Japanese with anime voice: episode37
Hello, I’m Sachi.
April 23, today is 地ビール (Ji Beer) Day. You all know beer, right? Besides, the kanji “地 (ji)” in 地元(jimoto) is attached to the beginning of the word, which is read as 地ビール (ji-beer). The other day, an online student asked me what お米 (okome) means when I said お米 (okome). For learners of Japanese, even if they know “米 (kome),” they lose track of what it means when “お (o)” is added to the beginning of a word. 地ビール (Ji Beer) is the same way.
On this day in 1516, the king of what was then the Kingdom of Bavaria issued the Beer Purity Decree. The Kingdom of Bavaria was a kingdom in what is now southern Germany. It was the first clear definition of what beer was in the world. In honor of this, they have established this day as 地ビール (Ji Beer) Day.
Beer is a generic term for drinking beverages that fit the definition of beer, but 地ビール (Ji Beer), with the kanji character 地 (ji), is said to refer to beer made by small breweries that brew a defined annual brewing volume. In recent years, however, the connotation of 地元 (jimoto) has become more and more common. As a result, the meaning of beer that can only be drunk and bought in the area is becoming more common.
I thought “地 (ji)” in “地ビール (Ji Beer)” meant “地元 (jimoto)”. Actually, there seems to be a proper definition. This time, I happened to know the definition of the word because today is the 地ビール (Ji Beer) day, but I won’t remember it tomorrow.
The definition of a word is really difficult. I have been using words in my daily life, but when I am asked for the definition of a word, I am at a loss. Because I don’t know the definition. It is a common occurrence that when you look up a word, you find that you have actually been using it with the wrong meaning.
Also, when I look up the meaning of a word, I usually come across another word I don’t know the meaning of. When I look up the meaning of that word, I sometimes find another difficult word there as well. When this happens, the meaning of the word I was originally looking up becomes completely lost.
I once used an American-English dictionary because I thought I had to study English in English, but there were too many words I didn’t know in the word descriptions. It means that the same thing that happens when you are learning another language can happen to your native language.
Well, “地ビール (Ji Beer)” is a kind of coined word, and you can read the meaning of the word by looking at the letters. The “お (o)” in お米 (okome), as I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, is hard to explain. Even Japanese people do not understand why the “お (o)” is added to “米 (kome)”.
With other students, you know, I’ve talked about how some animals are named with san and some are not. ぞう (Zou) is ぞうさん (zousan), くま (kuma) is くまさん (kumasan), and so on. But I don’t think we say ゴリラ (gorira) as ゴリラさん (gorirasan). Well, parents may say ゴリラ (gorira) with さん (san) to their children, but I don’t think it is common.
Furthermore, some of the animals that we さん (san) include have an “お (o)” at the beginning of their names. 猿 (Saru) and 馬 (Uma), for example. Saru is not said Sarusan; when you say saru with san, you naturally say osarusan for some reason. Uma are the same way; we don’t call them “umasan. For some reason, we say “oumasan. It is strange, isn’t it? When people ask me what the definition or rules are for this, I have no way to explain because there are none.
The other day, I met an English girl at an event. She is studying Japanese while researching the Japanese countryside. When we were working together, she was trying to see if she could say the things she picked up in Japanese. For example, if she picked up a hat, she would say “帽子 (boushi)”. So she saw an elephant piggy bank and said “ぞう (zou)”. But I told her that this was ぞうさん (zousan), and that ぞう (zou) has a “さん (san)” suffix. But she just laughed and didn’t take me seriously. LOL By the way, do you know what Winnie the Pooh’s Japanese name is? It’s Phoo san. It’s not just Phoo, it’s Phoo san. It needs a SAN in the name. Don’t you think it’s strange? Why would it be a name that even includes さん (san)? On the other hand, if you think of Phoo san as a proper noun, calling it Phoo san is not respectful. Because we say the name without san. So, when we call him by his name with “san” added, it becomes “Phoo san san”. I wonder if they gave the Japanese name with these things in mind. Well, I am sure they did not think about such details. I am sure they do.
