Words to practice for today:
| さかな（魚） fish | たな（棚） shelf |
| なっとう（納豆） natto | あな（穴） hole |
| おんな（女） female | なぜ why |
| なぞなぞ（謎々） riddle | なつ（夏） summer |
Hiragana for Lesson 29
|
な is
pronounced /nah/. It
is the １番目（いちばんめ）のかな in the な行,
the ５行目 （ごぎょうめ） in the hiragana.
Words to practice for today:
|
濁点（だくてん） are not used with な行かな.
Vocabulary notes
さかな is the standard word for fish, replacing うお. The origin of さかな means going well with alcohol (さけ). Honorific お can be added to 魚 giving お魚 for polite speech, but honorific お never goes before types of 魚.
A common word compound from たな（棚） is 本棚（ほんだな） bookshelf. Because Japanese does not (normally) have plurals, this also means bookshelves. And what do you imagine when you hear bookshelves? Bookcase. (Another way to say bookcase is 本箱（ほんばこ））。
なっとう（納豆） natto was evidently invented when someone in Tokyo left some soybeans lying around too long. To this day, Tokyoites love this fermented bean dish more than people in other areas of Japan.
The expression "there is a hole" in Japanese is "a hole is open," 穴があいている。
Using 女 is not a polite way to refer to women/girls (though not uncommon when in the company of only men). You should say 女の人（ひと） for female person and 女の子（こ） for girl. Also, 女 refers only to human females, never animals.
Remember to keep the 書き順 （かきじゅん）と方向（ほうこう）!
書き順と方向をしっかりと守ってください。
Copyright 12/02/98 Benjamin Barrett
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