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Post by Blood_Debt on Nov 23, 2004 1:41:47 GMT -5
I read a lot of fics and since they are mostly anime, they seem to delight in using Japanese words instead of English. Since I don't know what some mean, I abandon some very good stories because I just don't uinderstand. So: translations of the english pronounciations
Oh yeah, I have heard Gojyo referred to as urusai, but I thought it meant shut up. Help?
Right, this is what I know. If I have something wrong, tell me:
Ohayo - good morning
Konichiwa - hello
Hayaku/Hayu sha kiro - Hurry up
Sayonara/Jya Ne goodbye
Harahetta - I'm hungry
Gomen - sorry
Arigato, Domo arigato, arigato gozaymas - thank you
Do itashemashte - You're welcome
Watashi Daisuki - I love you (I know a boy called Daisuki, actually)
Anata - you
Kore- they
Baka - idiot??
Ero kappa - horny demon (or so I have been led to believe)
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Post by elven dreamer on Nov 24, 2004 6:02:51 GMT -5
Yeah....anyone care to enlighten me? What does sugoi mean?  |
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Post by Salmastryon on Nov 24, 2004 6:43:56 GMT -5
Corrections: Ohayou - good morning Konichiwa - good afternoon Sayonara - goodbye(this carries a not of finality with it if you say this you aren't expecting to see the person for a long while. For a normal parting something like ja mata might be more appropriate) Ja ne - See you (very informal) Gomen - sorry Domo - thanks Arigatou - thank you Domo arigatou gozaimasu - thank you very much (formal) Dou itashimashite - You are welcome Watashi wa daisuki - I love you (literally: I like you very much) Anata - you(feminine); dear(what a wife calls a husband; that [there are a few other meanings but those are the basics] Kore - this thing Baka - idiot/ fool/ trivial matter Kappa - kappa isn't a demon per say. I dislike using the word demon because of its judo-christian tainting. Calling a kapa a demon is like saying an ogre or a troll is a demon. A kappa is just a kappa. Want to know more about what a kappa is? Here is an article about it: www.bellaonline.com/articles/art22507.asp And, yes I do know that the author of the article refers to the kappa as a water demon. Personally, if you had to trans it I'd say the kappa is a typr of water fey. Not to dis blood_debt, because she did a good job on figuring things out, but the mistakes she had above sort of proves my point about language in fanfiction. blood_debt: this use of urasai? in what context are you talking? You do realize the majority of authors who use japanese in their fanfiction use it incorrectly? (Having taken three years of japanese, this drives me crazy btw) elven dreamer: sugoi = awesome |
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Post by elven dreamer on Nov 25, 2004 2:13:17 GMT -5
Okies. Thanks.  |
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Post by kanshu on Nov 25, 2004 4:39:07 GMT -5
I've started taking Japanese classes recently, and my teacher always puts a lot of time in explaining the politeness levels etc.
What I have learned is that you can create a real insult by using the wrong kind of politeness in a situation.
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Post by Blood_Debt on Nov 25, 2004 20:08:50 GMT -5
Politeness... We had a whole hour discussion about this in my German class, about the use of 'du' and Sie. And ihr, ich, wir, sie, and... you get the point. So mainly the same in Jap, yes? My dad is teaching me a little, but he doesn't know any swearwords (damnit!)
About urusai, I was wondering what it meant because whenever Sanzo says 'urusai', the sub 'shut up' comes up but people seem to write it the same way you would write 'baka'
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Post by Salmastryon on Nov 26, 2004 8:53:09 GMT -5
urasai - if I remember correctly off the top of my head means be quiet.
urasei (which is what sanzo sez in the manga) is slang and consider inproper and rude. I've seen it translated as Shut up or even Shut the fuck up depending on the context
The thing with baka and urasai to remeber is the 80% of the people using those in fan fiction real have no clue what they are doing. If you want to use Japanese in fanfiction talk to someone who has been taking it intensively for over 5 years and has some talent for translating.
Also, don't try to learn japanese from subtitles and god forbid not from fanfiction. a lot of the times the subtitles are actually what me and my friend call dub titles. meaning that they are the english dub script and not subtitles of the japanese script. Even when they are subtitles of the japanese script, there are often a certain amout of literary license taken. Combining on top of that is the fact that japanese is very much a contextual language. That in itself leads to lots of problems with people who think they know some japanese. I don't know how many times people have said soemthing was translated wrong because it wasn't a literal translation of the words. The thing is that in japanese in that context the phrase or statements have a different meaning.
er.... *steps off soap box* I'll shut up now
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Post by Me-Nuriko on Nov 26, 2004 9:22:46 GMT -5
I really love this discussion. It's so interesting to hear about the use of the Japanese language. My Japanese speaking daughter has already told me some, but I still find it fascinating.
But Salma, I think you made a mistake in your last post, possibly it's only a typo. You referered to 'Urasai' all the time, while I think you meant 'urusai'.
Urusai means literally 'loud disturbing', (Omae wa urusai - You are loudly disturbing) but 'shut up' is a suitable translation.
Urasai is a pun on urusai. Ura means backside and sai is taken from 'Saiyuki'. It would mean 'The backside of Saiyuki'.
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Post by Ganheim on Nov 26, 2004 18:42:41 GMT -5
I really love this discussion. It's so interesting to hear about the use of the Japanese language. Yep, I think this is interesting, too. And reading things like this will probably become very important, seeing as how next semester I'm taking a formal Japanese language class and I don't know any native (or roughly equivalently skilled) speakers where I live. |
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Post by Blood_Debt on Nov 27, 2004 1:50:24 GMT -5
More questions:
Harahetta = hungry?
