10.10.2005

Japanese newspaper words

A while ago, I found a great ESL site with all kinds of English help for non-native speakers, and within it are lists of Japanese words that are frequently used in newspapers. The words are in kanji, hiragana, and katakana.

Below are some hiragana words, which are just a fraction of what's available there:

すっかり (sukkari) all; completely; thoroughly
ふさわしい (fusawashii) appropriate
あるいは (aruiwa) or; possibly
いわゆる (iwayuru) the so-called; so to speak
あらゆる (arayuru) all; every
とにかく (tonikaku) anyhow; at any rate; anyway; somehow or other; generally speaking; in any case
けたたましい (ketatamashii) piercing; shrill; noisy; loud; clamorous; wild
かっと (katto) flare up; flying into a rage
あくまで (akumade) to the end; to the last; stubbornly; persistently
もっぱら (moppara) wholly; solely; entirely
おおむね (omune) in general; mostly; roughly
しばしば (shibashiba) often; again and again; frequently
なるべく (narubeku) as much as possible
ぱっと (patto) suddenly; in a flash; rapidly; nimbly; alertly
ひたすら (hitasura) nothing but; earnestly; intently
じっくり (jikkuri) deliberately; carefully
たびたび (tabitabi) often; repeatedly; frequently
おもちゃ (omocha) toy
わざわざ (wazawaza) expressly; specially; doing something especially rather than incidentally
いきなり (ikinari) abruptly; suddenly; all of a sudden; without warning
ぎりぎり (girigiri) at the last moment; just barely
やられる (yarareru) to suffer damage; to be deceived
なぞる (nazoru) to trace (drawing); to follow
そもそも (somosomo) in the first place; to begin with
ぶつかる (butsukaru) to strike; to collide with
ゆったり (yuttari) (1) comfortable; easy; calm; (2) loose; spacious
ともかく (tomokaku) anyhow; anyway; somehow or other; generally speaking; in any case
いかなる (ikanaru) any kind of (with neg. verb)
いかにも (ikanimo) indeed; really; phrase meaning agreement
あらかじめ (arakajime) beforehand; in advance; previously
いよいよ (iyoiyo) more and more; all the more; increasingly; at last; beyond doubt

4 comments:

Mahndisa S. Rigmaiden said...

10 11 05

Hello Metrolingua:
Thx for this illuminating lesson. I am placing you on my blog roll so folks can visit and learn. Everytime I visit your site, I learn something new:) Have a nice day!

Anonymous said...

Thanks--I just realized that I didn't write out the transliterations for all those words, so I just did that. Now anyone will be able to read them.

a guy in pajamas said...

Hey, mj, your hiragana 'nazoru' doesn't match its romaji, 'ozoru'.

Or, I've forgotten hiragana.

Anonymous said...

You're right! Congratulations on passing the test! Now you can proceed to level 2.

I made the change and all is well...unless there's some other mistake buried deep in the site.