Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don’t need their own posts, and first time posters go here (October 19, 2023)

7 comments

1. I’m going through the process of learning the Hiragana syllabary with the expectation to go onto Katakana next, and then learning Kanji after that.

   My question came as a result of looking through Naruto Uzumaki’s wiki page. He’s described as the “Hero of the Hidden Leaf” which is written as 木ノ葉隠れの英雄. This name has both Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji.

   I believe I understand when Katakana is used, but is the Kanji here simply a style choice? Could the author have written it without it if he wanted to? Would anything be lost as a result? When writing kanji, is it up to the writer whether or not they want to use kanji or not? Or are there certain rules when determining this?

2. > いく間ともしれぬ、広い日本建てと、黄色い化粧れんがをはりつめた、二階建ての大きな洋館とが、かぎの手に並んでいて、そのうらには、公園のように、広く美しいお庭があるのです。

   Context: I think it’s describing a mansion or some kind of other wealthy area that a thief wants to steal from.

   1. I am having some trouble with いく間ともしれぬ, and indeed, I have no idea what any of this means so I might need a breakdown

   2. かぎの手に並んでいて, what is this? A key of the hand is lined up? What is かぎ?

   Anyway I think it says, “[いく間ともしれぬ???], wide Japanese buildings, bricks covered with yellow makeup(?), two story big western stile house, key of hand(??) lined up, round the back, like a park, are wide beautiful gardens.”

3. how would you pronounce this:ほだしたら I have tried getting a definitive answer but i can not i know all of hiragana there i just dont know how to say it.

4. For negative volition ~まい, is there any special reason for why ~まい is sometimes attached to the end of the verb stem instead of to the plain (dictionary) form?

   Example: 見るまい and 見まい

5. So far, I’ve understood “骨格” to mean skeleton. But when I looked it up all the image results seem body type related (indicating the difference between “wave type”, “natural type” etc.), why is this? Is there a nuance to the word that extends beyond the skeleton? If so is there a more appropriate word that means specifically just the skeletal system as opposed to the entire body?

6. I’m looking to watch anime to help increase my exposure to the language. I’ve got a list of more beginner-friendly anime and picked out Azumanga Daioh to start with.

   What method of watching would be the most beneficial?

   1) Watch entirely without subs

   2) Watch an episode with subs, then the same episode without

   3) Watch an episode without subs first, then the same one with subs

   4) Alternate each episode I watch with subs on and off

7. Are there any Anki decks that teach vocab that use kanji that one would have learnt through Wanikani, but at certain levels?
   I mean like, a deck with vocab that uses kanji from maybe levels 1-10, 11-20, etc.