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pandaman101 (Offline)
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Question about these different greetings - 11-30-2010, 06:33 AM

There are other greetings apparently used in Japan, but not a lot of places to get info on them. I would like to know more in depth information about them, who uses them, where they are used, and when they are used, as in what time of day.

ossu
uissu
ussu
ncha
chiwassu
koncha

How are the spelt in kana, and is there other common ones?
Thanks in advance.
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steven (Offline)
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11-30-2010, 07:19 AM

These are just ways of saying regular greetings as far as I can tell.

Ossu is like Ohayogozaimasu but trimmed down. I guess it has a bit of a masculine feel and isn't exactly appropriate in all situations. Even though it's derrived from Ohayogozaimasu can be used at other times.

Azasu is another way of saying Ohayou gozaimasu as well. I don't think it's impolite.

Uissu is like a transformation of ossu I think. It's very similar from what I can tell.

Ussu is pretty much the same. Incidentally, I hear this at the beginning of Japanese cheers (like at schools for sporting events... the people cheering are guys by the way, not "cheerleaders")

ncha is like the tail end of "konnichiwa".

chiwasu is another version of the tail end of konnichiwa, with a "su" at the end. People often take the "su" from desu and put it at the end of sentences, which doesn't seem to keep much of the politeness of "desu". I think that's kind of like what's happening with "chiwasu".

Koncha is like a compressed version of "konnichiwa".

I think it's just one of those things.... words that get said a billion times a day end up evolving. Usually the evolved versions of the words are a lot easier to say for convenience. It's like how Australians say "G'day" or how some Americans might say "'mornin" or "howdy" (which I guess could be instead of how do you do?). I think it's important to keep in mind that sometimes it'd be weird to say these kinds of things all perfectly and formally. That's where these "shorthand" versions come into play for sure.
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masaegu (Offline)
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11-30-2010, 07:33 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by steven View Post
Azasu is another way of saying Ohayou gozaimasu as well.
Hate to respond to romaji but that is not true. You can ask your better half tonight.
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pandaman101 (Offline)
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12-01-2010, 09:17 PM

sooo can anyone explain correctly?
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halfthishalfthat (Offline)
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12-01-2010, 09:27 PM

あざーす can mean ありがとうございます, which I suspect is the usage you're looking for.

Perhaps you can see how to get あざーす from ありがとうございます.
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