Ask Geoff [Translations, Martial Arts, History]

puddingwraith · Derp Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 117

the list above, I'd like to see the words split into the components, and how the meaning derives from them. this may help with some that seem to have the same or long list of definitions.
perhaps culturally it just means what you put, since words have that happen to them, but it would be interesting to get a clearer meaning from the components.
and for example, tenma, heaven demon, ok, what does that actually mean, as in how would they come up with that, how is heaven used in this context.
And this for the jutsus, too! Very Happy

So there, now you have a project!

(ps: makes sign of the cross!)

cmkawasaki · Lazy Programmer Joined: 21 May 2005 Posts: 3388

Interesting Kanji translations for various demons....

BushidoPoet · Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:13 pm Post subject:

Kp91....

I would go with on of these

Kamejima (Turtle Island)

Or if you don't mind not having turtle in the name I think this name is cool.

Shimakazu (Island Master)

Sorry pudding wraith...no can do.

See the prblem is that it doesn;t really work that way most of time. Sure there are times that breaking up the components makes clear and easy sense.

e.g. = Vampire Kyuketsuki = kanji for suck (kyu) blood (ke), and ghost (tsuki)

But alot of the time the when you look at the individual kanji there is little to no sense that can be made from it, not even by somone knowledgable like myself.

e.g. = Ogre Bakemono = Kanji for change (bake) and thing (mono)
Ok...change thing...that's really descriptive.

So basically to decode all of those for you would be a huge pain and it wouldn't give you that much more info.

Geoff
_________________
Geoff "Yukirou" Beeson

"Without knowledge of Learning, one will ultimately have no military victories."

"One should not be envious of someone who has prospered by unjust deeds. Nor should he disdain someone who has fallen while adhering to the path of righteousness."

Imagawa Sadayo

"It is truly regrettable that a person will treat a man who is valuable to him well, and a man who is worthless to him poorly."

Hojo Shigetoki

Never confuse honor, with tactics.

puddingwraith · Derp Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 117

Darn, that kyus.
(I will note that baking something does change it.)

The city of Kyuto ... Laughing

----

I was looking on http://www.freedict.com/onldict/jap.html
It has mono = person or thing/object
doesn't have "bake".
Has: ba (place) + ke (hair/fur)
Bigfoot! Hairy Place Person-Thing!
or: Ba (place) + kemono (beast) = place beast? This might be best.

puddingwraith · Derp Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 117

looking here too: http://www.j-talk.com/nihongo/search/kanjisearch.php?pick=323D

says henge means goblin/ghost/apparition/bugbear

hen (change, odd) + ge (giving appearance of)

So, bakemono has the same idea as henge that of a spirit taken the form of a thing or corprealized, it seems.
A Change Thing takes the form of matter, perhaps of an object but is an evil spirit entity. Maybe that's the idea behind this.
Kanji: ke (change, take the form of, enchant, delude)
Kanji: mono (thing/object/matter)
http://www.j-talk.com/nihongo/search/index.php again has no bake, but does have bakemono and you can click on the kanji.

BushidoPoet · Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 8:49 am Post subject:

And of course to comlicate things further change is the meaning that made the most sense...

The bake in bakemono could also mean...

take the form of
influence
enchant
delude

but none of these things tell you anything about what it means to be a bakemono, what a bakemono looks like, or really anything relevant at all.

In some ways just looking at the words doesn't mean much in japanese, just like it doesn't in english. Like if I were to say "ghost" eveyone would have thier own idea about what a ghost is and what it does. From casper to the nastiest poltergeists, they're all ghosts.

Now vampire we would all be closer to the same page on. But it still is open to a wide variety of interpretations and difference that the name alone just can't give you. Do you think of Anne Rice Style vampires, that really are hurt by nothiing other the sun and fire. OR more classic vampires, that can change into bats, and can't cross running water, or made even blade vampiries that spontaneously copmbust when they are exposed to garlic or silver.

The reality is that there are hundreds of different incarnations of every creature in Japanese culture. So the names don't help to much.

But I do encourage you to make sense of the names, if nothing else its a fun process, but overall not that helpful.
_________________
Geoff "Yukirou" Beeson

"Without knowledge of Learning, one will ultimately have no military victories."

