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Translation from a manga

Lee Shane

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2 Aug 2014
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I'm unsure of a translation I made of a long question from a manga. The context is some girls performing a mock trial against a boy who was secretly filming them.

被告, 衛宮士郎は
衛宮邸の主の特権を悪用し,
同居人のセイバー, 遠坂凛を
盗撮し逐一記録していたことを
認めますか?

Here's what I got:
Defendent, Emiya Shirou, do you admit to abusing the main privilege of the Emiya residence in that you were secretly filming and recording Saber's housemate, Rin Tohsaka, in detail?

If you could tell me what I translated correctly and/or incorrectly, I would appreciate it. Thanks!
 
被告, 衛宮士郎は
衛宮邸の主の特権を悪用し,
同居人のセイバー, 遠坂凛を
盗撮し逐一記録していたことを
認めますか?

衛宮邸の主の得権 You have "main privilege", but nushi in this case refers to the owner of the house.

privilege(s) of the master of the house
privilege(s) of the owner
privilege(s) of the householder

同居人のセイバー = セイバー refers Rin herself. So, "secretly filming Saber housemate Rin Tohsaka".

Other than that it looks OK.
 
If it were おも it probably would have been followed by a な or に, not の.

I believe おも is typically used as an adjective/adverb. The の would indicate it is the noun ぬし

Ain't Japanese fun?
 
If it were おも it probably would have been followed by a な or に, not の.

I believe おも is typically used as an adjective/adverb. The の would indicate it is the noun ぬし

Ain't Japanese fun?

Thanks for the tips!

And yes, Japanese is fun (until it's not XD).
 
Just a correction; the reading of 主 is あるじ in 衛宮邸の主.

In the structure 同居人のセイバー, the word/phrase preceding の expresses an attribute of the word/phrase following の.
e.g.
首相の安倍晋三
首都の東京
大学生の長男

This structure "AのB" explains that "BはAである", therefore it can be replace with "AであるB".
e.g.
セイバーは同居人である --> 同居人であるセイバー Saber, who is a housemate (of Shirō) / a (Shirō's) housemate, Saver
安倍晋三は首相である --> 首相である安倍晋三
東京は首都である --> 首都である東京
長男は大学生である --> 大学生である長男
 
the word/phrase preceding の expresses an attribute of the word/phrase following の.

Oh, okay. That makes sense. So, when given "A の B," is there a way to know when "B" is an attribute of "A" rather than a possession? Well, if it's something like "少年のボール," you know the "の" Is possessive. However, if you see something like the previous example "同居人のセイバー," how do you know which one it is if you don't understand the context completely? Does it just take practice?
 
Oh, okay. That makes sense. So, when given "A の B," is there a way to know when "B" is an attribute of "A" rather than a possession? Well, if it's something like "少年のボール," you know the "の" Is possessive. However, if you see something like the previous example "同居人のセイバー," how do you know which one it is if you don't understand the context completely? Does it just take practice?
Good question. Actually, the context is the key factor. In fact, 同居人のセイバー can mean "housemate's saber". Notice that it's saber, not Saber. セイバー is not interpreted as a proper noun in this case. In other words, の can't be the possession marker if that's 同居人の遠坂凛.
As for an example 大学生の長男 in my previous post, it can mean both "(someone's) oldest son who is a collage student" and "a collage student's oldest son". Only the context can determine it.
 
Notice that it's saber, not Saber. セイバー is not interpreted as a proper noun in this case. In other words, の can't be the possession marker if that's 同居人の遠坂凛

I think in this case, since Saber is identifying a particular class of being, it is capitalized. If it were just talking about a sword (a saber) it wouldn't be capitalized, but in the context of the manga where Saber is a unique class (as well as a character name) it is capitalized.

Rin Tohsaka
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saber_(Fate/stay_night)

Edit: Ah, I see what you are saying. The context of the manga is what tells you that this particular sentence refers to Rin the Saber, but that without this context the phrase could plausibly mean "housemate's saber". Apologies for the added layer of confusion.
 
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Ah, "Saber vs saber" might not be a good example. Sorry if that's confusing. I just wanted to point out that when セイバー is used as a general noun such like servant(使い魔), and doesn't refer to a specific person/character, の can be the possessive marker in 同居人のセイバー.
 
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