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Writing Chinese characters
vexxed13
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm designing a Munny based on the Shaolin monks and I think it'd be cool to write "Shaolin Monkey" in Chinese on his foot.
I have the characters for Shao (少), Lin (林), and Monkey (猴).
So as of now, it seems like it should be: 少 林 猴. But I have some basic questions about Chinese before I use it on him.
1. Is there are funnier way I can write this in Chinese? Like "Shaolin Monk E"?
2. In the Chinese language, do certain things lose meaning when put in combination like this? In this case, does 少 林 猴 make any kind of sense?
3. I think the symbol I have for Monkey is the astrological character. Is there a difference between astrological monkey symbol and the regular animal monkey symbol?
Thanks!
I have the characters for Shao (少), Lin (林), and Monkey (猴).
So as of now, it seems like it should be: 少 林 猴. But I have some basic questions about Chinese before I use it on him.
1. Is there are funnier way I can write this in Chinese? Like "Shaolin Monk E"?
2. In the Chinese language, do certain things lose meaning when put in combination like this? In this case, does 少 林 猴 make any kind of sense?
3. I think the symbol I have for Monkey is the astrological character. Is there a difference between astrological monkey symbol and the regular animal monkey symbol?
Thanks!
vexxed13 on
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2.) Nah, it's fine. At least if I were to read it, I'd be able to go, "Heh. Shaolin Monkey."
3.) No difference.
All I need is some Chinese comedians to help me with a funnier name like "Shaolin Monk E"? "Funky Shaolin Monkey Monk"?
(Bonus points: are there new traditional Chinese characters for newer words like "Funk" or "Internet"? Or would it just be a new combination of old symbols that would translate to something like "Fun time dance music" and "Electronic Web that is Worldwide"?)
according to google.
I'm under the impression that the "traditional" character set is used primarily in non-mainland China.
First, kanji puns are difficult and you may need a native speaker to help you. In Chinese type writing (or at least the kanji I studied) each character has a specific meaning, but not necessarily one pronunciation. So homonyms do exist -- several words with several different kanji combinations which sound the same -- and you can use that fact to create puns. Back when I was an anime hound (an interest which died off once I studied Japanese and befriended some actual Japanese people) I remember Ranma 1/2, season 1 episode 2 I think, Nabiki makes a pun on Tatewaki's name, two kanji combinations which can be read verbally the same way but one has a flattering meaning and one doesn't.
You're talking about a different kind of pun though -- shaolin plus SOMETHING, where that something means neither monk nor monkey but sounds like the English word monkey.
To produce the other kind of pun, shaolin plus monk plus SOMETHING which sounds like shaolin plus monkey, you'd have to find all possible readings for the character for 'monk' and for the character for 'monkey', and see if any of the possible readings overlap at all. If not, you're SOL. If so, consider finding a third character that makes the missing sounds necessary to create 'monkey' from 'monk'. A successful pun would probably be monk plus something brave and noble sounding, but when read alound sounds like 'monkey'.
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Wow. That's a really good point. Because "Monk E" when spoken in Chinese wouldn't combine to form the complete word "Monkey". Duh, that was a bad oversight.
Unfortunately, if I make the pun you're talking about, I'd need to speak Chinese in order to get the joke. And I certainly do not.
I still think something like "Funky Shaolin Monkey Monk" would still work, even if it doesn't rhyme in Chinese...
Fun time dance music? =P Hell yes.
"Hey, have you looked up the news on the fun time dance music yet?"
But actually, in my colloquial use of Mandarin, I'd just refer to the Internet using the same name as I'd refer to a general network, i.e.: 網絡
Oh my, or was it 網路? I don't know - it's one or the either.
It's the latter. :^:
Haha, thanks. I speak it, not write it. And badly at that.
Ok, so if something very common like Internet is just network, what about something more obscure to Chinese culture. For example again, "funk"?
Edit: Or Seng and Hou I think. Goddamn mandarin.
Yeah, you got it right in your edit. I'll second Octo's suggestion that you go with Cauld here - it's farkin' tough to pull off humorous phonetic puns in written Chinese, and that one is as good as any.
I'll ask my girlfriend later tonight though, just to pick her brain. Her grasp of Mandarin is much stronger than mine, especially in regards to the reading and writing stuff.
I should give credit where its due. My wife came up with that, and she's Chinese.
Whoa, when i put just "吼猴" into google, it told me it meant "Roar Monkey". That's almost enough to sell me right there.
I don't really understand how Shaolin Kung Fu gets condensed into two characters when "Shaolin" itself is two characters, but this is looking very much like the winner. Thanks guys!