What language (other than English) do you speak?

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah ... do you know if they have a "native name" for TFs?

"Chou robotto seimeitai" which translates as "Super robot life forms" - but the Transformers themselves are always called "Toransufoomaa."

[sanbot]

"Chou robotto seimeitai" which translates as "Super robot life forms" - but the Transformers themselves are always called "Toransufoomaa."

It seems so similar to the english way of saying transformer.

When watching the Headmaster series I've noticed a lot of the Japanese words sound very similar to their english equivalent.

Also why do they say toransufoom des? Whats the des bit about?

[GoktimusPrime]

It seems so similar to the english way of saying transformer.

That's because it is, but transliterated to Japanese phonetics. It's like saying that the English way of saying Karate (Kah-Rah-Tee) seems so similar to the Japanese way of saying it (Kah-Rah-Teh).

When watching the Headmaster series I've noticed a lot of the Japanese words sound very similar to their english equivalent.

Yeah, languages flog words off each other all the time. English is probably the worst of them! One of the original authors of the Oxford Dictionary once described the English language as a stalker that follows other languages down dark pathways and robs them for vocabulary and grammar.

Also why do they say toransufoom des? Whats the des bit about?

It's spelt "desu" (the 'u' is semi silent - a concept which doesn't exist in English (our phonemes are either voiced or silent but some Japanese phonemes are "semi-silent"). Basically it's like "is" "am" or "are."

Having said that, I don't recall ever hearing the word "desu" after "Toransufoomu"... unless it's "Toransufoomaa desu" which would mean "I/he/she/they is/am/are (a) Transformer(s)"

"Desu" is also an honourific form so it would be typically heard when one character is addressing someone of superior rank.

[sanbot]

Having said that, I don't recall ever hearing the word "desu" after "Toransufoomu"... unless it's "Toransufoomaa desu" which would mean "I/he/she/they is/am/are (a) Transformer(s)"

"Desu" is also an honourific form so it would be typically heard when one character is addressing someone of superior rank.

I'm pretty certain they say it when they are about to transform.

[GoktimusPrime]

Nah, they just say, "TORANSUFOOMU!" Unless they have a beast mode, in which case they'll say "HENSHIN!"

'Toransufoomu desu' means "I am a transform." Ich bin ein Transformer!

[Wheel-J]

"I am a transform."

- beast machines!

[GoktimusPrime]

What I mean is ... in Cantonese the translation is something like "shape changing metallic beings" or something like that. Actually the Katakana probably sounds better, hahah.

Yeah - my Super Link DVDs have the Kanji 変形金剛 which means something like, "Solid gold transformation." In Japanese it would be pronounced as へんけいきんごう (henkei kingou) and some Japanese fans are aware that this is the Chinese name for Transformers.

So how would you pronounce that in Chinese? I'm also curious to know how that would be pronounced in Korean, but I don't think anyone here speaks it.

I know from some of my Korean TF boxes and material that the Korean word for "Transformers" is 트랜스포머(tŭraensŭpomŏ).

[GoktimusPrime]

From here

Unless I'm mistaken the Latin word for "bread" is "panis" yet it appears as "panem" in the Lord's Prayer, thusly: Panem nostri quoti-dianum da nobis hodie; "Give us this day our daily bread."

Just out of curiosity, why? I know that certain words in Latin change according to the context in which they're used, as seen in this Monty Python Life of Brian scene. But I'm curious to know why panis becomes panem in that sentence.

Interestingly enough in the Japanese version of the Lord's Prayer this line is translated as 「我らの日用の糧を今日我らに与えたまえ」 ("warera no nichiyou no kate wo konnichi warera ni ataetamae") which means "Give us this day our daily food"; probably because bread isn't a staple food in Japan (possibly introduced to Japan by Spanish missionaries) and thus doesn't carry the same cultural connotation as it does in other cultures.

[Sam]

Yeah - my Super Link DVDs have the Kanji 変形金剛 which means something like, "Solid gold transformation." In Japanese it would be pronounced as へんけいきんごう (henkei kingou) and some Japanese fans are aware that this is the Chinese name for Transformers.

So how would you pronounce that in Chinese? I'm also curious to know how that would be pronounced in Korean, but I don't think anyone here speaks it.

In Cantonese, it's pronounced "Bin ying gum gong". In Mandarin, the pin yin would be "Bian xing jing gang".

From here

Unless I'm mistaken the Latin word for "bread" is "panis" yet it appears as "panem" in the Lord's Prayer, thusly: Panem nostri quoti-dianum da nobis hodie; "Give us this day our daily bread."

Just out of curiosity, why? I know that certain words in Latin change according to the context in which they're used, as seen in this Monty Python Life of Brian scene. But I'm curious to know why panis becomes panem in that sentence.

Interestingly enough in the Japanese version of the Lord's Prayer this line is translated as 「我らの日用の糧を今日我らに与えたまえ」 ("warera no nichiyou no kate wo konnichi warera ni ataetamae") which means "Give us this day our daily food"; probably because bread isn't a staple food in Japan (possibly introduced to Japan by Spanish missionaries) and thus doesn't carry the same cultural connotation as it does in other cultures.

I am not sure if it's because bread in the context of the Lord's Prayer is plural. Not knowing Latin, I can't say for certain that "panem" is plural form of bread. I believe the French word for bread "pain" is derived from the Latin (and Japanese, if I am not mistaken? [pan]).

The meaning of "bread" in the Lord's Prayer actually refers to food (and not specifically "bread"), so I think you're right that the Japanese version translated it as food since it's contextualised.

[GoktimusPrime]

French is a Romance language, so I'm sure that "pain" would be derived from Latin "panis." The Japanese word for bread comes from Spanish, which is "pan" (written as パン in JP). I think this is where English got the word pantry from (again using the word "bread" as a reference to common provisions and not only bread).