Quote:Because it's an adjective, "likeable" would be a more accurate translation.

No, "likeable" is not really 好き, it's more like 好ましい. I've seen a learner interpret "it's likeable for me" into 私にそれが好きだ. I'm afraid it's caused by the idea that 好き is 'likeable'.

I know it's not completely accurate accurate, and the word doesn't have a direct English translation. But the point, I was making still stands, 好き functions as an adjective. Ideally, the learner will learn that, and then not rely on translation.

Can somebody help with with understanding this sentence? In the Core 6k deck, the example sentence for the word 線(せん) is:

Example sentence: 赤い線を2本引いて下さい。

Official translation: Please draw two red lines.

I don't understand the meaning of "本引い". I was introduced to the kanji 引 recently and, apparently, it means "to pull". What happens when you put 本 and 引 together like that?

klloud Wrote:Can somebody help with with understanding this sentence? In the Core 6k deck, the example sentence for the word 線(せん) is:

Example sentence: 赤い線を2本引いて下さい。

Official translation: Please draw two red lines.

I don't understand the meaning of "本引い". I was introduced to the kanji 引 recently and, apparently, it means "to pull". What happens when you put 本 and 引 together like that?

I think 本 is a counter here. It might mean "draw 2 red lines".

cophnia61 Wrote:

klloud Wrote:Can somebody help with with understanding this sentence? In the Core 6k deck, the example sentence for the word 線(せん) is:

Example sentence: 赤い線を2本引いて下さい。

Official translation: Please draw two red lines.

I don't understand the meaning of "本引い". I was introduced to the kanji 引 recently and, apparently, it means "to pull". What happens when you put 本 and 引 together like that?

I think 本 is a counter here. It might mean "draw 2 red lines".

本 is a counter. So, ２本 is two lines.
引く is pull, but it's also draw with lines, play a stringed instrument, among other things. Generally, speaking counters go directly in front of the verb.

cophnia61 Wrote:I think 本 is a counter here. It might mean "draw 2 red lines".

RandomQuotes Wrote:I think 本 is a counter here. It might mean "draw 2 red lines".
本 is a counter. So, ２本 is two lines.
引く is pull, but it's also draw with lines, play a stringed instrument, among other things. Generally, speaking counters go directly in front of the verb.

Oh, I see. Thank you very much. I know only some counters so far, like 台 and 枚, so it's very good to know about a new one.

No, it's not another cryptic joke of mine. A genuine request.

Would educated native English/Russian/Spanish/French/German/Polish/Italian native speakers mind translating '天声人語' into their languages in a correct idiomatic way, please?

"Voce di popolo, voce di Dio", but the latin "vox populi, vox dei" is also widely understood in Italy (and way cooler).

Asahi's official "English" title is "Vox populi, vox dei", which is a latin proverb that some people would still know.

EDIT: Apparently the source of the title isn't clear:

命名者は西村天囚[1]で、「天に声あり、人をして語らしむ」という中国の古典に由来し、「民の声、庶民の声こそ天の声」という意味とされるが、この古典が何であるかは高島俊男によれば不明であるという。

ラテン語の“Vox populi vox dei.”が元になっているという説もある。直訳は、『民衆の声は神の声である』。　この題で、Asahi Evening Newsに天声人語の英訳が掲載されている。

Hell, I’m must be a prophet. I’ll be having another nightmare tonight. What I had feared happened.
I had hoped against hope that somebody would translate the JAPANESE saying into their language, not the Latin Vox populi, vox Dei.

Imagine you’re seeing 天声人語 for the first time and do NOT know that it is supposed to be a translation of the Latin Vox populi.
Would you translate the天声人語 into your language, the way you understand it? PLEASE.

I'll leave that to someone else; I can't answer it because the first thing I would do is go to google to see the context for the phrase -- without doing that, I wouldn't be able to just give more than the literal meaning of the kanji. As far as I know, this is not a "Japanese saying", it was invented to be the title of that column. So I would go with "The voice of the people is the voice of heaven/God" or the like.

But in a way your question doesn't make sense -- you're asking for an idiomatic translation of a phrase but we can't take into account what the meaning of the phrase is? What are you actually trying to do?

Well then, I'll translate it as "the voice of the Heavens is the word of Man" "La voce dei cieli è la parola dell'uomo"
根拠は漢字の意味

Wydaje mi się że rozumię jakiego rodzaju tłumaczenia oczekujesz, chociaż nie jest wykluczone, że się mylę...

Polska wikipedia pod „Vox populi, vox Dei” ma:
[...] Zgodnie z nią jednomyślna zgoda ludu była znakiem bożej woli.

Nie jest mi znane idiomatyczne powiedzenie polskie, które by dokładnie oddawało to samo znaczenie, ale mamy w polskim:
Niech się dzieje wola nieba, z nią się zawsze zgadzać trzeba.

Moja próba przetłumaczenia samego 天声人語 to:
Głos Pana w człowieczym słowie.

ale czy można mówić, że to tłumaczenie jest idiomatyczne?

Hi, is this correct?

"His cheeks became hollow."

ほほの肉は落ちた.

