Help with some Japanese


AnElfCalledMack

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Quin View Post
What it seems you're looking for is "Gurokaze no Rikimaru" (Written 黒風の力丸), "Rikimaru of the Black Wind", where the "guro" in "Gurokaze" has a double meaning.
Hmm... I actually like it. It's quite a bit sideways of what I usually do, which is always a plus, and it has a nice sound. Next thing I need to see is if it fits the name field

*edit*
Well, it fits. Just about. It's 20 symbols long out of 20 permitted, and woe betide any people who would wish to invite me. "Hey, could you please invite my friend? Name's Gurokaze no Rikimaru." "OK, I'll just... Wait, what?"

I don't know... It's a big step and I'll want to sleep on it, but you can rest in the knowledge that you just cost me $10 for a character transfer

Thank you for the help. I really, really appreciate it.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

 

Posted

Quote:
I don't suppose there's a single word for this, or something which would roughly translate to something like this?
This is my best attempt at making it a single word, but it could be all wrong:

Kazechi or kazeketsu.

I will repeat that it could be all wrong.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironik View Post
I recall that when Japanese surnames first came into usage for commoners (whenever that was), some rules were laid down and a short list was offered for people to choose from. As I remember it, the rule was something like a generic location (mountain, field, river) combined with a qualifier like a specific plant, a location, etc. And that's where the most common Japanese names come from and why they have meanings like "village + center" (Nakamura - probably where they lived) or Fujimoto (Mt. Fuji's base) or Katsumoto (pine tree base).
That's some interesting information to have, and now I know why their names at like that. Thanks.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Quin View Post
What it seems you're looking for is "Gurokaze no Rikimaru" (Written 黒風の力丸), "Rikimaru of the Black Wind", where the "guro" in "Gurokaze" has a double meaning.
Wouldn't that not apply if using "black" as an adjective? I think, when conjugated to describe the wind as black, one would use either kuroi kaze, kurokase, or the kanji unification of kokufuu.

By the way, love the Okuu avatar. I just finished my 1 cc of Subterranean Animism.


"the reason there are so many sarcastic pvpers is we already had a better version of pvp taken away from us to appease bad players. Back then we chuckled at how bad players came here and whined. If we knew that was the actual voice devs would listen to instead of informed, educated players we probably would have been bigger dicks back then." -ConFlict

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Atheism View Post
This is my best attempt at making it a single word, but it could be all wrong:

Kazechi or kazeketsu.

I will repeat that it could be all wrong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Reiraku View Post
Wouldn't that not apply if using "black" as an adjective? I think, when conjugated to describe the wind as black, one would use either kuroi kaze, kurokase, or the kanji unification of kokufuu.
Hmm... Well, I have no pressing need to rename RIGHT NOW, so I think I'll let this roll for a little bit before I make a decision which will cost me as much as a low-budget title game. A few things to comment, nevertheless:

On Kazechi or Kazetsu, could you please explain how these actually attain their meaning? It's not mandatory that I know this, but that's purely for my own curiosity. With Kazeguro, I knew that kaze stood for wind and guro, I thought, for black, but wich these... I'm seeing kaze for wind, but then... "Chi?" "Ketsu" I have an easier time picturing as "black" or "blood," but the Japanese to English dictionary I usually use translates this to "*** (col), ****, buttocks" Well, among other things, like "larva" and suchforth. I'd just like to know how these words form, if it is at all possible to explain to a complete idiot when it comes to Japanese.

Also, Atheism, you quoted me saying "this" a couple of times and didn't leave a link to the original post, so I don't know what I was talking about at the time. Was it "black wind" from the original post or "blood wind" from later on?

Moving on to the next quote: kuroi kaze, kurokase or the kanji unification of kokufuu. Kuroi Kaze Rikimaru is actually 22 symbols, which is two more than the name field would hold. Now, I'm not adamant about retaining the name Rikimaru as a personal name. I mean, I basically took it out of Tenchu. I can just as easily turn around and pilfer Onimusha 3: Demon Siege and take Ranmaru Mora's first name. However, that would still only save me a symbol, and would not be enough.

