Obsolete: The Japanese Language Help Thread

[みさあき]

Or simply ask: eigo o hanase masu ka? (do you speak english?)

 

[Satoshi_Pikachu]

Ein? Is that a word for English too? I thought it was only eigo.

Also, is there a difference between chotto and sukoshi? I know chotto is also used as a way of refusing something kindly, but when both chotto and sukoshi mean "a little", is there a difference between them?

 

[みさあき]

Ein? Is that a word for English too? I thought it was only eigo.

Also, is there a difference between chotto and sukoshi? I know chotto is also used as a way of refusing something kindly, but when both chotto and sukoshi mean "a little", is there a difference between them?

oh shit sorry. I meant eigo :[

im not sure since im only learning this as well but chotto also means "hey" as an expression.

 

[Satoshi_Pikachu]

Oh, that explains it XD

 

[みさあき]

Oh, that explains it XD

yeah it can be used as an informal "hello" as well XD

anyway, I think someone already did this but has anyone wrote out how to translate names? If not, I can pretty much do so. It's quite fun XD

 

[White Phoenix]

Hello!

Is anyone fluent enough in Japanese to tell me if there is a male Japanese name that would mean “renowned” or “famous”?

I know that sometimes the Japanese make up their own, is it possible to do this? I don’t want just a Japanese spelling of my name, but an authentic Japanese name that fits with the storyline of Pokémon Conquest.

 

[みさあき]

Hello!

Is anyone fluent enough in Japanese to tell me if there is a male Japanese name that would mean “renowned” or “famous”?

I know that sometimes the Japanese make up their own, is it possible to do this? I don’t want just a Japanese spelling of my name, but an authentic Japanese name that fits with the storyline of Pokémon Conquest.

How about doing like a spinoff of yūmei or nadakai?

i haven't looked into authentic names but someone else might.

 

[SSJ_Jup81]

Hello!

Is anyone fluent enough in Japanese to tell me if there is a male Japanese name that would mean “renowned” or “famous”?

I know that sometimes the Japanese make up their own, is it possible to do this? I don’t want just a Japanese spelling of my name, but an authentic Japanese name that fits with the storyline of Pokémon Conquest.

Dunno, but how about Yuudai? It kinda means great hero. Seems that "tai" or "dai" or "hiro" are used in names meaning "great" something sometimes. Or in the case of "tai" or "dai", it can also mean "big".

Yuudai would be...

雄 + 大

Hero + Great/big.

 

[捷克羅姆]

Hello!

Is anyone fluent enough in Japanese to tell me if there is a male Japanese name that would mean “renowned” or “famous”?

I know that sometimes the Japanese make up their own, is it possible to do this? I don’t want just a Japanese spelling of my name, but an authentic Japanese name that fits with the storyline of Pokémon Conquest.

Dunno, but how about Yuudai? It kinda means great hero. Seems that "tai" or "dai" or "hiro" are used in names meaning "great" something sometimes. Or in the case of "tai" or "dai", it can also mean "big".

Yuudai would be...

雄 + 大

Hero + Great/big.

Alternatively, you could go for 雄太 Yuuta. There seem to be a lot of Japanese names that end with -ta (太 means "grand"). Names that end with -shi are also quite common for male and could be written in a number of ways: 士 (gentleman), 志 (resolve), 司 (administer), 史 (chronicle), etc. Just to make a small note, 勇士 Yuushi means "brave warrior" or "hero".

広/宏/弘 hiro (or alternatively kou) means "vast", but it does have a sense of being "grand".

 

[White Phoenix]

Dunno, but how about Yuudai? It kinda means great hero. Seems that "tai" or "dai" or "hiro" are used in names meaning "great" something sometimes. Or in the case of "tai" or "dai", it can also mean "big".

Yuudai would be...

雄 + 大

Hero + Great/big.

Alternatively, you could go for 雄太 Yuuta. There seem to be a lot of Japanese names that end with -ta (太 means "grand"). Names that end with -shi are also quite common for male and could be written in a number of ways: 士 (gentleman), 志 (resolve), 司 (administer), 史 (chronicle), etc. Just to make a small note, 勇士 Yuushi means "brave warrior" or "hero".

広/宏/弘 hiro (or alternatively kou) means "vast", but it does have a sense of being "grand".

The suggestion “yūmei” seemed to inspire more names. The word “hiro-” is close in sound to the default of the main character’s name (hero) while “yū” is . I remembered I have a file for the gallery and perfect partners list with all of the names that are already taken. So I can choose a unique name within the game. ^^

I have heard or read “Yū” and “Hiroshi” before. Yūta/Yūtai/Yūdai is closest to the meaning of my name. While “-shi” in “Yūshi” used as an equivalent for a position (gentleman, administrator) is too specific for title or position, but if used to mean “chronicle/journal/history”, it would fit. As written 広志, “Hiroshi” might mean “wide history”?

The syllable “yū” by itself with the kanji being used above seems to mean more like “man” and “courage”, while the “yū-” in “yūmai” seems to mean either “yes” or “road”.

