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Talk:Reisen

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Revision as of 18:53, 15 July 2014 by Tony64 (talk | contribs) (Tony64 moved page Talk:Reisen (Silent Sinner in Blue) to Talk:Rei'sen: Using the new spelling)
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reisen was with Watatsuki no Toyohime while she waited for Yukari Yakumo and to fall into a trap

Question

Is what's written above a fact? Or is it another vandalism by an anon? Deathsoul4 00:09, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

Hyphenated name

I'm a little curious, why is her name hyphenated all of a sudden? Tony64 (Talk/Con.) 20:28, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

It's done all by Prime32. I also think it should be turned back unless s/he makes proper explanation. --masuo64 Talk 04:54, 31 May 2014 (UTC)

Because 鈴仙 and レイセン are completely different in Japanese - レイセン is just an approximate pronounciation for a name from another language, while 鈴仙 is a proper Japanese name. Translating them as the same name leads to confusion between the two rabbits and obfuscates part of Udonge's backstory. I've seen plenty of people arguing that this is wrong and they should be differentiated in some way, but not doing anything because they couldn't agree on how. I figured something was better than nothing, and that it basically came down to one of three options:

  • 鈴仙 = Reisen, レイセン = REISEN. This is pretty popular in light novel and VN translations (e.g. Tohno Shiki and Tohno SHIKI in Tsukihime). But no one writes things like that in real life, and fans often miss the reason for the capitalisation and leave it out (meaning it does little to stop confusion).
  • 鈴仙 = Reisen, レイセン = Raysen/Reighsen/some other variant spelling. Likely to be mispronounced, or receive backlash for not looking Japanese.
  • 鈴仙 = Reisen, レイセン = Rei-Sen. Maintains Japanese phonics while still looking somewhat exotic, as レイセン does.

"Rei-Sen" is still close enough to "Reisen" that you could still understand references to the old spelling from context, so it seemed like the best option available. --Prime32 (talk) 21:02, 31 May 2014 (UTC)

Okay, I see your point, that does clear up why there needs to be a change. I wouldn't count on the former two options, based on the same reasons mentioned. The latter, however, I'm not certain about, but I'm certainly not against it. I'm not sure if it's the right thing to do on capitalising the "sen" because I'd see that as an "hyphenated first name", e.g. "John-Paul", if I'm not looking at it as a Japanese name. Although, even I'll admit I'm not that good with how romaji should be constructed.
However, if I could throw in another suggestion, that would be "Rei'sen" with the use of an apostrophe. The apostrophe separates letters or syllables that may have ambiguity in a word (one example being the Len'en Project). I thought it'd fit nicely with the ambiguity we've got here, although I'm not certain if this is the best option for everyone; compare "Reisen" (鈴仙) with "Rei'sen" (レイセン). Tony64 (Talk/Con.) 03:12, 1 June 2014 (UTC)
The use of apostrophe is normally only used in Japanese to disambiguate the ん (n) kana from な, に, ぬ, ね, の (na, ni, nu, ne, no), such as Len'en in your previous example so that people won't confuse it for Lenen (レンエン, not レネン). Or Kin'iro and Sanzen'in. That said, it does look more aesthetically pleasing than hyphenating and capitalizing the second syllable. - Kiefmaster99 (talk) 04:21, 1 June 2014 (UTC)
There is a strong need for two distinct spelling of the two moon rabbits, I understand. But honestly speaking, the hyphenated name almost always reminds me of Korean name — like Kim Jong-un or Ban Ki-moon. Sometimes for Chinese name — it's a shame I can't remember nothing but Chun-li. This hyphen is not in the official orthography, but very broadly used by far more frequently than official one. This sign in Korean works the same as the apostrophe in Japanese like above. And the hyphen is used quite less in Japanese, unless they roughly write and express "bunsetsu" or a hunch of distinct words with an unofficial sign, like "watashi matte-masu" (I'm waiting) or "nana-ban de" (No.7, please). This is obviously different from the Korean usage. If you know it and feel it's of no importance, I suppose the hyphenated name is one of good choices; the katakana is also used for modern usage when we transcribe (want to mimic) the sound. The sound, I say, cannot be understood in their language... like the noises (bow-wow, splash, etc.) and the foreign tongues (remember all European names is written in katakana). And the hyphenated name in Roman alphabet isn't, according to the point above, Japanese name. Anyway, maybe there isn't the best solution. --masuo64 Talk 07:04, 1 June 2014 (UTC)
Hyphens being unusual in romanised Japanese names is exactly why I went with them - to preserve that レイセン looks unusual and isn't really Japanese. Incidentally, Kasen has a similar issue with her real name and alias being spelled differently; I like the idea of her alias being romanised as Ka-Sen, precisely because it goes with the Chinese image she tries to maintain. --Prime32 (talk) 14:31, 1 June 2014 (UTC)
You know, on second thoughts I'm starting to warm up to the apostrophe, especially if Kasen ever gets hyphenated (since using hyphens for both would imply an association that doesn't exist), but I think it would work better as Re'Isen - it looks more alien, like the kind of name you'd see on an elf, a demon, or, well, an alien. --Prime32 (talk) 01:13, 2 June 2014 (UTC)
What about "Rei Sen" with a space? Murasaki (talk) 16:27, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

lol I forgot about this. Anyway, from what I've read here, the apostrophe seems to be the most liked(?) We can always list alternative spellings on the infobox (and of course we'll need to explain these spellings under the name section). Also, I wouldn't count on using "Re'Isen", only because I'm basing it on the rules of romanising. I'm also not keen on "Rei Sen" with a space because "Sen" would then become a surname. If there's no comments, then I'll (or someone else, of course :) change it to "Rei'sen" on the page, then eventually standardise it thruout the wiki. Tony64 (Talk/Con.) 17:47, 30 June 2014 (UTC)