Credit to Era Izawa link
I have copy and pasted the following information from another website, so as to not risk the link becoming broken later... I've đã đăng a few đường dẫn in fanpop that ended up broken later cause the page was moved. Anyways, it is a guide to help people either read hoặc draw manga better. It explains some japanese words and things that are commonly Mất tích in translation and has at least helped me gain a better grasp on the language. What follows is the bài viết as it appears from the link I pasted above this paragraph and the bài viết is written bởi Era Izawa titled "What's Mất tích in the Translation?" Enjoy!
"What's Mất tích in the Translation?"
Last night I was watching "Trigun" DVDs that I'd borrowed from a coworker, and marveling at the terrible quality of the English subtitles. I'd guess they were inaccurate hoặc wrong at least half the time, and 75% of the time I knew I could've written a better subtitle myself. But, accuracy aside, that got me pondering about all the things that are Mất tích in translation from Japanese to English, whether in anime hoặc manga form. I've occasionally mentioned this data loss, but I figured I'd try to write out thêm completely some of the nuances that are lost.
The Japanese Language
The Japanese language is well-known for both the complexities of its social nuances, as well as onomatopoetic qualities (having words that imitate natural sounds). I'll discuss the social nuances first, since it is bởi far the thêm profound in terms of loss of information in translation. After that, I'll have a look at written sound effects in Japanese - there's not much to be Mất tích in translation, but I wanted to know, why do English sound effects feel stilted in comparison?
Social Nuances
The social nuances of the Japanese language often mean that every speaker identifies gender, social status, the listener's social status, and the type of social situation, purely bởi the choice of words.
"I" and "You"
For example, there are many different words meaning "I" in Japanese, and likewise many different words used for "you" - and each word has different implications about who the "I" is and who the "you" is. Just to give bạn a better idea, here are some versions of "I" and their social implications:
watashi - I am female, hoặc (less used case) a dignified male
watakushi - I am a dignified female speaking in a formal setting, hoặc a dignified male being particularly formal
atashi - I am female, perhaps (but not necessarily) slightly less sophisticated than someone who says "watashi"; I may be a young girl. Informal variation of "watashi."
atai - I am a "country" female (implications of "simple country girl")
boku - I am male. I am either a young boy, hoặc I am playing down my status, perhaps because I am among superiors
ore - I am male. I am probably an adult hoặc nearly so. Somewhat boastful-sounding.
oira - I am a "country" male (implications of "simple country boy")
wai - An even thêm "country hick" kind of "I"
washi - I am an elderly person, male hoặc sometimes female, and accordingly should be treated with respect for elders
ware - A somewhat archaic form of "I" hoặc referring to oneself. "Wareware" is common, though, and means "us."
sessha - an archaic (masculine) form of referring to oneself (used bởi Kenshin in "Rurouni Kenshin" aka "Samurai X" and used in other period dramas)
(name) - To refer to oneself bởi one's own name seems particularly self-effacing. In manga, it tends to be associated with simple, innocent young girls. ("Naoko wa iiko ni shite imashita" could be a little girl named Naoko saying she has been a good little girl.)
The word choices for "you" must also be heavily geared for the target of the word and based on situation:
(status)+honorific: In many cases, polite discourse demands that "you" is not used; the person's status (parent, older man, older woman, customer, little boy, guest, etc.) is used instead. At a store, the store workers are likely to say "o-kyaku-san" (honorable guest) to customers. On the street, a child might say "o-neesan" ("older sister") to an unknown woman up to about 25-35 years of age (or less) under some circumstances, might say "o-basan" (elder woman/"auntie") to a somewhat older woman, and "o-baasan" (old woman/"grandmother") to a clearly elderly woman. But even these terms change in appropriateness depending on the relative age and status of the speaker and the exact circumstances ... so ... beware!
