[OT?] What is a kawanaga? (I'm Japanese!)

[Agback]

Until I checked the dictionary just now, I didn't realize Japanese could be used as a singular noun; so that usage seems to have fallen away in the U.S. at least, and it has a sort of archaic feel to it. Is it still current in other English speaking countries?

It is current in Australia, along with, for example 'a Chinese', 'a Singhalese', 'a Burmese', 'a Nepalese', 'a Surinamese'. What is the alternative?

I have a recent American dictionary (Webster's Tenth Collegiate, dating to 1999). It defines the noun 'Japanese' as (first of three meanings) "a native or inhabitant of Japan". It does not mark this usage as 'archaic', nor as 'Austral.', nor as 'chiefly Brit.' "I am a Japanese" is perfectly okay American English according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Company.

I think the people who have been telling Syunsuke that his English was wrong have been shooting from the hip.

Regards,


Agback

 

[tleilaxu]

I don't care what the dictionary says. I told syunsuke that because saying "I'm a Japanese" will sound stupid to a native english speaker. That is all that matters in a language

 

[Tsyr]

Actualy, it's sorta... grey.

"Japanese" can be used as a noun, but normaly it's plural... I.E. "The Japanese". Generaly if it's used in a singular context, it's an adjective... IE, "The Japanese person". That is how The American Heritage Dictionary gives it.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, however, says that Japanese can indeed be used as a singular noun.

Given that Webster's says it's ok, and the AHD didn't explicitly say it was NOT OK, I'll lean towards "It's fine, if unusual".

Saying "I am a Japanese" sounds strange to those used to speaking english, yes. But it doesn't sound stupid, exactly. At least not to me. It just sounds like someone trying to speak our language who isn't really all that used to speaking it.

It's miles beyond my attempts at japanese, at any rate

 

[gorgon1964]

Impressed

Wow, I'm seriously impressed. The number of asian experts on this forum boggles the mind.

 

[Yellow Sign]

Could it be that KAWANAGA is as fictional as the NINJA that use them.

 

[Syunsuke]

"I'm Japanese" is more natural or fluent than "I'm a Japanese" though the later isn't "wrong", OK? I learned it, so please stop this argument before getting nasty.

Tsyr,
I'm happy to hear you think kaginawa is possible etymology.
Japanese have a habbit of botching other languages, too. There are a lot of strange foreign words in Japanese.

soulmoon...
soul + moon ? I think you chose fairly good kanji.

First letter is REI, that means soul (also means ghost).
Second is TSUKI, means moon.
These two letters can be REITSUKI.No such word exist as normal Japanese, so you can read them simply as each pronuncatoin.
However, if I coined that word, I'd pronounce REIGETSU. This sounds more natural as Japanses and cool.
Or, if I want more archaic or Japanese-origin like (not Chinese-origin like) sound,TAMADUKI.


Dragonblade,
Watashi ha Osaka ni sunde imasu. Kyoto nimo 5nen kan sunde imashi ta.
Anata no nihongo ha totemo jouzu desu.


Zhure,
Three of them are same words. Actually, a word KAWA (river) and partial word NAGA (whole word is NAGARERU, flow).
And this don't rerate to hook with rope.


Yellow Sign,
As climbing device, Ninja surely used hook with rope ;kaginawa.
As weapon, I don't know.

 

[Pazu]

Actualy, I'd suspect that you may have hit on it... kawanaga and kaginawa are basicly (from a purely sylabelic standpoint, mind you) the same word, just... garbled. That's not even close to accurate, of course, and it totaly ruins the word, but americans have a habbit of botching other languages. We botch our own enough as it is...

What probably happened is one RPG used it, then basicly every other RPG since then has just copied the word and not done their own research on it.

I don't think it would be the first instance, either, as I believe the double-crescent-bladed staff from Indonesia (?) is properly called the latajang , rather than the lajatang .



-- Pazu

 

[alsih2o]

I don't care what the dictionary says. I told syunsuke that because saying "I'm a Japanese" will sound stupid to a native english speaker. That is all that matters in a language

more than "i am AN american"?

 

[Agback]

I don't care what the dictionary says. I told syunsuke that because saying "I'm a Japanese" will sound stupid to a native english speaker.

Tleilaxu, I am a native English speaker.

Regards,


Agback

 

[tarchon]

I have a recent American dictionary (Webster's Tenth Collegiate, dating to 1999). It defines the noun 'Japanese' as (first of three meanings) "a native or inhabitant of Japan". It does not mark this usage as 'archaic', nor as 'Austral.', nor as 'chiefly Brit.' "I am a Japanese" is perfectly okay American English according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Company.

Dictionaries don't tell the whole story, particularly with subtle matters of usage like this. www.m-w.com also fails to note the about/around constrast, and if they missed that one, I don't think they could be expected to note something as subtle as what we're talking about.

There are hundreds if not thousands of subtle usage differences like this between American and Commonwealth English that aren't noted in dictionaries, of which most people aren't aware. This is just another one of them.

Of course Syunsuke is perfectly correct in using the Commonwealth form, and his English is generally excellent, but it's a simple and easily demonstrable fact that conventional American usage differs on this point. Where certain commentators are being a little hasty is in assuming that all English is American English.