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^I totally agree. Question : according to Japanese textbooks and Japanese TV channels that teach English says "幸せ" means happy. I think it means happiness instead of happy though, which one is correct?

Either one. Japanese have no strict divide between nouns and adjectives. It depends on how you use it.
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Question : according to Japanese textbooks and Japanese TV channels that teach English says "幸せ" means happy. I think it means happiness instead of happy though, which one is correct?

It depends on whether you're talking nouns or adjectives (in the textbook in question).

 

Strictly speaking 幸せ by itself does mean happiness, but if you attach な after, it turns into happy if you translate it.

 

幸せな人 - Happy person

これは幸せ - This is happiness (more often translated as bliss but either is valid)

 

If you're talking adjectives, 幸せ is a na adjective and means "Happy", but if you're talking nouns, 幸せ means "Happiness".

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I talked about this in the past, and yes maybe it is because I'm learning japanese, but I prefer literal translations because I don't like it when someone changes the meaning of what I'm reading, for example and this is the most common one, the word "ううん" translated as "don't please" "はい" as "yes sir coming right up" I know that "hai" or "uun" can mean something more than a simple "no" or "yes" (context context context :P ) but I think it's up to the reader to get that meaning as he/she wants to, everything depends on the context and if the reader is smart he/she will get it without any help.

Depending on context, I have translated はい as "Yes," "Yes, sir/ma'am," "Here," "Present," "Thank you," "I'm sorry?" and, of course, "No." Each of those words is the correct term to use in some situation; blanketly translating the whole bunch as "yes" would have been a disservice (and, in cases where はい means "no," simply incorrect).

Japanese and English are not similar languages. There are very few 1-to-1 mappings from one language to the other, if any. Remember that your target audience is people who don't know Japanese. Demanding they understand the intricacies of how, say, Japanese negative questions work is foolish.

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I talked about this in the past, and yes maybe it is because I'm learning japanese, but I prefer literal translations because I don't like it when someone changes the meaning of what I'm reading, for example and this is the most common one, the word "ううん" translated as "don't please" "はい" as "yes sir coming right up" I know that "hai" or "uun" can mean something more than a simple "no" or "yes" (context context context :P ) but I think it's up to the reader to get that meaning as he/she wants to, everything depends on the context and if the reader is smart he/she will get it without any help.

 

Except the reader will get the wrong meaning almost all of the time if you translate 1-1. 

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Some meta talk going on here, need some help in making sure I got it right as well as how to translate the last couple sentences.

 

Context:

Girl A cheated on Girl B with another guy.

Girl B wants Girl A to prove her love is still genuine and untainted.

Girl B then proceeds to have Girl A undergo some crazy BDSM stuff to prove the guy she cheated on her with no longer "exists" in her heart.

 

And then this is the explanation for this "test" by girl B:

My attempt at translating it is below but I'm really not sure I got the intentions right.

 

ユナが私を愛してることを証明するのはきっと容易いことだわ
(I'm sure it's pretty simple for you to tell me you love me.)
 
でもねあなたの愛に一片の偽りも誤魔化しも「無い」ことを証明するのはとても大変なことなの
(But you know, if there's even a piece of falsehood in that love of yours and you're trying to deceive me, it would be really troublesome.)

 

私はあなたの愛を確かめたいんじゃない

(I need to be sure about your feelings.)

 

あなたの心にあの男が「居ない」ことを確かめたいのよ
(I have to confirm that guy doesn't exist anywhere inside your heart.)

 

例えばサンタクロースが「居る」ことを証明するのは簡単だわ

(For example, it's pretty simple to prove Santa Claus exists.)

 

空飛ぶ本物のサンタクロースをたった一人見つけ出せばいいんだもの

(All it takes is someone seeing a genuine Santa Claus flying in the sky.)

 

一方で宇宙人が「居ない」ことを不可能に近い

(On the other hand, it's almost impossible to prove aliens don't exist.)

 

なぜなら全宇宙のあらゆる星々にほんの少さな宇宙人すら居ない事を確認しんくてはならないのだから

(That's because the universe has millions of celestial bodies and it's impossible to confirm there aren't aliens in some of them.)

 

*some needless talking*

 

話を戻すと…要するに事実の不存在は証明が極めて難しいの

(Going back to what I was saying... The point is, it's more difficult to prove things don't exist than the opposite.)

 

いわゆる悪魔の証明というやつね

(One would call it "the proof of evil".) (I'm not sure if someone has a better expression for 悪魔の証明)

 

かといって不可能というわけでもない

(Alhough I say that, it's not completely impossible to do so.)

 

「在る」とする仮定が矛盾を内包するとさえ証明できたならば
(????)
 
それは「無い」ことを裏付けたことになる
(?????)
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I'd recommend using something like "stars and planets" instead of "heavenly bodies", which sounds stiff.

悪魔の証明 is "a/the devil's proof" in english.

 

The rest is basically explaining logic 101.

 

「在る」とする仮定が矛盾を内包するとさえ証明できたならば
If the hypothesis of existence can be shown to contain a contradiction...
 
それは「無い」ことを裏付けたことになる
Then it becomes a proof of non-existence.
 
And here:

空飛ぶ本物のサンタクロースをたった一人見つけ出せばいいんだもの

(All it takes is someone seeing a genuine Santa Claus flying in the sky.)

(...)

なぜなら全宇宙のあらゆる星々にほんの少さな宇宙人すら居ない事を確認しんくてはならないのだから

(That's because the universe has millions of celestial bodies and it's impossible to confirm there aren't aliens in some of them.)

 

I'd emphasize on the fact that "all it takes is to find a single Santa Claus flying in the sky" (maybe this sentence is a bit stiff but the logic point here is that you only need to exhibit one to prove your point). Just a suggestion though.

