Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums > Reference > Study Hall > I'd like some advice on Japanese grammar...

[Peter_20]

I posted a thread similar to this one a while ago, but that one's an old thread now; and this is a new kind of question anyway.

I was just wondering, is it true that words are spelt by using the signs for certain sounds?
For example, if there are signs for "ma", "sa", "mu" and "ne", then can I just write those signs and thus spell the word "masamune"?

Oh, and one more thing:
what letters are used in the Japanese video games?
Kanji?

[41-Inches-Wide]

I suck in Kanji, so whenever I write MASAMUNE I write it in hiragana form and just write, enclosed in parenthesis beside the word, indicating that I mean a "sword", that it's not a surname or a place or whatever else.
But there is a specific kanji for the MASAMUNE, and for the life of me I have no idea what it is.

Writings used in most japanese games are a mix of hiragana, katakana, and kanji

[Peter_20]

Originally Posted by 41-Inches-Wide ^

Writings used in most japanese games are a mix of hiragana, katakana, and kanji

Eh... why? XD
Are they trying to make understanding the Japanese video games even trickier than it already is?

[41-Inches-Wide]

Well actually, you use hiragana when you write japanese words in japanese characters. you use the katakana for words borrowed from English. Like "AISU KURIMU", it is written EXCLUSIVELY in katakana.
There is a big difference between hiragana and katakana (curved vs. angled strokes), to stop it from being all weird and messy. It's like this, if you write AISU KURIMU in hiragana form, the japanese will be all like WTF MAN, DUN UNDERSTAND. But when you indicate through katakana that this is a 'borrowed' word, then it's all good.

As for the kanji, that's a pretty long story i dont understand it myself I am terrible at kanji. But anyway you only use kanji for the specific japanese words that have their own characters. Like for example, you don't write FLOWER in katakana (FURAWA-.xD) because it has a japanese equivalent already, which is "HANA". But they use kanji to signify -AGAIN- the difference of the various 'hana's' (i.e. hana means nose) also. The HANA "nose" has its own kanji. And the HANA "flower/blossom" has its own also.

EDIT:
Long-ass post. hope i helped a little

[Marshall banana]

Even though dialogue in Final Fantasy games contains a lot of Kanji, the games' menus and character names tend to be spelled with Katakana and Hiragana. Thus, they're pretty easy to figure out. =D



If I'm not mistaken, all installments prior to FFV use no Kanji.

[41-Inches-Wide]

Why don't you just play English versions? I know I do.

[Marshall banana]

Originally Posted by 41-Inches-Wide ^

Why don't you just play English versions? I know I do.

Because Japanese is fun and pretty! XP

[41-Inches-Wide]

Originally Posted by Marshall banana ^

Originally Posted by 41-Inches-Wide ^

Why don't you just play English versions? I know I do.

Because Japanese is fun and pretty! XP

I CONCUR!