May 31, 2007

Try to make a sentense.

When you would like to convey to someone your intention , feeling and etc, you have to express what to say.
In order to do it, you have to say some sentenses.

For making Japanese sentenses, you'd better think what to say in Enlish first but in Japanese word order.

For example,

"This is a pen" should be changed to " This , a pen , is " which is in Japanese word order.
Then translate each word into Japanese.

this: kore
pen : pen
is : desu

"This , a pen , is " : kore pen desu.

Then you put "wa" after the subject word, in this case, "This" is a subject.
And delete an article because we don't have any article in Japanese.

Kore wa pen desu.

When you make a sentense with an object word, "o" should be added to the end of the object word.

kau : buy

I buy a pen. : I , a pen, buy : Watashi wa pen o kau.

You already know how to make an easy Japanese sentense.
I hope you can try to make easy sentenses as much as possible.

walk

aruku : walk

arukanai : walk not
arukimasu : walk (polite)
aruku : walk (plain)
arukutoki : walk+when
arukeba : walk + if
aruke : walk (imperative)

arukita : walked
aruiteiru : be+walking
aruku darou : will walk

made : to, up to,
eki : station

Watashi wa eki made aruita. : I, station to, walked. : I walked to the station.

ima : now

Watashi wa ima aruiteiru. : I, now, walking. : I'm walking now.

"...teiru" is explained as a progressive form like "be+...ing".

But sometimes "...teiru" means a custom of doing something.

maiasa : every morning
kouen : park
o : at , in

Watashi wa maiasa kouen o aruiteiru. : I, every morning, park in, walking. : I walk in the park every morning.

shimbun : newspaper
yomu : read

Watashi wa maiasa shimbun o yondeiru. : I , every morning, newspaper, reading. : I read newspaper everymorning.

May 30, 2007

the Japanese Syllabary

Japanese language has 3 types of characters, hiragana, katakana and kanji.
For conversation , we need not to learn characters.
But to learn on the web , you'd bette know how to pronounce the characters.

On this weblog, Romaji are used inspite of Japanese characters.

Japanese children learn "hiragana" first.
"Hiragana" consists of 5 vowels and many syllables.
Each synable consists of 1 voiced consonant and 1 vowel.

In English , if you find "a" in a word, sometimes it is pronounced " ei ", sometimes "a".
But in Japanese " a " is "a". Pronounciation never change.

take : bamboo.( not "teik"but "ta-ke")
asoko : there . (not " eisoko" but " a-soko")


For example,
"a" is always "a" not depending on the word nor spell.
"ta" is always pronounced "ta".

the Japanese syllabary

5 vowels: a , i , u, e, o

Other syllables :
ka, ki, ku, ke,ko
sa, si, su,se, so
ta, chi, tsu, te,to
na, ni, nu, ne, no
ha, hi, fu,he, ho
ma, mi, mu, me, mo
ya, yu, yo
ra, ri, ru, re, ro,
wa, n

ga, gi, gu, ge, go
za, ji, zu, ze, zo
da,di, du, de, do
ba, bi, bu, be, bo
pa, pi, pu, pe, po

gya, gyu, gyo
ja, ju, jo
cha, chu, cho
nya, nyu, nyo
hya, hyu, hyo

Pronounciation of Japanese is not so difficult . The number of consonants and vowels are not so many compared to English.

Stand

I show Japanese verbs as much as possible everyday.

tatsu : stand

tatanai : stand+not
tachimasu : (polite)
tatsu : (plain)
tatsutoki : stand+when
tateba : stand+ if
tate : (imperative)

tatsu darou : will stand
tatteiru : be+standing
tatta : stood

ni : on, to , in
michi : street, road, way

Watashi wa michi ni tatteiru. : I, street on, standing : I'm standing on the street.

May 29, 2007

I will go.

When describing the future, in English , " will " is used in a sentense.
In Japanese " darou " is attached to the verb with no verb conjugation.

iku : go
iku darou : will go
e/ni : to
gakkou : school
ashita : tomorrow

Watashi wa ashita gakkou ni iku darou. : I , tomorrow, school to , go , will,: I will go to the school tomorrow.

