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The Wo versus O distinction?
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 3:09 pm
by takenoko
Greetings,
I wanted to first thank you for all the work you put into subtitling these shows. I had one question about a choice you made in the ending credits of Ninninger. I've noticed this on all of them, but I just now finally caught up to the latest one so I wasn't sure if you had changed it or not.
On the latest episode at the 23:05 mark there is a line that goes:
でっかいでっかい花火をうちあげろ
You have it translated as "Dekkai dekkai hanabi wo uchi-agero"
I wanted to make the suggestion that it should be "Dekkai dekkai hanabi o uchi-agero".
Mainly because when を is used by itself it's written as "o" instead of "wo" since it's used as a particle and when を is written with other characters as a word then it would become "wo".
I know it seems probably weird, but I mainly wanted to ask you on why you had used the "wo" instead of "o".
My response:
Hello!
I mean, both wo and o are used interchangeably, but if you notice, the Japanese wo is pronounced a more in front part of the mouth. If you say O like in English, that's said more from the throat like "Oh!". That's why it's wo instead of o. As far as I know, Wo isn't used in modern Japanese words? Just people who are intentionally trying to be quirky.
I hope that makes sense. Let me know if it doesn't or if you disagree on any of the points.
Re: The Wo versus O distinction?
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 3:45 pm
by Mxylv
I agree on spelling を as "wo," given that there of the two different kana for it in the first place (お and を). I tend to think that using "wo" carries the distinction of を as a particle, whereas "o" would be more like the お in "ohayou." Just my thoughts on it.
Re: The Wo versus O distinction?
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:13 pm
by BlackSentai
When transcribing anything I always put を as wo. Standalone o never feels right. And, I feel like the people most inclined at looking at it are versed enough in Japanese to know what wo is.
Re: The Wo versus O distinction?
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:37 pm
by Lunagel
It's basically an archaic letter leftover from when the language actually used those syllables. Modern Japanese doesn't differentiate between the sounds ye or e, hence why Yebisu beer is pronounced Ebisu.
Personally I think you can go with either, though I prefer wo. I admit that one thing I can't stand is は written as Ha when it's a particle though.
Re: The Wo versus O distinction?
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 10:52 am
by msf232
wo জিন্দাবাদ!
o মুর্দাবাদ!
Re: The Wo versus O distinction?
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2015 12:41 pm
by takenoko
Can you translate that? This is an English board.
Re: The Wo versus O distinction?
Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 9:58 am
by msf232
জিন্দাবাদ is like 'Long live'
মুর্দাবাদ is the opposite
Google Translate does well in this case
Re: The Wo versus O distinction?
Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 3:10 pm
by Lunagel
Don't write it in Bengali in the first place so we don't have to use Google translate