Shinigami

[Sono Ike]

Hi!!!
I have a big doubt. Well, Shinigami is written with the kanjis 'shi' and 'kami'... right? (死神)
why it's pronouced shinigami? with a ni betwen shi and kami?? (or gami... I know that you can read it both ways)
Is 'cause of "Shi no kami" transformation o.o???


and, other question... eto... how can I know how to pronounce 神??
I have see that in words when 神 is the first kanji, like in kamikaze, you pronounce it "ka" and when is the last as in shinigami or megami you pronounce it "ga". But it's obvious I'm not sure.

Thanks

 

[Charles Barkley]

Your first question: the verb for death is shinu. When you take a verb and turn it into a noun, you change it from the U-form to the I-form, so shinu becomes shini, making shinigami.

Also, when you stick another word onto that I-form of a verb, often the other word changes in sound slightly so that it is easier to say. There are standard rules for how words change based on their sounds, and you'll pick them up quite easily if you continue reading. Anyway, in this case, the ka in kami is replaced by ga, making it shinigami.

So, to sum up, we have:

Shinu --> shini when the verb becomes a noun
Kami--> gami when stuck on to the end of an I-form-verb.

 

[Sono Ike]

o.o!!! Thanks a lot!!! x333
Then, 死 is read shi, but the verb is 死ぬ, right?

 

[nice gaijin]

Yes, generally. 死 by itself or conjugated as a verb is simply し, but in certain compounds (like the one you asked about), it becomes しに. There are many kanji like this that are put into compounds, and the hiragana gets omitted, such as 立ち入り禁止 → 立入り禁止 → 立入禁止 are all pronounced the same.

 

[Charles Barkley]

It's best, in my opinion, not to think of the kanji itself as being read in any one way. The kanji can be used to create different words. Those words can be read in different ways. That's the best way to think about it.

死ぬ is indeed the verb form of 死, the former meaning to die, and the latter meaning death.

 

[Sono Ike]

ah!! ( o . ó I see!! Thanks you two guys for your help : D