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Guessing a word

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nhk9

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I am wondering how you say something like this in Japanese:

Please guess a 4-kana word that starts with し

I want to ask a similar question to a Japanese speaker. The word that I want them to guess is しののめ

My take on this is:
しって字（仮名？？）で始まる、字（仮名？？）が四つある単語を当ててみてくだされ

any better suggestions?
Thanks
 
I would say 「し」で始まる、かな4文字の単語.
 
I'm not sure about this grammar either. :? Or maybe just spacing off. But assuming these are くどい AND at least decipherable, can anyway correct the following sentences ??


最初の文字には [し]があるかな4文字の単語を考えてください/当ててみてください. ???

[し]が最初に現れた位置(先頭位置)のかな4文字の単語を考えてください/当ててみてください. ???

最初の文字は [し]であるかな4文字の単語を考えてください/当ててみてください. ???
 

While all of the above make sense, they do not really sound natural...
最初の文字には → 最初の文字が
最初の文字は → 最初の文字が
The 2nd sentence really sounds awkward and takes time to figure out especially if we hear it i/o read it.
(Sorry for all the negative evaluation but this is because you're much advanced in Japanese. )

「し」で始まる or 最初に「し」が付く are what we usually use in this kind of context.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
No, it's no problem, undrentide-san. Thanks for taking the time. Of course I didn't think they were as natural as Toritoribe's, just like in English, but I still get confused sometimes with when to use である in a relative clause (#3).

That was my main concern. Plus being extra tired this week.

The second one I found an example of on some site and just trimmed it around the edges. But (先頭位置) is front or initial position, so I thought there may be a way of working it around.
 
Last edited:
It's more natural to use the verb つく instead of ある for the case.

最初に「し」がつく、かな4文字の単語

EDIT:
Ooops! undrentide-san already gave the same answer!
 
Toritoribe said:
It's more natural to use the verb つく instead of ある for the case.

最初に「し」がつく、かな4文字の単語

EDIT:
Ooops! undrentide-san already gave the same answer!
Click to expand...
Oh, THAT's right !
I knew it wasn't くる, unless you wanted to make it come to the front.

先頭に「し」が付く...
 
undrentide said:
「し」で始まる or 最初に「し」が付く are what we usually use in this kind of context.
Click to expand...
Are these alright, though, as well ? I mean it is a different question than the OP asked initially, but just grammar-wise (the first looks easier to me).

「し」は何というかな4文字の単語の語頭 ?


「し」は何というかな4文字の単語の最初/始めの文字 ?
 

I think the above sentences change the meaning of the question entirely.
The original question is to guess the word which begins with し while the above two sentences imply as if there are only one single word that begins with し.
(i.e. it is asking about the feature of し not about the word which begins with し)
 
Yes, it isn't guessing at a single word. But how does that make sense realistically anyway ? Out of how many hundreds to choose from.

Anyway, without assuming that 単語 could be plural, it could be どのかな4文字 or whatever instead of 何という. What I need now is just some rest. haha

The character し is at the head of what 4 letter kana (words) ?
 
「し」は何というかな4文字の単語の語頭 ?
「し」は何というかな4文字の単語の最初/始めの文字 ?

These are hard to translate but
In what 4 kana letters word(s) し can be used in the beginning
will be close to the nuance in these Japanese sentences.

If I want to ask the same question, I'd say;
「し」はどんなかな４文字の言葉の最初に使われる／来 る／付く？

As you mentioned in your post, どんな（どの） would fit better than 何
 
OK. Thanks. I'm going to stop avoiding it and build up my donna/dono/ confidence over the weekend. It's a small thing to be sure....but really not so much for learners.
 
Thank you for all the feedbacks

We usually ask these kinds of questions in casual situations, so it might be better for me to not use a stiff word like 語頭, as usually the listener might have to think for a second

I think 最初に「し」がつく、かな4文字の単語 by Toritoribe is very easy to understand when first uttered
 
Well, maybe 頭文字 is broader.

Who knew ? This is a first for me. Being asked the question when it wasn't part of the game.

しで始まるかな4文字の単語を考えている。推測してください. I'm thinking of a word that starts with し....
 
And one more point. I was looking at the instructions for しりとり and they always use
最後の一音 instead of 最後の文字. Of course there isn't a difference since to represent these sounds, you have to use the syllable. But maybe even in this context 文字 alone will be too broad. 英語の'character ('ideograph/syllable)'と'letter' には両方とも「文字」という意味がありますが...


前の人の言った語の最後の一音を取って、それで始まる新しい語を次々に言い続けていく言葉の遊び。「くり・りす・すみ…」など。２ 前の詩歌や文句の終わりの言葉を、次の句の頭に置いて次々に言い続けていく文
 
Probably that's because of 拗音 and 長音.

genaral rule of しりとり
かいしゃ --> しゃかい or やかん
ヒーロー --> ろくが or ローカル or おにぎり
きんろう --> うさぎ
ホッケー --> けむり or ケーブル or えいが or いしゃ
こっけい --> いしゃ
 


I doubt you can use the word 頭文字 in this context, as this word, most often translated as "initial", is used with 欧文 (大辞泉）
 
nhk9 said:
I doubt you can use the word 頭文字 in this context, as this word, most often translated as "initial", is used with 欧文 (大辞泉）
Click to expand...
Oh, yes, that could be. Because I've seen it used quite a bit with first letters of English words.
 
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