What do ''kasa" and "kasaku" mean in Kanji?

Freek · 28 Feb 2018

Hi there!

I am looking for a name for an umbrella brand and I was thinking of building it around the words "kasa" and "kasaku". Both seem to have multiple meanings, it would be great if someone could tell me the closest translations for these words?

Thanks a lot in advance!

Cheers,

Freek

OoTmaster · 28 Feb 2018

The meaning is going to depend on the kanji of the word. 傘 (kasa) is used for umbrellas. 佳作 (kasaku) is used for good work. Unless you mean fictional or fabricated then it's 仮作 (kasaku). The only ones likely to know the difference are going to be native speakers or second language speakers. They likely wouldn't make an instant connection if you didn't use kanji.

Mike Cash · 28 Feb 2018

三笠 es su 傘

Freek · 28 Feb 2018

OoTmaster said:
The meaning is going to depend on the kanji of the word. 傘 (kasa) is used for umbrellas. 佳作 (kasaku) is used for good work. Unless you mean fictional or fabricated then it's 仮作 (kasaku). The only ones likely to know the difference are going to be native speakers or second language speakers. They likely wouldn't make an instant connection if you didn't use kanji.

Thanks for your help! I was indeed looking for the translations umbrella and good work, I think these two could go pretty well together. Do you know in what sentence you would use the last one, 佳作 (kasaku)?

Freek · 28 Feb 2018

Mike Cash said:
三笠 es su 傘

Hi Mike, thanks for your help! What would "kasa" and "kasaku" mean to you in English?

Mike Cash · 28 Feb 2018

Freek said:
Hi Mike, thanks for your help! What would "kasa" and "kasaku" mean to you in English?

Same thing they mean to me in Japanese, I guess.

Toritoribe · 28 Feb 2018

佳作 is mostly used for artistic works, for instance movies, novels, music, paintings, pottery, etc., not tools such like umbrellas.

As OoTmaster-san pointed out, the kanji determines the meaning of the word. "Kasa kasaku" even can mean "I make only a few umbrellas" without kanji. I recommend using a brand name with kanji, not just romaji.

In addition, how the words are connected (the word order or the position of the possessive particle の) is also the key. It would be better to make a word in Japanese first and then change it to romaji (e.g. 極上傘 Gokujōgasa "excellent umbrellas"), not just simply to connect those words.

Freek · 1 Mar 2018

Toritoribe said:
佳作 is mostly used for artistic works, for instance movies, novels, music, paintings, pottery, etc., not tools such like umbrellas.

As OoTmaster-san pointed out, the kanji determines the meaning of the word. "Kasa kasaku" even can mean "I make only a few umbrellas" without kanji. I recommend using a brand name with kanji, not just romaji.

In addition, how the words are connected (the word order or the position of the possessive particle の) is also the key. It would be better to make a word in Japanese first and then change it to romaji (e.g. 極上傘 Gokujōgasa "excellent umbrellas"), not just simply to connect those words.

Thanks a lot for the explanation. I wasn't thinking of connecting kasa and kasaku next to each other as one name but more in the sense that the romanji "kasaku" already has both words in it, so I would only be using kasaku. Who says an umbrella can't be a piece of art? ;-)

Toritoribe · 1 Mar 2018

A single common word "kasaku" doesn't contain "kasa", i.e., "umbrella" in it. It's actually made from "ka (佳 "good", 寡 "only a few" or 仮 "provisional")" + "saku (作 "to make", "work")", thus, "kasaku" has nothing to do with umbrella. However, if I, a native Japanese speaker, see an umbrella brand's name "Kasaku", I would interpret it as a coined word 傘工 (umbrella craftsman) since 工 "ku" can be a suffix to indicate some jobs such like 石工 ishiku ("stane" + "craftsman" = stonemason) or 大工 daiku (carpenter). Note that 傘工 doesn't have a meaning "good work" at all.

I'm not going to offend you with my words, but even for artistic traditional wagasa like the picture below, 佳作 is never used for them in Japanese. You seem to misunderstand the meaning of 佳作 in the first place. It's different from "good work" in general you would be thinking about (佳作 connotes a nuance that this is not the best, for instance), unlike 良品 or the like.

What do ''kasa" and "kasaku" mean in Kanji?

Freek

Registered

OoTmaster

先輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Freek

Registered

Freek

Registered

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

Freek

Registered

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

Similar threads