(name)+honorific: Instead of hearing "Would bạn like some chocolate?" addressed to Reika bởi someone who doesn't know her well, you're thêm likely to hear "Would Reika-san like some chocolate?" When a name is used, whether last name hoặc first name is used will depend on the relationship, and likewise so does the honorific. For example, "Matsumoto-san" (last name) would be good for polite conversation between adults, such as in a work setting, and "Rika-chan" for polite conversation between kids.
anata: polite word for "you" - used mostly bởi women, but can be used bởi men in formal situations. "Anata" is also a commonly used word used bởi wives when speaking to their husbands, like saying "honey" hoặc "dear" - in this case, using the husband's first name is sort of frowned upon, even though the husband often will use his wife's first name. Go figure.
anta: a casual form of "anata" - used mostly bởi women, sometimes bởi men, usually with people who are known to them.
kimi: a lightweight form of "you" - used mostly bởi men among Những người bạn and family.
omae: a familiar form of "you" - used mostly bởi men, and can be a common term to refer one's spouse hoặc family members. Never used in polite discussion. May be used bởi some women, especially thêm rural women. The manga character Black Jack often referred to other people as "omae-san."
omee ("omeh"): a thêm slang-like form of "omae." Mostly used bởi men.
temee ("temeh"): even thêm slang-like word, and a corruption of the word "temae." If used normally, indicates the speaker is of fairly low breeding. If used during times of stress only, indicates the speaker has a particularly negative opinion of the target. Another mostly-male word.
kisama: a vulgar form of "you." Often indicates great hostility. Another mostly-male word.
(This website has thêm on these words.)
(Side note: It is also very difficult to create a mysterious, gender-neutral, societally ambiguous Japanese character, because the person's choice of words for "I" and "you" and so on would naturally betray a lot about the person's social standing.)
thêm Nuances
In addition to all this, the sentence structures and verbs convey a lot about why something is being done - for example, "I'll do it for you" in Japanese may well have connotations of doing a favor for someone - or, depending on word choice, connotations of being honored to perform a service for someone of higher rank. There are probably a half dozen ways, also, of saying plain old "Go."
For example:
Ike - Brusque, commanding form.
Ikinasai - Softer, feminine form, almost a recommendation thêm than a command.
Yuke - A thêm archaic form of the commanding form.
O-iki - A softer, sort of archaic, feminine form.
Itta (itta) - Technically past-tense, an informal form; "Gone (gone)!" - "Shoo" comes close
Ikiyagare - Very rude form of "Go."
Now we add a "please" to that "Go" and get these variations:
Itte kure - an informal male request form; "Go, please."
Itte o-kure - an informal "country" hoặc elderly request form; "Go, please."
Itte kudasai - a polite request form; "Go, please."
Itte kudasaimase - a politer request form; "Go, please." Often feminine.
O-iki ni natte kudasai mase - My feeble attempt to write an even thêm polite form. Usually feminine.
Even Laughter Has Implications
Even laughter can convey a great deal thêm than how "Ho Ho Ho" usually means Santa Clause to Americans. In Japanese, some of the forms of laughter commonly seen in manga and anime are as follows:
ha ha ha: Normal exuberant laughter
hih hih hih: Creepy laughter
hu hu hu (or fu fu fu): Somewhat sinister laughter
heh heh heh: Somewhat embarrassed hoặc self-conscious laughter
ho ho ho: Refined feminine laughter
ka ka ka: Sometimes, rustic (old) man's laughter
ku ku ku: Evil chuckle
ke ke ke: Evil cackle
Sentence Endings Add Character
In addition, there are sentence endings the Japanese use to convey a lot of information about the speaker. Women, for example, are expected to end most sentences in "wa" (e.g. "soudesu wa"), which adds a distinctly feminine touch. Men may use "zo" hoặc "ze" (e.g. "iku zo!") to add a rough-and-tumble masculine edge. Cartoon characters add their own distinctive sentence endings, including sadly stereotypical ones (the Japanese được ưa chuộng thinking seems to be that Chinese will add "aru" to the end of sentences), to weird personal touches (such as "nyan" (meow) being used bởi cat people).
Dialects and Formality
Finally, as noted with choices of "I" and "you," there are also regional dialects. Just as "ya'll" is a characteristic of the stereotypical American South, hoặc "eh, what?" is characteristic of parts of Britain, there are forms of speaking that are typical of different regions of Japan. These, too, will tend to be Mất tích in translation unless the translator can successfully map Japanese regional dialects to American character stereotypes.
Also, very formal Japanese is almost as striking as another dialect. It's rarely used (though common in some comics), and it has a lilting, poetic quality that makes it the equivalent of speaking with "thee" and "thou" and other such thêm historical forms of English. The difference between the "feel" of a King James Bible versus a modern American-English text is a fair comparison, though a big difference is that highly formal Japanese is still considered modern Japanese (last I knew, at least).
Summary: What ARE We Missing in Translations?
