Question about kanji (亡神)

DranoK

捨て猫

27 Apr 2004

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• 1 Apr 2006

• #1

Hi It's been a while since I've posted. I've learned a lot over the past year or so and have learned the basic meanings of just over 1000 kanji.

I'm trying to form a compound now for something akin to "deadgod"; loosely, "a dead god". It doesn't need to be literal or verbose; for example "deadgod" in English is still a bit ambiguous.

Is 亡神 close enough? Also, how would this be pronounced? (ぼうしん?)

Thanks ^^;

 

nice gaijin

Resident Realist

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Donor

Twenty-year veteran

8 Aug 2005

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• 1 Apr 2006

• #2

in the sense that it's a deceased deity? or a god of death?

 

DranoK

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27 Apr 2004

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• 1 Apr 2006

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• #3

In the sense of a deceased deity.

Thanks ^^;

 

nice gaijin

Resident Realist

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Donor

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8 Aug 2005

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• 1 Apr 2006

• #4

by the individual meanings it seems ok, though it doesn't really make sense. If you intend this for a creative work or something like that, it's probably acceptable.

 

DranoK

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27 Apr 2004

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• 1 Apr 2006

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• #5

Thanks. Does it not make sense in the same way as an english speaker would probably say "a god that's dead" rather than "deadgod", or doesn't make sense in terms of it being total gibberish?

This is for a creative project that has nothing to do with gods or death. The english name is "deadgod"; I wanted a close approximation with kanji. I guess I'd like it to make as much sense in Japanese as if I were to go up to an english speaker and say "deadgod" and nothing else.

Thanks again ^^;

 

nice gaijin

Resident Realist

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Donor

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8 Aug 2005

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• 1 Apr 2006

• #6

I wouldn't call it total gibberish, nor would I call it exactly coherent. As long as the context make things clear it doesn't matter as much, even moreso since it's clearly a made-up name.

It depends on your audience. Someone who knows Japanese will recognize it as a non-word, whereas someone who doesn't know Japanese will just see asian characters they don't understand. If your target demographic is the latter, it doesn't make any difference what kanji you use.

 

DranoK

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27 Apr 2004

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• 1 Apr 2006

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• #7

Cool, thanks again for your help. One last question (I'm taking advantage of your generosity!):

If a Japanese speaker saw it as a made-up word, how would he try to pronounce it?

Thanks again ^^;

 

nice gaijin

Resident Realist

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Donor

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8 Aug 2005

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• 1 Apr 2006

• #8

probably onyomi, so boushin most likely.

 

DranoK

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27 Apr 2004

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• 1 Apr 2006

• Thread starter
• #9

Yay! I guessed right ^^;