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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ Pronunciation question

Posted by: HalloranElder Jan 15 2008, 06:29 AM

Ok then,

How do you pronounce Shiawase? As far as I am aware it's the Japanese word for "Happiness", and I believe it's pronounced as She-a-wa-say.

Am I close enough?

Enjoy
Random

Posted by: Fortune Jan 15 2008, 06:36 AM

QUOTE (HalloranElder)

Am I close enough?

Close enough for me.

Posted by: Kagetenshi Jan 15 2008, 06:45 AM

ã?—ã?‚ã‚?ã?›ã€‚

~J, utterly unhelpful

Edit: ok, I'm being helpful now: there's a set of audio files most of the way down the page http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese/cover.htmlâ€”queue up "si.wav", "a.wav", "wa.wav", and "se.wav", play them all together, and then try to edit out the gaps with your mind. There's more to the pronunciation, but that gets into intonation, which I am sadly not particularly proficient at. Maybe if we have a more advanced learner or a native speaker around.

The word means, according to EDICT, "happiness, good fortune, luck, blessing".

Posted by: Adarael Jan 16 2008, 05:33 AM

Shiawase nara te o tatako...
"If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands."

I learned the Japanese version of that song in school. I laughed and laughed every time it came up, because I imagined Shiawase employees greeting eachother in darkened rooms by solemnly clapping.

Posted by: Stahlseele Jan 16 2008, 10:45 AM

bwahahaahaha
that's golden ^^

Posted by: Fortune Jan 16 2008, 10:50 AM

I'm just going to have to put that into my game.

I can just see the entire employee base rising in place for the Corporate pledge, and then singing and clapping and stamping their feet together, getting into the spirit of the company song.

Posted by: Naysayer Jan 16 2008, 07:46 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrnHY2KcEwM

Posted by: Adarael Jan 16 2008, 08:24 PM

Oh my god. I think I just gave myself epilepsy. Yes, just like that, only slightly less surreal.
Miyavi makes anything more surreal, though.

Posted by: Sir_Psycho Jan 17 2008, 12:32 AM

Oh? She-a-wa-say? I've always said Shy-a-wase (Like waste without the T).

I must say the former sounds much less sinister, which I expect from such a nuclear powered and insidious family-oriented corporation.

Posted by: Whipstitch Jan 17 2008, 12:53 AM

QUOTE (Adarael)

Japan makes anything more surreal, though.

Fixed!

Posted by: Kagetenshi Jan 17 2008, 01:01 AM

QUOTE (Sir_Psycho)

On the other hand, the latter would most likely mean "gratitude lined kimono", which has much less potential for sinister interpretation than "happiness".

~J

Posted by: Sir_Psycho Jan 17 2008, 01:26 AM

That definitely has connotations of a bunraku doll with low standards of hygiene, though.

Edit: OH... Did I just say doll doll?

Posted by: Adarael Jan 18 2008, 07:25 PM

I believe you specifically stated "music figure doll" or perhaps "art music doll", owing to the fact that "bunraku" is composed of æ–‡ã€€and æ¥½, which are "literature, (visible) figures, art" and "comfort, music" respectively.
I know that doesn't literally make much sense, but that's because bunraku isn't the original name of the art form. The original name roughly translates to "Puppet chanting" (äººå½¢æµ„ç‘ ç’ƒ).

Bunraku is some strange stuff. So is Noh, when you get down to it. They have some...unusual roots.

Posted by: mfb Jan 18 2008, 10:24 PM

i know it's supposed to be pronounced "shee-ah-wah-say", or something similar, but i usually have a hard time remembering that. my natural inclination is to pronounce is "shy-uh-ways", as someone else mentioned above.