Hence, in a simple exchange of, "What are bạn doing?" and "I am waiting for someone," a Japanese dialogue can convey gender, social status, who's higher ranking than whom, where the people are from, and, with a few words, can also convey if one of them is doing a social favor for someone else hoặc vice versa. A reader of written dialogue can delight in the refined and poetic language in a phrase as simple as "What are bạn doing?" - hoặc can cringe at the crudeness and raw masculinity in a phrase as simple as "I am waiting for someone." In phrases this short, it would be very difficult for a translator to carry the full poetic beauty hoặc the full crudeness over into English. (For the latter case, shortening "I am" to "I'm" and changing "waiting" to "waitin'" is a step in the right direction, but still conveys only a một phút fraction of the impact, comparatively.)
As bạn can see, a lot of social data can be Mất tích in translation. It's easy to miss things like female Ranma's jarringly male speech ("Ranma 1/2"), Vash's humble speech, Meryl's refined sentences, and Wolfwood's "country" accent ("Trigun"), Oscar's highly respectful and aristocratic speech with the queen, contrasted with her rough and masculine speech with her troops ("Rose of Versailles"), Kenshin's charmingly distinctive and archaic speech ("Ruroni Kenshin"/"Samurai X"), Amuro's notably polite form of "I am going" when launching Gundam (in the original "Gundam"), and so on.
A lot of personal relationship information is Mất tích as well. The gentle maternal relationship of an elderly character to a younger character can be expressed, in Japanese, in the simple choice of words in saying "You go on now" - but is thêm difficult to convey in English. Likewise, a literal translation of an exchange between a couple - with the woman saying "you," and the man saying the woman's name - would fail to convey the familiar, family-oriented, comfortable relationship implied in their choice of words. And, of course, the common scene in which the hero screams "YOU!" at the enemy loses much of its emotional energy if one doesn't realize how much anger and resentment can be invested in the choice of which "you" is used.
So, while a good translation would manage to preserve the general meaning of an anime hoặc manga, it would truly take very careful and thoughtful translation to even begin to transmit the hidden cultural information, the message behind the words. And, coming from a society like Japan, there is a lot of cultural and social information to be Mất tích in translation!
Finally, of course, flowing, poetic Japanese text can only be fully re-created bởi a translator who can create flowing, poetic English text.
Sound Effects in Manga
Note: I am not a linguist; the below is simply an amateur effort on my own part to compare and contrast Japanese and English sound effects. It reflects my limited experience, and some of it is pure conjecture. My primary câu hỏi to myself has been: Why do I find English sound effects stilted in comparison to Japanese sound effects?
Written sound effects in Japanese are a splendid affair. In the same way that English has words like "crunch" hoặc "gurgle" hoặc "splash" hoặc other words that try to imitate sounds through onomatopoeia, Japanese likewise has words that do so. However, Nhật Bản relies on these words in a somewhat different way.
Have a look at these two paragraphs:
"The rain splashed the street, and the child trotted up to the door. She rang the doorbell. She dug a kẹo out from her pocket and crunched it while she waited. A dog barked nearby."
"The rain fell pitter-patter on the street, and the child ran trot-trot-trot up to the door. She rang the doorbell: ding-dong. She dug a kẹo out from her pocket and ate it, crunch-crunch, while she waited. Nearby, a dog barked `yap yap.'"
The một giây one is obviously awkward in English, but also provides thêm immediate and direct sound effects than the natural English version (even though both versions use a lot of onomatopoetic words). It is also a fairly natural way of speaking in Japanese (e.g. "Onna no ko wa, ta ta ta to doa ni hashirimashita."). Direct sound effects that have yet to be turned into verbs are the norm in Japanese (I mean for example, "gulp!" versus "he gulped," "crunch!" versus "he crunched").
In a language that's so dependent on sound effects, then, it's no wonder that sound effects flow naturally in the pages of manga, too. Japanese manga overflow with sound effects for big and little things: the clink of a tách trà, teacup on a table, the steady throbbing sound of helicoptor rotors, the deep rhythmic thrumming of a giant starship engine, hoặc the gasping breath of the worn-out hero. But, for depicting these sounds, it winds up being less awkward to say "thrum-thrum-thrum" hoặc "gasp - gasp - gasp" in Japanese for the same reason it is thêm awkward in English to do so. It's simply natural and commonplace in Japanese, and not so natural in English.