O-suwari = sit down?
Hentai = pervert?
Okaa-san = mother?
Ojii-san = grandfather?
Kawaii = cute?
So-des-ne = (literally) that is so?
Hai = yes (obviously)
Iie = no?
How do you say father? And I've just found that Yaoi is also a month! March, to be exact! How many different words for spirit etc. are there? I don't exactly understand what mononoke means. Or shikigami. Heeelllllpppppp!!!
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Post by Me-Nuriko on Nov 27, 2004 3:10:28 GMT -5
Not sure if I'm the right person to answer this, but I'm counting on Salma to correct me if/when I'm wrong.  Harahetta - literally it means 'my stomach became empty', so, yes, it means 'I'm hungry'. But, it's only used by boys. Girls say 'onaka (ga) suita'. o-suwari - yes, I think this means 'sit down', the 'o' is a honorific preffix. Hentai - I don't know exactly what that means, but it does have something to do with what you wrote, I think. Ask Salma. ;D o-kaasan - it's the polite word for 'mother', a more neutral word is 'haha' o-jiisan - means grandfather, but can also be used to other older men. Again, ask Salma. kawaii - yes, cute so desu ne - can mean either 'is that so?' or 'that is so'. Hai - well, 'hai' is somewhat difficcult to explain. It means more of 'that is correct' than 'yes'. This can lead to 'yes, we have no bananas' situations. Banana wa arimasen ka There are no bananas? Hai, arimasen Yes, (that is correct) there are none. In normal speak it's common to say 'ee', or 'un' when you mean 'yes'. iie (or ie) - means 'no', but I'm not sure if it's the same problem as with 'hai'. Salma? father - o-tousan, or neutral 'chichi' grandmother - o-baasan mononoke - is some sort of demon, spiritual creature or the like. It's hard to tell the difference between all those 'non-human' creatures in the Japanese world, at least it is to me. ^^,, shikigami - I know the word is used in Saiyuki, but I have no idea what it means. (In case you are interested: 'shinigami' means 'god of death' something like 'the grim reaper'.) March is either 'sangatsu', or 'yayoi'. Not yaoi. I hope this is at least somewhat accurate. |
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Post by kanshu on Nov 27, 2004 3:49:53 GMT -5
Politeness - yes, that's about right. But you additionally have to keep account on that you not only address the person you talk to properly, but also a person who's not there but that you are talking about. For example, if you and your mom would talk about your father's boss, you would need to use the very polite language level.
Generally, Children have to use a polite language level when talking to their parents (the honorific 'o' when saying kaasan or tousan is added - okaasan, otousan).
That is, for example, what makes Sanzo so very rude and arrogant - he uses a politeness level that places everyone below him. He doesn't neccessarily use rude language or complicated vocabulary, he just speaks in a rude politenesslevel.
hentai = literally 'very strange/weird person', you'll often hear the word 'hen' when someone is referring to strange or weird things. Hentai usually is used in the sense of 'pervert'.
chichi and haha are very informal ways to adress your parents. I'd place them somewhere in the 'mommy' and 'daddy' section, compared to 'Mr.' father and 'Mrs.' mother
hai = yes, BUT be careful with that. Hai doesn't neccessarily mean yes-yes, but can also be used as 'I'm listening' without being a confirmation, like when you have a phone conversation and say 'yes' without really agreeing. We haven't touched the topic of 'yes' and 'no' in Japanese classes as of yet, but I know that there are at least four or five different ways to agree, depending on the situation and the required politeness level.
Japanese is really an interesting language, because as it was pointed out, you really need to have a solid grasp on the culture, traditions and knowledge of everday Japan to speak&understand the language properly.
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Post by elven dreamer on Nov 28, 2004 1:59:15 GMT -5
About the whole name-<insert suffix here> thing...so confusing!!! As far as I know (these are mostly guesses): -san = Mr/Mrs/Ms So-and-So, in a way? -sama = Lord So-And-So. Major respect. -chan = For when speak to someone you are close to, or is younger than you? Someone you have affection for? -kun = a guy thing. When addressing male children? -sensai = I'm not quite sure about this. We called our Japanese teacher -sensai, but as far as I know, its not just reserved for teachers, right? And whats -sempai? Something about "elder", right? |
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Post by kanshu on Nov 28, 2004 2:53:12 GMT -5
Roughly speaking, yes. But it also can be used with first names. It basically indicates that the one you are addressing is in a higher position (or a stranger) to you. Major respect, yes. But I'd rather translate it with adjectives like 'honorable, esteemed, very important'. It's not a title as in 'Lord' or 'Count'. Hah, we covered that one in class. -chan is used by children to address everyone, or to address children up to the age of 14. It is also used when you address a female friend. Addressing a male over 14 with the -chan will lead to the male reacting miffed, because it's considered an insult. Young male children are addressed -chan, but the -kum is generally used to address a male that you know good enough to drop the 'san'. However, the -kun is alsdo used by a superior at work to address a female worker! So be careful with that. Sensei is used for someone who teaches, but it is also the address for a doctor of any kind. It's used to address 'older classmate', or 'older co-worker', and doesn't neccesarily have something to do with age in the second case. It's used to show that you see the other as higher 'ranking'. |
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Post by Blood_Debt on Nov 28, 2004 20:01:18 GMT -5
You forgot 'dono'.
More:
Minna = everyone?
More when I actually remember.
And all those attacks, e.g. Kizo no Kaze... the real translations?
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