Hoho no niku wa otita.

Also, is "hoho"normally written in kana, or is the kanji (頬) normally used instead?

Thanks.

ほほの肉は落ちた just means he lost some of the meat on his cheeks. (assuming this is a he, of course! :X)
So it could possibly mean they became hollow (lost too much) or it could just mean that he lost some weight and it shows in his cheeks.
If you want to expressly say they became hollow then you can say 頬がこけた or 頬がこけてきた.

The kanji 頬 is used quite regularly and the pronunciation varies depending on the person. ほお、ほほ.. some people also say ほっぺ or ほっぺた.

john555 Wrote:Hi, is this correct?

"His cheeks became hollow."

ほほの肉は落ちた.

Hoho no niku wa otita.

Also, is "hoho"normally written in kana, or is the kanji (頬) normally used instead?

Thanks.

I think it's usually ほお but it is also often written in kanji so it's hard to tell what reading is meant to apply to 頬 in those cases.

I think you want ほおがこけた. It's one example in this entry.
https://kotobank.jp/word/%E7%97%A9%E3%81...9.E7.89.88

ほおの肉は落ちた might mean the same thing (肉が落ちる is given as a definition of こける, after all) but it seems slightly odd to me. I feel like I've seen 落ちる used more to mean 'sagging' and 痩ける only rarely but more clearly meaning 'hollow'.

yudantaiteki Wrote:I'll leave that to someone else; I can't answer it because the first thing I would do is go to google to see the context for the phrase -- without doing that, I wouldn't be able to just give more than the literal meaning of the kanji. As far as I know, this is not a "Japanese saying", it was invented to be the title of that column. So I would go with "The voice of the people is the voice of heaven/God" or the like.

But in a way your question doesn't make sense -- you're asking for an idiomatic translation of a phrase but we can't take into account what the meaning of the phrase is? What are you actually trying to do?

I understand that it is impossible to translate any sayings, but
whose voice is the voice to be agreed with / abide by in the Latin saying and in the Japanese translation?


Inny Jan,
dzięki.

buonaparte Wrote:

yudantaiteki Wrote:I'll leave that to someone else; I can't answer it because the first thing I would do is go to google to see the context for the phrase -- without doing that, I wouldn't be able to just give more than the literal meaning of the kanji. As far as I know, this is not a "Japanese saying", it was invented to be the title of that column. So I would go with "The voice of the people is the voice of heaven/God" or the like.

But in a way your question doesn't make sense -- you're asking for an idiomatic translation of a phrase but we can't take into account what the meaning of the phrase is? What are you actually trying to do?

I understand that it is impossible to translate any sayings, but
whose voice is the voice to be agreed with / abide by in the Latin saying and in the Japanese translation?


Inny Jan,
dzięki.

In the Latin, they are equivalent. The voice of the people is the voice of god. Because the are declined the same, however, the first part is the stressed bit.

buonaparte Wrote:Hell, I’m must be a prophet. I’ll be having another nightmare tonight. What I had feared happened.
I had hoped against hope that somebody would translate the JAPANESE saying into their language, not the Latin Vox populi, vox Dei.

Imagine you’re seeing 天声人語 for the first time and do NOT know that it is supposed to be a translation of the Latin Vox populi.
Would you translate the天声人語 into your language, the way you understand it? PLEASE.

Why not ask this in a more appropriate thread? There are various threads related to translation that might be more appropriate, or you could make a new one. This thread is where people ask for help with specific Japanese words and phrases.

Tzadeck,
you're perfectly right. How silly of me!
But
since my request has been already posted here, let it stay here. Entia non multiplicanda, as they say in Odessa. I wonder how that would be in Japanese.

What do the two big smear marks on the cover of the January 2015 issue of Fujingaho mean? (I assume they're kanji or kana and not abstract brush strokes). Thanks. (I can make out the part that seems to say "celebrate the New Year 2015"). Thanks.

http://sp.hearst.co.jp/mg/fg1501/

Is it 祝?

Hi, I've struggled with the following sentence and can't figure it out...any help would be appreciated:

青空を背景に誰しも思いうかべるのが、鯉のぼり、そしてしょうぶとあやめ。

Aozora o haikei ni dare simo omoi ukaberu no ga, koinobori, sosite syoobu to ayame.

The first sentence of this piece ("しょうぶとあやめ") is:

まぶしいような新緑の五月.

Mabusii yoo na sinryoku no gogatu.

This reading passage is called "Irises and Blue Flags" and talks about a festival that starts on May 5th each year, in which iris petals are used in various ways to ward off evil spirits.

Thanks in advance.

@john555

I won't help you with your sentence* but I can give an advice:
Don't try to understand that sentence in English - try to get it directly in Japanese.

The hard part is "get it directly in Japanese" - give yourself couple of years to get there.

(*) Partly because I'm not confident enough I got its exact meaning and partly because any attempt to explain the meaning in English (as in translate Japanese grammar constructs using English grammar constructs) is going to result in broken English, which may further result in you being even more confused.

I would translate it as "With a blue sky as a backdrop, what would come to anyone's mind are carp banners, and irises and blue flags."