Talk:Hiragana

None of these forms of writing are actually alphabets. PTBairns 09:49, 23 May 2008 (EDT)

In addition, there are spaces between words in modern Japanese writing, and kanji are not used to distinguish where words begin and end. Kanji are the roots of all Japanese words (like Latin or German in English), and hiragana is used for verb endings, prefixes, suffixes, prepositions, etc. PTBairns 09:52, 23 May 2008 (EDT)

While "muddied" is the translation of the Japanese term, the English term is "voiced", not "muddied". PTBairns 09:53, 23 May 2008 (EDT)

True, but I used the term alphabet to try and make it easier for people to associate with. I can assure you as a Japanese person that spaces are not used in general writing, although with the advent of computers and cell phone mail, younger people do tend to space their words. I also used use both terms 'voiced' and 'muddied' for clarity. --JessicaT_{Ohayo gozaimasu!} 09:58, 23 May 2008 (EDT)

Jessica, I think the term you're looking for to describe Hiragana/Katakana is a "syllabary." That was my understanding when I took Nihongo in high school. Regardless, this is an extremely well written article! Arigatoo gozaimasu! --Jeffrey W. Lauttamus^Discussion 13:19, 29 June 2008 (EDT)

Thank you! It was one of those funny things, always just think of it as "kana" and when I suddenly had to define kana, it had me going "ano..." for quite a while. We got there in the end, thankfully. Happy to meet another student of my language on here too! --JessicaT_{Ohayo gozaimasu!} 13:43, 29 June 2008 (EDT)