Building Word Power in Japanese: Using Kanji Prefixes and Suffixes

by Timothy J. Vance

Having grasped the rudiments of Japanese grammar, what the student needs next are more words, more phrases, more turns of phrase. In short, more ways to get across the ideas that can be expressed so easily in English but for which the student simply doesn't have the requisite Japanese vocabulary. One answer to this problem is found in affixes - nifty little prefixes and suffixes, written with a single kanji, that can be attached to ordinary words...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 4770027990
• ISBN13: 9784770027993
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Kodansha
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.39 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.1" x 7.2"

Customer Reviews

Fantastic reference, unsure of best use

This book is a wonderful compilation of new vocabulary created by adding suffixes and prefixes to many words students already know. A problem many students have is the lack of confidence in creating new words because there is so much variety. For example, to negate a word using a prefix, will you use "MU," "HI,"or "FU"? In some cases, it may take only one. In other cases, it may take more than one for different nuances. There is also the possibility that it takes none of them. Making that judgment can be discouraging for many students of Japanese. This book will not give you EVERY word that can be made using a given prefix or suffix, but it will provide you with a significant number of useful examples. For the main examples, the author provides example sentences. After the main examples, there is an additional list of words provided that only have a translation. For the most part, prefix and suffix words are easily understood by intermediate-advanced students as long as they understand the meaning of the root word. Therefore when reading, they tend not to be very problematic. However, there are times in conversation or writing that these words would be useful, but they are very hard to think of. Reviewing this book for that purpose is probably the best way to use it. I have had this book for a few weeks, and am still unsure of exactly how I intend to use it. I would like to take one suffix or prefix each week and review the words. If they don't stick, perhaps making a flashcard with examples for each of the suffixes and prefixes may be a good idea. Finally, just becoming familiar with all of the suffixes and prefixes may be useful. That way if you want to give it a try in conversation, you won't be limited to the words in the book. Even if you make a mistake, surely your conversation partner will understand or correct you. In all, I highly recommend this book because vocabulary limitations are an ongoing problem for foreign language students, and this will give you A LOT of new words to use.

Unparalleled...

I have owned this book for about five years, and just finished reading it for about the fifth time. It seems to keep jumping off that bookshelf and landing right in my lap!Four years ago, when I was preparing for level two of the Japanese Proficiency Exam, I summoned this thin volume to assist me in building my vocabulary. It proved instrumental in helping me pass that exam. Just 63 prefixes and suffixes in 127 pages...Doesn't sound like a lot. But in just a short amount of time with this book, a student can increase their Japanese vocabulary by a couple thousand words. The example sentences provided within are both meaningful and interesting. Perhaps the best thing about this book is that, through teaching prefixes and suffixes, it prepares students to recognize and then comprehend the meaning of new kanji compounds which they encounter in their readings. I highly recommend this book. It definitely provides a lot of bang for the buck.

Easy way to learn new words

I like this book for the prefixes and suffixes it introduces. After reading the book, I can recognize them more easily when they come up in something I'm reading. But I also learned a lot from what the author calls the "bases," that is, the basic words that the prefixes and suffixes are attached to. Many of these words I didn't know. What I think is most valuable, though, is that you can now spot the prefixes and suffixes when you hear them in conversation. It's not just a matter of seeing them, but hearing them too.