Language/Japanese/Vocabulary/Greetings

TO SAY HELLO AND INDICATE THE MOMENT OF THE DAY

Japanese cut the day in three parts and each has a manner to say.

Ohayougozaimasu (おはようございます) 御早うございます。

This expression is made by

御 : (お) O :honorific prefixe

早 : (早(く)) haya(ku) : early

ございます Gozaimasu  : polite suffix

This is used the morning, to say hello, from 5 A.M to 12 A.M

Then, from 12 A.M use :

Konnichiwa (こんにちは) commonly written with hiragana, the basic alphabet to write japanese words. The form in kanji (今日は) is more employed to say approximately "This day..." and it sounds ; KYOU WA (

At night, from about 6 PM (japanese have dinner really early) you can say :

Konbanwa (こんばんは) As for konnichiwa, there is a form in kanji (今晩は). "This night..."but contrary to Konnichiwa, it really sounds konbanwa.Take a look to the kanjis

今 : This kanji read alone is IMA いま. It means NOW.

日 : This one is NICHIにち. The meaning of this is DAY 晩 : The last is BANばん. The kanji for EVENING / NIGHT

Oyasuminasai (おやすみなさい) お休みなさい。 Have a good night.

お valorating prefix 休み(やすみ) : holiday / resting 為さい(なさい) is a verbal for to say "to do"

Ohisashiburi (おひさしぶり)お久し振り Long time no see.

Hisashi(i) (久さし(い)) ひさしい : indicate a long period of time. Buri(振り)ぶり is a time mark.

In fact, this expression is really turning around a time reference!!