Review the verb conjugation

6basic patterns
-nai : not
-masu : (polite)
-:(plain)
-toki : when
-eba : if
-e/o : (imperativ)

And other patterns categorised by tense

-ta : (past)
- : (plain, present)
- darou :(future, no verb conjugation)

utau : sing
uta: song

Watashi wa uta o utau : I, song, sing ,: I sing a song.
Watashi wa uta o utatta: I , song, sang : I sang a song.
Watashi wa uta o utau darou : I, song, sing, will : I will sing a song.

hanasu : speak

Watashi wa hanasu. : I, speak, : I speak.
Watashi wa hanashita : I , spoke : I spoke.
Watashi wa hanasu darou : I, speak, will : I will speak.

You already know all the Japanese verb patterns.

Don't hesitate to make mistakes, and try to make Japanese sentenses.

May 28, 2007

I'm running.

"be-verb+ ...ing" is so called a progressive form.

"...shiteiru" in Japanese is almost equals with a progressive form in English.

When "...shiteiru" is attached to a verb, the verb should be conjugated.

hashiru : run
hashitteiru : be running

Watashi wa hashitteiru. : I'm running.
Watashi wa hashitteimasu : I'm running.(polite)

taberu : eat
tabeteiru : be eating
tabeteimasu : be eating(polite)
nomu : drink
nondeiru : be drinking
nondeimasu : be drinking(polite)
yomu : read
yondeiru : be reading
yondeimasu : be reading (polite)
miru : see, watch, look
miteiru : be watching
miteimasu : be watching (polite)

There is a little bit of difference of nuance between " ...shiteiru" and " be ...ing".
But that is not a big problem.

May 27, 2007

See

miru: see, look, watch

minai : see + not
mimasu : see (polite)
miru : see
mirutoki : see+when
mireba : see + if
miro : see(imperative)

Basic 6 patterns of verb conjugation.
-nai
-masu
-(base)
-toki
-eba
-o/e etc

okuru : send

okura-nai : send + not
okuri-masu : send (polite)
okuru : send
okuru-toki : send + when
okur-eba : send + if
okure : send (imperative)

kau : buy

kawa-nai : buy + not
kai-masu : buy(polite)
kau : buy
kau-toki : buy+when
ka-eba : buy + if
kae : buy (imperative)

uru : sell

ura-nai : sell + not
uri-masu : sell (polite)
uru : sell
uru-toki : sell + when
ur-eba : sell + if
ure : sell (imperative)

-nai, -masu, original , -toki , eba , o,e should be learnt by speaking repeatedly like an incantation.
When those words (-nai, -masu,...) are attached to verbs, verbs should be conjugated.
But it is not a big problem to make an mistake in conjugating verbs in our conversation.

terebi : TV
Watashi wa terebi o minai. : I, TV, watch not : I don't watch TV.

If you say "Watashi wa terebi o miru nai.", Japanese people understand you don't watch TV.

May 26, 2007

Hints for conversation

Although you could express what you feel or what you want to say, if you don't understand what someone said to you, it would not be a conversation.

Here are some hints for listening Japanese conversation.

1.A proper noun is very important.
Many proper nouns are not in a dictionary. But almost conversation includes proper nouns. So, if you have a chance to visit Japan, first, you learn proper nouns like name of town, name of place and etc.

2.Vocabulary is important, disregard grammar.
If you don't know Japanese grammar but know many Japanese word, you will be able to have a conversation.
But on the contrary, you know Japanese grammar but no word, you will never have a conversation.
If you enumerate just only words with disregarding grammar, Japanese people may understand.

3.Therefore you should concentrate on lestening nouns , next verbs in the conversation.
If you could listen just "......hon.......yom..", maybe you would understand someone reads a book.
In the conversation, though you couldn't catch well, you maybe know who is the subject.

4.Numbers.
When you ask someone about something, the conversation may includes prices, distance, time and etc.
The answers may includes numbers.

Do you understand?
Basic points of Japanese conversation are same with other foreign languages.

You had better learn much more vocabulary of nouns, verbs, numbers and proper nouns.
Then concentrating to listen nouns in the conversation and imagine what they say.
After all , imagination is important concept.

May 25, 2007

conversation at Narita airport

Because all staff working at the airport can speak English, you need not to speak Japanese at the airport.
So you should better try using Japanese as a kind of a practice.

At Limousine bus counter;

You: Shinjuku iki no basu ni noritai no desuga.
Clerk: Tsugi no basu wa juuji juugofunn desu.
Y: Sono basu de onegaishimasu.
C:San zen en ni narimasu.

