Re: [Lingo] So happy I cried... writing japanese words

["Jim Breen" <jimbreen@example.com>]

On 29/01/2008, Stephen J. Turnbull <stephen@example.com> wrote:

>  > Are there really 4 valid ways to write うれしなき with うれ
>  > し泣き being the most popular but 嬉泣 being also very popular.
>
> Depends on who you ask.  If you ask a real linguist they'll say yes.

Counting うれしなき and 嬉泣き there are 5.

Back in the days when I was dabbling in Wiktionary and its plans
for the future, I ran into a mad German who insisted that for every
language there was only one correct way of writing a word. He wouldn't
believe me when I ever-so-politely pointed out that many Japanese words
had multiple valid written forms.

>  > What does 嬉泣 not showing up in dictionarys say about 嬉泣?
>
> It says that there's actually a government standard that prescribes
> the connecting kana.  <monomane geinojin="Dave Barry">I am *still* not
> kidding.</monomane>

It also says that dictionary compilers expect their readers to be
aware that okurigana usage is pretty rubbery.

>  > What does 嬉泣 being almost as popular as うれし泣き signify
>  > if anything?
>
> Real People don't pay attention to government standards.

In this case there is a bit more than that, I think. There is a
jokey set of X泣 and X笑 jukugo, some of which are regular words,
some are stripped-down versions like 嬉泣 and others are, well,
neologisms, e.g. 爆笑 苦笑 泣笑 偽笑 嘲笑 悔泣 笑泣 嬉泣 痛泣 悲泣.
All rather slangy.

Jim

-- 
Jim Breen
Honorary Senior Research Fellow
Clayton School of Information Technology,
Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/