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- "かばん"
84 Comments
In Korean, bag is 가방 (gabang) and it's pronounced exactly the same as in Japanese
Nah ir meed an accent (i actually do t know what they're called in English)or else it sounds wrong so it's cávan (native Spanish speaker)
In English people call them accent marks. They're actually called diacritical marks and that specific one is an accute accent. I would be willing to bet most native English speakers don't know that much so you're doing exceptionally well.
Good topic!
'Bag' is translated 鞄/カバン in other words バッグ. I think that 'バッグ' is ハンドバッグhand bag, ショルダーバッグ/shoulder bag and トートバッグ/totebag, etc. I don't know these words are used as the same in English and Japanese well. Perhaps they are similar. (somebody help me.)
And 'bag' is translated the word '袋/ふくろ' as well. I assume that the 'plastic bag' is a bag that is prepared at supermarchets or convinience stores. It is called 'レジ袋/れじぶくろ'. You can search for about 'レジ袋' in wiki. Also there are the words 'ビニール袋/びにーるぶくろ', 'ポリ袋/ぽりぶくろ'.
Though I'm not sure. If people in 'Kansai dialects' maybe say 'ナイロン袋/ないろんぶくろ'.
関西/Kansai dialects is Osaka and around Osaka. (This explanation is pretty rough. >_<)
A lot of it is katakana, which is Japan's other syllabary. The sounds are all the same, they're just written differently. The use of hiragana or katakana depends on the context. Loadwords from other languages, such as バケツ (baketsu, bucket) are often written in katakana, while native japanese words are written in hiragana.
Yes, I think the word "バッグ" is more generally than "かばん" in Japan. Especially, for a woman's bag.
I would say to look at it this way. One is in hiragana which is for native japanese words, and one is in katakana which is for american words that have been adopted. So in hiragana it's かばん "ka-ba-n" (kaban) and in katakana it's バッグ "ba-g-gu" (baggu)
Katakana isn't only adopting English words but others as well. Such as German or Portuguese.
One example I can think of of a loanword that's from a language other than English is the word for drinking glass. It's コップ, from the Dutch word kop.
1004
Wiktionary says: "From Dutch kop and also from Portugueae copo. Cognate (via Late Latin cuppa) with カップ (kappu), from English cup.
So コップ is from Dutch/Portuguese and カップ is from English cup.
I believe Japanese culture has beeb influenced far more by American culture than any other englishs speaking country
Wow, I'm also studying korean, and the word for bag is almost the same, is "gabang" 가방.
According to Wiktionary, Korean borrowed this word from Japanese. In addition, you may find that many Japanese and Korean words are similar, because they are influenced by (ancient) Chinese very much.
kaban = bag
"Come On (kaban), bag, we need to go.. to the store"
..and I picture a purse or grocery bag, or backpack that I'll need.
Correct :) Because Kanji system is quite complicated, Japanese creates a list of（常用漢字/じょうようかんじ）, which means common Kanjis. According to what I have found, 鞄 is not included in this list and is less common than other Kanjis.
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Japanese here. That kanji is not an uncommon one. The common kanji list is not reliable, as there are many more characters that are quite commonly used that don't make the list (e.g. 萎、which means "to wither" is quite commonly used but isn't part of the common list).
To see how often each kanji might be used in common media, refer to: https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkashingikai/kokugo/nihongokyoiku_hyojun_wg/04/pdf/91934501_08.pdf.
A while back I looked up what the Japanese word for "portmanteau" is out of curiosity and found out that one of the words for it is かばん語 (bag + language). I dunno why but there's just something about that that's kinda amusing.
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Wiktionary says for etymology: "鞄 (kaban, "bag") + 語 (go, "word"), calque of English portmanteau word.
So in short, 語 can also mean "word" and then it is the "word" part of "portmanteau word"
Just for our information because the comments confused me a bit I looked it up:
According to both Tangorin.com and Jisho.org かばん《鞄》カバン (Ka ba n) is a "bag; satchel; briefcase; basket" and when you click on the Kanji it includes "suitcase" as a definition.
Hope this is helpful.
I'm wondering if there is a difference between how you make the Japanese "k" sound and the English "k" sound. Maybe it varies more than English according to the vowel that follows? Or maybe they're just different? Or there are regional accents we're listening to? I don't hear a "k" at the beginning of this word. What I'm hearing sounds like an h, or maybe maybe it's like a German ch or a Hebrew h.
Me too, I'm wondering if it's just a mistake in recording or a particularly of that word, because the sound "ka" in the exercises sounds like the english "k".
I think defining this word as a bag is too vague. I've learned that kaban is a purse or a pocketbook. When I think of a bag, I think of the plastic shopping bags one gets at the stores (or brings with you to the stores) -- 袋 Fukuro
You're right that it's vague, but something to consider is that かばん does not only mean a pocketbook, but can also be a briefcase, a messenger bag, or any other kind of sturdy bag that keeps it shape. In my dialect of English, it's normal to call any of those things a "bag", but obviously context is needed to differentiate them from other kinds of bags.
Definitely, context is needed. We'll all look like fools or be misunderstood when asking for a plastic bag in the stores -- fukuro --is them more common use of word, I think.
To say "my bag", yes, that's right. To just say bag as this question is asking, it's かばん.
I just have a sort of unrelated question. I see mutiple comments saying romaji and kanji. I also see way more complex symbols that Ive never seen before... Is that all Hiragana?
鞄 (kanji)
かばん (hiragana)
カバン (katakana)
kaban (romaji)
Katakana and hiragana are known collectively as "kana".
The ん is nasally, so it might sound a little like "ng" to some people, but there is no "g" sound.
Basic Rule: Hiraganas are used for Japanese original words, Katakanas are used for loading words.
Katakana is used for borrowed foreign words while hiraga is used for native Japanese words
Is backpack a correct translation for it? Can it mean backpack as well or absolutely not?
I'd say リュック (ryukku) for backpack. Japanese elementary school kids' backpacks are called ランドセル (randoseru).
In American English baggie means one of those sealing plastic bags. Like a ziploc bag.
When you take away the か part, it sounds just lile bag, that's how i remember it
I couldn't tell if he was saying "Kabun" or "Gabun" and I couldn't remember the first character so I didn't know how to pronounce it.
This is similar to Korean! Bag is 가방 (gabang) and the pronunciation is close too! Even the words 'promise' and 'fermented soybeans' in Japanese are close to Korean!
Okay so can anybody please tell me if the standalone meaning of が is " isn't it " ? Because after tapping on が I see the words " isn't it " linking to が .
か ka（ が ga is not in this word) can be used on its own as a question particle. It is placed at the end of a sentence to turn a statement into a question.
学生です - I am a student 学生ですか - Are you a student?
寒くないです - It is not cold 寒くないですか - Isn't it cold? (is it not cold?)
in portuguese, "cabana" means "hut", so like "bring your kaban to the cabana"
