JapanForum.com  


Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
(#1 (permalink))
Old
mahala's Avatar
mahala (Offline)
New to JF
 
Posts: 3
Join Date: Jul 2010
Please help me translate this. - 07-27-2010, 09:43 PM

I need to know what this says. I found it on the bottom of an antique marble statue of an asian woman reading. Any help would be appreciated.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg 2010-07-27 14.26.27.jpg (65.9 KB, 52 views)
File Type: jpg 2010-07-27 14.28.07.jpg (131.9 KB, 52 views)
Reply With Quote
(#2 (permalink))
Old
KyleGoetz's Avatar
KyleGoetz (Offline)
Attorney at Flaw
 
Posts: 2,965
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Texas
07-28-2010, 02:48 AM

It says 捷比. Based on my searching through Japanese dictionaries online and searching Japanese Wikipedia and Google, I don't think it's Japanese.

But if you wanted some sort of quasi-translation based completely on the guess that it is Japanese (which I do not think it is): "victory ratio" or something. Google Translate gives it "Czechoslovakia ratio" from Chinese to English.
Reply With Quote
(#3 (permalink))
Old
mahala's Avatar
mahala (Offline)
New to JF
 
Posts: 3
Join Date: Jul 2010
07-28-2010, 06:17 AM

Kyle, I appreciate your research! So interesting. Ill scope out the chinese translation. Thanks for typing the characters out for me.

peace and blessings
Reply With Quote
(#4 (permalink))
Old
ryuurui's Avatar
ryuurui (Offline)
Japanese calligrapher
 
Posts: 880
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Tokyo
07-28-2010, 10:54 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by mahala View Post
Kyle, I appreciate your research! So interesting. Ill scope out the chinese translation. Thanks for typing the characters out for me.

peace and blessings
It does not look like 雅語印 as it is not in 篆書、also if it was a correctly made seal it should read from left to right, thus 比捷. It may be a name, but I agree with Kyle, doubtful it is Japlandese.
Also I am not 100% sure it is 捷.

In my opinion it's a person's name as in Georges Bizet, in Chinese 乔治(George)·比捷(Bizet)

It is quite often that Chinese characters are used phonetically for creating foreign names, so they can sound in, or cool. Right...

Anyways, in Chinese 比 stands for ....er, like in greater and the 捷 means victory. 比 has similar meaning in both Chinese and Japanese, meaning to compare. So in short, it could mean comparable to victory. Then again, another meaning of 比 in Chinese is gesture, so it also could mean a gesture of victory, thus V-sign. Make sure that you V-sign with the right side of your hand towards Brits lol.

Last edited by ryuurui : 07-28-2010 at 11:20 PM.
Reply With Quote
(#5 (permalink))
Old
KyleGoetz's Avatar
KyleGoetz (Offline)
Attorney at Flaw
 
Posts: 2,965
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Texas
07-28-2010, 11:23 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by ryuurui View Post
It does not look like 雅語印 as it is not in 篆書、also if it was a correctly made seal it should read from left to right, thus 比捷. It may be a name, but I agree with Kyle, doubtful it is Japlandese.
Also I am not 100% sure it is 捷.

In my opinion it's a person's name as in Georges Bizet, in Chinese 乔治(George)·比捷(Bizet)

It is quite often that Chinese characters are used phonetically for creating foreign names, so they can sound in, or cool. Right...

Anyways, in Chinese 比 stands for ....er, like in greater and the 捷 means victory. 比 has similar meaning in both Chinese and Japanese, meaning to compare. So in short, it could mean comparable to victory. Then again, another meaning of 比 in Chinese is gesture, so it also could mean a gesture of victory, thus V-sign. Make sure that you V-sign with the right side of your hand towards Brits lol.
Interesting. So long as Georges Bizet isn't renamed "Bidet," I guess it's all OK.
Reply With Quote
(#6 (permalink))
Old
ryuurui's Avatar
ryuurui (Offline)
Japanese calligrapher
 
Posts: 880
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Tokyo
07-29-2010, 12:08 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by KyleGoetz View Post
Interesting. So long as Georges Bizet isn't renamed "Bidet," I guess it's all OK.
LMAO nice one.
Reply With Quote
(#7 (permalink))
Old
mahala's Avatar
mahala (Offline)
New to JF
 
Posts: 3
Join Date: Jul 2010
07-29-2010, 01:01 AM

This is great! Thank you.

I respect eastern culture very much. Victory- Indeed a word worth discussing in a philosophical forum.I would interpret the statue as representing knowledge as a sign of victory.

I'm glad I have not yet chosen to get a cool tattoo of my name in another language after a night of drinking.
Reply With Quote
(#8 (permalink))
Old
ryuurui's Avatar
ryuurui (Offline)
Japanese calligrapher
 
Posts: 880
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Tokyo
07-29-2010, 10:24 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by mahala View Post
This is great! Thank you.
I'm glad I have not yet chosen to get a cool tattoo of my name in another language after a night of drinking.
Oh we have seen many of these. In case you'll need a calligraphy for a tattoo I think I can help.
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




Copyright 2003-2006 Virtual Japan.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.0.0 RC6