Hi Peachie
Are you wanting Japanese (modern ideogram or trad ideogram) or the orig Chinese characters. (Japanese characters have their roots in the Chinese language).
I am asking as I have several friends who are fluent in Cantonese and could do the translations, but I have been prevously advised that not all names can translate properly into Japanese/Chinese because the characters pronounciation (kun yomi or on yomi) does not allow it.
I can ask them to draw the Chinese characters for you if you want and see if they translate.
Alternatively http://www.saiga-jp.com this is a good site as teaches you how to draw the character in Japanese as well as their variations.
Take Care
Matthew
I really am not sure about whther Japanese or Chinese…it’s a memorial tattoo for my grandparents…
The names are Marvin, Dosha, Arthur and Elaine…
I’ve seen tattoos where two words are “mingled”…kinda drawn together…if this is at all possible I’d like Marvin and Dosah together and Arthur and Elaine together…
and thank you SO much…;)
Love, Peace and Chicken Grease
Rather than Kanji, which are are the only tattoo imagery more played out than fairies, butterflies, and skulls, why not get a larger piece with imagery that means something to you with their names worked into the design? I saw this one memorial piece that was flowing vines with flowers with the names worked into the vine work. Yes, vines are also a clechie’, but it’s gotta be better than those blocky, ugly kanji characters that EVERYONE has.
Love. Peace. Metallica.
That’s another idea Knighthawk…but I’m not sure I want this to be a big intricate tattoo. I like the simplicity of kanji and the “pkain old black” lettering. I know that LOTS of people have kanji tattos…and this may not be the end all idea either. I night try to get it in another font…I just don’t want plain english text. A friend suggested gaelic…another suggested hebrew…and I really do want it to be simple. Neither set of my grandparents (that’s the names) had fancy material objects and weren’t flashy people…but the loved each other, life and me. I might also get a Triquetra in the center with the name enclircling it…but again, I’m not absolutely set as of yet.
Hi Peachie
I will contact my friends and see if they will do it for you and get the charcaters scanned in.
With regards to Hebrew I speak (some) and my wife is fluent (israeli) those names will be very tough to translate properly as all hebrew names are bibilical or they just use an english approximation anyhow (it looks really weird when they write it if not a direct translation).
If you do want Hebrew characters I can ask my wife to write it as my writing is like 3 year olds as I just tend to speak it.
Take care
Matthew
Hi peachiepoo,
Couple of things I’d like to point out.
– Kanji do have their roots in Chinese as Sherav writes. In fact the “kan” in “kanji” is actually “han” ( translated as “China” ) phoneticized for easier pronunciation for Japanse speakers. “ji” means “character” so you get “Chinese character” or “character from China”. But Chinese characters are not “Chinese Kanji” which I often see posted to this forum. “Chinese Kanji” is a misnomer.
– You can get non-Japanese names transcribed (not translated) which will map the sound of English words to the best matching Japanese kanji. These are, however, in most cases, “false substitute characters” and have no symbolic meaning linked to the word e.g. 亜米利加 = 亜 = A + 米 = ME + 利 = RI + 加 = KA = AMERICA
The actual meanings of these characaters have nothing to do with America but together they’re one example of mapped sounds.
亜 = indicating a low oxidation state
米 = rice
利 = advantage; benefit; profit; interest
加 = addition; increase;
For non-Japanese i.e. foreign words, names, ( e.g. Marvin, Dosha, Arthur and Elaine ) place names, technical terms etc. the Japanese will use the katakana sound syllabary (with no symbolic meanings) rather than kanji. Examples: Alaska =アラスカ / Kevin = ケビン Chance = チャンス However, if you really prefer kanji vs. katakana you can work around the false substitute and map your English names to kanji that have very attractive translated meanings linked to your names. It just takes more time and the characters must be researched and selected carefully. Katakana is very fast.
Feel free to PM me at: tattootranslation@gmail.com if you’d like to discuss this more.
You know its just an opinion right?
This is a crap idea!
You cannot write western names in kanji they do not translate its a simple as that.
If you want a memorial you would be better off getting a word or phrase that meant something to each of them
Like there favourite flower or something.
Why not just pick a couple Kanji Symbols that you think look cool, have them tattooed on your body and tell people when they ask that they are your grandparents. If you or anyone around you can’t read it, it doesn’t matter what it says.
By the way, what is wrong with just plain english text? You can do some fancy font and (wait for it) people can read it.
In my lame opinion, Kanji is a bad idea for someone that is not Asian. Don’t get me wrong, I love Asian design tats, but the Kanji is over used and meaningless.
From “Big Bang Theroy” : Why do have the Chinese symbol for Chicken Soup tattooed on you ass?
Be double sure the symbol means what you think it means.
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