Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 1

38 にほんぶんがく nihon bungaku 日本文学 Japanese literature げんごがく gengo-gaku* 言語学 linguistics しんりがく shinri-gaku* 心理学 psychology てつがく tetsugaku* 哲学 philosophy しゃかいがく shakai-gaku* 社会学 sociology ぶつりがく butsuri-gaku* 物理学 physics かが く kagaku 化学 chemistry せいぶつがく seibutsu-gaku* 生物学 biology てんもんがく tenmongaku* 天文学 astrology *These can be used without - gaku (academic discipline). Grammar Notes 2-2-1 Noun no Noun When one noun describes another in Japanese they are connected together by particle no . /X no Y/ means a kind of Y, which is described by X. Multiple nouns can be connected by particle no , but always the last noun is the main noun. Compare the following: pasokon no kaisya a computer company kaisya no pasokon a computer in the company America no pasokon no kaisya a computer company in the US America no kaisya no pasokon a computer (made by) an American company The relationship between the main noun and other noun(s) varies greatly depending on their meaning. The following are some examples.