Gokiburi (ゴキブリ - Cockroach)

Toru
Thank you so much for correcting my post. :)

Toru
Thank you so much for the corrections. :)
Actually, I use single quotes for one word because a Lang-8 user told me to do so. But I would like to use mainly double quotes from now on. :)

David
Toru san,

I use double quotes because that's they I was taught. Apparently there are differences - surprise, surprise - between American and British usage.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2014/10/21/single_quotes_or_double_quotes_it_s_really_quite_simple.html

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If you are an American, using quotation marks could hardly be simpler: Use double quotation marks at all times unless quoting something within a quotation, when you use single. It's different in the greater Anglosphere, where they generally use singles in books and doubles in newspapers. It's still pretty simple, but nothing so straightforward as here.
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However, on second thought, both you and I really aren't quoting something that somebody else said or wrote. We are trying to indicate to the reader that a certain word or words are not simply another part of our sentence the sentence, rather we are referring to the word itself. I think my use of double quotes is wrong.

I found this reference that offers a suggestion:

https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/single-quotation-marks-versus-double-quotation-marks?page=1

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Use Single Quotation Marks to Highlight Words Not Being Used for Their Meaning

It's the convention in certain disciplines such as philosophy, theology, and linguistics to highlight words with special meaning by using single quotation marks instead of double quotation marks.
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In the future I'm going to follow that convention. I will consistently use single quotes around a word, or words, when I want to indicate that I'm referring to the words themselves rather than just using the words as part of the sentence.

I know that single quotes are often used on the internet because the ability to italicize text is often unavailable to the person writing the text.

There is another practice used in technical writing that new or technical terms as well as key terms are often italicized when they are introduced.

http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2015/04/using-italics-for-technical-or-key-terms.html

Note that there is a standard convention used that I very much agree with:
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tl;dr

Use italics for the first case of a new or technical term, a key term, or a label. Don’t italicize the subsequent appearances of new or technical terms or key terms.
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Based on my research here are the rules I'm going to follow when posting in lang-8:

1. The first time I use a:

- word, or series of words, to indicate that I'm referring to the word(s) themselves and not just simply using the words as part of my sentence
- new technical term, key term, or a label

I will surround it with single quotes. The first time... hint, hint Toru ;o)

2. If I use a word or phrase written in another language, assuming it's written in a Roman/Latin alphabet, the first time I write it I'll surround it in single quotes. On subsequent use I may or may not surround it in single quotes. This is a judgement issue. If I feel that the phrase in a foreign language could be mistaken for it's English counterpart I'll continue to surround it in single quotes.

3. If the word, or phrase, is written using A SCRIPT THAT COULD NOT EVER be mistaken for English, I'm looking at you Toru ;o), I won't write it in quotes.

So, based on those rules, here's how I'd write one of your entries:

Many people don't like 'gokiburi' (ゴキブリ - cockroach).
Many people don't like 'gokiburi' (ゴキブリ - cockroach).

I talked about 'gokiburi' a few times on Lang-8, but I have never mentioned its etymology.
I've talked about gokiburi a few times on Lang-8, but I have never mentioned its etymology.

Originally, 'gokiburi' was called 'goki kaburi' (御器かぶり).
Originally, gokiburi was called 'goki kaburi' (御器かぶり).

'Goki' (御器) means "eating utensils," and 'kaburi' (かぶり) means "to wear" or "to gnaw."
Goki (御器) means 'eating utensils,' and kaburi (かぶり) means 'to wear' or 'to gnaw.'

I feel that avoiding all the quoting makes the text more readable.

Toru, By the way, I with draw my suggestion to use 'cockroaches' instead of 'cockroach.' I was curious and found that Japanese doesn't really have a plural form.

So, what do you think about this overly long comment? ;o)

Dave

David
Based on you 山 々 post I I made a mistake in my rules.

'Goki' (御器) means "eating utensils," and 'kaburi' (かぶり) means "to wear" or "to gnaw."
Goki (御器) means "eating utensils,"' and kaburi (かぶり) means "to wear" or"'to gnaw."'

You're original use of double quotes was correct because they are surround words that are effectively quotes. ;o)

Toru
Thank you so much for the helpful comments.
Probably I understand the rules.

I used single quotes instead of italics for Japanese terms written in a Roman alphabet, but I didn't know that the styles are usually used only when it comes out the first time.

I learned something new, thank you. :)

> I with draw my suggestion to use 'cockroaches' instead of 'cockroach.' I was curious and found that Japanese doesn't really have a plural form.
Actually, I understood the 'cockroach' is a countable noun. Maybe I should have used double quotes for it.
>> Many people don't like 'gokiburi' (ゴキブリ - cockroach).
Here, I wanted to say that 'gokiburi,' which means "cockroach." I think that articles are not necessary in such a case because Wikipedia entries don't use articles in similar cases.

David
You're right, an article is not need in your example. With rare exception you only need to worry about using articles if you're writing sentences, right?

You do know that in most cases just about anybody, and their dog, can write and make changes to Wikipedia. Some have better writing skills than others. I'm sure that your skills are better than many. ;o)

Yes,cockroach is a countable noun in English. However, isn't ゴキブリ by itself effectively singular? That's my current understanding .

Double quotes are for surrounding a quote.

Toru
Thank you for your comments. :)

> However, isn't ゴキブリ by itself effectively singular?
It is a little difficult question.
Japanese nouns don't have a plural form, but they can mean either singular or plural according to the context.

For example,
ゴキブリを見た。
This probably means "I saw a cockroach."

家にゴキブリが住んでいる。
This probably means "Cockroaches live in my house."