Shinjuku : (name of town)
iki : bound for (noun of "iku"(go))
no: (connecting word between noun and noun)
desuga : (literaly " ...is. but ".) I mean
tsugi : next
basu : bus
juu : (number) ten
ji : hour
juugo : (number) fifteen
fun : minute
sono : that , it
onegaishimasu: please
san : (number) three
zen : =sen , thousand
en : yen
ni narimasu: (literaly means " become...". ) is

Shinjuku iki no basu ni noritai no desuga: Shinjuku, bound for, bus, on, get on , want ,I mean: I want to get on a bus bound for Shinjuku.
Tsugi no basu wa juuji juugo fun desu.: next, bus, ten, hour, fifteen, minute : Next bus is 10:15.
Sono basu de onegaishimasu.: That, bus, please : I get on that bus.
San zen en desu.: three, thousand, yen, is.: 3,000yen.

May 24, 2007

Adjective

"beautiful", "ugry", "blue"and "red" are adjectives.
An adjective word describes a noun.

At the end of Japanese adjective word must be "-i".

kirei : beautiful, clean
utsukushii : beautiful
minikui : ugry
aoi : blue
akai : red

hana : flower

Kono hana wa utsukushii. : this, flower , beautiful : This flower is beautiful.

utsukushikatta : utsukushii + katta(past) : was/were beautiful

Kono hana wa utsukushikatta.:This flower was beautiful.

Japanese adjective is put in front of a noun like in English.
And adjective itself can make a role of a complement as well.

boushi : hat/cap
bara : rose

aoi boushi : blue cap
akai bara : red rose

Kore wa aoi boushi desu. : this, blue, cap, is : This is a blue cap.
Kono boushi wa aoi. : this, cap , blue : This cap is blue.

Patterns of verb conjugation

Japanese verbs have various patterns of conjugation.
You had better learn 6basic patterns of verb conjugation.

iku : go

ikanai : go+not eg. Watashi-wa ikanai ; I don't go
ikimasu: go(polite) eg. Watashi-wa ikimasu ; I go.
iku : go(plain) eg. Watashi-wa iku. ; I go
ikutoki : go+when eg. Watashi-ga ikutoki ; When I go
ikeba : go+if eg. Watashi-ga ikeba ; If I go
ike : go (imperative) eg. Ike. ; Go.

Conjugation of verbs is very difficult grammar to learn.
The more you meet many verbs, then the more you understand them deeply.

taberu : eat

tabenai : eat+not
tabemasu : eat (polite)
taberu : eat (plain)
taberutoki : eat+when
tabereba : eat+if
tabero: eat (imperative)

okiru : wake up

okinai : wake up+not
okimasu : wake up (polite)
okiru : wake up (plain)
okirutoki : wake up+when
okireba : wake up + if
okiro : wake up (imperative)

nomu : drink

nomanai : drink + not
nomimasu : drink (polite)
nomu : drink (plain)
nomutoki : drink + when
nomeba : drink + if
nome : drink (imperative)

miru : watch, look, see

minai : watch + not
mimasu : watch (polite)
miru : watch (plain)
mirutoki : miru+when
mireba : miru+if
miro : watch (imperative)

yomu : read

yomanai : read+not
yomimasu: read (polite)
yomu : read (plain)
yomutoki : read + when
yomeba : read + if
yome : read (imperative)

maiasa : every morning
shimbun : newspaper

Watashi-wa maiasa shimbun o yomu.: I, every morning, newspaper, read. : I read newspaper every morning.

Watashi-wa shimbun o yomanai.: I, newspaper, read not.: I don't read news paper.
Watashi-wa shimbun o yomimasu. : I, newspaper, read. : I read newspaper.
Watashi-wa shimbun o yomu. : I, newspaper, read. : I read newspaper.
Watashi-ga shimbun o yomutoki....: I, newspaper, read when, : When I read newspaper,....
Watashi-ga shimbun o yomeba....: I, newspaper, read if, : If I read news paper,....
Shimbun o yome. : newspaper, read(imperative) : Read newspaper.

Excuse me.

sumimasen: excuse me
iku: go
ikeba: go (subjunctive mood)
ii : good
donoyouni : how
dou : how
eki : station
...niwa : in order to... / for
suru: do
shitara: do (subjunctive mood)

Sumimasen: Excuse me.
Eki ni ikuniha dou shitara ii desuka?: station to, go for, how, do, good , is : How do I get to the station?

