Section 1: Greetings, Partings, and General Meeting Ettiquette This section refers to standard vocabulary and cultural propriety

relative to concepts of meeting with native Japanese speakers beyond the most common greetings noted in textbooks. In addition, it includes a number of related grammar points that might be necessary in order to form a complete statement of the speaker or his partner's actions or feelings as would be relevant at a point of meeting. For instance, conditions of starting and stopping may be important when a speaker is inclined or encouraged to talk about the state of the weather or his partner's work ethic. 1a. Greetings: I. I have just returned (lit. just now)

Welcome back (lit. returning in observance of the other's action) II. Where are you going? This is a way to greet one's neighbor and is not to evoke a detailed reply. In Japan it is less nosy to ask one's direction than to ask one's business, as would be more common in American English (cf. what's up?).

III. Are you healthy? General greeting. Contrast: Closer to how is your condition? This question includes the air of concern for one's well-being, and is thus used only when one has shown signs of sickness, such as obvious knowledge of illness on the speaker's part, or an extended absence from one's occupation. It is, however, more common among friends. Caution is advised among coworkers. IV. Though it usually means good morning it really means it is early and refers to earliness in reference to the time frame that the speaker would spend with the recipient. Therefore it might be used even late in the evening if that is the first time the speaker sees the other person that day. Additionally, it is a safe expression between almost any two people. Contrast: These expressions would be used more for one's out-group, not so much coworkers or family.

V. (casual)(formal) I am late but I have no excuse. It is not literally intended that the speaker has no excuse; he should, of course, have a valid reason, but to give it immediately both is a rude expenditure of someone else's time and shows that he disregards his own rudeness because he thinks it is justified. He should then wait until a more opportune time to discuss the reasons behind his rudeness. 1b. Partings:

I. - I will be back later (lit. I am going and coming)

Please return (lit. Go and come back)

II. (casual)(formal) Excuse my going first (lit. Before you/Before you I perform a rudeness) III. So long See you soon (lit. Then, again) IV. This shows the anticipation of the passage of a great distance of time before the two will meet again. It should not be used for day-to-day partings. V. or Either of these is used to appreciate the hard work someone has done. The second however is used for a superior talking down to an inferior.

VI. to return to one's home or place of permanent or extended belonging

to return to a place distinguished in context, including a place one is visiting, i.e. another person's home 1c. Introduction: During introduction, be cautious of the relations between two or more individuals. Consider two charts indicating closeness. 1) Speaker---introduced>>>recipient 2) Speaker<<<introduced---recipient Gratitude is generally more polite when referring to one's self (and the extension of one's self, in this case the in-group). Compliments are to be delivered to maintain the lowering of oneself to a recipient and his or her in-group, at all times maintaining respect for the communal links observed from one

individual to his , or individuals associated with him. It is important to note that gratitude can be observed as the greatest of compliments, because it shows the good character of someone. Therefore, case 1 should include gratitude for something someone has done.

Case 2 however should avoid compliments in general because to compliment one of your in-group is to imply I acknowledge that I carry around the best of men...how about you? Instead, familiarity should be increased by talking about the manner in which a person is related to you.

1d. Meeting Again: It is common to refer back to the events of the last meeting between the speaker and another person. Care should be taken here to show appropriate gratitude or apology for the last occurrence, for instance, thanking one for dinner or apologizing for leaving early, even if the speaker has already done so on the last meeting. Thank you for the meal.

(casual)(formal) As for the other day...

A while ago

(more common)(more literary) Last night

1e. Progress: I. incomplete progress The form of verbs is used to show that an action has been started but not finished. Ex.

A: Are you reading the book?

B: Yes, but I have not finished it.

II. stem+ complete progress The form of verbs is used to show that an action previously started has been finished. Ex.

A: Where is your drink?

B: I finished drinking it.

III. Temporal initiation of actions: stem+ vs. The form of verbs is used to show the general initiation of an action. , however, is used to show the sudden occurrence of an action relative to the frame of time in which it is mentioned. Ex.

I am starting my homework (starting to do my homework).

It started to rain [just then]. In this case, the roots of each auxiliary verb may be noted : is to begin something (trans.) while is to put something out, the latter implying the breaking out of an action rather than its gradual, premeditated, or otherwise anticipated occurrence.

Section 2: Current Events This section refers to common colloquial and plain expressions significant for describing events and matters relevant to the current state of the speaker or his partner's life. This includes a number of textbook expressions as well as several abbreviations or colloquial forms of conversational phrases. 2a. Phrases of Relevance: A number of phrases can be used to show the relation between a noun or phrase and a noun or verb. The form changes based on whether the related word is a noun or verb. Ex.

- Going running depending on the weather

- Lifestyle based on income Table 2a + verb Concerning ~ (lit.) Concerning ~ (col.) Depending on ~ At/in ~ To/for ~ To/against ~ + noun

2b. Colloquial Expressions: I. used to rephrase a previous idea, followed by the rephrasing; or, in other words... or in response to someone else isn't that to say... Also : when following a thought: ...or something like that preceding a thought: what am I saying/what are you saying usually to be followed by the speaker's opinionated idea of what should be stated instead, sometimes to humorous effect Ex.

A: I'm going shopping now

B: You mean, you're not going to class?

A: What do you mean? Oh crap, do I have class?

II. used to confirm the previous statement with a negative question, comes from ; like isn't that so?; it can be attached directly to any part of speech Ex. - That's good, right?

- You're listening, aren't you? III. in the manner of something Ex. - like that

- expressions like these IV. or - used as a replacement for ; it can also be used as a response to a question asked the same way

V. shorthand of + informational verb (,, etc.); used to bring a topic into reference Ex.

- Speaking of that movie, can we see it? 2c. Command Form I. stem + formal imperative Ex.

