Tsuki-ko

[AyuVince]

I know Azure City isn't real life Japan, but it's fun to translate the Japanese character names in OotS to English:

Miko = priestess
Tsukiko = moon child

My Japanese sucks, perhaps some of you want to help with the other names? (I'm pretty confident, though, that Shojo has nothing to do with little girls)

Fun fact: There is a Japanese singer named Tsukiko Amano who released an album titled "A Moon Child in the Sky" two years ago. The album title is an exact translation of her name.

[Demented]

You know, not everyone gets very good names...

Haley = Hayley = (Town of the same name) = Hay Clearing
(Flattering, I think not.)

[Threeshades]

Fun fact:
I just yesterday made a fighter character whom i want to be a bloodthirsty killer coming from kara-tur and i named him Ketsu (which means blood)

[NeonRonin]

On the subject of interesting names, I wrote a fanfic a while back in which the finale's BBEG(Big Bad Evil Guy) had a soul-stealing sword, and I wanted it to have an imposing-sounding title. After searching around on an online English-to-Japanese Javascript translator program, I settled on naming the sword 'Zangyaku'.

According to the site I used, it translates as 'brutality'. I thought it was fitting.

So... back to OotS, what does Hinjo translate as? The online dictionary I used doesn't have such a word, but it does have 'Shinjou'- which can translate as 'true feeling' or 'merit', possibly even a descriptor of a social position(which he certainly has).

On the other hand, 'Hin' can translate as 'dignity', and one of the many translations of 'jou' is 'top' or 'the best'. So, Hinjo could be 'most dignified'.

That would certainly fit in with the fact that he's right on the front lines, in the thick of it, fighting alongside his men with honor. Unlike certain nobles who ran for their lives like cowards.

[nomad380]

The problem is that all those previously said are words, whereas Hinjo is a name, and thus doesn't necessarily have a clear meaning. Similarly, I would suggest Miko isn't priestess at all, because who would name their child that? It could be anything from Beautiful/child to...third child if there was an unwritten double k to...well, I'm honestly not very good with names, but there are many more 'name' type names than 'word' type names(Keisuke, Sasuke, Rin, Mariko, Noriko, etc etc).

The best word type name, however, came up a few years ago: Akuma-chan. The devil.

[Drakron]

Miko is not "priestess".

Miko is a "shrine maiden" (even if that is not exactly correct).

[Setra]

Miko is not "priestess".

Miko is a "shrine maiden" (even if that is not exactly correct).
Yeah, they just translated it as Priestess in Inuyasha (so apparently everyone thinks that's the true translation).

Apparently 'nisou' can mean Priestess, according to this translator.

[nomad380]

Right, but since there's not really a practical difference, as there aren't really priestesses in Japan, and there aren't shrine maidens anywhere where there's English. Both are women devoted to a god. It's just not a very likely name.

[jindra34]

Right, but since there's not really a practical difference, as there aren't really priestesses in Japan, and there aren't shrine maidens anywhere where there's English. Both are women devoted to a god. It's just not a very likely name.

When some one mentions shrine maiden think altar girl

[Demented]

Right, but since there's not really a practical difference, as there aren't really priestesses in Japan, and there aren't shrine maidens anywhere where there's English. Both are women devoted to a god. It's just not a very likely name.

Temple maids? Nuns?

1d20

[nomad380]

Altar girl makes me think of Alter Girl, which makes me think of Alter Beast, and now we're into names I can get behind.

[Drakron]

Well ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miko

This gives you a idea what they were and are.

Also I found doing a google search that Miko is also a female name ... Miko Hayama is the name of a japanese ... well porn actress.

[the_tick_rules]

that's awesome.

[nomad380]

Many porn actresses are also named Love, and I'm yet to meet an actual person with that name.

[Demented]

Altar girl makes me think of Alter Girl, which makes me think of Alter Beast, and now we're into names I can get behind.

"Unnatural Acts of Wizardry", hm? :smallwink:

[nomad380]

Sorry for the quick post, I looked her up. Miko Hayama's kanji isn't the Miko you're talking about.

Rise from the grave and rescue my daughter!

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Doesn't Shojo mean girl?

[Drakron]

Yes, it does ... even its more about the type of manga (aimed at girls) since its a relative new term (it shown up in the Mejii period)

Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) is a example of the gender.

[nomad380]

Shojo　is actually virgin. Shoujo is girl. Again, it's probably using name kanji instead of those definitions..

[Glyde]

Fun fact:
I just yesterday made a fighter character whom i want to be a bloodthirsty killer coming from kara-tur and i named him Ketsu (which means blood)

Ketsup

Katsup?

Ketchup?

Har.

[Mewtarthio]

Shojo　is actually virgin.

Would explain why his nephew is the heir to the throne.