In Japanese, sometimes the subject is ommitted.

massugu: straight
michi: road, way
kono: this

Kono michi o massugu ikeba ii desu.: this, road, straight, go, good,is: Go straight this way.

May 23, 2007

conversation

hajimemashite: How do you do
gokigen ikaga desuka: How are you
watashi-no: my
namae: name

Suzuki: Kon'nichiwa.: Good afternoon.
Tanaka: Kon'nichiwa.: Good afternoon.
S: Hajimemashite.Watashi-wa Suzuki desu.: How do you do. I'm Suzuki.
T: Hajimemashite. Watashi-no namae wa Tanaka desu.: My, name, Tanaka, is: How do you do. My name is Tanaka.

"Hajimemashite" consists of several word, but you'd better know it as a phrase.

May 22, 2007

Please do it.

douka... kudasai. : please...
yomu: read
yonde: read (imperative mood)
ni : to
hon: book

Douka watashi ni hon o yonde kudasai. Pleas, me, to, book,read: Please read me a book.

Sometimes "douka" is omitted.

tsureteiku: take
hoteru: hotel

Watashi o hoteru ni tsureteitte kudasai.: me, hotel to,take, please: Please take me to the hotel

iku : go
itte : go (imperative mood)

Hoteru ni itte kudasai.: hotel to, go , please : Please go to the hotel.

Convey what you want to someone is important in our conversation.
If you met an emergency situation in Japan, you should say what you want.

saifu: wallet
nakusu: loose
nakushita: lost
keisatsu: police

Watashi wa saifu o nakushimashita: I, wallet , lost: I lost (my) wallet.
Watashi wa keisatsu ni ikitai desu.: I , police to, go, want: I want to go to the police.
Watashi o keisatsu ni tsureteitte kudasai.: me, police to, take , please: Please take me to the police.

Conjugation of verbs are very difficult, but just feel it. Almost Japanese people can't explain how verbs conjugate.

More sample sentence you meet, you will understand.

May 21, 2007

Importance of particles

aishiteimasu: love

Watashi-wa anata o aishiteimasu. : I ,you,love: I love you.

"wa"and "o" in the above sentence are called "particles" in terms of Japanese grammar.
In Japanese, particles are more important than the word order in the sentence.

In English, if you make an error in the arrangement of words, the meanings of the sentence may change.
I love you.
You love me.

But in Japanese, if only you put particles in right position, the meaning of the sentence never change.

Watashi-wa anata o aishiteimasu.: I ,you, love: I love you.
Anata o watashi wa aishiteimasu.: You, I, love: I love you.

ageru : give
ni: to

Watashi wa anata ni hon o ageru.: I, you, to, book, give: I give you a book./ I give a book to you.
Watashi wa hon o anata ni ageru.:I, book, you , to ,give: (same )
Hon o watashi wa anata ni ageru.: book, I , you, to ,give:(same)
Anata ni watashi wa hon o ageru.: You, to , I , book, give:(same)

I can speak Japanese.

dekiru: can, be able to
hanasu: speak, talk
nihon: Japan
go: language
nihon-go: Japanese

Watashi-wa nihon-go o hanasemasu.; I , Japanese ,can speak.: I can speak Japanese.

"can+verb" should be expressed by conjugating the verb in Japanese.
Or by changing the verb to a noun , we can say the phrase " someone can do..."

hanasu+koto: speaking(noun)
ga: "ga" will be added to an objective word.In some sense, "ga" is same with"o" after an objective word.

Watashi-wa nihon-go o hanasukoto ga dekiru.:I ,Japanese, speaking, can.
Watashi-wa nihon-go o hanasukoto o dekiru.: Japanese people understand this sentense, but "o"had not better use twice in one sentense.

In colloquial, "hanaseru" is much more used than "hanasukoto ga dekiru".

yomu: read
yomeru: can read

Anata wa hon wo yomeru. : you, book , can read,: You can read a book.

kaku: write
kakeru: can write

Kare-wa nihon-go o kakeru.: he,Japanese,can write: He can write Japanese.

iku: go
ikeru: can go
eki: station
ni: to

Watashi-wa eki ni ikeru.: I,station,can go, :I can go to the station.

