ
ん) ‘grandmother.’ In the first member of each pair (chi and obasan) the vowel is short and clipped; in the
second member of each pair (chii and obaasan) the vowel is longer in duration.
☊Here are some other word pairs that differ only in the length of the vowel:
2 syllables
3 syllables
shujin (主人)‘husband’
shuujin (囚人) ‘prisoner’
hire (鰭)‘fin’
hirei (非礼) ‘impoliteness’
riko (利己) ‘self-interest’
rikoo (理工) ‘science and technology
Similarly, consonants can be long in Japanese. Oto ‘sound’ is two syllables or two beats while otto
‘husband’ is three syllables since the /t/ is held for an additional beat.
☊Here are some other word pairs that differ only in the length of the consonant:
2 syllables
3 syllables
hato ‘dove’
hatto ‘hat’ (borrowing from English)
kona flour’
konna ‘this kind of’
c. Pitch Accent
As you listen to Japanese, you will notice that words are not distinguished by accent the way they are in
English. English has what is called ‘stress accent.’ The difference between all of the following pairs
CONtent (noun)
conTENT (adjective)
INsult (noun)
inSULT (verb)
DIScharge (noun)
disCHARGE (verb)
TRUSTy (adjective)
trusTEE (noun)
is one of loudness. The first words in the pairs have their stress on the first syllable. The second words in
the pairs have their stress on the second syllable. Stress accent is important at both the word level and the
sentence level in English. Japanese on the other hand has “pitch accent” rather than stress accent. The
5
NihonGO NOW! Introduction
pitch can change from syllable to syllable, and this distinguishes words. The word ame whose second
syllable is pronounced with higher pitch means ‘candy’; ame with the first syllable pitched higher means
‘rain.’ Here are more examples of word pairs in Japanese that differ only in pitch accent.
me ‘jug’
ka
ka ‘turtle’
me
shi ‘bridge’
ha
ha
ta
ka ‘form’
shi ‘chopsticks’
ka ‘shoulder’
ta
In this material, when we show pitch, the following convention will be used: the symbol ⸢ indicates that
the next pitch rises while the symbol ⸣ indicates that the next pitch falls. (This is similar to the way that
Japanese accent dictionaries indicate accent for speakers of Japanese.) The words above will be
represented in the following way using these marks:
ka⸢me 瓶（か⸢め）
ka⸣me 亀（か⸣め）
ha⸢shi 橋（は⸢し）
ha⸣shi 箸（は⸣し）
ka⸢ta 形（か⸢た）
ka⸣ta 肩（か⸣た）
All Scenes in Lesson 1 through 4 will include the pitch profile. Here are some examples from Scene 1:
Bu⸢ra⸣ian desu. This means that the pitch of /ra/ is higher than all of the other syllables in this phrase.
Yo⸢rosiku onegai-sima⸣su. This means that the pitch rises on the second syllable /ro/ and falls on the last
syllable /su/. You may not hear the fall in pitch, because the /u/ of /su/ is usually voiceless, but it will be
audible in other contexts.
Pay attention, too, to how pitch accent interacts with sentence intonation. In English, question intonation
often rises across the sentence. When you say, “Do you understand?” the intonation rises consistently. In
Japanese, the same question, Wa⸢karima⸣su ka? has pitch accent along with rising question intonation at
the end on ka:
wa
karima
a
su k
It is also possible that pitch may rise and never come down in Japanese. Intonation for the greeting
konnichi wa does not fall, which never happens in English:
nnichi wa
ko
れん しゅう
うで だめ
Now go to the Activity Book for 練 習 Practice and 腕 試 し Tryout.
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