AboutDreams Expertise I have been teaching myself the language for the past seven years, having consistent practice with Japanese materials. I can help translate things from English to Japanese or vice versa. I can also help you get started if you're planning on taking up the language. =) I'm most familiar with things like anime, manga, J-pop, games and so on.
Experience I began learning the language in 1999. I frequently talk with penpals and natives in Japan, as well as continually keep up practicing with authentic Japanese materials.
You will know that plurals in Japanese are Difficult.
Re: Shinto's "Five Kamis"
But "Kamis" is wrong, because it is an Anglicization.
So, what is the plural of Kami?
Kamikai
Kamigata
--or what?
regards,
Dan
Answer Hello,
Plural nouns in Japanese are usually written identical to a singular noun. Whether it is interpreted as plural or not is dependent on context.
But, there are ways to force nouns to be plural. The ending ~tachi (達) can be tacked onto nouns for this purpose. This use is most commonly seen with pronouns ('watashi-tachi' = 'us'). It can also be used with people's names to mean "person & friends" or "person & their group" (etc). The same ending might also be pronounced "ra" in informal speech, but this is rare, and really only used with pronouns ('boku-ra' = 'us').
Certain words that are traditionally written in kanji can be doubled with the symbol (々). This means that you say the word twice. But the pronounciation will often change. Thus, 'hito' (person) will become 'hitobito' (人々) (people). You may have seen the ~gata ending in the word 'anatagata', a flattering way to say "you" to a group. This is pluralized with the same symbol (貴方々), but of course, it does not end up being repeated as 'anata-anata' because it would be too cumbersome to say. :)
Kami, actually, is one of the latter words. When written in plural form, it becomes 'kamigami' (神々). When counting the shintou gods, though, it is usually written without a plural (and without counters or particles), like 「五神」. ('Kami' might also be pronounced with a different reading, to complicate matters. But I think you get the idea.)
Hope my lengthy answer cleared everything up...
~Dreams
