The words for Honey and Bee in Japanese

Continuing with our subject on insects (bugs) - I want to talk a little today on two Japanese words that are basically one and the same word - The words for Bee and the word for Honey are basically one word made up of two kanji that when put in reverse say the same thing - Let me show you what I mean -

Honey - Hachimitsu ( 蜂蜜 )
Bee - Mitsubachi ( 蜜蜂 )

Let us take the words apart - In Japanese the word for Honey is made up of the two parts HACHI + MITSU so that

Honey = HACHI + MITSU 蜂 + 蜜

and the word for Bee is made up of the same two parts with an H being replaced by a B
so that

Bee = MITSU + BACHI 蜜 + 蜂

CLICK HERE to go to some pages that I have made before explaining the grammar of why the H has hardened into its B form - Actually in this case it is the HA syllable which has transformed into its BA equivalent form

Remember that HA は

with the ten ten marks becomes BA ば, and the HA syllable in its next transformation with the degree symbol becomes ぱ, or PA.

There is an natural order it seems as IPA diagrams and charts will show us. These syllable transformations are not singulary a Japanese linguistical feature - This sort of syllable transformation appears in other languages also - Therefore remember this order of Japanese syllable transformation for the HA ( は )syllable -

は (HA)--> ば(BA), and ぱ(PA)

so in the case of the words for Honey and Bee, In Japanese Bee is the word Honey backwards and Honey is the word for Bee backwards. I thought I might share this because it makes Japanese a fun language to learn, it also shows that Japanese isn't too complicated and within reach of any person who seeks earnestly to become fluent in it.

Next time we will take a closer look at the kanji for ant and bee to see what kind of similiarities we may find to help us on our quest towards Better Japanese

Here are some more links for you on the double consonant linguistical feature as found in today's study.

www.scribd.com/doc/4065824/Japanese-Pronunciaton-Guide

hubpages.com/hub/Japanese-Double-Consonants

zimbio.com/member/brettkun/articles/2981667/Japanese+Double+Consonants
Ganbatte ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki

A Snack in Japan

When I hear the word, "snack", I think of things you can eat, or snack on. In Japan the word snack has an altogether different meaning. If you were to say, "snack" to a Japanese person, they would think you were talking about the local bar, where you have a chance to get to know everyone's names. In Japan,  a snack, or スナック  is a night club, or a bar. It is not a Dorito, or a Frito, peanuts or popcorn. A snack bar is a place where you can maintain a personal tab, so you can drink now, and pay later. You can even buy your own personal bottle of whiskey or brandy (although at a much heftier price than buying it yourself), keep it at the bar, and drink from it everytime you go to the bar. Once you buy your bottle though, you are as good as in the club.

Snack - スナック - night club or bar in Japan

How to say WTF in Japanese

Nan ba shiyo^ to^? - What the hell are you doing? This is one way to say it.

As always
Ganbatte ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki

How to say dog and cat in Japanese

The word for dog in Japanese is inu.
The word for cat in Japanese is neko.

犬
inu - dog

猫 
neko - cat

We can make two new words from the words for cat and dog. If we want to make the word for puppy and kitten, all we have to do is add the word for small or ko 小.

小 + 犬  = 小犬, koinu
small + dog = puppy

小 + 猫 = 小猫, koneko
small + cat = kitten

In review:

inu - dog
neko - cat
koinu - puppy
koneko - kitten