"One should not be envious of someone who has prospered by unjust deeds. Nor should he disdain someone who has fallen while adhering to the path of righteousness."

Imagawa Sadayo

"It is truly regrettable that a person will treat a man who is valuable to him well, and a man who is worthless to him poorly."

Hojo Shigetoki

Never confuse honor, with tactics.

Athildur · Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 1:58 pm Post subject:

Could you maybe tell me what would be a good translation (or a good approximation) for "Skittering" (As in, describing something that skitters :p)?

I've tried to find it but...it doesnt seem to be anywhere and so I turn to you, oh knowledgable one. Can you help me out?
_________________
Oy, this is going to be troublesome *sigh*

BushidoPoet · Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 4:30 pm Post subject:

Couldn't find a good skitter...

But I'll give you a couple of scampers

Shissou 疾走【しっそう】(n,vs) sprint, dash, scampering, (P)
Issou 逸走【いっそう】(n,vs) escape, scud, scamper away

Hope ths helps,
Geoff
_________________
Geoff "Yukirou" Beeson

"Without knowledge of Learning, one will ultimately have no military victories."

"One should not be envious of someone who has prospered by unjust deeds. Nor should he disdain someone who has fallen while adhering to the path of righteousness."

Imagawa Sadayo

"It is truly regrettable that a person will treat a man who is valuable to him well, and a man who is worthless to him poorly."

Hojo Shigetoki

Never confuse honor, with tactics.

Athildur · Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2006 4:43 pm Post subject:

Thanks a bundle. (Hrm lol, my rikaichan tells me exactly what you say when i select it ^-^)
_________________
Oy, this is going to be troublesome *sigh*

puddingwraith · Derp Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 117

na: exorcism, name, reputation, green veggies
ru: bend over
to: (suf) person (also "to"= door, gang)

naru: to become, to roar, to reach to, to resound/echo

naruto: maelstrom; steamed fish-paste cake, sliced to decorate soup

Interesting soup of meanings, considering the character's developement.

NaRuTo:
"A person who has the reputation as a member of the bend-over squad, the back-door gang!"

puddingwraith · Derp Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 117

Ok, that was hilarious, but here's a question:

some words in english trans have a - or ^ after them, like "spider": supaida- or supaida^ as alt of kumo.

What is this when a different trans comes up but has the - or ^ (depends on the dictionary, sure it means same thing)?

Is the usage different, is one stand-alone, other part of a word, or something?

Thanks.

BushidoPoet · Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 1:25 pm Post subject:

Honestly I am not sure.

I'd have to look at the dictionary entry as it originally comes up.

Is it an online dictionary that you could give me a link to?

Or could you send me a screenshot?

It is just too hard to figure out what those things might mean from a description on the forum.
_________________
Geoff "Yukirou" Beeson

"Without knowledge of Learning, one will ultimately have no military victories."

"One should not be envious of someone who has prospered by unjust deeds. Nor should he disdain someone who has fallen while adhering to the path of righteousness."

Imagawa Sadayo

"It is truly regrettable that a person will treat a man who is valuable to him well, and a man who is worthless to him poorly."

Hojo Shigetoki

Never confuse honor, with tactics.

puddingwraith · Derp Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 117

sorry, its the 2 sites I posted on pg5:

http://www.j-talk.com/nihongo/search/index.php
try: spider or supaida^
try: winter or uinta^ (no x)

http://www.freedict.com/onldict/jap.html
try: spider or supaida-
try: winter or uxinta- (how do they pronounce the x, btw?)

BushidoPoet · Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 11:26 am Post subject:

OK I understand now...

The - or ^ at the end of the entries as used by these dictionaries indicates an extended vowel sound for katakana words.

Usually when writting japanese in english letters I prefer to use the double vowel method

How I would do it: supaidaa
How they do it: supaida^

Either way it just means to hold the vowel out a little longer instead of cutting it short.

And for the life of me I cannot figure out why in the world there is an X in uintaa

most likely just a typo when the entry was frst put in.
_________________
Geoff "Yukirou" Beeson

"Without knowledge of Learning, one will ultimately have no military victories."