For another example, consider how Americans describe sound effects in casual conversation. It seems to me that few people take "bam" hoặc "pow" seriously as a realistic sound effect; people are thêm likely to imitate, parrot-style, the "whpsh!" hoặc "pbhhk!" hoặc "hfh, hfh, hfh" sounds from the movies. In contrast, I think (I could be wrong) that the Japanese tend to verbally rely thêm heavily on Japanese-syllable-based sound effects, which are "close enough" and yet also easily spelled and easy to read (contrast with the "whpsh" I wrote above, which is not easy to spell in a traditional sense).
Here are some Japanese sound effects and their English equivalents. Perhaps bạn can draw your own conclusions about some of the differences between Japanese and English:
shiin: sound of silence
pota: drip: sound of a drop
pota pota: drip drip: multiple drops
kata: rattle, clink
katata: rattle: gentle sound of rain rattling on a roof top, hoặc wood-frame houses rattling from a train passing nearby.
zaaa: sound of a light, but steady rain
jyaa: sound of a bathroom vòi hoa sen hoặc heavy rain
sara-sara: sound of gentle flowing stream
sawa-sawa: sound of leaves rustling
kiri kiri: sound of some types of crickets
koto: clink: sound of small hard object being placed on hard surface
kari: crunch: lightly crispy sound
kori: crunch: crunchy
karan: clunk: sound of empty hard object being struck
chin: ding: sound of a bell
pin pon: ding dong: sound of a doorbell hoặc TV game hiển thị bell
jiriririiin: brring: sound of a school-type chuông, bell going off
uuu: growl: dog growling, human in pain, etc.
gururu: growl: dog growling, hoặc stomach growling ("grr")
wan wan: arf arf: dog barking
kan kan: arf arf: dog barking sharply
kyan kyan: yap yap: high pitched dog barking
bau bau: woof woof: big dog barking
uo uo: woof woof: dog barking
kyain kyain: yipe yipe: dog yiping
puchi: snap: small snapping noise, as of snapping a cracker in half
pachi: snap: small snapping noise, as of a fire
bachi: snap: large snapping noise, as of a branch hoặc large fire
boki: snap: heavy snapping noise
baki: whap: heavy hitting noise
pisha: slap: slapping noise hoặc small splash
bishi: whop, whoosh: sound of slap, hoặc fast slapping motion, hoặc fast strike ending in a pose
basha: splash: large splashing noise
guchya: squish
gashan: crash
zugaan: bam: gunfire with echo effect
bababa: bam bam bam: gunfire
hyurururu: whistling effect of bomb falling through the atmosphere
dokan: kaboom: sound of large, sharp explosion
chudohn: kaboom: sound of a large, sharp explosion
zudaan: kaboom: sound of large explosion
dohdohdohdoh: deep throbbing rumble of a waterfall hoặc giant engine ("throbthrobthrob")
goro goro: rumble of thunder ("rumble-rumble")
haa haa: pant pant hoặc gasp gasp
goho goho: cough cough
kyaa: scream (female)
gyaa: scream
uwaa: scream: sort of surprised
iyaa: scream: (sort of means "no")
guaa: scream: usually in pain
kyaa-kyaa: noisy, as of screaming girls
doki doki: thuddup thuddup of a pounding heart
But it's not just sounds that have sound effects. These are not exactly sounds, but they have their own onomatopoetic terms. I've tried to find English equivalents:
pika: effect of light being flashed ("flash")
ssa-ssa: quickly ("whoosh-whoosh"?)
shaa: quickly, like a fleeing snake ("whoosh")
jita-bata: hectic, harried
gata-gata: quaking with fear ("quake-quake")
gaku-gaku: shaking with fear ("shake-shake")
pun-pun: steaming hot angry ("steam-steam"?)
jiro-jiro: effect of staring
kuru-kuru: effect of twirling/turning/rotating ("twirl-twirl")
nuru-nuru: effect of being slimy
buru-buru: effect of shaking with cold (perhaps "brr-brr" is close)
oro-oro: effect of being nervous and shaken
kachin-kachin: effect of being Nữ hoàng băng giá stiff ("clink-clink")
Anyway, while English does have almost as large a selection of onomatopoetic words, somehow the immediacy of the English "cough!" feels to me, personally, as if it's one step removed from the reality compared to the Japanese "goho!" and the same with many other words. It may, of course, simply be personal bias, exemplified bởi the fact that, if bạn listen to an American sneeze, odds are he will say, "Ah-ah-ah-choo!" - while the Japanese will say, "Ha-ha-ha-ksho!" And there, at least, nothing will be Mất tích in the translation.
