What does “ginga” mean in Japanese?
Native speakers say “ginga” to mean ‘galaxy’ in Japanese. I think that some Japanese learners know this word well because it is often used in Japanese movies, songs, anime, and the like. In this blog post, however, I will explain this word in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand “ginga” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
Definition and meaning of “ginga”
Let me start with the definition and meaning of “ginga”.
- ginga – 銀河 (ぎんが) : a noun meaning ‘galaxy’ in Japanese. This can also work as a plural noun meaning ‘galaxies’. Learn more about Japanese plural.
The definition and meaning are very simple and clear, I think. To understand this word more clearly, however, let me explain its kanji characters in detail, one by one.
“Ginga” in kanji
The kanji expression of “ginga” consists of the following two characters:
- 銀 : a kanji character widely used to mean ‘silver’ in Japanese.
- 河 : a kanji character used to mean ‘river’ in Japanese. This kanji can also be found in other words like “kawa“.
From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “ginga” literally means ‘a silver river’ in Japanese. So, Japanese people see galaxies as silver-colored rivers in the universe. I do not think that this kanji concept is completely in line with what galaxies really are, but love this kanji combination. It’s very cool.
When we meet new kanji expressions, we should check their kanji characters in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, kanji characters tell us a lot about meanings of words they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “ginga” through the detailed kanji check above.
Then, let me explain how to use “ginga” through the example sentence below.
Example #1: how to say “galaxy” in Japanese
watashi tachi wa atarashii ginga wo mitsuke ta – 私達は新しい銀河を見つけた (わたしたちはあたらしいぎんがをみつけた)
We found a new galaxy.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
- tachi – 達 (たち) : a suffix used after a noun or pronoun to make its plural form. In the example, this is used after “watashi” to make its plural form, “watashi tachi”, which means ‘we’ in Japanese.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after “watashi tachi” to make the subject word in the sentence.
- atarashii – 新しい (あたらしい) : an i-adjective meaning ‘new’ in Japanese. In the example, this works before “ginga” to modify it.
- wo – を : a case particle used to make the object word in a sentence. In the example, this works after the noun phrase, “atarashii ginga”, to make the object in the sentence.
- mitsuke – 見つけ (みつけ) : one conjugation of the verb, “mitsukeru”, which means ‘to find’ in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- ta – た : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its past tense form. In the example, this works after “mitsuke” to make its past tense form, “mitsuke ta”.
This is a typical usage of “ginga”. When we want to say “galaxy” in Japanese, this word would be the best choice.
Example #2: how to say “the Galaxy” in Japanese
Next, let me explain how to say “the Galaxy” in Japanese through the example sentence below.
taiyou kei wa ginga kei no ichibu desu – 太陽系は銀河系の一部です (たいようけいはぎんがけいのいちぶです)
The solar system is a part of the Galaxy.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- taiyou – 太陽 (たいよう) : a noun meaning ‘the sun’ in Japanese. In the example, this works together with the suffix, “kei”. The formed phrase, “taiyou kei”, means ‘the solar system’ in Japanese.
- kei – 系 (けい) : a suffix used to add the meaning of ‘system’, ‘series’, ‘group’, or such. The first one in the example follows “taiyou” to say “the solar system” in Japanese. The second one in the example follows “ginga” to make the longer noun, “ginga kei”, which means ‘the Galaxy’ in Japanese.
- no – の : a case particle used to join two nouns. Normally, the preceding noun can work as a modifier to describe the following noun. In the example, this joins “ginga kei” and “ichibu”. The formed phrase literally means ‘a part of the Galaxy’ in Japanese. Word orders in Japanese and English are different, but the role of this case particle is very similar to that of “of” in English.
- ichibu – 一部 (いちぶ) : a noun meaning ‘one part’ in Japanese. These two kanji characters mean ‘one’ and ‘part’ respectively. So, the meaning of this noun is completely in line with what its kanji characters express.
- desu – です : an auxiliary verb used after a noun or adjective to make it polite. In the example, this is used after the noun phrase, “ginga kei no ichibu”, to make it sound polite.
This is another typical usage of “ginga”. In this example, it works as a part of the longer noun, “ginga kei”, which means ‘the Galaxy’ in Japanese. When we want to refer to the very specific one, we need to use the suffix after “ginga”.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meaning of “ginga” and its kanji expression in detail. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- ginga – 銀河 (ぎんが) : a noun meaning ‘galaxy’ in Japanese. This can also work as a plural noun meaning ‘galaxies’. These two kanji characters literally mean ‘a silver river’. So, Japanese people see galaxies as silver-colored rivers in the universe.
- ginga kei – 銀河系 (ぎんがけい) : a noun meaning ‘the Galaxy’ or ‘the galactic system’ in Japanese. The last kanji character is a suffix adding the meaning of ‘system’, ‘series’, ‘group’, or such. So, this noun literally means ‘a galactic system’. When we want to refer to the Galaxy or the galactic system specifically, this is very useful.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
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