Discuss about anything related to the Twelve Kingdoms, also known as 十二国記, Juuni Kokki or Jūni Kokuki. Talk about the novels, the anime, the writer Fuyumi Ono or illustrator Akihiro Yamada, but beware for spoilers!
Well, since some of us are attempting to translate the stories from Chinese to English, I thought I would create a thread where we could trade resources and get help with words and names
The phrase I am having trouble with is: 大宰呢
Is it a title or a name? 宰 is apparently translated to Sai, but translates to "butchers", which makes no sense in the sentence. The sentence it is used in is: “……那個，雖然同意了，但為什麼帷湍是大宰呢？”
the 太宰 【たいさい】 (taisai) is the title of the minister of the court, the head of the heaven ministry. i think 大宰 is a typo. or it's the other way around and i don't remember which is which.
usually when something doesn't make sense, it's probably a name or a title. it helps to familiarize yourself with the world of the twelve kingdoms, especially if you are reading a book further along in the series, when ono sensei assumes you've read the other ones and therefore read all her explanations of this world she has put together. the bonus of reading these novels in chinese is that most of the twelve kingdoms kanji she uses (and she uses a lot of them) are preserved in the text.
Hi
Absolutely loved the anime and would love to read the chinese edition. Would anybody know where I can read the chinese edition online or whether the novel is translated into chinese and is for sale?
If I remember correctly, they all are in simplified Chinese, but I hope these links may help you. By the way, they all have the same things, but it's better to know all of them, just in case one of the webs is down. And about the edited version, I'm pretty sure it exists (correct me if it doesn't), but I have no idea where to get them, probably others will know about it better.
Well, it's my first post! I've been wandering around this forum for some time, but I had never posted before, so hi to everyone!! (And please forgive me for my crappy English)
i don't kno what sorts of books shows up in singapore, but in hong kong and taiwan, one can find licensed (of course, licensed doesn't automatically mean best) published editions in traditional chinese at any bookstore that sells fantasy novels. the publisher is sharp point.
in hong kong, commercial press is a nice bookstore. in taiwan, one can visit eslite or kingstone or order it online from books.com.tw. i'm pretty sure the last website ships overseas. yesasia also has the novels for sale, but i think they're based in the us so they might only ship to north america, and their prices for books are a little ridiculous, tho i can't guarantee getting it from another website + shipping will be any cheaper.
if you can't find your way around a website, you probably won't really understand the novels either.
i would encourage anyone who can buy the books to buy the books (if you can read them), but naturally it's everyone's own personal choice. there is nicely drawn yamada akihiro art in them as well, and that's always nice.
Ret wrote:i don't kno what sorts of books shows up in singapore, but in hong kong and taiwan, one can find licensed (of course, licensed doesn't automatically mean best).....
Yes, I'm wondering about the Japanese Chinese translations. I'm sure some meanings are altered or ommitted in the process of translations. How many Japanese-Chinese translation versions are there? There should be an official Japanese-->English instead of Chinese-->English translation.
I prefer to read the Chinese version online because I can cut and paste words into the online Dictionary, I can't do that with books. However, I have a strong feeling the translations are not very accurate. Some sentences made no sense and some sentences seem to be missing.
[quote="fragile_bloom"]
I prefer to read the Chinese version online because I can cut and paste words into the online Dictionary, I can't do that with books. However, I have a strong feeling the translations are not very accurate. Some sentences made no sense and some sentences seem to be missing.[/quote]
I agree. I would prefer the Japanese, but there is no online Japanese version. I am cutting and pasting words, and sometimes they just don't make any sense at all. I can get the general meaning of the story, so it isn't all bad. I really hope more people who are really good at translating will put the stories online for us all to read. And I really, really hope that books are published in English one day (or any european language for that matter - I can translate German okay).
Thanks for the help Ret. Perhaps I should try to make a list of the names and titles in Chinese characters, then do a search and replace in the document before doing the translation. That way the whole phrase will get translated... something to try anyway... But, yeah, it doesn't help when there is a typo huh?
Lenna & Ret - Thanks for info, will go check out the sites.
Theres a Commercial Press bookstore in Singapore too, would pop by this week to check it out.
nightchaser wrote:
I agree. I would prefer the Japanese, but there is no online Japanese version. I am cutting and pasting words, and sometimes they just don't make any sense at all. I can get the general meaning of the story, so it isn't all bad. I really hope more people who are really good at translating will put the stories online for us all to read. And I really, really hope that books are published in English one day (or any european language for that matter - I can translate German okay).
As long as there is no official Japanese-English Translation of all the books, people in English speaking countries cannot enjoy the stories.
It is good they are broadcasting the series in Singapore again because a lot of people there read Chinese and I believe many are competent enough to do translation work. Some Singaporeans are also competent in Japanese. I would prefer direct translation from Japanese to English.
I don't know German. I'm currently struggling with French, I hope that one day, there is a direct Japanese-French translation without going through English or Chinese.
Canada has a new government. Sigh.