I have copy and pasted the following information from another website, so as to not risk the link becoming broken later... I've đã đăng a few đường dẫn in fanpop that ended up broken later cause the page was moved. Anyways, it is a guide to help people either read hoặc draw manga better. It explains some japanese words and things that are commonly Mất tích in translation and has at least helped me gain a better grasp on the language. What follows is the bài viết as it appears from the link I pasted above this paragraph and the bài viết is written bởi Era Izawa titled "What's Mất tích in the Translation?" Enjoy!
"What's Mất tích in the Translation?"
Last night I was watching "Trigun" DVDs that I'd borrowed from a coworker, and marveling at the terrible quality of the English subtitles. I'd guess they were inaccurate hoặc wrong at least half the time, and 75% of the time I knew I could've written a better subtitle myself. But, accuracy aside, that got me pondering about all the things that are Mất tích in translation from Japanese to English, whether in anime hoặc manga form. I've occasionally mentioned this data loss, but I figured I'd try to write out thêm completely some of the nuances that are lost.
The Japanese Language
The Japanese language is well-known for both the complexities of its social nuances, as well as onomatopoetic qualities (having words that imitate natural sounds). I'll discuss the social nuances first, since it is bởi far the thêm profound in terms of loss of information in translation. After that, I'll have a look at written sound effects in Japanese - there's not much to be Mất tích in translation, but I wanted to know, why do English sound effects feel stilted in comparison?
Social Nuances
The social nuances of the Japanese language often mean that every speaker identifies gender, social status, the listener's social status, and the type of social situation, purely bởi the choice of words.
"I" and "You"
For example, there are many different words meaning "I" in Japanese, and likewise many different words used for "you" - and each word has different implications about who the "I" is and who the "you" is. Just to give bạn a better idea, here are some versions of "I" and their social implications:
watashi - I am female, hoặc (less used case) a dignified male
watakushi - I am a dignified female speaking in a formal setting, hoặc a dignified male being particularly formal
atashi - I am female, perhaps (but not necessarily) slightly less sophisticated than someone who says "watashi"; I may be a young girl. Informal variation of "watashi."
atai - I am a "country" female (implications of "simple country girl")
boku - I am male. I am either a young boy, hoặc I am playing down my status, perhaps because I am among superiors
ore - I am male. I am probably an adult hoặc nearly so. Somewhat boastful-sounding.
oira - I am a "country" male (implications of "simple country boy")
wai - An even thêm "country hick" kind of "I"
washi - I am an elderly person, male hoặc sometimes female, and accordingly should be treated with respect for elders
ware - A somewhat archaic form of "I" hoặc referring to oneself. "Wareware" is common, though, and means "us."
sessha - an archaic (masculine) form of referring to oneself (used bởi Kenshin in "Rurouni Kenshin" aka "Samurai X" and used in other period dramas)
(name) - To refer to oneself bởi one's own name seems particularly self-effacing. In manga, it tends to be associated with simple, innocent young girls. ("Naoko wa iiko ni shite imashita" could be a little girl named Naoko saying she has been a good little girl.)
The word choices for "you" must also be heavily geared for the target of the word and based on situation:
(status)+honorific: In many cases, polite discourse demands that "you" is not used; the person's status (parent, older man, older woman, customer, little boy, guest, etc.) is used instead. At a store, the store workers are likely to say "o-kyaku-san" (honorable guest) to customers. On the street, a child might say "o-neesan" ("older sister") to an unknown woman up to about 25-35 years of age (or less) under some circumstances, might say "o-basan" (elder woman/"auntie") to a somewhat older woman, and "o-baasan" (old woman/"grandmother") to a clearly elderly woman. But even these terms change in appropriateness depending on the relative age and status of the speaker and the exact circumstances ... so ... beware!
