1. NUR ATIQAH BINTI RAHIM 1410854 INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS
JAPANESE MORPHOLOGY
NUR ATIQAH BINTI RAHIM
INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS

2. JAPANESE MORPHOLOGY
Morphology is the scientific study of forms and structures of words in a language
Japanese language is agglutinative (forms words by putting together free morphemes) and could be a very complex language
One needs to know hiragana, katakana and kanji in order to read Japanese and when to use On-reading and Kun-reading.

3. COMPOUNDING
Combination of two or more free morphemes to form a new word that functions as a single word
2 types of compounds
Root compound Word compound
1) ‘kee’ + ‘syoku’ = keesyoku 1) ‘sihoo’ + ‘siken’ = sihoo siken
light eating snack judicial exam judicial exam
2) ‘koo’ + ‘soku’ = koosoku 2) ‘kokka’ + ‘keesatu’ = kokka keesatu
high speed rapid national police national police

4. DERIVATION
Forming a new word by adding an affix (prefix and/or suffix) to the word.
The prefix ‘sai’ expressed the meaning ‘most’
Examples:
The suffix ‘san’ (for people) serves as a mark of respect or subject is not known well.
The suffix ‘chan’ is used to address children, friends and family members
Example:
KANJI
JAPANESE ROMAJI
TRANSLATION 最低
saitei
Least,lowest 最新
saishin
Latest, newest
KANJI
JAPANESE ROMAJI
TRANSLATION
のび太さん
Nobita-san
Mr. Nobita
ニーナちゃん
Nina-chan
My dear Nina

5. INFLECTION
Adding word endings or modifying the form of the words in order to indicate grammatical functions such as tenses, numbers, and case.
In Japanese, genders are NOT indicated by inflections, but through a new different word.
Example:
TENSES + CASE
Present (Positive)
Past (Positive)
Present (Negative)
Past (Negative)
食べる
taberu
(eat)
食べた
tabeta
(had eaten)
食べない
tabenai
(do not eat)
食べなかった
tabenakatta
(did not eat) 話す
hanasu
(speak)
話した
hanashita
(told)
話さない
hanasanai
(do not speak)
話さなかった
hanasanakatta
(did not speak)

6. BORROWING Taking over of words from other languages Examples:
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE
ORIGINAL WORD
MEANING
JAPANESE ROMAJI
JAPANESE MEANING
Portuguese
álcool
alcohol
arukōru
vidro
glass
bīdoro
a certain traditional type of glass artifact
bola-de-gude
Balls of marbles
bīdama
marbles
botão
button
botan
English
cake
keiki
raincoat
reinkoto

7. ONOMATOPOEIA Words that imitates or represent sounds in nature
Onomatopoeia in Japanese are of 3 types;
GISEIGO: Sounds that people and animals make.
GIONGO: Noises that don’t fall under giseigo. Sound effects like the wind blowing, an explosion, or rainfall.
GITAIGO: Words that describe actions and emotions that don’t necessarily make noises. It describes more abstract things like facial expressions and feelings.

8. EXAMPLES GISEIGO GIONGO GITAIGO SOUND OF ROMAJI Cow mooing Moo-moo
Pigs oinking
Buu-buu
GIONGO
Sizzle
Shuu
Wind
Zawa
GITAIGO
Hungry stomach
Peko-peko
Smiling face
Niko-niko

9. Till we meet again :D
Ganbatte ne!!