Friday, August 24, 2018
Hey! Whats That お o or ご ‘go’ Doing There Part 2
Hey! Whats That お o or ご ‘go’ Doing There Part 2
Last week we talked about that polite little o that pops up in o-genki desu ka? (If you havent read that post - Part 1 - yet, hop on over and read that one now!)
But when is it o, and when is it go? And why?
Luckily, there are a few simple rules:
1) �O� for Japanese, �go� for Chinese
The general rule is: ? (o) is used with native Japanese words:
o-haka ?? grave
o-kome ?? rice
o-sushi ??? sushi
o-shirase ???? notice
? (go) is added to words of Chinese origin:
go-ryoushin ??? parents
go-renraku ??? contact, get in touch
go-kyouryoku ??? cooperation
Why are there two?
It�s actually two readings of the same kanji (?) - �o� is the kunyomi (also called the Japanese reading); �go� is the onyomi (Chinese reading).
Thats why we read it o with native Japanese words and go with words from Chinese.
2) Foreign loanwords only get �o�
Foreign words don�t usually get this prefix, but when they do, it�s an �o�:
o-tabako ???? tobacco
o-toire ???? toilet
3) Notable exceptions
Remember I said all native Japanese words get o, and Chinese words get go? Well, I might have lied a little bit.
There are exceptions, that do the opposite. Here are a few:
o-denwa ??? (telephone)
o-shougatsu ??? (New Year)
o-genki ??? (well, healthy)
go-yukkuri ????? (take your time)
Now, have fun being marginally more polite than you were previously!
