Katakana / Japanese script?

C

Cameron

後輩

14 Jul 2004

9

0

• 25 Jul 2005

• #1

Good morning all,

Does anybody have any links or information on translating a name into katakana or script?

My fiancee's name is Tamika (which I'm told is a Japanese word to start with, apparently means "people"?) and I'm trying to find out what symbols are used to represent this name.

Also, can anybody explain the difference between Katakana, kanji and Hiragana? Are they just variations in language or does one style of writing reflect a more personal relationship than another?

Thanks in advance for any help

Cheerio,
-Cameron

 

Last edited: 25 Jul 2005

C

Cameron

後輩

14 Jul 2004

9

0

• 25 Jul 2005

• Thread starter
• #2

.. and as usual, no sooner had I posted this topic than my searches actually turned up an answer! It's always the way

I found some info on the following page:
http://www.takase.com/Names/NameInJapaneseT.htm

But it would still be nice to get some larger images that may be suitable for reproduction if anybody does have some links

Thanks again (boy, don't I feel silly now...)
-Cameron

 

ax

後輩

27 May 2003

311

4

• 25 Jul 2005

• #3

Grammatical structures and misc questions
please check post on similar question in Jref. If you have further questions, kindly shoot so.

ax

 

C

Cameron

後輩

14 Jul 2004

9

0

• 25 Jul 2005

• Thread starter
• #4

Thanks Ax. Interesting reading.

I've been reading a few other sites this morning and it is all quite complex (but still quite fascinating). What I'd really like to get my hands on is a good quality Kanji represenation of "Tamika" for my better half. Any recommendations on where I can find one?

 

Kinsao

Horizon Rider

8 May 2005

8,515

143

• 25 Jul 2005

• #5

I'm not knowledgeable about kanji, I can read only hiragana and katakana unfortunately. But, I believe that for names, the kanji are very individual. For example, for 2 names pronounced exactly the same, could be used completely different kanji. So, unless a person is actually given a name in kanji, it is not possible to 'translate' the sound of their name into kanji. And, if they were originally named in kanji and you guess the kanji for the sounds and get it wrong, that could be offensive too ☝

Of course, you can always find out possible kanji representations of Tamika and your fiancee can choose a nice meaning and kanji... any Japanese people out there, would that be an ok thing to do? :?

 

ax

後輩

27 May 2003

311

4

• 26 Jul 2005

• #6

窶堋ｽ窶堙昶?堋ｩ
窶彡窶敕ｼﾂ債
here is a possible kanji for Tamika, but the best way is of course, ask your fiancee, if she doesn't know, don't bother, a lot of Japanese prefer to have 窶堙絶?堙ｧ窶堋ｪ窶堙 or ﾆ谷ﾆ耽ﾆ谷ﾆ段ﾂ names, it's more of an identity. Yee... we're not Chinese, why do we have to use Kanji all the time.

ax

 

S

Silverpoint

後輩

17 Jul 2005

483

44

• 26 Jul 2005

• #7

I have to disagree with you. 99.99% of Japanese people have their name written in kanji and don't give it a second thought. Occasionally you might see a name permanently written in romaji (e.g. "MEGUMI" - big bust bikini idol, or "Shinjo" - baseball player) but this is more for publicity's sake than anything else. Sometimes you meet people who have hiragana names, which is mainly down to their parents. But as for the "we're not Chinese" idea, this is simply not true. Yes originally kanji may have come from China but if you think that Japanese people have some kind of hangup about it then unfortunately you've been badly misinformed.

As for transcribing TAMIKA into katakana, your fiancee couldn't really have any easier name. ﾆ耽ﾆ蓄ﾆ谷ﾂ would be perfectly satisfactory, unless she has some kind of unusual stress pattern which I'm not aware of.

 

ax

後輩

27 May 2003

311

4

• 26 Jul 2005

• #8

May be of your generation. An of course you might not like my over generalization of "A lot of Japanese", but all I know, my gf and her sister all have their names in 窶堙絶?堙ｧ窶堋ｪ窶堙按、and that's it. There might be appropriate kanji to represent them, but they 窶堙絶?堙ｧ窶堋ｪ窶堙 represented in their birth certificate.

ax

 

S

Silverpoint

後輩

17 Jul 2005

483

44

• 26 Jul 2005

• #9

I'm not sure what generation you're referring to since I'm exactly the same age as you! hehe...

I think you'll find that your girlfriend whilst certainly not unusual, is still a significant minority. Most Japanese still use kanji for names and I don't think there's any great movement of change on this one.

By the way, if your girlfriend is Japanese, why not ask her about her name and possible kanji alternatives? I'm sure she'll have a lot more ideas about it than most of us on here.

 

ax

後輩

27 May 2003

311

4

• 26 Jul 2005

• #10

man, I really forgot I am that old
my gf name has no kanji alternatives, her granpa told her how to write it in Kanji, but for most of the legal ocassion, she sign her name in hiragana, and Kanji just remain somewhat like an alias.

ax