Talk:Trivia: Difference between revisions

The page for [[Konoko]] offers the interpretation of her name ("this child") that [[User:Iritscen|I]] most prefer. However, I think it's important to note here, for those who aren't familiar with the way Japanese works, that one must always be careful when interpreting names based on a breakdown into syllables. The actual meaning of a name must be determined by the [[wikipedia:kanji|kanji]] with which it is written. Simply hearing a word or seeing it written in Roman letters like "Konoko", you don't know what kanji make it up, or even how many kanji. ''Therefore, you cannot know the real meaning of the name.'' If a person only knew the syllables, they could just as easily break down "konoko" as "ko no ko", meaning "child of child", "child of sin", "price of sin", etc., but none of these are likely to be correct if you consider Konoko to be a "proper" Japanese name that is based in kanji. To my knowledge, there is no official representation of Konoko's name in the form of kanji.

Stepping out of the world of the game, one could ask, Well, what did the creators intend Konoko to mean? There is evidence that they were not just randomly slapping Japanese syllables together, as "Mukade" likely refers to the [[wikipedia:mukade|insect]] (again, we can't know this without kanji, but this is a case where the word "mukade" has a traditional usage in Japanese myths (and real-life, if you are unfortunate enough to have them in your house), so we can make a reasonable ''assumption'' as to the meaning). However, the notion that Bungie West had a meaning in mind for "Konoko" is pretty much blown out of the water by [http://oni.bungie.org/special/part1/brent.html this interview]. Stepping back into the game's world, we can still pretend that it means "this child", or whatever we want it to mean, when plotting an [[Oni2|Oni 2]], or trying to be clever in an [[:Category:Added value|Added value]] section. Just don't make the mistake of asserting your opinion as if it's fact.

::You can find a mention of this phrase [https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps2/942863-dance-dance-revolution-disney-channel-edition/faqs/49806 here] and [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0228493/fullcredits here]. IMDb [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0619958/ gives the literal translation] as "For My Daughter's Seventh Birthday". My limited understanding of the language tells me that, out of the three significant words in that phrase, "nanatsu" is "seven" or "seventh", and "oiwai" is probably "birthday", leaving "konoko" to mean "daughter" or "my daughter". This is quite interesting. Once again I am astounded at the beneficial coincidence that "Konoko" can mean something significant even though Brent Pease, in the interview linked to above, claims it 'just popped into my [non-Japanese-knowing] head'. I would really like to know whether the "konoko" in the title means "daughter" or "my daughter", but I'm guessing it's just plain "daughter".

 

::http://www.sasugabooks.com/product_info.php?products_id=30417 is a book with an interesting title that I can't translate. I know "Shounen A" is "Kid A", which is pretty amusing for fellow Radiohead fans out there.

 

At http://www.cherryblossom-garden.com/1/aiko4.html are the lyrics to a song by the band AIKO that has the line “Konoko wa wagamama nandakara amayakashi chadame yo”. It's actually in quotes, set apart from the other lyrics as if someone in the song is speaking it. To the right are the original Japanese characters, ｢この子は我が儘なんだから甘やかしちゃだめよ｣ (notice the quote marks there too). Presumably the "この子" would have to be "konoko" but then why are the first and last syllables different? You'd expect them to be the same. I am also unable to find that 子 symbol in either the [[wikipedia:katakana|katakana]] or [[wikipedia:hiragana|hiragana]] scripts. There's also no translation of the lyrics. Babelfish provides this, suprisingly enough: "Therefore as for this child selfish what you pamper, ちゃ useless." That's actually pretty good for Babelfish. It actually recognized the "this child" in there somehow (especially dubious trivia: "wagamama" is "selfish", so "konoko wa wagamama" is "this selfish child").

 

  こ  の [[wiktionary:%E5%AD%90#Japanese|子]]   [[wikipedia:Japanese_particles#wa|は]] 我 が  [[wiktionary:%E5%84%98#Japanese|儘]]    な   ん  だ  か  ら  甘  や  か  し  ちゃ  だ  め  よ

:: [[wikipedia:Japanese_particles#wa|wa]] is also often used by females at the end of the sentence to establish an emotional connection.

:: [[wiktionary:%E6%88%91#Prefix|waga]] = my/our

:: mama also written [[wiktionary:%E5%84%98|まま]] = the existing status ("bestehender Zustand"; taken from Langenscheidt Japanese-German dictionary)

:: nandakara = therefore (taken from babelfish) // nan also written [[wiktionary:%E4%BD%95#Japanese|何]] = what; dakara = so ("deswegen"; taken from Langenscheidt Japanese-German dictionary)

:: [[wikipedia:Tea|cha]] alone means tea

:: [[wiktionary:%E9%A7%84%E7%9B%AE|dame]] alone means no good; useless; hopeless

::: anyway, combinations can create a new meaning and this case isn't documented on wikis so far. -- It means "you must not do" according to a pdf ([http://www.griffith.edu.au/school/lal/staff/tsurutani_papers/onseiproof.pdf here]).  

:: [[wiktionary:yo#Romaji|yo]] = ''sentence emphasis particle''

 

:Actually the company here is [http://www.conocophillips.com ConocoPhillips]. The English article (<nowiki>http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=5473&p=18.12.2006</nowiki>, dead link) and the Russian one (<nowiki>http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=rus&q=16166&p=21.12.2006</nowiki>, dead link) were apparently not written by the same team of highly trained monkeys. Sheesh.

This alarming note from a bonafide Japanese person, at http://www.spc.int/coastfish/news/BDM/19/BDM_19.pdf, page 3:

Actually, konoko are [http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/199912/000019991299A0412427.php sun-dried gonads of sea cucumbers], and sea cucumbers aren't fish. A Google image search for "konoko" returns about as many pictures of this delicacy as of the Konoko we know.

*http://www.freedict.com/onldict/jap.html

*http://babelfish.altavista.com/