When it comes to Kurokase, I remember I found a long PDF of Japanese last names and the ways in which they formed from meaningful words. Black was listed as "kuro" if it came in the beginning of the word and "guro" if it came in the end, as concerns two-word names. I basically picked the "guro" suffix an put in "kaze," a word not in the list, but which I knew from elsewhere. I will admit, I aped Naruto here, drawing from the word "kazekage." The flaw in my logic, however, is that "kazekage" does not mean "shadow wind," i.e. a wind made out of shadows, but rather "wind shadow," i.e. the shadow of the wind. The four (five?) shadows in Naruto are the leaders of the main villages, and each has its own "qualifier" so to speak. What I needed, however, was the reverse, and the reverse does not work unless I invert the word order. I should have thought of that when I was making it

However, the reason I didn't and still won't turn the words around is because I will not use the name "kuro." It may not mean much to you, but saying that out loud in my language comes out as something like "dickman." Knowing it has a meaning is one thing. Constantly referring to the guy as "winddick" in my head is not something I can do. I know it's a stupid problem, I know it doesn't make sense, but it basically means the word "kuro" is unusable for me. I would sooner change the meaning I want.

As far as "kokufuu" goes, I don't assume that has any explanation, being a single word? Or do I have that wrong? Assuming there is no "why" this means what it means... What exactly does that mean? I realise it could mean black wind, but I also realise that's probably more a figurative translation. Does it literally mean that? Because if it does, I'll use it, provided it still fits into the "... no Rikimaru" framework.

Incidentally, I actually like the "Gurokaze" idea, as it's somewhat of a play on words. It does come off as seeming like it should mean "black wind," in what sense I don't know, but it could also mean "grotesque wind," if I understand it right, and most of his wind powers are a pretty thick red colour.

I guess, if I wanted to be really anvilicious, I could go for something like "murder wind" or "murdering wind," though I'm not sure if that would sound any better. I checked my trusty online dictionary, and it gave me one word for "kill" that I recognised, which was "satsu," but I know I've heard at least one more spoke, which sounded something like "kurus." Now, I don't know whether that's exactly what that meant, where it wasn't a declarative statement (I will kill you) or an order (kill him) or whatever. I'd be interested to know if killing wind or murder wind is possible.

I apologise for running you guys around so much. I really appreciate the time and the help and I actually really enjoy this. The sounding of the name is still a bit... Off, which is the only reason I'm still exploring options.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow View Post
On Kazechi or Kazetsu, could you please explain how these actually attain their meaning? It's not mandatory that I know this, but that's purely for my own curiosity. With Kazeguro, I knew that kaze stood for wind and guro, I thought, for black, but wich these... I'm seeing kaze for wind, but then... "Chi?" "Ketsu" I have an easier time picturing as "black" or "blood," but the Japanese to English dictionary I usually use translates this to "*** (col), ****, buttocks" Well, among other things, like "larva" and suchforth. I'd just like to know how these words form, if it is at all possible to explain to a complete idiot when it comes to Japanese.
"Chi" and "ketsu" are both different ways to read the kanji "血", which means blood. The Japanese spoken language had words for things. Then they took the written language (kanji) from the Chinese. Words then had multiple pronunciations. Some based on the Chinese pronunciation of the character, some based the Japanese pronunciation of the idea represented by the character, some where they used character for pronunciation instead of idea, and a million billion other ways. See here for more info.

Quote:
When it comes to Kurokase, I remember I found a long PDF of Japanese last names and the ways in which they formed from meaningful words. Black was listed as "kuro" if it came in the beginning of the word and "guro" if it came in the end, as concerns two-word names.
This is called rendaku and it's another one of those things with a million billion variations and crazy rules. "Kuro" to "guro" happens in a few compound words, so you're okay either way here.

Quote:
However, the reason I didn't and still won't turn the words around is because I will not use the name "kuro." It may not mean much to you, but saying that out loud in my language comes out as something like "dickman." Knowing it has a meaning is one thing. Constantly referring to the guy as "winddick" in my head is not something I can do. I know it's a stupid problem, I know it doesn't make sense, but it basically means the word "kuro" is unusable for me. I would sooner change the meaning I want.

Well, there's always koku as an alternate reading for kuro. Or you could go with yami for dark, or blackness.

