| 1. | (3 posts) | Acorn Repulic Kicks the Bucket |
| 2. | (14 posts) | Ä or Not? |
We looked at 44 posts by 27 different contributors.
Light week, but on goes MML Traffic.
The cool Acorn Republic shop is kaput according to Deborah Goldsmith, "stopped by Harajuku to visit Donguri Kyouwakoku (Acorn Republic), the Studio Ghibli goods store in Harajuku. It's been replaced by an upscale clothing store. I asked the proprietress what happened, and she said they went out of business. Sigh..."
Scott Ryan lamented, "<sniff> That was a neat little shop.
Any word on the branch down in Kamakura?
Ryoko Toyama reported, "According to their website, the Kamakura shop is still there, as well as the one at Tokyo Tower.
For the list of shops, see http://www.benelic.com/shop_d.html (in Japanese)"
The previous week's "Nausicaa in Spanish" discussion spilled over, with Jorge writing about the all important ä, "Probably that is an example of what they are not allowed to touch. Besides, what is the need for a double "a" in any other language? I do not think English speakers are given a hint about a special pronounciation thanks to the second "a". Or are they? "
Michael Wojcik wrote, "In theory, the a-with-dieresis is an indication to English speakers that the "aa" of Nausicaa isn't a dipthong but two separate vowel sounds, and they should use the "'a-schwa" pronunciation. However, I'm not sure how many Anglophone readers recognize this convention, which isn't often used in contemporary English writing"
Todd Ramsey added, "considering that nausicaa comes from the ancient greek, the dieresis is indispensable. it is appropriate to use the dieresis to separate distinct syllables unless the intention is to pronounce the 'ahh' in nausicaa as a long 'a' instead of the 'ahh ahh' which is intended - in the greek at least."
Jorge replied, "I cannot see how a double aa can be pronounced differently than just a long "a" (unless you talk in a jerky way). In any case, what's the whole point of using that romaji adaptation if the Japanese katakana reads Naushika (or viceversa)?"
Hang on if your not a Linguistics major (I'm starting to get a headache), "Michael responded, You are indeed supposed to "talk in a jerky way", as you put it - there's a break between the two final vowels. Without checking an authoritive source I'm not sure whether "now-si-cah-uh" or "now-si-cay-uh" is preferred. . . Robert Fitzgerald's translation of the _Odyssey_, which uses transliterated Greek names rather than their Latinized versins, but Fitzgerald gives her name simply as "Nausikaa" with no diacritical marks. . . When the _Nausicaa_ manga was translated, they had to choose between using the name as traditionally transliterated from the Greek, or employing a transliteration from the Japanese pronunciation. The former would be more familiar to Anglophone readers; the latter would duplicate the Japanese pronunciation. They chose the former. Some translaters prefer the latter. It's a perennial issue in translation."
Julio Gea-Banacloche chimed in with, "in Spanish, too, the dieresis is used to split things that would otherwise be diphthongs; almost exclusively in poetry, since otherwise the rules for the formation of diphthongs in Spanish are quite simple and have no exceptions. . . Hence a double "a" in Spanish is automatically NOT a diphthong; the dieresis is unnecessary and, in fact, orthographically incorrect. To verify this, of course, one should only have to look up the way Nausicaa's name is spelled in any Spanish translation of Homer's Odyssey (unfortunately I don't happen to have one right here!)."
Whew! Another thread took to task trying to figure out the various terms used in Nausicaa.
Glen Stark is organizing a Studio Ghibli film showing in Zurich. Nausicaa.net down. . . then back up! More details on the "Sen" trailer from Ryoko Toyama. Stefano Marone reports "Conan" on DVD, in Italy. Steve Chiavo spots "Laputa" in the US! In the form of 3"-4" models. Tom Wilkes sees a "Totoro" Film Comics translation problem.
Game over, man! Game over!