(name)+honorific: Instead of hearing "Would bạn like some chocolate?" addressed to Reika bởi someone who doesn't know her well, you're thêm likely to hear "Would Reika-san like some chocolate?" When a name is used, whether last name hoặc first name is used will depend on the relationship, and likewise so does the honorific. For example, "Matsumoto-san" (last name) would be good for polite conversation between adults, such as in a work setting, and "Rika-chan" for polite conversation between kids.
anata: polite word for "you" - used mostly bởi women, but can be used bởi men in formal situations. "Anata" is also a commonly used word used bởi wives when speaking to their husbands, like saying "honey" hoặc "dear" - in this case, using the husband's first name is sort of frowned upon, even though the husband often will use his wife's first name. Go figure.
anta: a casual form of "anata" - used mostly bởi women, sometimes bởi men, usually with people who are known to them.
kimi: a lightweight form of "you" - used mostly bởi men among Những người bạn and family.
omae: a familiar form of "you" - used mostly bởi men, and can be a common term to refer one's spouse hoặc family members. Never used in polite discussion. May be used bởi some women, especially thêm rural women. The manga character Black Jack often referred to other people as "omae-san."
omee ("omeh"): a thêm slang-like form of "omae." Mostly used bởi men.
temee ("temeh"): even thêm slang-like word, and a corruption of the word "temae." If used normally, indicates the speaker is of fairly low breeding. If used during times of stress only, indicates the speaker has a particularly negative opinion of the target. Another mostly-male word.
kisama: a vulgar form of "you." Often indicates great hostility. Another mostly-male word.
(This website has thêm on these words.)
(Side note: It is also very difficult to create a mysterious, gender-neutral, societally ambiguous Japanese character, because the person's choice of words for "I" and "you" and so on would naturally betray a lot about the person's social standing.)
thêm Nuances
In addition to all this, the sentence structures and verbs convey a lot about why something is being done - for example, "I'll do it for you" in Japanese may well have connotations of doing a favor for someone - or, depending on word choice, connotations of being honored to perform a service for someone of higher rank. There are probably a half dozen ways, also, of saying plain old "Go."
For example:
Ike - Brusque, commanding form.
Ikinasai - Softer, feminine form, almost a recommendation thêm than a command.
Yuke - A thêm archaic form of the commanding form.
O-iki - A softer, sort of archaic, feminine form.
Itta (itta) - Technically past-tense, an informal form; "Gone (gone)!" - "Shoo" comes close
Ikiyagare - Very rude form of "Go."
Now we add a "please" to that "Go" and get these variations:
Itte kure - an informal male request form; "Go, please."
Itte o-kure - an informal "country" hoặc elderly request form; "Go, please."
Itte kudasai - a polite request form; "Go, please."
Itte kudasaimase - a politer request form; "Go, please." Often feminine.
O-iki ni natte kudasai mase - My feeble attempt to write an even thêm polite form. Usually feminine.
Even Laughter Has Implications
Even laughter can convey a great deal thêm than how "Ho Ho Ho" usually means Santa Clause to Americans. In Japanese, some of the forms of laughter commonly seen in manga and anime are as follows:
ha ha ha: Normal exuberant laughter
hih hih hih: Creepy laughter
hu hu hu (or fu fu fu): Somewhat sinister laughter
heh heh heh: Somewhat embarrassed hoặc self-conscious laughter
ho ho ho: Refined feminine laughter
ka ka ka: Sometimes, rustic (old) man's laughter
ku ku ku: Evil chuckle
ke ke ke: Evil cackle
Sentence Endings Add Character
In addition, there are sentence endings the Japanese use to convey a lot of information about the speaker. Women, for example, are expected to end most sentences in "wa" (e.g. "soudesu wa"), which adds a distinctly feminine touch. Men may use "zo" hoặc "ze" (e.g. "iku zo!") to add a rough-and-tumble masculine edge. Cartoon characters add their own distinctive sentence endings, including sadly stereotypical ones (the Japanese được ưa chuộng thinking seems to be that Chinese will add "aru" to the end of sentences), to weird personal touches (such as "nyan" (meow) being used bởi cat people).
Dialects and Formality
Finally, as noted with choices of "I" and "you," there are also regional dialects. Just as "ya'll" is a characteristic of the stereotypical American South, hoặc "eh, what?" is characteristic of parts of Britain, there are forms of speaking that are typical of different regions of Japan. These, too, will tend to be Mất tích in translation unless the translator can successfully map Japanese regional dialects to American character stereotypes.
Also, very formal Japanese is almost as striking as another dialect. It's rarely used (though common in some comics), and it has a lilting, poetic quality that makes it the equivalent of speaking with "thee" and "thou" and other such thêm historical forms of English. The difference between the "feel" of a King James Bible versus a modern American-English text is a fair comparison, though a big difference is that highly formal Japanese is still considered modern Japanese (last I knew, at least).
Summary: What ARE We Missing in Translations?