 

[捷克羅姆]

The suggestion “yūmei” seemed to inspire more names. The word “hiro-” is close in sound to the default of the main character’s name (hero) while “yū” is . I remembered I have a file for the gallery and perfect partners list with all of the names that are already taken. So I can choose a unique name within the game. ^^

I have heard or read “Yū” and “Hiroshi” before. Yūta/Yūtai/Yūdai is closest to the meaning of my name. While “-shi” in “Yūshi” used as an equivalent for a position (gentleman, administrator) is too specific for title or position, but if used to mean “chronicle/journal/history”, it would fit. As written 広志, “Hiroshi” might mean “wide history”?

The syllable “yū” by itself with the kanji being used above seems to mean more like “man” and “courage”, while the “yū-” in “yūmai” seems to mean either “yes” or “road”.

In my opinion, Yūmei doesn't sound like a very common name (though not unheard of). Yū and Hiroshi are fairly common.

広志 Hiroshi means "wide aspiration". Different characters can have different meaning. Yū can be written as 勇 (brave), 雄 (man, hero), 優 (excellent), etc. The yū (有) in yūmei means "to have", so the word yūmei literally means "to have a name" or "to have a reputation".

 

[White Phoenix]

“Yūmei” was suggested as a word for a basis for a name rather than as a name. Although you indicated that it can be used as a name. I really need to find a good Japanese lexicon, either offline or an actual book.

I also noticed that one of my sentences didn’t get finished. I can’t remember now where I was going with that. 8-(

 

[みさあき]

^ yeah I suggested that as a spinoff rather than an actual name. I know it's a name but it's also an actual word so sometimes people make their names based on words. (etc: Yumai, Yukai Yume (except this means "dream") for an another example would be Deeva = diva)

 

[Goodbye Blue Monday]

I hope this is on-topic, but:

So as an anime fan who is also a musicologist, I've considered doing some research into the use of music in anime. And I've wondered if I should add Japanese to my growing list of "languages I need to learn" so I can talk to composers. I feel like this also requires way more extensive research into Japanese culture than I could handle and I should stick to the stuff I already know in terms of my research interests, but it interests me and I've considered it once or twice as I've started thinking about what my master's thesis should be (certainly, there's little to nothing about it in musicological research right now).

But right now I'm in the middle of learning German and trying to keep up my French, and I'm wondering if I should just wait on more languages. I'm good at languages, but I've only ever tried my hand at Indo-European languages that use the Roman alphabet, and I'm kind of intimidated to take on something so different.

 

[みさあき]

I would wait on more languages to be honest. Because each of them are different with different rules and learning three at a time might be pretty overwhelming. I wanted to learn Russian at first and can speak some of it but then put that one hold because I am more interested in learning this.

 

[Goodbye Blue Monday]

I would wait on more languages to be honest. Because each of them are different with different rules and learning three at a time might be pretty overwhelming. I wanted to learn Russian at first and can speak some of it but then put that one hold because I am more interested in learning this.

To be fair, I'm not really "learning" French at the point, more just trying to keep it up (I learned it extensively in high school). But I do think that if I learned another language while I'm currently learning German it might be a bit much, you're right.

I have a gazillion research interests in musicology anyway. Might as well start with the ones that don't require learning a new language...

 

[White Phoenix]

I also think you should wait. Many professional people in Japan, Junichi Masuda for instance, understand English very well.

 

[みさあき]

I also think you should wait. Many professional people in Japan, Junichi Masuda for instance, understand English very well.

While alot of professionals can speak and/or understand English, it's just that some of us want to speak in their native tongue not only as practice but mainly as courtesy. (take the Pokemon show's animator for example. It's clear that he understands English because he gets people who write to him in English and responds to them on his blog... however with me, I prefer to use his native tongue... just as courtesy. Nevermind that this person doesn't respond to English comments in English....)

 

[White Phoenix]

Yes, I understand, but until you have time to learn Japanese, you shouldn’t limit yourself. Mr. Masuda and Imakuni? respond to English tweets in English, but I suppose not everyone does. Use Google Translator if you need to, at least you will get the gist of what the person is saying. Who knows, you may even learn a little Japanese that way.

 

[Goodbye Blue Monday]

@White Phoenix; Speaking as a composer myself, though, it's not like our profession is one where we're seen as needed to learn foreign languages compared to, say, someone in academia or business. (I'm a musicologist as well but I have my undergrad degree in composition and I'm still active in writing music.) Masuda might know English but I know there are plenty of anime composers who don't. Just as there are plenty of American or British composers who know other languages because they've traveled a lot in other countries, but plenty of others who do not. You can't really use a name as big as Masuda's as the standard.

Also, as someone who has used Google Translate a lot with the two foreign languages I do know, you can't really use it to carry on a conversation, even written, with someone. Online translators are not very reliable if you're translating more than a sentence. Nothing replaces truly knowing the language yourself.

Anyway my decision is to hold off, it's one research interest among many. I guess a better way to phrase my question would have been, how hard is Japanese if you're skilled at language/have learned a few other languages but none outside of Indo-European ones? Learning new languages gets easier as you know more, but it's one thing if you speak English and French and are learning German, which is relatively closely related to those, vs. something like Japanese that is from a completely different language family and with a different alphabet.

ETA: Also I hope my quandary didn't derail this thread! Very sorry if it did!