May 20, 2007

Numbers

How to read figures.
1 ; ichi
2; ni
3; san
4; yon
5; go
6; roku
7; nana
8; hachi
9; kyuu
10; juu(not mention "ichi")
100; hyaku(not mention "ichi")
1,000; sen(not mention "ichi")
10,000 ; ichi-man
100,000,000; ichi-oku

Almost of figures can be read by using the combination of pronunciation listed above.

20; ni+juu=nijuu
22; ni+juu+ni=nijuuni
1,035; sen +san+juu+go=sen sanjuu go
16,256; ichi+man+roku+sen+ni+hyaku+go+juu+roku=ichiman rokusen nihyaku gojuu roku

en ; yen
harau ; pay

Watashi-wa hyaku-en o harau; I , 100yen , pay →I pay 100yen.
Watashi-wa hyaku-en o haraimasu.(more polite); I pay 100 yen.

ikura; how much

Kore-wa ikura desuka?; this, how much, is→ How much is this?
Hyaku-en desu.; 100yen, is→This is 100yen.

May 19, 2007

I want to go to the airport.

kuukou ; airport
...shitai ; want to do...

Watashi-wa kuukou e ikitaidesu. ;(I, the airport to, go , want )→ I want to go to the airport.

"...shitai" means "want to do...".
"...shitai" should be added behind the verb,then the verb will be conjugated and "shitai" will be changed as well.
In many cases, "shi" of "shitai" will be erased.

iku(go)+shitai = iki-tai (want to go)
taberu(eat)+shitai=tabe-tai (want to eat)
yomu(read)+shitai=yomi-tai(want to read)
utau(sing)+shitai=utai-tai(want to sing)

But if you say "iku shitai" to Japanese people, all japanese must understand what you mean.

noru; get on , take
takushii; taxi
basu; bus
ni; on
noru+shitai=noritai

Watashi-wa takushii ni noritai. ; I, taxi on, take, want) → I want to take a taxi.
Watashi-wa takushii ni noritai desu. I want to take a taxi. (more polite)

Watashi-wa basu ni noritaidesu.; I ,a bus,on , get on, want.→I want to get on a bus.

May 18, 2007

What is this ?

nan / nani ; what
dare ; who
itsu ; when

Kore-wa hon desu. ; This is a book.
Kore-wa hon desuka? ; Is this a book?
Kore-wa nan desuka? ; What is this ?

You may understand how to make a " what " interrogative sentence.
A noun should be substituted by "nan".

are; that
sore; it
Are-wa nan desuka?; What is that?
Sore-wa nan desuka? ; What is it?

kare; he
san; Mr./Ms
dare ; who

Kare-wa Suzuki-san desu. ; He is Mr.Suzuki.
Kare-wa Suzuki-san desuka? ; Is he Mr.Suzuki?
Kare-wa dare desuka? ; Who is he?

getsuyoubi ; Monday
ni ; on

Anata-wa getsuyoubi ni gakkou e ikimasu. ; You, Monday on ,school to ,go→You go to school on Monday.
Anata-wa getsuyoubi ni gakkou e ikimasuka? ; Do you go to school on Monday?
Anata-wa itsu gakkou ni ikimasuka? ; When do you go to school?

Interrogative

It is easy to make an interrogative sentence.
Basicaly, "-ka?" at the end of the sentence makes the sentence interrogative.

Kore-wa hon desu. ; This is a book.
Kore-wa hon desuka? ; Is this a book?

kuruma; car

Kore-wa kuruma desu. ; This is a car
Kore-wa kuruma desuka? ; Is this a car?

anata ; you
iku ; go
ikimasu; go (more polite than "iku")
e ; to
gakkou ; school

Anata-wa gakkou e ikimasu. ; You go to school.
Anata-wa gakkou e ikimasuka? ; Do you go to school?
Kare-wa gakkou e ikimasu.; He goes to school.
Kare-wa gakkou e ikimasuka? ; Does he go to school?

May 17, 2007

Imperative

Imperative phrase should be expressed by conjugating the verb.

yomu; read

Kono hon o yome.; Read this book.

Kono hon o yondekudasai.; Please read this book.
"-kudasai" makes the imperative phrase more polite.

okiru; wake up

Okiro! ; Wake up!
Okitekudasai.; Please wake up.

tsureteiku; take
hoteru; hotel

Watashi-wa anata o hoteru e tsureteiku. ; I take you to the hotel.
Watashi o hoteru e tsureteittekudasai.; Please take me to the hotel.