- Stop talking. II. Casual affirmative imperative verbs: base+ verbs: stem Exceptions: -> -> Ex. - Go over there!

- Eat! III. Plain form + casual imperative Ex.

- Don't ask that!

2d. Supplemental Vocabulary - look! - better (than something) - better than ~ excessively bad, lame, not good at all, etc

to introduce

way, method

(for.)(col.) - it can't be helped

Section 3: Comparisons, Similarities, Relations This section covers grammar and expressions dealing primarily with different plain and colloquial auxiliaries for likeness, with expressions dealing with the likelihood of hearsay and vocabulary dealing with dating and relationships. 3a. Likeness Auxiliaries: I. - the most formal term for likeness. With just a noun, adjective, or verb attached to the front, it functions as like... or such as... based on the context. Ex.

- to be like a dog

- an action like running

- people such as drivers

- to be as though necessary may also be used for hearsay, or personal conjecture based on prior interpreted information, and may be used with informational verbs.

II. - an auxiliary noun used to mean in the style of ~ or ~esque.

is used for the type of something. Ex.

- Picassoesque

- R-type III. has two functions. First, it can be used like for personal conjecture. It can be attached directly to a noun, adjective, or verb in plain form. This form is more plain. Ex.

- He seems to be sick, doesn't he. Second, it can be used to show that something of a certain class has the typical likeness of that class. This form is common in literary form or plain speech. Cf.

- Today is like a spring day.

- Today is a spring sort of day. or Today is a typical spring day

 also appears as parts of common adjectives, not unlike -like or -ly in English. Ex.

- manly IV. - a colloquial suffix used to show personal interpretation of likeness based on something's appearance. It attaches directly to any word and conjugates as a noun. Ex.

- He looks like an athlete, huh?

- to have looked fat

V. - an extremely colloquial suffix that functions grammatically like . It can be used in place of any other word of similarity based on context. is extremely literary and used to describe something's atmosphere or aesthetic quality, such as the inside of a temple. 3b. Conversational Expressions:

I. - a colloquial form of , literally really?; can be a question as well, confirmed with II. - some ~ or something like ~; has roughly the same colloquial function as the interjection like in English; may be added to any adjectival noun or replace the of an adjective for roughly the same function III. - replaces as a sentence-final particle and is used to consult information that has previously been provided; usually appears as Ex.

- How old did you say you were, again?

IV. - used for something contrary to someone's expectations; is one who turns an accusation against himself towards his accuser Ex.

A: Shit, it's starting to rain. This sucks.

B: On the other hand, you can be late now, right?

A:

Hell yeah! I'm gonna go get some food. V. - some way, direction, or place; shorthand of or 3c. Supplementary Vocabulary (col.) - lit. dangerous, oh shit! - but

- lit. without thought, as you like - a lot

- enough - at last

- by any chance, perhaps (does not require a probability copula)

- okay, without concern, calm

- unexpectedly - col. - definitely (to argue a point) - definitely (to show agreement)

- dating - couple (dating)

- present state, health

- to be relieved

Section 4: Kansai-ben Kansai-ben, the dialect of West Honsh, is a popular deviation from the standardized dialect of textbook Japanese. Its nearest equivalent in English would be Southern American English compared with Standard American, as it is often identified as more rustic or lower-class, often the butt of jokes of speakers of Tokyo Japanese who consider the dialect more vernacular. Kansai-ben is broken into several regional vernaculars, but the most common proliferation is of the Osaka variant, which often appears in manzai or other comedic acts, as Osaka is regarded as the comedy capital, and its vernacular often appears in literature as the de facto standard of Kansai-ben. Much debate lingers about where boundary lines may be drawn to determine what Kansai-ben truly is and where it is spoken, but this section will cover grammar and expressions common through the literary and media-centric representations of Kansai-ben, drawing most heavily from the recognizable metropolitan standard of Osaka-ben. This section is not exhaustive; there are a number of additional expressions used in various areas of Kansai, including Kyoto and Osaka, and several alterations to even these grammar rules appear from place to place. It is suggested that the learner of Kansai-ben facilitate by talking with native speakers of the dialect, but use this section in preparation for alterations to standard speech patterns adopted with standard dialect. 4a. Conjugations I. plain present negative For any conjugation otherwise ending , the same verb ends in in Kansai-ben; in Osaka, it is also common to use the stem instead of the stem, while Kyoto-ben is more likely to emphasize -sounds Ex.

- to not eat

() - to not buy Exceptions:

->( )()

->( )() -> ->

->( )()

There is also an additional form common mostly to verbs: or may be replaced with simply Ex.

- to not know/understand

II. plain past negative The plain past negative form can be conjugated by taking the plain present negative form and appending Ex.

- to have not sit III. Formal conjugation It is said that Kansai-ben involves softening S-sounds to H-sounds, especially to . This rule applies to and , probably the origin of using in lieu of Ex.

- to not decide

- to have not learned IV. Imperatives Rather than the command form , Kansai-ben uses the stem with a falling intonation, sometimes with a long vowel Ex.

- wake up!

- study! V. Copulas is replaced casually with , or sometimes with the rough ; these may also function as a replacement for the sentence-final . is used in place of , and contracts to as in honorific speech VI. Miscellaneous alterations Rather than ending in , adjectives simply drop the Ex.

- go quickly! -sounds often change to -sounds; becomes and becomes Ex.

- please exit becomes

Ex.

- must go out is also used as a replacement for 4b. Kansai Vocabulary Equivalents Table 4b