[bluish_wolf]

Tsukiko is also the name of one of the main characters from Paranoia Agent.

It's just a bit of trivial knowlege, but, really, that's all that this thread contains, anyway.

[Setra]

Would explain why his nephew is the heir to the throne.
Two things:
1. I think he meant the Word Shojo means Virgin
2. You can be a virgin and still have a nephew, a nephew is your brother's son.

[Demented]

Mewtarthio is likely a step ahead of you.

[Midnight Lurker]

The Japanese language is FILLED with homonyms, far more so than is English. Any given syllable could mean any number of different English words.

We have no way of knowing what, if anything, any of the Azurians' names mean without being able to see the kanji they're spelled with.

[factotum]

Slightly off topic, but is it true that the name of the crossbow Buriza-Do Kyanon from Blizzard's Diablo 2 actually means "Blizzard Cannon"?

We now return you to your regular scheduled thread...

[JohnnyPsycho]

Many porn actresses are also named Love, and I'm yet to meet an actual person with that name.

What, you've never heard of Jennifer Love Hewitt?

[Finn Solomon]

Many porn actresses are also named Love, and I'm yet to meet an actual person with that name.

Buddy Love, the Hyde to Prof. Klump's Jekyll? Dude Love, charismatic third persona of wrestler Mick Foley? Reggie Love, the hero of John Grisham's The Client?

Hmm, I'm not helping much.

[JohnnyPsycho]

Damn, how could I have forgotten Lovie Smith, head coach of the Chicago Bears (or as I prefer to call them, "Daaaa Bearsssssss")?...

[ref]

it's really not a fitting game for an Am. Football coach...

[Threeshades]

Ketsup

Katsup?

Ketchup?

Har.

I totally just got served.

[Kioran]

As said before, Japanese was heavily influenced by Chinese, which has 5 different ways of pronouncing the same syllable (7 in some Regions, like Kanton around Hongkong), with a high number of ifferent meanings for one syllable depending on the pronounciation. Same with Vietnamese, only worse......

The japanese have since dropped this, but some homonyms remain, with only the Kanji giving you clarity, especially with syllables like "sei", "kei" or "shin"........With normal speech it´s a little easier since the kun´yomi (japanese reading of a Kanji) is often more specific if not unique, allowing a much better differenciation than the on´yomi("chinese"-reading, slightly different from today´s chinese due to linguistic drift, but mostly recognizable).
So if you want good pseudo-japanese Characters, select name Kanji so you have a unmistakable meaning. Yeehaw.

It would interest me if the Giant went to such lengths, though. Maybe he did, I´d be a little surprised but I´m not ruling it out entirely.....

[One Skunk Todd]

And of course Mrs. Thurston Howell III was also referred to as "Lovey". :)

[AyuVince]

Wow, 32 answers in just one day... is it because everyone's eager to discuss about the new girl or are you people obsessed with linguistics? ;)

Well, Miko may not *exactly* mean "priestess", but both Shinto shrine maidens and that certain female paladin from Rich Burlew's Order of the Stick are religious women, which was my point.

As for the new employee of Evil, Inc., "moon child" would in my humble opinion be a fitting name for a necrophiliac goth chick.

[fangthane]

As to the name "Love" I get the impression that there are a number of foolish and/or insular folks around... Love is a very common name, for all that it's less so than Smith or Jones. For example, Cobain's ex. For another, the fact that the city in which I live, with a population near a million, has no fewer than 68 entries in the phone book (or at least on Canada411), which equates to the likelihood of a couple hundred of them. But, you're probably right about it being a fake name; after all, who hasn't heard about Alberta being a porn-star mecca?

[Shadic]

Slightly off topic, but is it true that the name of the crossbow Buriza-Do Kyanon from Blizzard's Diablo 2 actually means "Blizzard Cannon"?

We now return you to your regular scheduled thread...

Uh, that should be kinda obvious if you just pronounce it like it would be in Japanese.

Buu-lii-zah-do Keaw-non
Blizzard Cannon

Well, that's the best that I can phonetically translate it to English.

[Artega]

Not sure if this was brought up....

Tsuki-ko is..
1) established to mean "moon-child".
2) happens to have different eye colors for both eyes.
3) obviously evil at this point.

The Giant likes messing with "established generalizations".

Yuna is
1) a character from Final Fantasy X
2) Yuna means "moon" in Okinawan.
3) happens to have different eye colors for both eyes.
4) is clearly "good". Hell, most FF games I know of don't have you play the villain, or maybe that's just me.

So... Tsuki-ko is an obvious parallel to Yuna, at least to a certain extent.

[silvadel]

Hmmm moon child was in Neverending story -- what is the empress doing here?

[dragonseth]

Yuna! I loved that game. It seems like coincidence to me, but it's certainly cool.