Quote:
As far as "kokufuu" goes, I don't assume that has any explanation, being a single word? Or do I have that wrong? Assuming there is no "why" this means what it means... What exactly does that mean? I realise it could mean black wind, but I also realise that's probably more a figurative translation. Does it literally mean that? Because if it does, I'll use it, provided it still fits into the "... no Rikimaru" framework.
黒風 (black wind) can be read as "kokufuu" instead of kurokaze. Fuu is another reading for kaze. My dictionary actually says kokufuu is a word that means "sky darkening dust storm," so... yeah. Kuro or koku (黒) is the kanji for the concept of the color black, or the concept of dark as in colors, and is used in words like the color black. Blackboards, the Black sea, black animals, and so forth. Kaze or fuu (風) has two main meanings. One is wind, used in words like climate, weather vane, storm, cold (the sneezey kind), balloon, etc. The other main meaning is... the way things act or appear, I guess. Used in words like public morals, sarcasm, taste (the peanut butter kind and the polka-dot boots kind), elegance, demeanor, and things like that.

Quote:
I guess, if I wanted to be really anvilicious, I could go for something like "murder wind" or "murdering wind," though I'm not sure if that would sound any better. I checked my trusty online dictionary, and it gave me one word for "kill" that I recognised, which was "satsu," but I know I've heard at least one more spoke, which sounded something like "kurus." Now, I don't know whether that's exactly what that meant, where it wasn't a declarative statement (I will kill you) or an order (kill him) or whatever. I'd be interested to know if killing wind or murder wind is possible.
"殺" is the kanji for killing, murdering, slicing off, reducing, and generally not being nice. It can be pronounced "satsu" on its own, or "korosu" as the verb "to kill." (Or a million other ways for those other meanings.)

Murdering wind could be 「殺しの風」 (Koroshi no kaze, "wind of a [specific] murder"/"a murder's wind") or 「殺しての風」 (Koroshite no kaze, "wind that is killing") or 「殺人の風」 (Satsujin no kaze, "[the act of] murder's wind")... or I guess you'd probably want something more like 「殺意の風」 (Satsui no kaze, "wind with murderous intent" or something like that.)

Quote:
I apologise for running you guys around so much. I really appreciate the time and the help and I actually really enjoy this. The sounding of the name is still a bit... Off, which is the only reason I'm still exploring options.
The last thing I was expecting here was an in-depth discussion of Japanese language. I thought it was really cool. Although now "murder" and "black" don't feel like real words.


Disclaimer: I'm not an expert at the language, so take all of this with a grain of salt and excuse my ignorance.


The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure. --- Thomas Jefferson
Formerly known as YFNDBA

 

Posted

I often find that Japanese names seem to follow their own particular grammar rules that bend around the existing ones for complex things such as compound kanji and whatnot. It's one of the many things that I found impossible to understand during my short residency there.

However, it's something I enjoy trying to understand, so glad I could (sort of) help.

EDIT:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Reiraku View Post
By the way, love the Okuu avatar. I just finished my 1 cc of Subterranean Animism.
I just capped Tewi's Last Word in IN this morning.


 

Posted

To avoid making a huge compound quote, let me respond in freehand text.

From what I'm able to gather so far, the Japanese language has multiple ways to say many, if not most things, depending on which alphabet is used to write them and which pronunciation of said alphabet is used. That would at least begin to explain the significant use of puns that Japanese make, when you can SAY one thing, but mean something completely different based on context, be it intentional and unintentional. I've also gathered that the ability to make such puns is far beyond my ability to create or request, so that's that on that front.

However, something interesting has come out of this, which is the reading of wind that was given as "yami," which I assume would transform into "Yamikaze no Rikimaru." My calibrated eyeball detects this at a length of 20 symbols, which should fit the name field, and for the first time in my quest for a name, I've actually found a last name that both has meaning AND sounds good in my head. I will be the first to admit that Kazeguro sounded off and Gurokaze even more so, but it was something I was willing to put up with. Yamikaze, provided this actually works as a word, on the other hand, sounds like something I would very much use with pride.

Now, "yami" was given as meaning dark or blackness. I want to ask: In what context? I realise it may be an unnecessary question, but I ran afoul of that once already. Are we talking dark in terms of dyes and paints, dark in terms of lack of light, or dark in a figurative sense meaning depressing and unpleasant? Or is there some other context entirely that I'm missing? I ask this question primarily because I'm a foreign speaker of English to begin with, and have seen numerous faulty translations in both ways. One my classmates in school kept making was saying "according to me" when they meant "in my opinion," both of which translate into the exact same thing in Bulgarian. I just want to know not just what I'm saying, but what I actually mean by it

Provided this works, it means I'm for another bout of power customization to swap out the red. I'm due for one anyway, to be honest, because the more I use the bright red winds, the more they feel like the kind of gas you'd get out of a signal flare than actual blood, and I know why that is - the sprites are designed display smoke (yes, smoke), so they don't do too well with "blood." I guess I could make it either figurative, in that it's bloody wind or some such, but I'll have to look for options. If I could make it tar black, though, I would. No Dark themes for Storm powers, though. Will experiment. Maybe a darker or paler blue? Or maybe just darker red. I don't know. We'll see.