May 16, 2007

This is a pen.

pen; pen
kore; this
are; that
sore; it
korera; these
arera; those
desu; be(is , are)

Kore-wa pen desu.; This is a pen.
Are-wa pen desu; That is a pen.
Sore-wa pen desu.; It is a pen.

Korera-wa pen desu.; These are pens.
Arera-wa pen desu.; Those are prens.

No plural in Japanese noun.
Sometimes "-ra" which is added just behind a noun means plural.

shounen; boy

Kare-wa shounen desu.; He is a boy.
Karera-wa shounen desu.; They are boys.

I sing a song

utau: sing
uta; song

Watashi-wa uta o utau.; I sing a song

Watashi-wa uta o utaimasu.; I sing a song.
With "masu" at the end, it is more polite.

Watashi-wa uta o utatta.; I sang a song.
Watashi-wa uta o utaudarou.; I will sing a song
Anata-wa uta o utau.; You sing a song.
Anata-wa uta o utatta.; You sang a song.
Kare-wa uta o utau.; He sings a song.
Kare-wa uta o utatta.; He sang a song.

May 15, 2007

I go to school

watashi; I, my, me
watashi-wa;I
watashi-no;my
watashi-o;me
gakkou; school
e; to
ni;to

Watashi-wa gakkou e (ni) ikimasu.; I go to school.
Watashi-wa gakkou e ikimasen.; I don't go to school.
Watashi-wa gakkou e ikudarou; I will go to school.
Watashi-wa gakkou e itta; I went to school.

In English verbs should be conjugated depend on the subject in the sentence.
But Japanese verbs are not be conjugated depend on the subject.

kare; he
kanojo; she

Kare-wa gakkou e ikimasu.; He goes to school.
Kanojo-wa gakkou e ikimasu.; She goes to school.

Conjugation

Japanese verb conjugates in various ways.
Rules of the conjugation are very difficult to learn, but there are several basic points.
First of all, you had better to meet various verbs as many as possible.

vocabulary
watashi;I,my,me
watashi-wa(or -ga);I
watashi-no;my
watashi-o;me
yomu;read
hon;book
In Japanese, we don't have article and definite/indefinite article.

Watashi-wa hon o yomu. ; I read a book.
"o" should be added the end of an object word then the noun will change to an object in a sentence.

Watashi-wa hon o yomanai. : I don' t read a book.
"nai" means denial word.

Watashi-wa hon o yomu darou.; I will read a book.
"darou" =will

Watashi-wa hon o yonda. ; I read a book.(past tense)

May 13, 2007

Grammar

Basic structure of English sentence is " subject+verb+object"(SVO structure). As for the Japanese, an object comes just after the subject, and a verb comes at the end of the sentence.So Japanese sentence is "subject+object+verb"(SOV structure).

Good by

Sayounara;Good by,bye-bye
Sayounara is a phrase to use when you part from a person/people. It is the last word to use last in conversation. There is not any conversation after having said Sayounara.
Bai-bai is also used in usual situation, but not in formal.

May 12, 2007

Thank you!

Arigatou-gozaimasu; Thank you

When you want to express your gratitude feelings to some people, you may say " Thank you".

"Arigatou-gozaimasu" just equals "Thank you".

Phrases of thanking expressions in Japanese are very various as well as in English.
But "Arigatou-gozaimasu" just equals the phrase " Thank you".

People doesn't feel bad when they are thanked by some people.

Gratitude phrase is one of the most important phrases in our world.

Hello!

Usual greeting phrase is differrent form time of the day like in English.

In the morning,"Ohayou-gozaimasu"; Good morning
In the afternoon,"Kon-nichiwa";Good afternoon
In the evening,"Konbanwa";Good evening

Whenever you meet Japanese people, if you say"Kon-nichiwa",every Japanese people understands that you are saying a kind of a salutation phrase. And then,he or she says "Kon-nichiwa", back to yoo too.

Salutation words/phrases are the beginning of the conversation with people.
This is not a special feature of Japanese language world but common costom in the world.
Japanese people are not eccentric people.

Ohayou means "early".
But Japanese people are not sure the meanings of the phrase when they say it.Just knowing it as a phrase in the morning.

Think when you say "Good morning" to some people, are you consious that "It is good morning today!"?

The most typical phrase is a salutation phrase. Don't think, just feel. Fundamentals of the human is not so different among the people in the world.