Allll righty-then. Chotto is where I left off.
Chotto is my favorite word, it means "a little" or "a bit." You can say, "Chotto mattene." Which means, "Wait a minute!" or "Chotto ii" "a little good" or even turn someone down for a date when they ask. You just say, "Chotto" and it clears everything up and they leave you alone! I wish I had that word in English sometimes!
But what's up with the double consonent?
Okae, there's no easy way to explain this my good-speaking English-types. But in the Japanese language there is a type of pause that is, in itself, a letter as well. Remember the letter 'tsu'? Yea, shrink that down to a quarter of its size and put it between "cho" and "to". It might look like "Chotsuto" to us, but because the "tsu" shrank, it becomes "Chotto." The double consonant is a PAUSE! So say it like this... "Cho.....to." With a few less dots and less dramatic like.
Here are some other words that share this phenomenon: 1.) Sapporo (the beer/prefecture) 2.) Kekkon (marriage) 3.) Shitteiru (to know) 4.) Eriotto (My last name. ^_^ Elliott)
Anyone else bored? Good! Next, the most useful words in Japan! Be there, or be a baka gaijin!
Kawariyasui · Sun Dec 26, 2004 @ 06:53am · 1 Comments |