Failing that, the "murdering wind" idea is still interesting to me, but I'd really want to use something without a preposition (so not "something no something") and ideally something I could jam together in the same word. I don't know if that's possible, but I couldn't fit it within the name field restrictions otherwise. It may not be proper form to just glue words together like this when they should probably be written apart, at least in romanization, but Quin says names don't always follow proper norms of grammar, so we could perhaps make an exception.

Even with an exception, however, I'd need something that doesn't contain many words. Less "wind that is such" and more "such wind." It's easy enough to spin around in English, especially if you don't mind being ambiguous, but I've no idea when it's possible in Japanese and how it would work.

So far, though, I really enjoy this thread I'm clearly WAY out of my depth, which is why you're not very likely to get much meaningful participation in the linguistics side of the discussion, but I enjoy reading about it a lot nevertheless

Once again, thank you kindly for your help.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow View Post
However, something interesting has come out of this, which is the reading of wind that was given as "yami," which I assume would transform into "Yamikaze no Rikimaru." My calibrated eyeball detects this at a length of 20 symbols, which should fit the name field, and for the first time in my quest for a name, I've actually found a last name that both has meaning AND sounds good in my head. I will be the first to admit that Kazeguro sounded off and Gurokaze even more so, but it was something I was willing to put up with. Yamikaze, provided this actually works as a word, on the other hand, sounds like something I would very much use with pride.
I'm sorry, yami isn't a reading for 風. I was talking about the kanji 闇. Guess I should have been more clear. Yami can also be read "an", "on", and "kurai".

Quote:
Now, "yami" was given as meaning dark or blackness. I want to ask: In what context? I realise it may be an unnecessary question, but I ran afoul of that once already. Are we talking dark in terms of dyes and paints, dark in terms of lack of light, or dark in a figurative sense meaning depressing and unpleasant? Or is there some other context entirely that I'm missing? I ask this question primarily because I'm a foreign speaker of English to begin with, and have seen numerous faulty translations in both ways. One my classmates in school kept making was saying "according to me" when they meant "in my opinion," both of which translate into the exact same thing in Bulgarian. I just want to know not just what I'm saying, but what I actually mean by it
Kuro means the color black, or something that is dark colored. Yami means dark, or darkness as a concept of absence of light, shadows, etc. Used in words like dark night, gloomy, black market, and stuff like that.

Quote:
Failing that, the "murdering wind" idea is still interesting to me, but I'd really want to use something without a preposition (so not "something no something") and ideally something I could jam together in the same word. I don't know if that's possible, but I couldn't fit it within the name field restrictions otherwise. It may not be proper form to just glue words together like this when they should probably be written apart, at least in romanization, but Quin says names don't always follow proper norms of grammar, so we could perhaps make an exception.
Well, in my experience, Japanese tends to be a much more looser language than English regarding implied things. And if you're just combining kanji for a name instead of a word, you can do basically whatever.

Quote:
Even with an exception, however, I'd need something that doesn't contain many words. Less "wind that is such" and more "such wind." It's easy enough to spin around in English, especially if you don't mind being ambiguous, but I've no idea when it's possible in Japanese and how it would work.
Well, the "no" particle connects one word to another, usually as a possessive (Bob no chair = Bob's chair) but you can just attach things to something you're describing. I think you'd want something along the lines of 殺人風 (satsujin kaze) which is murder wind. Murder, in this case, being the noun used to refer to the act, like "There was a murder." not a verb or an adjective. The kanji are 殺 satsu: kill, 人 jin: person, 風 kaze: wind.

Japanese translations to English have enough leeway that you could say that was murdering wind, wind that murders, person killing wind, or pretty much whatever. If you want a verb, so like "This wind is killing people" instead of "This wind is associated with the act of killing people" I guess 殺し風 koroshi kaze or 殺すの風 korosu no kaze if you don't mind a particle.

