Essential Japanese Vocabulary. Akira Miura
the name Chōsen 朝鮮 was almost completely discarded when Japan lost World War II. Since then, the Japanese have adopted the names Hokusen 北鮮 for “North Korea” and Kankoku 韓国 for “South Korea.” What is really inconvenient, however, is the lack of an appropriate prejudice-free name for Korea as a whole. Linguists, for example, still have to refer to the Korean language as Chōsengo 朝鮮語, since the language is one and the same in North Korea and in South Korea. The word Kankokugo 韓国語 (lit., “South Korean language”), which some people use, is not really an accurate label for the language.
Cho
Chosha 著者 means “person who has written a specific (usually nonfiction) book.”
EXAMPLE:
Kono hon no chosha wa Tanaka Ichirō to iu hito desu.
この本の著者は田中一郎という人です。
The author of this book is called Ichiro Tanaka.
English “author” is broader in meaning. It can mean “person who has written a specific book” (as in “He is the author of this book”) or “person who writes books” (as in “He is an author”). Chosha 著者 can never be used in the latter sense. (See also SAKKA and SHŌSETSUKA.)
Cho
Chotto ちょっと is very much like sukoshi 少し.
EXAMPLES:
(1) Kyō wa chotto (or sukoshi) samui.
今日はちょっと（少し）寒い。
It’s a bit cold today.
(2) Onaka ga suite-inai kara, chotto (or sukoshi) shika taberarenakatta.
おなかが空いていないから、ちょっと（少し）しか食べられなかった。
Since I wasn’t hungry, I could eat only a little.
The only difference between chotto ちょっと and sukoshi 少し in the above examples is that chotto is perhaps slightly more conversational than sukoshi.
Chotto ちょっと, however, is used on many other occasions where sukoshi 少し would be inappropriate. This occurs especially when one wishes to soften a request, as in (3) below, or express reluctance in a polite way, as in (4).
EXAMPLE:
(3) Chotto misete-kudasai.
ちょっと見せて下さい。
Would you please show it to me?
Chotto ちょっと in this sentence does not mean “a little.” Rather it expresses the idea that the request being made is not a significant one. It is almost like saying “May I ask a small favor?” The use of chotto in requests is very common; in fact, in stores and restaurants some customers use Chotto! by itself when they wish to catch the attention of a salesclerk or waitress.
EXAMPLE:
(4) A: Ashita kite-itadakemasu ka.
あした来ていただけますか。
Could you come tomorrow?
B: Ashita wa chotto.
あしたはちょっと。
I’m afraid I can’t.
The answer in (4) literally means “Tomorrow is a little [inconvenient].” Japanese speakers don’t normally reject requests, suggestions, and invitations flatly with Iie いいえ “No” since that would make them sound too direct and discourteous; they prefer to use chotto ちょっと, which sounds less direct and more tactful.
-Chū 中 during
EXAMPLE:
(1) Kyō wa gozen-chū totemo isogashikatta.
今日は午前中とても忙しかった。
Today I was very busy in the morning.
If you use ni に after chū 中, the combination means “by the end of,” as in:
EXAMPLE:
(2) Konshū-chū ni kore o yatte kudasai.
今週中にこれをやって下さい。
Please do this by the end of this week.
There is another suffix, -jū 中, which is often written 中 also, but is used a little differently. (See -JŪ.)
Chū
Chūi-suru 注意する often means “to pay attention” or “to be careful,” as in (1) and (2).
EXAMPLES:
(1) Yuki no hi wa korobanai yō ni chūi-shite kudasai.
雪の日は転ばないように注意して下さい。
On a snowy day, please be careful not to slip and fall.
(2) Natsu wa kenkō ni chūi-su beki da.
夏は健康に注意すべきだ。
In the summer one should pay attention to one’s health.
Sentence (3) below, however, is wrong, and has to be rephrased as in sentence (4).
EXAMPLES:
(3) *Nemui to sensei no kōgi ni chūi dekinai.
*眠いと先生の講義に注意できない。
When sleepy, one cannot pay attention to the professor’s lecture.
(4) Nemui to sensei no kōgi ni chūi ga shūchū dekinai.
眠いと先生の講義に注意が集中できない。
When sleepy, one cannot concentrate on the professor’s lecture.
Chūi-suru 注意する also means “to caution,” “to warn,” or “to advise,” as in
EXAMPLE:
(5) Shiken de amari warui ten o totta no de, sensei ni chūi-sareta.
試験であまり悪い点を取ったので、先生に注意された。
Since I received a bad grade on the exam, I was cautioned by the teacher.
Because of this, chūi-jinbutsu 注意人物 (lit., caution person) means “someone we must treat with suspicion,” i.e., a black-listed person.
Daigaku 大学 college, university
“College” and “university” are both daigaku 大学 in Japanese. Although one can use tanka-daigaku 単科大学 (lit., “single-subject daigaku”) for “college” and sōgō-daigaku 総合大学 (lit., “comprehensive daigaku”) for “university,” these terms are more or less for dictionaries only and are never attached to college or university names, nor are they much used in speech.
Most Japanese are unaware of the usage difference between “college” and “university” in the United States and simplistically believe that “university” is a more prestigious term than “college.” The official English translations of the names of Japanese colleges and universities are, consequently, always something like “The University of So-andso.” It is for this reason that the names of some Japanese institutions of higher learning sound