[OT] Japanese Question

[Zhure]

 

[Aaron L]

Chinese characters are pronounced differently depending on where you are.

And depending on what time of day it is, from what I've been able to tell.

 

[Tsyr]

Alright, doing a little research...

Some basics I know off the top of my head while I search. Pronouncing Kanji isn't a simple thing, as there are often multiple ways of reading and interpreting Kanji. So there isn't one true pronunciation of the Kanji above.

A short summary of what I said - http://www.bus.utexas.edu/~kotabe/EDI/Section2/Language/kanji.html

Grace (above) has it's kana listed as (from site above): ‚½‚ñ‚ê‚¢, which translates to "tanrei" (tah-n-ray-ee).

A side note, a good site for learning and practicing katakana, hiragana, and kanji is: http://www.msu.edu/~lakejess/kanjigame.html. Just do it once a day, it's good reinforcement. Unfortunately I never had the discipline to go through with it.

My dictionary lists Tanrei as being a place name... I came across it while I was finding Yuubi, which is why I didn't use it.

 

[Mercury]

So what is the difference in what Tsyr wrote as opposed Zhure? Does Yuubi mean grace in the way I was hoping? If so, what does what Zhure wrote mean. Thanks again.

Mercury

 

[hong]

How rude!


Hong "shocked, I am" Ooi

 

[Liminal Syzygy]

Zhure is either ignorant or trying to pull one over on you...

Original poster, in situations like this it is very important to not just say the word, but define the exact usage and meaning, and even give a context if possible (how are you going to use it)?

 

[Syunsuke]

I hope I can help you

I'm Japanese, so I hope I can help you.
(If my English is undeerstandable

grace as "cat's grace" ?
I think this is fine.
(Traditionally, Japanese are written in vertical line. Today, we use both vertical system and horizontal system according to circumstance.)

Pronounciation is yuuga (maybe "you-ga" ?)

Fisrt character is same as Tsyr's yuubi.
Yuubi means elegance, and also means "grace", but I think we don't use yuubi when we meam "cat's grace".

Characters in Zhure's post means "peace".
Pronounciation is heiwa.("Hey-wa" ?)

 

[Zhure]

Ack! ::goes back to the kanji dictionary::

 

[Mercury]

Grace

The meaning I am looking for is similar to cat's grace. I am a Ballet Dancer and am looking at getting a tattoo of the word grace, in relation to how someone moves, and as to how one acts(grace under pressure). So, would I need both characters to express that Syunsuke? Thanks aain for all your help.

Mercury

 

[tleilaxu]

listen, when you start dealing with chinese characters things get difficult to translate. the fact is that there is no direct translation of "grace". lots of things come close. zhure's could be called "peaceful", "tranquil", or "grace" but it means something in between the words we have.

plus, chinese characters are used in many different countries and are pronounced different wherever you go.

The word for "no" is pronounced "Muht" in Putonghua (mandarin) yet spoken as "Baat" in Cantonese. I have no idea what they say in Japan, Korea or other countries.


It gets even more complicated. Combinations of Chinese characters vary greatly from Japan to China. If a Japanese person came to Hong Kong they would understand individual words, but not necessarily the way they are put together. The reverse of this is true. For example, one way to say "Sale" in Japan literally means "to let out blood". If a Chinese person saw this at Wal-Mart then they would probably be a little bit freaked out.

My advice, either

1) Take classes in the language if your are interested and have a lot of patience

2) Choose the one you think looks or sounds coolest and go with it. The only people that will know will be me and 5 other people on this board