If you just want a name that uses kanji for wind and murder, 殺 can be read Ayame or Satsu as a name, and 風 can be read Fuu, Fuuka, Hayashi, Fuwari, Gaifuu, Kaza and Kaze.

Quote:
So far, though, I really enjoy this thread I'm clearly WAY out of my depth, which is why you're not very likely to get much meaningful participation in the linguistics side of the discussion, but I enjoy reading about it a lot nevertheless

Once again, thank you kindly for your help.
Yeah, this has been a great thread. We really do have a rocking community.


The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure. --- Thomas Jefferson
Formerly known as YFNDBA

 

Posted

Righter is Right. =-3

Takeuchi, for example, was the maiden name of my Japanese teacher in high School. Take (Tah-Keh)being Bamboo and Uchi (Oochee) being House/home. But she preffered to describe the etymology as being a home in a bamboo forest, rather than a house made of bamboo.

-Rachel-


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steampunkette View Post
I do not know "Mind control" in Japanese... And frea it would probably be in Katakana.
"Saiminjutsu" means hypnotism. That'd probably work. "Saimin o kakeru" means to hypnotize.

Alternatively, "shihai (suru)" means to control via domination. "Kokoro" means "the center of thoughts and emotions" (though it's used in anime a lot to refer to a love-stricken girl's heart) and "chisei" means intellect. "Kokoro/chisei no shihaisuru?"

Quote:
Heroine.. Eiyuu is Hero, so Eiyuuko could be a feminine version of hero. "Herogirl"
There's a word for female hero: "joketsu."

"Saimin o kaketa joketsu no kutsujoku" would translate back to "humiliation of the hypnotized heroine."

Edit: Not that there was anything particularly wrong with Rachel's version. I'm just giving alternatives.


Main Hero: Chad Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1396 Badges
Main Villain: Evil Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1193 Badges
Mission Architect arcs: Doctor Brainstorm's An Experiment Gone Awry, Arc ID 2093

-----
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nethergoat View Post
it's NEVER too late to pad your /ignore list!

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow View Post
If anyone speaks Japanese or is otherwise able to confirm this, what, if anything, does "Kazeguro" end up meaning?
If I heard that used as a name, I'd immediately think "black wind" and think nothing was weird or wrong with it. (Granted, that's just my 3½ years of Japanese, taken in college 8 years ago talking...) I'm rusty, but it makes sense.

I would NOT use "guro" as the first segment; K's make G sounds only when they follow a vowel sound. If you start a word with it, it's just going to sound weird to someone who speaks Japanese. (Not that you'll run into many of them, but...) Anyway, have you ever watched Bleach or Death Note? There are characters known as "shinigami" in them--death gods. The individual words are "shinu" (the verb "to die") and "kami" (god). When combined, the K in "kami" becomes a G, so it can flow off the tongue better.

You could use "Kokukaze" instead, as pointed out by Righter. "Kokufuu" is a little weak as a name. "Fuu" is more like air or a light breeze (or the sound of someone blowing out of their mouth), whereas "kaze" is a force of nature. It's up to your personal preference on that, though.

Quote:
And provided it's gibberish, how can I formulate a name which comes off meaning "blood wind," in the sense of wind made of or tainted with blood?
As Atheism already stated, "chi no kaze" is how you would say "bloody wind." Shortened into a name, it'd be "Chikaze." It's not something a Japanese person is likely to name their kid, but I can see it working for an anime superhero/villain.


Main Hero: Chad Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1396 Badges
Main Villain: Evil Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1193 Badges
Mission Architect arcs: Doctor Brainstorm's An Experiment Gone Awry, Arc ID 2093

-----
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nethergoat View Post
it's NEVER too late to pad your /ignore list!

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Righter View Post
If you just want a name that uses kanji for wind and murder, 殺 can be read Ayame or Satsu as a name, and 風 can be read Fuu, Fuuka, Hayashi, Fuwari, Gaifuu, Kaza and Kaze.
Bleach, of course, has the character/zanpakuto named "Shinikaze," or "the wind of death." I think it's intended to mean "the reaping wind" or "the wind that reaps," given the weapon design.

Edit: Actually, I thought about it some more and realized I had that name backwards. The dude/weapon's name is "Kazeshini," but I believe the intent is still to mean "the wind that reaps."


