Doing a haiku, V?
I’m working on your haiku, they’re very tricky because of archaic and poetic language. Also, I’m not sure how to translate the third one yet (I mean, いへば is an archaic form of 言えば, but even then I don’t get it) 
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I tried to find more modern ones, but it was surprisingly difficult to get Japanese-language haiku.
I figured copyright claims were at play.
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ゆくはるや
とりなきうおの
めはなみだ
The fading of spring, cry of a bird; the fishes’ eyes: they are in tears
Notes
Usually 行春 is written as 行く春（ゆくはる）, and indeed, the second one I could read, the first one confuses me. The reading of 行く as ゆく is considered poetic. source
魚 is not read as さかな, but as うお, which is a less common reading, but fits the meter.source
涙 is usual kanji for 泪. The latter is only used in poetry. source
ふるいけや
かわずとびこむ
みずのおと
At the old puddle, a frog leaping into it, the sound of water
Notes
蛙 is read as かわず, but usually the reading is かえる. It is also usually written in katakana, like most animal names. source
飛び込む is a compound verb: 飛ぶ is jumping, 込む here means going into (on its own it means “to be crowded”)
ものいへば
くちびるさむし
あきのかぜ
When I’m saying things I feel my lips getting cooled by the autumn wind
Notes
物言う basically just means “talking”. I couldn’t get explained why 物 is used, which means “thing”, but in the tangible sense (i.e., not typically something you could speak). The word 事 is used for intangible things.
The irrealis form -ば is where the word “when” is hidden.
Not your regular 5-7-5, but 6-7-5, which Bashou apparently used occasionally.
たびにやんで
ゆめはかれのを
かけまわる
Getting ill en route, My dreams: through nostalgic fields I’m running around
Notes
廻 has since been replaced by 回.source
さみだれを
あつめてはやし
もがみがわ
Early-summer rain, it collects rapidly in Mogami river
Notes
五月雨 is the rain that falls in the 5th month of the old lunar calendar. It starts sometime in May / June, and ends 29 or 30 days later.source The kanji are ateji: likely stemming from 早（さ） meaning “early”, 水（み） “water” and 垂れ（たれ） “drooping” / “falling”.source
Mogami river is a river in the Northern part of Japan.
Bashou wrote another haiku about Mogami river:
暑き日を
海にいれたり
最上川
あつきひを
うみにいれたり
もがみがわ
The summery sun, it is flowing into sea, Mogami river
Notes
There is a double meaning that I originally missed: both the sun and the river flow into the sea (the river delta is on the shore looking towards the west).
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You took vis as “force”. Did it fit well into the sentence? It’s not an adjective, is it? What else can it be? How do you trigger the infinitive?
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Yeah, I forgot about vis.
@Vsotvep Ateji! That’s the word I was looking for when I said:
仙 … seems to have become cent by rebus [ateji]
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I’ve updated my translations after consulting my most reliable Japanese source.
What we couldn’t agree on:
- The grammar of the third haiku confuses us both. Actually the grammar and words of most of these haikus will confuse an average Japanese, it seems.
- The meaning of the fourth haiku: 枯れ野 are fields that have withered, it can be withered in the sense that the flowers themselves died, but they can also be withered in the sense that the idea of the flowers have died: nostalgic fields.
- My additional Mogami haiku: it has a double meaning that I missed, see above.
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I was studying Sundanese this morning, which is a Javanese language spoken by about 35 milion people.
Something interesting I noticed is that they have well-defined politeness levels.
This is something you see in Japanese as well, and also in Korean. And in Australian languages there is the concept of “avoidance speech” which is the language one uses to communicate with certain relatives. And in Polynesia we can see that tapu and mana were important concepts – perhaps they were reflected in language as well.
This makes me wonder: in prehistory was there some sort of sprachbund between the fairly-unrelated languages of East Asia, South-East Asia, and Oceania that led to a common focus on social precision in communication, and indication of respect for hierarchy? Or maybe these linguistic features were shared by the basal people who first migrated into that part of the world.
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OK, we’re going to start the day off light with a Radical Review.
First of all, let’s run quickly through the radical 也 (to be).
It’s quite a rare radical, so we can list its associated kanji exhaustively.
他 (joyo) other / another
地 (joyo) ground / earth
池 (joyo) pond / ciston / reservoir
施 (joyo) give / perform
弛 (jinm.) slacken / relax
馳 (jinm.) run / gallop / sail / drive
釶 (hyo.) halberd
葹 (hyo.) cocklebur (a type of plant)
髢 (hyo.) wig
Now, a more common one: 广 (cliff)
広 (joyo.) wide / broad
庁 (joyo) government agency
応 (joyo) apply / reply / affirm
序 (joyo) beginning / occasion
床 (joyo) bed / floor / tatami
店 (joyo) shop
府 (joyo) borough / storehouse
底 (joyo) bottom / base / depth
拡 (joyo) extend / enlarge
庄 (jinm.) manor / village
庇 (jinm.) protect / eaves
庖 (hyo.) kitchen
Meanwhile in Latin, a spotlight on re- verbs. The re- prefix meant “back” or “again”.
Re- verbs include:
rebelló I revolt
recidó I recoil
redúcó I lead back
refició I rebuild
regeneró I reproduce
reinvító I reinvite
relegó I gather again
remigró I return
repónó I store
renuó I refuse
reprobó I disapprove
restinguó I extinguish
retexó I unravel
reviréscó I become verdant again
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What do you guys want to do next?
Challenges? Translating dialogue? Free writing? Games?
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All of them! Combined into one.
Do some free writing where you describe a challenging game (hint, hint) in your native language and then translate it to the language you’re studying
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Review of a very old game.
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I still can’t understand this
stress(ударение) and pitch accent are completely different things
Japanese don’t has stress and I unable to pronounce word without stressing any syllable
Also I unable to distinguish which syllable has high pitch accent when I hear pronunciation
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It’s like singing. In languages with stress accent, the accentuated syllable is louder. In Japanese, it’s not louder, but higher. First, concentrate on pronouncing all syllables at the same volume to take the stress accent out of your speech. Then, concentrate on making the syllable not louder, but higher.
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So cheerful
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Back in the day, when I thought I might learn Japanese (hey, I learned English somehow, might as well, am I right) I bought a few textbooks to learn from, specifically three. This one is my favorite series, very, very nice. I still go to languages section in book stores and I haven’t seen anything close to it. Although this might rather tell us more about book stores around here.
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This is a neat site if you want to look etymology of chinese characters:
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I recommend this video. He goes over complicated fighting showing in great detail why certain moves don’t work. Pro games really are confusing as hell.
Also, a cat.
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One for Latin scholars (@bugcat @Sanonius?)
Thomas Hyde’s book from 1694 has a section on Go (Wei Ki) in Latin and is in Google books so maybe an interesting translation challenge.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8rBAAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Wei%20ki&f=false
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For me:
- Educated in English, which I use at work and online.
- Fluent in Chinese, which I use at home and social settings.
- Conversational in Malay from a young age and trying to improve.
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