Re: Japanese "good", consonant clusters etc.

This is all based on my understanding, and what we've covered in class.

Someone said, and I added on:

> >> 1. How do you say "good" in Japanese?
>
> in Romaji, accordin' to my sources:
>
>             _yoi_, "good"
Formal. The way it's usually spoken, though, is "ii", but it's inflected as
though it's "yoi". So "ii" "is good", "yokunai" "is not good".

>             _oishii_, "good food"
Or "is tasty", "is delicious", et cetera.

>             _ga jozu de aru_, "be good at"
...I want to say that romanization is wrong, because it's missing the long
o. And "de aru" is way formal. "desu" would be much more appropriate.
"nihongo ga jouzu desu" = "(your) Japanese is proficient!"

>                 _yakuza_ "gangster"
The Yakuza is the Japanese Mafia, incidentally. My tutor had a run-in with
them.

>             _bijin (no)_, "good-lookin'" (woman, girl)
"Bijin", by kanji, is "bi" ("beautiful") and "jin" ("person"), so this is
more of a "beautiful person".

>             _hansamu (na)_,   "  (man, boy)
A cognate from the English "handsome".

>             _sayonara_, "goodbye"
Having nothing to do with goodness, last I checked the kanji. Is also, as I
understand it, a farewell in a final sense of "I'll never see you again".
Sayounara, however, is the more formal form, and is not used as such. But
don't quote me on that.


I'm studying Japanese, just thought I'd add my spin. Languages are not so
defined as dictionaries would have us believe :P

-Keith

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