Main Hero: Chad Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1396 Badges
Main Villain: Evil Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1193 Badges
Mission Architect arcs: Doctor Brainstorm's An Experiment Gone Awry, Arc ID 2093

-----
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nethergoat View Post
it's NEVER too late to pad your /ignore list!

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect View Post
I have a Fire/Dark Corruptor named "Ghost Wind" in Japanese.

I didn't want to go through all the research to mke sure my grammar is correct, so I just went ahead and named him Reikaze. There are several words that translate loosely to "ghost", I picked the one I liked the sound of the best.

I figured that if kamikaze means "divine wind" and kurokaze means "black wind" then Reikaze would mean "ghost wind". It may or may not be grammatically correct, but it's good enough for me, and it was available, which Kurokaze was not.
It depends on what you want to mean by "ghost." Reikaze means "spirit wind," which isn't wrong, but "rei" has a "good" connotation to it.

If you want to sound evil, then you'd probably be more interested in using the more sinister "obake" ghost as a root, for "Bakekaze," the Monstrous Wind. Alternately, he could be a "kazebake," a wind ghost, but that comes across as more of him being a type of ghost rather than a proper name.

Of course, then his goofy teenage hero nemesis would "accidentally" call him "Bakakaze" instead, causing him to lose his cool and make a stupid mistake. ... God I watch too many cartoons... >: /

... Okay, that's all the Japanese my brain can handle tonight... @_x


Main Hero: Chad Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1396 Badges
Main Villain: Evil Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1193 Badges
Mission Architect arcs: Doctor Brainstorm's An Experiment Gone Awry, Arc ID 2093

-----
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nethergoat View Post
it's NEVER too late to pad your /ignore list!

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chad Gulzow-Man View Post
As Atheism already stated, "chi no kaze" is how you would say "bloody wind." Shortened into a name, it'd be "Chikaze." It's not something a Japanese person is likely to name their kid, but I can see it working for an anime superhero/villain.
I think 'aka' ('scarlet', 'red', 'bloody') would work better, giving you 'akakaze', although 'bloody wind' might give you a different connotation than 'wind of blood'...


"But in our enthusiasm, we could not resist a radical overhaul of the system, in which all of its major weaknesses have been exposed, analyzed, and replaced with new weaknesses."
-- Bruce Leverett, Register Allocation in Optimizing Compilers

 

Posted

I have to agree - we have a pretty cool community here. It's rare that I can say a game taught me something, but this one's teaching me many, many things. Hell, these very forums basically taught me English

I want to focus on two things that really caught my attention so far, as I'm starting to really narrow it down, so lest me ask the following two questions:

1. Would Yamikaze no Rikimaru translate into Rikimaru of the Black Wind well enough? That's one of the strong contenders so far as, to the best of my understanding, it has the right intrinsic meaning (i.e. it doesn't just translate right, but it also comes off right) and it's one of the few names so far that actually has the right ring to my ear. It has the benefit of also fitting in the name field character restrictions.

2. Would Shinikaze no Rikimaru translate into Rikimaru of the Death Wind well enough? This is, so far, my other strong contender. It has the benefit of being more easily recognisable by non-Japanese speakers, as "shinigami" tends to be a popular concept in anime and anyone who's watched anime for some time will have picked up on the word for death at least partially. Plus, it has a really nice ring to it. The downside is it's a symbol over the limit, which means I'll have to swap out Rikimaru's given name.

I would like to avoid using "shinigami" itself just because it's too popular a concept and I wouldn't want to take the easy road of cashing in on it. There's a certain level of pride I hold for coming up with unique concepts, even when they're not nearly as unique as presented. The main point is to have a name and a look that doesn't make people go "Oh, you mean like that other thing?" Death Note's shinigami, Bleach's shinigami and Soul Eater's shinigami make the concept too popular for me to use as original work.

I feel really good about this. It feels like I'm pretty much one step away from doing a rename. Thank you so much!

