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"Vanguard" in Japanese

highpitchsolo

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7 May 2014
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I'm trying to make a custom decal for my motorcycle that says "Vanguard", meaning front lines of battle. I have read several ways to say this word, such as Sakite, Sakigake, and Senku-sha, but "Sakite" is my favorite. I just like how it has three syllables. Do any of you know if this is a good choice for the word Vanguard, or does one of the others make more sense when used out of context? It will just be this one word as a decal.

Second question. I have seen Sakite written as "先手" in Kanji, "さ き て" in Hiragana, and I have tried to translate it to Katakana myself as "サ キ テ" (the three characters for the sounds sa ki te). Is this correct? I like the simplicity of Katakana, and think these characters are the best choice for a decal.

I just want to make sure I'm doing this correctly so I don't order the decal, and then some day some Japanese guy looks at my bike and goes "why does it say "before hand" on your motorcycle?" LMAO I want to make sure it translates properly.

Thank you!

sources:
Entry Details for 先手 [sakite] - Tanoshii Japanese
Meaning of さきて in Japanese | RomajiDesu Japanese dictionary
http://www.maikeru.cc/images/katakana_chart.jpg
 
さきて is indeed listed in dictionaries, but it's obsolete. The word 先手 is usually read せんて and means "the player who makes the first move in a game (e.g. chess)", not "front lines/vanguard", so those who see さきて would interpret it as a misread of 先手[せんて]. (I, a native Japanese speaker, actually thought so since I have never seen さきて.)
The most common translation of vanguard as front lines of battle is 先陣[せんじん] or 先鋒[せんぽう]. Note that there are many homonyms in Japanese and the meaning of a word is usually fixed by the kanji, i.e., the katakana words センジン and センポウ can also mean "battlefield/predecessor" and "tactics/the other party", respectively.
 
Toritoribe;738131 said:
さきて is indeed listed in dictionaries, but it's obsolete. The word 先手 is usually read せんて and means "the player who makes the first move in a game (e.g. chess)", not "front lines/vanguard", so those who see さきて would interpret it as a misread of 先手[せんて]. (I, a native Japanese speaker, actually thought so since I have never seen さきて.)
The most common translation of vanguard as front lines of battle is 先陣[せんじん] or 先鋒[せんぽう]. Note that there are many homonyms in Japanese and the meaning of a word is usually fixed by the kanji, i.e., the katakana words センジン and センポウ can also mean "battlefield/predecessor" and "tactics/the other party", respectively.
Thank you for your insight. You said the most common translation of vanguard (as in front lines) is 先陣 or 先鋒. How would those words be written out in Romaji and Katakana? Since I am trying to make a custom decal, I need it to be written in Katakana.. Most online decal makers don't use Kanji because there are so many characters.
 
One more thing, if you read the word サキテ, would you not come to the conclusion that it means vanguard/front lines/advanced guard etc? i don't need to be super nitpicky, but I still would like the decal to have some realism and logic behind the characters.
 
Thank you for your insight. You said the most common translation of vanguard (as in front lines) is 先陣 or 先鋒. How would those words be written out in Romanji and Katakana? Since I am trying to make a custom decal, I need it to be written in Katakana.. Most online decal makers don't use Kanji because there are so many characters
センジン[senjin] and センポウ[senpō], respectively, as I wrote in my previous post.

One more thing, if you read the word サキテ, would you not come to the conclusion that it means vanguard/front lines/advanced guard etc? i don't need to be super nitpicky, but I still would like the decal to have some realism and logic behind the characters.
those who see さきて(= サキテ/sakite) would interpret it as a misread of 先手[せんて(= センテ/sente)]. (I, a native Japanese speaker, actually thought so)


I prefer サキガケ[sakigake], by the way. This word is originated from "run ahead of the others". It's appropriate for a motorcycle, isn't it?
 
Toritoribe;738137 said:
センジン[senjin] and センポウ[senpō], respectively, as I wrote in my previous post.
I prefer サキガケ[sakigake], by the way. This word is originated from "run ahead of the others". It's appropriate for a motorcycle, isn't it?
Hah! Sakigake is pretty appropriate then, and makes sense in Katakana. I think I will go with that, thank you!
 
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