Kaddy, I'm with you. That's why I came up with a totally made-up name for my kennel. If I try to go Japanese, I'm afraid I'll just end up sounding stupid. Same with names.
That, and having Icelandic Sheepdogs as well kind of makes it hard. They're not Japanese!
well you guys certainly are crazy!!! i never thought there would be so many ways to say it!!!! but i do like just saying Shiba, hahaha its easier that way...thanks for all the comments and i look forward to slipping into insanity with my shiba too. lol
My wife is from Yokohama, and my ear is adjusted to her tonal patterns so I hear "shee bah ee new."
Thing is, "i" and "u" are generally under-pronounced in Japanese. Most of the time they are actually silent if they are not the leading phoneme in a word. What I have noticed is that my brain will actually "equalize" those sounds to make it sound more familiar to me. This is a terrible habit if you want to learn a new language!
In other words, I hear my wife say "shEE ba EE NEW" but she is actually saying something in between "shba een" and "SHeeBA EENew"
If you make an effort to try to half-silence the i and u sounds it comes out sounding a bit more Japanese.
My grandmother is full Japanese and only knows limited english. Sometimes she gets on the phone and starts talking to me in japanese and I wish I could communicate with her. I did get to tell her about my Shiba's the other day and she corrected me when I pronounced Sake wrong. She said I was too american :P.
I was looking into taking Japanese classes, I think it would be nice to connect to my herratige a little more, and that way I could understand what my grandma is saying!
Curious cultural question. Did you keep saying "hai" as "mmmm" as she spoke to let her know you were listening? I took 4 years of Japanese in a classroom but can never tell what's curent and what's dated in book lessons...
my neighbor Machiko would say hai after everything we said that she comprehended. We learned what it meant, "yes", right? She's been a great help to us in the means of translation and current meanings and kanji and so forth. I love talking with her!
"hai" in japanese means "yes" but my grandma and I say it a lot (almost after every word/phrase) because it also lets her know I understand. Or I have to tell her to slow down or try to use her english. And even when I talk to her in english she says "hai" to me a lot to let me know she understands.
My Karate teacher was american, but he had learned while in Japan; he made us say "hai" after everything as well. I was assuming it was current and proper manners. We also had to count in Japanese, though I know I did not always pronounce the numbers correctly . I have always thought it would be a lovely language to learn, though difficult.
People coming into the office at work go:
"Oh, I didn't see your little...is that a dog or a fox, it looks like a fox. How cute. What is it?"
Me: A shiba (she ba i nu).
People: A what?
Me: A shiba. It's like a Japanese Beagle in a bad way.
People: Oh, but they're cute. Yours are so friendly and look they do tricks. I'm looking for a cute dog. Are they good with (kids, the elderly, cats, mailmen, total strangers, etc) or are they stupid.
Me: (quietly and unseen give the dogs the signal to bark and growl)
People: Oh, that's not nice. I don't want a mean stupid dog.
Me: Good dogs! You're so smart.
I get people asking me all the time if they're good with kids. "omg, his size is soo perfect and he's so nice and friendly. I think i'd like a Shibu Emu! Even though my other dog here at the park is very misbehaved." Because CLEARLY Toby growling at children means he's so excellent with kids. He's good with kids in the home, outside the home kids chase him and annoy him. People just want to get them because they're cute, but then they don't realize how hard they really are. And thats why we have rescues.
meh. Maybe if the American population would realize that you actually need to put real work into a dog to own a more reactive breed, then maybe it'd be all good. Everytime someone asks me that, i'm about ready to say 'you'd be better off with a Lab ... or a Golden'
I'm very proud that Tsuki is fantastic with people of all ages, even toddlers that pull her tail. She's quite complacent with all of it. I sort of think that shibas like Tsuki (and Honey!) that are good with children are great little ambassadors for the breed. Granted, they are not for everyone but I think it would help people to realize ALL of the work and socialization that has to go into a dog like Tsuki and then show them what damage is done when this work is not put into a dog, like one of mine in training (Kitsune, Hachi..). Education is priceless!
"Hai" is more proper/respectful as opposed to "un" which is more causal. Now you might be thinking, so why wouldn't you use the casual term to speak to your grandma? Well I think it depends on the family for one, and also on the subject. If you were talking with some close friends, you would say "un" pretty much every time. but when your elders are asking you to do something, you'd most likely say "hai".. Japanese people in general are really respectful/well mannered so thats why your neighbor always says "hai"... I guess its all part of the culture and its kinda hard to explain but its things that everybody knows to do without knowing why..? I dont know if i made sense.. but hope that helps..
Comments
That, and having Icelandic Sheepdogs as well kind of makes it hard. They're not Japanese!
http://www.bcca.org/misc/qiblih/latlong_us.html
http://www.satsig.net/maps/lat-long-finder.htm
http://www.juggling.org/bin/un.cgi/map-find
Thing is, "i" and "u" are generally under-pronounced in Japanese. Most of the time they are actually silent if they are not the leading phoneme in a word. What I have noticed is that my brain will actually "equalize" those sounds to make it sound more familiar to me. This is a terrible habit if you want to learn a new language!
In other words, I hear my wife say "shEE ba EE NEW" but she is actually saying something in between "shba een" and "SHeeBA EENew"
If you make an effort to try to half-silence the i and u sounds it comes out sounding a bit more Japanese.
I was looking into taking Japanese classes, I think it would be nice to connect to my herratige a little more, and that way I could understand what my grandma is saying!
Thanks,
Jesse
She's been a great help to us in the means of translation and current meanings and kanji and so forth. I love talking with her!
"Oh, I didn't see your little...is that a dog or a fox, it looks like a fox. How cute. What is it?"
Me: A shiba (she ba i nu).
People: A what?
Me: A shiba. It's like a Japanese Beagle in a bad way.
People: Oh, but they're cute. Yours are so friendly and look they do tricks. I'm looking for a cute dog. Are they good with (kids, the elderly, cats, mailmen, total strangers, etc) or are they stupid.
Me: (quietly and unseen give the dogs the signal to bark and growl)
People: Oh, that's not nice. I don't want a mean stupid dog.
Me: Good dogs! You're so smart.
meh. Maybe if the American population would realize that you actually need to put real work into a dog to own a more reactive breed, then maybe it'd be all good. Everytime someone asks me that, i'm about ready to say 'you'd be better off with a Lab ... or a Golden'
I sort of think that shibas like Tsuki (and Honey!) that are good with children are great little ambassadors for the breed. Granted, they are not for everyone but I think it would help people to realize ALL of the work and socialization that has to go into a dog like Tsuki and then show them what damage is done when this work is not put into a dog, like one of mine in training (Kitsune, Hachi..). Education is priceless!