Help with a Japanese Expression

bluemerlin · 07-29-2009, 04:37 AM

Greetings Folks :-)

Requesting a little help with the expression Tenjiku rōnin (天竺浪人?) which according to the entry in Wikipedia was employed by Hiraga Gennai as a pen name. Here Tenjiku, rather than the East Asian name of India, is as an inverted word for chikuden (逐電?), meaning "absconding".

My question is : if it is changed to "Tenjikuno Ronin" 天竺の浪人 does the play on the words also change to mean something else ?

Many Thanks & Regards,

kurikurime · 07-30-2009, 06:57 PM

inserting no would mean masterless samurai of india.
(or jobless person of india. haha)
dont understand the inverted word part not sure what you are asking does it apply to what you want as far as translation?

not really different than the original (India Ronin)
Japanese habitually simplify speech by polishing words to fit them more nicely together and abbreviating things (rimokon - remote control) but sometimes they even leave out the particle (like の）
not sure if this helps... not much difference is the answer to your question. heh. (sorry if i overexplained i did not intend to insult anyones intelligence.)

bluemerlin · 07-30-2009, 07:17 PM

Thank you so much for clearing that up .I really appreciate it and No you did not over explain it .:-)
I think maybe what they are referring to as the inverted part might be like a pun .

Would Tenjikuno Ronin also be taken to mean "A freelancer from India" ?

07-29-2009, 04:37 AM	#1 (permalink)
bluemerlin Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 6 bluemerlin is an unknown character at this point	Help with a Japanese Expression Greetings Folks :-) Requesting a little help with the expression Tenjiku rōnin (天竺浪人?) which according to the entry in Wikipedia was employed by Hiraga Gennai as a pen name. Here Tenjiku, rather than the East Asian name of India, is as an inverted word for chikuden (逐電?), meaning "absconding". My question is : if it is changed to "Tenjikuno Ronin" 天竺の浪人 does the play on the words also change to mean something else ? Many Thanks & Regards,
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07-30-2009, 06:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
kurikurime ippatsu shoubu Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dallas Posts: 6 kurikurime is an unknown character at this point	inserting no would mean masterless samurai of india. (or jobless person of india. haha) dont understand the inverted word part not sure what you are asking does it apply to what you want as far as translation? not really different than the original (India Ronin) Japanese habitually simplify speech by polishing words to fit them more nicely together and abbreviating things (rimokon - remote control) but sometimes they even leave out the particle (like の） not sure if this helps... not much difference is the answer to your question. heh. (sorry if i overexplained i did not intend to insult anyones intelligence.)
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07-30-2009, 07:17 PM	#3 (permalink)
bluemerlin Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 6 bluemerlin is an unknown character at this point	Thank you so much for clearing that up .I really appreciate it and No you did not over explain it .:-) I think maybe what they are referring to as the inverted part might be like a pun . Would Tenjikuno Ronin also be taken to mean "A freelancer from India" ?
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