Hence, in a simple exchange of, "What are bạn doing?" and "I am waiting for someone," a Japanese dialogue can convey gender, social status, who's higher ranking than whom, where the people are from, and, with a few words, can also convey if one of them is doing a social favor for someone else hoặc vice versa. A reader of written dialogue can delight in the refined and poetic language in a phrase as simple as "What are bạn doing?" - hoặc can cringe at the crudeness and raw masculinity in a phrase as simple as "I am waiting for someone." In phrases this short, it would be very difficult for a translator to carry the full poetic beauty hoặc the full crudeness over into English. (For the latter case, shortening "I am" to "I'm" and changing "waiting" to "waitin'" is a step in the right direction, but still conveys only a một phút fraction of the impact, comparatively.)
As bạn can see, a lot of social data can be Mất tích in translation. It's easy to miss things like female Ranma's jarringly male speech ("Ranma 1/2"), Vash's humble speech, Meryl's refined sentences, and Wolfwood's "country" accent ("Trigun"), Oscar's highly respectful and aristocratic speech with the queen, contrasted with her rough and masculine speech with her troops ("Rose of Versailles"), Kenshin's charmingly distinctive and archaic speech ("Ruroni Kenshin"/"Samurai X"), Amuro's notably polite form of "I am going" when launching Gundam (in the original "Gundam"), and so on.
A lot of personal relationship information is Mất tích as well. The gentle maternal relationship of an elderly character to a younger character can be expressed, in Japanese, in the simple choice of words in saying "You go on now" - but is thêm difficult to convey in English. Likewise, a literal translation of an exchange between a couple - with the woman saying "you," and the man saying the woman's name - would fail to convey the familiar, family-oriented, comfortable relationship implied in their choice of words. And, of course, the common scene in which the hero screams "YOU!" at the enemy loses much of its emotional energy if one doesn't realize how much anger and resentment can be invested in the choice of which "you" is used.
So, while a good translation would manage to preserve the general meaning of an anime hoặc manga, it would truly take very careful and thoughtful translation to even begin to transmit the hidden cultural information, the message behind the words. And, coming from a society like Japan, there is a lot of cultural and social information to be Mất tích in translation!
Finally, of course, flowing, poetic Japanese text can only be fully re-created bởi a translator who can create flowing, poetic English text.
Sound Effects in Manga
Note: I am not a linguist; the below is simply an amateur effort on my own part to compare and contrast Japanese and English sound effects. It reflects my limited experience, and some of it is pure conjecture. My primary câu hỏi to myself has been: Why do I find English sound effects stilted in comparison to Japanese sound effects?
Written sound effects in Japanese are a splendid affair. In the same way that English has words like "crunch" hoặc "gurgle" hoặc "splash" hoặc other words that try to imitate sounds through onomatopoeia, Japanese likewise has words that do so. However, Nhật Bản relies on these words in a somewhat different way.
Have a look at these two paragraphs:
"The rain splashed the street, and the child trotted up to the door. She rang the doorbell. She dug a kẹo out from her pocket and crunched it while she waited. A dog barked nearby."
"The rain fell pitter-patter on the street, and the child ran trot-trot-trot up to the door. She rang the doorbell: ding-dong. She dug a kẹo out from her pocket and ate it, crunch-crunch, while she waited. Nearby, a dog barked `yap yap.'"
The một giây one is obviously awkward in English, but also provides thêm immediate and direct sound effects than the natural English version (even though both versions use a lot of onomatopoetic words). It is also a fairly natural way of speaking in Japanese (e.g. "Onna no ko wa, ta ta ta to doa ni hashirimashita."). Direct sound effects that have yet to be turned into verbs are the norm in Japanese (I mean for example, "gulp!" versus "he gulped," "crunch!" versus "he crunched").
In a language that's so dependent on sound effects, then, it's no wonder that sound effects flow naturally in the pages of manga, too. Japanese manga overflow with sound effects for big and little things: the clink of a tách trà, teacup on a table, the steady throbbing sound of helicoptor rotors, the deep rhythmic thrumming of a giant starship engine, hoặc the gasping breath of the worn-out hero. But, for depicting these sounds, it winds up being less awkward to say "thrum-thrum-thrum" hoặc "gasp - gasp - gasp" in Japanese for the same reason it is thêm awkward in English to do so. It's simply natural and commonplace in Japanese, and not so natural in English.