*edit*
On "aka:" Being a Naruto fan (just about), that was one of things I considered. Kiba's little pup Akamaru was explained to be called that because he turned red (well, orange, but they said red) when it hulked out, so it was one of things I considered. Unfortunately, "Akakaze" just doesn't have the right ring to it, and I think it's the redundancy of the "ka" sound that prevents it from flowing well. That's certainly not a strong reason to reject it, but pretty much half the reason I rejected Kazeguro was because the name's flow irked me. Still, thank you for the suggestion.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow View Post
On "aka:" Being a Naruto fan (just about), that was one of things I considered. Kiba's little pup Akamaru was explained to be called that because he turned red (well, orange, but they said red) when it hulked out, so it was one of things I considered. Unfortunately, "Akakaze" just doesn't have the right ring to it, and I think it's the redundancy of the "ka" sound that prevents it from flowing well. That's certainly not a strong reason to reject it, but pretty much half the reason I rejected Kazeguro was because the name's flow irked me. Still, thank you for the suggestion.
Judging from a Google search, an extant reading of 紅風 (lit. scarlet + wind) is "benikaze" (べにかぜ), if that would fit better.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow View Post
I have to agree - we have a pretty cool community here. It's rare that I can say a game taught me something, but this one's teaching me many, many things. Hell, these very forums basically taught me English

I want to focus on two things that really caught my attention so far, as I'm starting to really narrow it down, so lest me ask the following two questions:

1. Would Yamikaze no Rikimaru translate into Rikimaru of the Black Wind well enough? That's one of the strong contenders so far as, to the best of my understanding, it has the right intrinsic meaning (i.e. it doesn't just translate right, but it also comes off right) and it's one of the few names so far that actually has the right ring to my ear. It has the benefit of also fitting in the name field character restrictions.

2. Would Shinikaze no Rikimaru translate into Rikimaru of the Death Wind well enough? This is, so far, my other strong contender. It has the benefit of being more easily recognisable by non-Japanese speakers, as "shinigami" tends to be a popular concept in anime and anyone who's watched anime for some time will have picked up on the word for death at least partially. Plus, it has a really nice ring to it. The downside is it's a symbol over the limit, which means I'll have to swap out Rikimaru's given name.

I would like to avoid using "shinigami" itself just because it's too popular a concept and I wouldn't want to take the easy road of cashing in on it. There's a certain level of pride I hold for coming up with unique concepts, even when they're not nearly as unique as presented. The main point is to have a name and a look that doesn't make people go "Oh, you mean like that other thing?" Death Note's shinigami, Bleach's shinigami and Soul Eater's shinigami make the concept too popular for me to use as original work.

I feel really good about this. It feels like I'm pretty much one step away from doing a rename. Thank you so much!

*edit*
On "aka:" Being a Naruto fan (just about), that was one of things I considered. Kiba's little pup Akamaru was explained to be called that because he turned red (well, orange, but they said red) when it hulked out, so it was one of things I considered. Unfortunately, "Akakaze" just doesn't have the right ring to it, and I think it's the redundancy of the "ka" sound that prevents it from flowing well. That's certainly not a strong reason to reject it, but pretty much half the reason I rejected Kazeguro was because the name's flow irked me. Still, thank you for the suggestion.
1. It's close - Yami is more "darkness" than "black", but the Wind of Darkness has its own ring to it. Not sure if that fits what you're going for, though.

2. I'm not that sure. I vaguely feel that "shinikaze" would me more like "dying wind" than "Wind of Death", but "Shinigami" is definitely "death-spirit". Also in that vein, it'd probably be "Shinigaze" as a compound, just like "Shinu" + "Kami" gives "Shinigami".


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow View Post
1. Would Yamikaze no Rikimaru translate into Rikimaru of the Black Wind well enough?
As Halfflat mentioned, it actually translates to "Rikimaru of the Dark Winds," which is still pretty awesome.

Quote:
2. Would Shinikaze no Rikimaru translate into Rikimaru of the Death Wind well enough? ...
I would like to avoid using "shinigami" itself just because it's too popular a concept and I wouldn't want to take the easy road of cashing in on it. There's a certain level of pride I hold for coming up with unique concepts, even when they're not nearly as unique as presented. The main point is to have a name and a look that doesn't make people go "Oh, you mean like that other thing?" Death Note's shinigami, Bleach's shinigami and Soul Eater's shinigami make the concept too popular for me to use as original work.
One of the characters in Bleach has a Zanpakutou named "Kazeshini," the wind of death/killing wind/reaping wind, however you want to translate it. If you name a character Shinikaze, some people are already going to think you're ripping off the name.

(And despite what Mack said, there is no hard and fast rule for swapping a K for a G in a compound word; Ks and Gs are actually the same base "letter" in Japanese, with Gs being denoted by an accent mark to the top right of the character that looks like a quotation mark: " ).