"One should not be envious of someone who has prospered by unjust deeds. Nor should he disdain someone who has fallen while adhering to the path of righteousness."

Imagawa Sadayo

"It is truly regrettable that a person will treat a man who is valuable to him well, and a man who is worthless to him poorly."

Hojo Shigetoki

Never confuse honor, with tactics.

puddingwraith · Derp Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 117

here is another site: http://linear.mv.com/cgi-bin/j-e/dict

I think I've figured out something, though:

these words are probably kana only, from english.
listen as you sound them out slowly:
uinta = winter
supaida = spider
The kana is a warped sounding of the english.
I like to avoid those I guess because they are not real Japanese.
so fuyu and kumo would be better.
Kumo or Gumo? I've seen it both ways. What is they actual sound of the first consonant, or is it inbetween K and G?

puddingwraith · Derp Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 117

In'in = "forlorn, desolate", but what is that apostrophe in the word for?

BushidoPoet · Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 4:08 pm Post subject:

Those first words are katakana words (words borrowed from other languages) so yes basically they are butchered english.

I would go with fuyu and kumo

also the easiest answer to your question is that kumo changes to gumo when it is not the first part of the word

eg. spiderweb - "K"umonosu
poisonous spider - doku"G"umo

The apostrophe in In'in is to help distinguish what the syallables are

in japanese that language is made of of syllables not letters

so in english letters Inin is the same not matter how you read it

but n japanese that could I-N-I-N (four syllables) which would look like this: いんいん

or it could be I-NI-N (Three syllables) which would look like this: いにん

So the apostrophe shows you that the middle N and I are not together

As always hope this helps
_________________
Geoff "Yukirou" Beeson

"Without knowledge of Learning, one will ultimately have no military victories."

"One should not be envious of someone who has prospered by unjust deeds. Nor should he disdain someone who has fallen while adhering to the path of righteousness."

Imagawa Sadayo

"It is truly regrettable that a person will treat a man who is valuable to him well, and a man who is worthless to him poorly."

Hojo Shigetoki

Never confuse honor, with tactics.

puddingwraith · Derp Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 117

Thanks, BushidoPoet, yes this is helping me understand it better.

Athildur · Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 7:25 am Post subject:

Geoff, I got another one here...

I tried to find it in numerous online dictionaries but all came up empty.

Do you know a proper translation for the word 'Feline' ? (as in, cat-like. If you happen to know something that means cat-like, that would be fine, too, I guess.)

Thank you ^-^.
_________________
Oy, this is going to be troublesome *sigh*

BushidoPoet · Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 11:20 am Post subject:

As far as I know there is no direct adjective that means feline. Plenty of thins like graceful, swift, etc.

However if you would lke to reference a cat then there are two good ways.

If someone is doing something cat-like you could say:

Neko no you ni X
Literally "X in the manner of a cat" or "X like a cat"

So for example: Neko no you ni hashiru - Running like a cat

Or if something looks or acts feline you could use

Neko mitai na X - Which literally means "cat-like"

You could say neko mitai na kao - cat-like face

neko mitai na hito - cat-like person

Well anyway this is the best I got for this one. If you want me to put together something more specific just let me know.
_________________
Geoff "Yukirou" Beeson

"Without knowledge of Learning, one will ultimately have no military victories."

"One should not be envious of someone who has prospered by unjust deeds. Nor should he disdain someone who has fallen while adhering to the path of righteousness."

Imagawa Sadayo

"It is truly regrettable that a person will treat a man who is valuable to him well, and a man who is worthless to him poorly."

Hojo Shigetoki

Never confuse honor, with tactics.

Athildur · Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 1:17 pm Post subject:

No, no, this helps me quite a lot ^_^.

Thank you!

Btw, loving your new avatar ^^.
_________________
Oy, this is going to be troublesome *sigh*

Elon · Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 3:33 pm Post subject:

Need transaltion on some terms:

-Heaven Scrolls
-Heaven Legacy
-Sacred Scriptures / Heaven Scriptures
-Any term concerning the Armaggeddon? As in, do the japanese people have any 'End of the days'? Religious or not.

Thank you so much.
_________________
Oden! Guide our ships, our axes, spears and swords! Guide us through storms that whip and in brutal war!

Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!

BushidoPoet · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 8:48 am Post subject:

-Heaven Scrolls - 天巻 - Tenkan
-Heaven Legacy - 天遺贈 - Tenizou
-Sacred Scriptures - 経典 - Keiten or Kyouten
-Apocalypse - 啓示 or 黙示 - keiji or mokushi
- End of the World - 世界の果て - Sekai no Hate

Enjoy
_________________
Geoff "Yukirou" Beeson

"Without knowledge of Learning, one will ultimately have no military victories."

"One should not be envious of someone who has prospered by unjust deeds. Nor should he disdain someone who has fallen while adhering to the path of righteousness."

Imagawa Sadayo

"It is truly regrettable that a person will treat a man who is valuable to him well, and a man who is worthless to him poorly."

Hojo Shigetoki

Never confuse honor, with tactics.

Elon · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 1:24 pm Post subject:

Thank you!

Also, is 'Reigakure no Sato' a good translation for Hidden Village of the Spirit? Thanks.

PS: By the way, Heaven Scrolls? Rolling Eyes

_________________
Oden! Guide our ships, our axes, spears and swords! Guide us through storms that whip and in brutal war!

Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!

BushidoPoet · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 3:03 pm Post subject:

Sorry abnout the scrolls / scroll mix up - in japnese there is no plural so the same word could mean one or many.

Reigakure no sato works

The Rei kanji is a bit obscure I might go with -

Tamagakure no sato - village hidden amoung spirits(souls)

Tengakure no sato - village hidden amoung the heavens

PS - This is my 100th Scroll hooray me!
_________________
Geoff "Yukirou" Beeson

"Without knowledge of Learning, one will ultimately have no military victories."

"One should not be envious of someone who has prospered by unjust deeds. Nor should he disdain someone who has fallen while adhering to the path of righteousness."

Imagawa Sadayo

"It is truly regrettable that a person will treat a man who is valuable to him well, and a man who is worthless to him poorly."

Hojo Shigetoki

Never confuse honor, with tactics.

Elon · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 3:48 pm Post subject:

Hooray! And thanks, man, now it's gonna sound very cool.
_________________
Oden! Guide our ships, our axes, spears and swords! Guide us through storms that whip and in brutal war!

Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!

BushidoPoet · Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 7:37 pm Post subject:

Hey Guys...

Just a friendly reminder that I'm here.

Oh and BTW translations don't need to be just for ND20, I'll tanslate just about anything (as long as it isn't really freakin long).
_________________
Geoff "Yukirou" Beeson

"Without knowledge of Learning, one will ultimately have no military victories."

"One should not be envious of someone who has prospered by unjust deeds. Nor should he disdain someone who has fallen while adhering to the path of righteousness."

Imagawa Sadayo

"It is truly regrettable that a person will treat a man who is valuable to him well, and a man who is worthless to him poorly."

Hojo Shigetoki

Never confuse honor, with tactics.

cmkawasaki · Lazy Programmer Joined: 21 May 2005 Posts: 3388

Ha! I wasn't expecting reminders....

Can you give me a translation for 'Imperial Guardian'?

And while we're at it, a translation for 'Insane maiden'?

Please? And thank you!

cmkawasaki

BushidoPoet · Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 9:39 am Post subject:

近衛 konoe 【このえ】 (n) Imperial Guards, (P)

狂的な処女 kyoutekinashojo 【きょうてきなしょじょ】 Insane Maiden

Hope this helps.
_________________
Geoff "Yukirou" Beeson

"Without knowledge of Learning, one will ultimately have no military victories."

"One should not be envious of someone who has prospered by unjust deeds. Nor should he disdain someone who has fallen while adhering to the path of righteousness."

Imagawa Sadayo

"It is truly regrettable that a person will treat a man who is valuable to him well, and a man who is worthless to him poorly."

Hojo Shigetoki

Never confuse honor, with tactics.

jmantyk · Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 4:09 pm Post subject:

Can I get a translation for Magic Missile?
_________________
"Love is a very powerful force. Even more so when it's focused into a coherent beam of destruction."
--Black Mage of Eight Bit Theater

FMA style alchemy, a WiP
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