Need native Japanese speaker to help with VN translation

Hi, Shion here. We're working away on the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Onikakushi sound novel translation project, but we could use a little help.

I was wondering if there were any native Japanese speakers on this board who might have time to help us out with some undocumented idioms and cultural references that we've had trouble finding information about, as well as maybe cross-checking some bits. Just to help us get Onikakushi finished up to be the best it can be. Oh, and it'd be a bonus if you know about mahjongg, since some talk about that comes up during Detective Ooishi's break-time, and I'm _really_ not an expert ^^;;. Please PM us if you would be willing to help us out. Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu!

Shion (Sonozaki Futago-tachi)

[zalas]

Have you considered simply posting the question to this forum and letting the forum regulars sort it out? You could perhaps also ask 2ch as well, assuming it's an obscure idiom, etc.

[luckyovermind]

The thing with Mahjong is that even if you know what it means, how are you going to translate it? :p You will have to go into the rules of that game to write a full explaination XD

[Agilis]

It's not like you particularly have anything to hide, so for things you're not sure of, you can either toss it at all of us publicly, or just hit all the translators that hang out here privately. If you ask people you know have a decent reputation, you probably can't do any worse than you're doign now.

Hello all you longtime Japanese VN translators, here's a few phrases we're having trouble with in Higurashi (stupid onomatopoeias):

「さくさく置いてく。@きりきり置いてく。」

Couldn't find "kiri-kiri" in any of our dictionaries or online resources, and we weren't sure how "saku-saku" (crunchy, crisp) worked in context. We rendered the line as "I'd leave you high and dry".
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よっこらしょ (sound made when picking up something heavy - is there a usual way to render this?)
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今度は一転、おろおろわたわたする。

We couldn't find "wata-wata suru". Currently rendered as "Now she'd become a flustered, nervous wreck."
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それをぼすんとレナに押し付けた。

We couldn't find "bosun-to" but guessed it might be "immediately"; rendered as "I immediately thrust it towards Rena."


実は三段腹なんだ。モチモチでタプタプなんだぞ。

By context the second sentence probably has something to do with overeating, but we couldn't find "mochi-mochi" or "tapu-tapu" anywhere. Currently rendered as "All that nibbling adds up."
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Also, if anyone knows a good resource for looking up double-sound and "-to" adverbs, we'd love to know about it!

Thanks in advance!

Mion (Sonozaki Futago-tachi)

[zalas]

See if this helps:
http://www.nihongoresources.com/dict...matopoeia.html

Thanks! That found us all but よっこらしょ, ぼすんと, モチモチ & タプタプ. Still not sure how the sakusaku (crunchy) and kirikiri (hastily) work in their context, though.

Good reference to bookmark anyway.

Thanks,
Mion (Sonozaki Futago-tachi)

[GreatSaintLouis]

Death to Japanese onomatopoeia. Nothing hinders the understanding of a foreign language more than asininely constructed sounds for concepts that normally don't have a sound associated with them. At one point I finally just started asking people, "Okay, so what's that mean in real Japanese?" when they would use onomatopoeia with no logical basis. They seemed confused until I explained to them that the phrase they just uttered corresponds with no sound on this earth. Almost every time I got this sort of nervous giggle and an explanation using a proper adjective, but not before I felt a little bit like the kid pointing out the emperor is butt-naked.

I won't even start on gairaigo.

yea, the japanese "sound" effects are extremely frustrating I think to any project, and even more so to people encountering them for the first time. Makes you almost want to puke when you releaze that some words like "neko" were actually made from the old sound effect for "meow" was tacked on to -ko simply due to their cuteness. "datte wanko da mon!" but yea, I find the sound effects for things that don't even make sounds are the worst ones.

[zalas]

Could たぷたぷ refer to a full stomach or a big belly?
Oh, and for the etymology of ぬこ^H^Hねこ...
http://www.necozanmai.com/zatsugaku/...22neko%22.html

[Asceai]

Oh, is THAT where wanko comes from? wan + ko? Jeez.. :<

Originally Posted by Asceai

Oh, is THAT where wanko comes from? wan + ko? Jeez.. :<

O.o just to make sure, wanko is a dog, not a cat...

@Zalas: Huh, well my explanation is the one they had featured on a quiz program of sorts last night. So at the very least, the professor they interviewed said so. and considering the presence of words like nyanko, wanko, piyoko, etc, makes just as much sense to me.

Now you see why we were asking for a native speaker ;-)

And it looks like we've found one :-D

Originally Posted by zalas

Could たぷたぷ refer to a full stomach or a big belly?

Yup, big belly. And "mochi-mochi" = "mochi(dough)-like", which makes sense paired with "tapu-tapu".

As for these silent "sound effects", apparently there's two different named categories of words in Japanese for the sounds vs. non-sounds, so they seem to recognize the difference. ;-) Call the non-sounds "mimesis" to make it clearer, like how zalas' link suggests.

We're both somewhat interested in languages and linguistics, so we don't get annoyed by stuff like this as much unless it's undocumented - there's plenty of weirder constructions around!

Mion (Sonozaki Futago-tachi)

[Enerccio]

Originally Posted by kouryuu

O.o just to make sure, wanko is a dog, not a cat...

Wasn't that obvious?

[pbsaffran]

There are few resources on the subjet of onomatopoeia , which, coincidentally enough, was going to be my major until I discovered ancient japanese.
Yokkorasho is a "word" which ppl use when they try to carry a great weight. Old people use this then they try to stand up - lifting their body seems to them as if they strained to lift a weight. It's the same as yoisho, basically.
Bosun is the sound stuff does when it's being thrust. I would translate it as "boldly" or "roughly" in that case.
sakusaku is used when you do something quick, sakusaku shigoto wo konasu for example, "he's breezing through the workload". Kirikiri is the same idea, but faster, and it's not used in the same contexts as sakusaku.
And for the record, taputapu describes the adding layers of skin and mochi mochi is more about the "stretched out" feeling of the skin. A big,fat belly has a proeminent steretched out part, then other parts consisting of some layers of... skin, I guess. And if you've ever... seen a blowjob before, you will probably know what other parts have "adding layers" and "stretched out areas".