Quote:
Originally Posted by halfflat View Post
Judging from a Google search, an extant reading of 紅風 (lit. scarlet + wind) is "benikaze" (べにかぜ), if that would fit better.
Benikaze is another excellent suggestion. It sounds pretty bad-@$$ to me!


Main Hero: Chad Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1396 Badges
Main Villain: Evil Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1193 Badges
Mission Architect arcs: Doctor Brainstorm's An Experiment Gone Awry, Arc ID 2093

-----
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nethergoat View Post
it's NEVER too late to pad your /ignore list!

 

Posted

Benikaze makes me think of sushi

And as I don't really have anything useful to add to the advice already give, I'll just say that personally I think Yamikaze no Rikimaru has the best sound to it.


However, it turned out that Smith was not a time-travelling Terminator

 

Posted

Compound reply before I go to bed. Keep up on the quote authors, because I intend to do some serious quote editing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AnElfCalledMack View Post
1. It's close - Yami is more "darkness" than "black", but the Wind of Darkness has its own ring to it. Not sure if that fits what you're going for, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chad Gulzow-Man View Post
As Halfflat mentioned, it actually translates to "Rikimaru of the Dark Winds," which is still pretty awesome.
I made Rikimaru as a half-joke back in the day, trying to see if I could make myself play a Ninja Mastermind, a prospect that had felt incredibly silly to me until then. Drawing inspiration from Naruto's concept of a "ninja wizard," however, I managed to produce a serious character, but one that ended up only halfassed.

All of that is to say that if I can find the proper concept, then I can "fix" the rest of the character to fit this. I can't make Storm Summoning powerd black or even very dark, but I very much CAN work with Dark Wind as well as with Black Wind. That's what I meant to express with Black Wind to begin with, anyway - darkness, evil, malice, demonic power. "Dark" more in concept than in actual appearance, though actual appearance being black would have helped. Currently, he has red winds, but we'll see how that goes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AnElfCalledMack View Post
2. I'm not that sure. I vaguely feel that "shinikaze" would me more like "dying wind" than "Wind of Death", but "Shinigami" is definitely "death-spirit". Also in that vein, it'd probably be "Shinigaze" as a compound, just like "Shinu" + "Kami" gives "Shinigami".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chad Gulzow-Man View Post
One of the characters in Bleach has a Zanpakutou named "Kazeshini," the wind of death/killing wind/reaping wind, however you want to translate it. If you name a character Shinikaze, some people are already going to think you're ripping off the name.
Between possible connotations of ripped-off names (and in this context, it's twice as bad because I don't know the language) and possible connotations of having to change a consonant to a name I like significantly less and which is much less recognisable (and I did read that that's not a hard and fast rule, but still), I think I'll pass on this name and pick the previous one. The drawbacks of it, not least of which is its length, are just too many. But don't see this as a loss. I eliminated one of two possible names, so I already have a winner

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chad Gulzow-Man View Post
Benikaze is another excellent suggestion. It sounds pretty bad-@$$ to me!
This is probably going to sound really weird of me, but reading that name in my head just reminds me too much of Beni and even kind of of Benny. I know it's a stupid reason to cite, but there you go. My mind works in mysterious ways. Hope I didn't ruin it for anyone.

---

I dare say this concludes my request, and I couldn't be happier with the result. I got a name I liked that struck me from the moment I saw it, it means pretty much what I want it to mean, it fits within the name field... And I like it! Thank you, guys, for your help. I couldn't have done it without you.

Some day I have to wonder if I really do have a knack for designing characters at least I absolutely adore, or if we just have too awesome a community that continually helps and inspires me. I'm leaning towards the latter. Half of those guys I could never have made alone.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow View Post
This is probably going to sound really weird of me, but reading that name in my head just reminds me [..] kind of of Benny.
Dangit, Sam, now I have this image of a Storm Controller blowing enemies all over the map with Yakkity Sax playing in the background.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eiko-chan View Post
Dangit, Sam, now I have this image of a Storm Controller blowing enemies all over the map with Yakkity Sax playing in the background.
I'm never going to be able to watch a storm controller again now without laughing. Thanks.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by halfflat View Post
I'm never going to be able to watch a storm controller again now without laughing. Thanks.
Anytime.