Rebecca Hinata
こんにちは? Why is it こんにちは and not こんにちわ?
Jul 5, 2015 8:40 AM
Answers · 2
5
こんにちは http://www.italki.com/entry/554151 The pronunciation of は・ひ・ふ・へ・ほchanged several times. 1. at the top of a word (~7th century) 波(→は)[pa]・比(→ひ)[pi]・不(→ふ)[pu]・部(→へ)[pe]・保(→ほ)[po] (8th century ~ 16th century) は[ɸa]・ひ[ɸi]・ふ[ɸu]・へ[ɸe]・ほ[ɸo] (17th century ~ now) は[ha]・ひ[hi]→[çi]・ ふ[ɸɯ]・へ[he]・ほ[ho]※[ɯ]is non-rounded[u]. ※ひゃ[ça]・ひゅ[çu]・ひょ[ço]、ファ[ɸa]・フィ[ɸi]・フェ[ɸe]・フォ[ɸo] 2. except the top of a word (~7th century) 波(→は)[pa]・比(→ひ)[pi]・不(→ふ)[pu]・部(→へ)[pe]・保(→ほ)[po] (8th century ~ 11th century) は[ɸa]・ひ[ɸi]・ふ[ɸu]・へ[ɸe]・ほ[ɸo] (12th century ~ 16th century) は[wa]・ひ[wi]・ふ[wu]=[u]・へ[we]・ほ[wo] (16th ~ now) わ[wa](い[i]・う[ɯ]・え[e]・お[o]) ※は and へ are words. But they are pronounced with the former word together. So they are treated as an exception of the top of a word. ※は・ひ・ふ・へ・ほ in traditional orthography were changed to わ・い・う・え・お according to the pronunciation after World War Ⅱ(1946). Actually わたしわ、がっこうえ are allowed for a while. But は and へ are written in words come from particles now. The reason is for easy reading. When we read わたしわきのうがっこうえいきませんでした, it's too hard to catch the meaning at once. We use は and へ(and を)as particle markers to separate the sentence to words. So we write わたしは、こんにちは、これはこれは、がっこうへ(あなたを)even now.
July 5, 2015
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