For another example, consider how Americans describe sound effects in casual conversation. It seems to me that few people take "bam" hoặc "pow" seriously as a realistic sound effect; people are thêm likely to imitate, parrot-style, the "whpsh!" hoặc "pbhhk!" hoặc "hfh, hfh, hfh" sounds from the movies. In contrast, I think (I could be wrong) that the Japanese tend to verbally rely thêm heavily on Japanese-syllable-based sound effects, which are "close enough" and yet also easily spelled and easy to read (contrast with the "whpsh" I wrote above, which is not easy to spell in a traditional sense).
Here are some Japanese sound effects and their English equivalents. Perhaps bạn can draw your own conclusions about some of the differences between Japanese and English:
shiin: sound of silence
pota: drip: sound of a drop
pota pota: drip drip: multiple drops
kata: rattle, clink
katata: rattle: gentle sound of rain rattling on a roof top, hoặc wood-frame houses rattling from a train passing nearby.
zaaa: sound of a light, but steady rain
jyaa: sound of a bathroom vòi hoa sen hoặc heavy rain
sara-sara: sound of gentle flowing stream
sawa-sawa: sound of leaves rustling
kiri kiri: sound of some types of crickets
koto: clink: sound of small hard object being placed on hard surface
kari: crunch: lightly crispy sound
kori: crunch: crunchy
karan: clunk: sound of empty hard object being struck
chin: ding: sound of a bell
pin pon: ding dong: sound of a doorbell hoặc TV game hiển thị bell
jiriririiin: brring: sound of a school-type chuông, bell going off
uuu: growl: dog growling, human in pain, etc.
gururu: growl: dog growling, hoặc stomach growling ("grr")
wan wan: arf arf: dog barking
kan kan: arf arf: dog barking sharply
kyan kyan: yap yap: high pitched dog barking
bau bau: woof woof: big dog barking
uo uo: woof woof: dog barking
kyain kyain: yipe yipe: dog yiping
puchi: snap: small snapping noise, as of snapping a cracker in half
pachi: snap: small snapping noise, as of a fire
bachi: snap: large snapping noise, as of a branch hoặc large fire
boki: snap: heavy snapping noise
baki: whap: heavy hitting noise
pisha: slap: slapping noise hoặc small splash
bishi: whop, whoosh: sound of slap, hoặc fast slapping motion, hoặc fast strike ending in a pose
basha: splash: large splashing noise
guchya: squish
gashan: crash
zugaan: bam: gunfire with echo effect
bababa: bam bam bam: gunfire
hyurururu: whistling effect of bomb falling through the atmosphere
dokan: kaboom: sound of large, sharp explosion
chudohn: kaboom: sound of a large, sharp explosion
zudaan: kaboom: sound of large explosion
dohdohdohdoh: deep throbbing rumble of a waterfall hoặc giant engine ("throbthrobthrob")
goro goro: rumble of thunder ("rumble-rumble")
haa haa: pant pant hoặc gasp gasp
goho goho: cough cough
kyaa: scream (female)
gyaa: scream
uwaa: scream: sort of surprised
iyaa: scream: (sort of means "no")
guaa: scream: usually in pain
kyaa-kyaa: noisy, as of screaming girls
doki doki: thuddup thuddup of a pounding heart
But it's not just sounds that have sound effects. These are not exactly sounds, but they have their own onomatopoetic terms. I've tried to find English equivalents:
pika: effect of light being flashed ("flash")
ssa-ssa: quickly ("whoosh-whoosh"?)
shaa: quickly, like a fleeing snake ("whoosh")
jita-bata: hectic, harried
gata-gata: quaking with fear ("quake-quake")
gaku-gaku: shaking with fear ("shake-shake")
pun-pun: steaming hot angry ("steam-steam"?)
jiro-jiro: effect of staring
kuru-kuru: effect of twirling/turning/rotating ("twirl-twirl")
nuru-nuru: effect of being slimy
buru-buru: effect of shaking with cold (perhaps "brr-brr" is close)
oro-oro: effect of being nervous and shaken
kachin-kachin: effect of being Nữ hoàng băng giá stiff ("clink-clink")
Anyway, while English does have almost as large a selection of onomatopoetic words, somehow the immediacy of the English "cough!" feels to me, personally, as if it's one step removed from the reality compared to the Japanese "goho!" and the same with many other words. It may, of course, simply be personal bias, exemplified bởi the fact that, if bạn listen to an American sneeze, odds are he will say, "Ah-ah-ah-choo!" - while the Japanese will say, "Ha-ha-ha-ksho!" And there, at least, nothing will be Mất tích in the translation.
