One of my pet peeves with local fans — actually with all non-Japanese anime fans regardless of nationality, is weaboo Japanese (or Wapanese).

A vast majority of these people do not know how to speak proper Japanese, yet insist that they are native-level fluent in Nihongo when posting in websites, blogs, and message boards.

What’s worse, they think watching anime and j-drama is enough for them to claim that they can “speak Japanese”, and react violently when people who actually do speak Japanese try to correct them.

I’ve had more than my fair share of dealings with these weaboos, and I’ve assembled a “Best of” list of the worst misuse of the Japanese language in local blogs and message boards. This list will be divided according to sections, and this first part deals with commonly misspelled or mispronounced words based on their phonetic spelling.

Commonly Misspelled or Mispronounced Words Based on Phonetic Differences

The main problem with these kinds of errors is the unfamiliarity of the user (or in this case, abuser) with the Japanese kana system. Since they are not able to distinguish between single and double consonants in Japanese, they substitute a Tagalog approximation — which leads to mispronounced Japanese and therefore wrong Japanese.

Wrong: Nihonggo
Correct: Nihongo

In kanji, Nihongo is written as 日本語 (Japan [日本] + language [語], or ni-hon-go when the syllabary is spelled out). Due to the way the word is spelled in alphabet, plus the Filipino tendency to pronounce the “ng” sound together instead of separately, many people think that they should add an extra “g” in the word to get the hard “g” sound found in Tagalog. This is — of course, wrong.

Wrong: Konichiwa
Correct: Konnichiwa

In kana, Konnichiwa is written as こんにちは (or ko-n-ni-chi-wa when the syllabary is spelled out). This error is the opposite of the error in Nihongo — the “n” sound in Konnichiwa that should be doubled is cut in half. Also, instead of the accent being on the first “n” as in correct Japanese, weaboos put the accent on the “chi”. Yes, it sounds alike to the untrained ear, but to someone who speaks Japanese everyday it is very heavily foreign-accented.

Wrong: Harigatosaimas.
Correct: Arigatou gozaimasu.

In kana, Arigatou gozaimasu is written as ありがとう ございます　(or a-ri-ga-to-u go-za-i-ma-su when the syllabary is spelled out). It is two separate words, not one — and means “Thank you very much.”. The two words must be enunciated separately, otherwise it will sound very much like “Thankyouverymuchkthxbye” to the native speaker (if it can be distinguished at all).

Wrong: Gomenasai
Correct: Gomen nasai.

In kana, Gomen nasai is written as ごめん　なさい　(or go-me-n na-sa-i when the syllabary is spelled out). Like Arigatou gozaimasu, it is two different words that must be pronounced separately. Local weaboos tend to pronounce just the first “n” in the middle, making it sound like “Gomen asai” to natives — complete nonsense, of course.

Wrong: Chunami
Correct: Tsunami

In kanji, Tsunami is written as 津波　(Harbor [津] + wave [波], or tsu-na-mi when the syllabary is spelled out). Pinoys tend to not differentiate between the “chu” sound and the “tsu” sound — for example, “chinelas” and “tsinelas” are pronounced the same way. However, in Japanese “chu” and “tsu” are two completely different sounds and are pronounced as spelled.

Mina is different from Minna.

In kanji, both Mina and Minna are written as 皆, and they both mean “everyone” or “everybody”. However, there is a big reason why the two words are pronounced differently. “Mina” is always followed by “-san” (“Mina-san”) while “Minna” is used alone; “Mina-san” is more formal while “Minna” is more casual. The two should never be interchanged (“Minna-san” or just “Mina”) because it is not just wrong, it is also rude.

Mata is different from Matta.

In kana, Mata is written as また　(or ma-ta when the syllabary is spelled out) while Matta is written as 待った　(Wait [待] + -ed [った] or ma-tta when the syllabary is spelled out). “Mata” means “later”, while “Matta” means “(to have) waited” — two very different things, of course. As you can see, a very simple slip of the tongue can have very grave consequences.

Nigete is different from Migi te.

In kanji, Nigete is written as 逃げて　(Escape [逃げて], or ni-ge-te when the syllabary is spelled out) while Migi te is written as 右手　(Right [右] + hand [手] or mi-gi te when the syllabary is spelled out). Probably the most hilarious “soramimi” (misheard word) I’ve encountered in local forums. “Nigete” is the -te form of of the verb “nigeru” — it means “Escape!” or “Get away!”. “Migi te” means “right hand”.

Continued in Part 2, Commonly Misused Japanese Words and Phrases by Philippine Anime Fans: Wrong Context.

This series of posts has been suggested by the very inspirational Nina of Just Wandering. Thanks for being a great travel buddy and supportive friend :D:D:D

Thank you also to Chelli of Hitorigoto for providing additional cases or incidents of Nihongo abuse. Thanks for the laughs and I hope we get to go back to Tokyo together soon!