Dreams of Paper Flowers

A/N: A Reader's Guide

Although Dreams of Paper Flowers takes place in a slightly different world than our own, the events that take place are based on the Meiji Restoration in Japan. The novel takes heavy inspiration from the world at that time, and uses many Japanese phrases, words and titles. Here is a glossary of terms you will see used in DFP, along with pronunciation.

Pronunciation:

In the Japanese language, there are five vowels: a, e, i, o and u. Each can only be pronounced one way:

A is said ah as in all.
E is said eh as in when.
I is said ee as in ski.
O is said oh as in home.
U is said oo as in room.

For example, Hinata is said "hee-nah-tah." Most of the names encountered in the novel that originate from the Kuniga people will follow this pronunciation.

Another point to note is that Japanese words do not have emphasis anywhere except if there is a double character (represented in the hiragana alphabet as っ if the character is not a vowel sound.) This means that the 'u' sound often sounds like 'uh' if followed by the English equivalent of consonants. take Sakura, for example. It's not Sah-koo-ruh, it is Sah-ker-uh, ker as in 'kernal.' However, in Ushio, it is said "oo-shi-oh" because the u sound does not have a consonant in front of it.

When two vowels are together, they make still make their own sounds, but are blended together.

Mei- eh-ii turns into ay, so it sounds like May.
Naomi- ah - oh turns into ow, so it rhymes with Cow.

Titles:

In English, we have titles like Mr. and Ms. However, the Japanese have plenty of titles, and these attach onto the end of the name. Titles are used for almost everybody, and are only omitted in the case of the speakers being very, very close. Here is a list of titles that you will see in this story:

-san: The most basic and common title in Japanese. It roughly equates to Mr./Ms. in English, but it is used with almost everybody that is about your age/rank and above.

-sama: This is a step above -san. It is used for someone who is above you and whom one has a great respect towards. You will often see Hinata's father referred to as Murakami-sama.

(This is also a good time to bring up two points: last names come first (as in Nagasaki Naomi, with Naomi being her given name) and most people are referred to their last name. This is a sign of respect in the Japanese culture, although in English, talking to someone your own age and calling them by their last name is considered unfriendly.)

-dono: This title is rarely used in modern Japan, but was common before the Meiji Restoration. It is a title of the highest honor. I have reserved this for the Emperor only.

-hime: Basically, it translates to Princess. You will hear it most often with Hinata, who, being the daughter of the Shogun, is considered one.

-chan: This title is often used for girls. It can also be used for very young boys, but -kun is more common. This is a sign of affection and friendship. It is only used between close friends and family. This title can be attached to either a given or family name- with the family name being more polite.

-kun: Same thing as -chan, but for boys. In modern Japan, some tomboyish girls will ask to be called by this title instead of -chan, however, this was not common back in the Tokugawa Shogunate (the era which DPF is based in.)

-sensei: A word by itself, many people are familiar with its meaning of 'teacher.' What most don't know is that it can be also used for anyone with an advanced profession such as a doctor or lawyer.

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If you have any questions regarding a word's meaning, usage, pronunciation, or have spotted any errors in historical accuracy, please let me know by commenting. This is my first historical fiction novel, and I hope you enjoy exploring the world of Ancient Japan as much as I do!

-Lucina Reine