Katabatic–Yea, I learned a new word today.

As far as doing translations, I can’t think of anything I would rather not do. Though some people seem to enjoy the work.

Very funny.

Thanks for the link. I laughed out loud.

It sounds like the “wind” meaning of yamaarashi is the same as a “katabatic wind” – like the mistral (“master wind”) that blows off the mountains through Provencal, France. That leaves the porcupine/hedgehog meanings untouched, though the mistral does roll off the mountain like a trillion balled porcupines.

I am pleased that I do not make my living as a translator.

http://www.mlcsmith.com/humor/read_this/

Yamaarashi: it could mean a porcupine, or a hedgehog, if written with one set of Kanji, and with another set of kanji it means a strong (very, very strong even) wind blowing in (or down from) a mountain (or mountains), not really a storm, but it has come to encompass that meaning as well as a number of other meanings. It is also used as a name for a particular move in Judo. If I am not mistaken. Don’t have the dictionary with me and no time to attempt a Safire. I think what you say about translating amongst langauges of the same family and between languages of different families is very true. I am not a particularly fan of translations. A necessary evil at best. When reading a translation, especially between languages of different families, you should be very skeptical. It would be a great mistake, say, to read Tale of Genji in English and presume you have read the Tale of Genji. Translators, especially these days, are often ideologically driven and incompetent.

Sandy P,

Wasn’t Shogun some t.v. series or book? It seems to me that it was.

Don’t be impressed. My “Mountain Storm” translation came via google. Apparently it is a technique in various martial arts, and martial artists like to show off their translation skills.

Still, a translation via google is better than no translation at all. Maybe.

I’m wandering off-topic now (was I ever on?), but I wonder if translations between related languages work better than those between unrelated (or more distantly related) ones. It seems that both words and the shapes of the concepts behind them might differ more between Japanese and English than between Spanish and Italian, for example. That would complicate translation, I imagine.

Don’t forget “Shogun.”

Hi!