In the same way, in the second sentence the logic point is that "you would need to confirm that there isn't a single, tiny alien in any of them".

That's if you want to keep and make evident the "logic 101" aspect of this dialog.

 

 

(I refuse to ask why a BDSM yuri NTR thing is trying to explain you logic 101)

 

 

 

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Yeah I couldn't understand the way the conclusion was worded, too many fancy pantsy words.

 

Thanks for helping, I'll edit it around a bit to make sure the logic flows nicely.

Namely using the word "proof" in previous sentences because that's really what this is all about.

 

Dunno why "stars and planets" is too different from "celestial bodies" in here.

The reason I didn't use stars and planets was because, well, nothing lives on stars, so it bugged me to use that :P

 

 

(I refuse to ask why a BDSM yuri NTR thing is trying to explain you logic 101)

A wise choice.

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ユナが私を愛してることを証明するのはきっと容易いことだわ
(I'm sure it's pretty simple for you to tell me you love me.)
Should be "Proving that you love me is surely a simple task."

でもねあなたの愛に一片の偽りも誤魔化しも「無い」ことを証明するのはとても大変なことなの
(But you know, if there's even a piece of falsehood in that love of yours and you're trying to deceive me, it would be really troublesome.)

Should be "But you know, proving that your love contains not even a shred of falsehood or chicanery is terribly difficult."
 

私はあなたの愛を確かめたいんじゃない

(I need to be sure about your feelings.)

It's fine the way it is no it's not I'm dumb read what Pain posted below, but I like the repetition for emphasis here of 確かめたい that your translation loses.
 

あなたの心にあの男が「居ない」ことを確かめたいのよ
(I have to confirm that guy doesn't exist anywhere inside your heart.)
Perhaps more poetically, "that he is gone from your heart," but this is fine.

 

例えばサンタクロースが「居る」ことを証明するのは簡単だわ

(For example, it's pretty simple to prove Santa Claus exists.)

 

空飛ぶ本物のサンタクロースをたった一人見つけ出せばいいんだもの

(All it takes is someone seeing a genuine Santa Claus flying in the sky.)

I think you made a minor comprehension error here--the たった一人 refers to Santa Claus, not the viewer; i.e., "You just have to see one real Santa Claus." That said, it doesn't significantly impact the meaning of the sentence, and the literal translation sounds meh in English, so I'm fine with yours--I just thought I'd mention it.

 

一方で宇宙人が「居ない」ことを不可能に近い

(On the other hand, it's almost impossible to prove aliens don't exist.)

 

なぜなら全宇宙のあらゆる星々にほんの少さな宇宙人すら居ない事を確認しんくてはならないのだから

(That's because the universe has millions of celestial bodies and it's impossible to confirm there aren't aliens in some of them.)

Recall that 星 can simply mean "planet." I would simply translate it as such here. Amongst the stars, as Parallel Pain suggested, would work too. Other than that, I agree with Down.
 

 

*some needless talking*

 

話を戻すと…要するに事実の不存在は証明が極めて難しいの

(Going back to what I was saying... The point is, it's more difficult to prove things don't exist than the opposite.)

While fine, consider "It is nearly impossible to prove the nonexistence of something."

 

いわゆる悪魔の証明というやつね

(One would call it "the proof of evil".) (I'm not sure if someone has a better expression for 悪魔の証明)
As noted above "a devil's proof" is the standard translation. While not literal, perhaps consider "That's why it's called a Devil's Proof."
 

かといって不可能というわけでもない

(Alhough I say that, it's not completely impossible to do so.)

Snip out the "I say that" and "to do so" bits. They're unnecessarily verbose.

I agree with Down's translations of the next two lines, but if I may offer something a little more natural-sounding:
 

「在る」とする仮定が矛盾を内包するとさえ証明できたならば
If you assume something exists and can show that this produces a contradiction...
 
それは「無い」ことを裏付けたことになる
That supports its nonexistence.
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私はあなたの愛を確かめたいんじゃない

あなたの心にあの男が「居ない」ことを確かめたいのよ

It's actually "I don't". That's what ties into what she's saying.

I don't need to confirm your love for me.

I need to confirm that guy doesn't exist in your heart.

"I know you love me. I need to make sure you love *only* me" sort of thing. A very yandere thing to do.

And you can use the proper term

Probatio diabolica

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probatio_diabolica

Since it's probably supposed to be just as confusing in Japanese.

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Thanks to all the help on the previous post I made, it was a life saver :D

 

But I require your assistance once more.

This is after the torture really begins and Girl B is saying this as she watches Girl A suffer.

 

痛い?苦しい?ごめんね…ユナ…
(It hurts? It's painful? I'm sorry, Yuna...)
 
でもこうでもしないとあなたの言葉を受け取れられないの
(But if I don't do this, I can not accept your words)
 
恋人の心ひとつ信じきれない私自身の弱さと脆さ…
(????)
 
確かにこんな行いは
(????)
 
私の心こそが醜く愚かな悪魔だという証明だわ
(????)
 
Mostly troubled over the last 3 sentences as you can see.
 
Also this one small bit I'm not sure if I'm translating properly.
私は行動する
 
I interpreted it as "I take action myself", as in, "I don't let the events wrap me up, I take control of them" kinda way. The girl says this after giving a huge monologue about how she's different from her parents who divorced and won't let trivial matters end her romantic life like it happened with her family.
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恋人の心ひとつ信じきれない私自身の弱さと脆さ…
I'm so weak and brittle--I can't even believe in my lover's heart.
 
確かにこんな行いは
Certainly, this behavior...
 
私の心こそが醜く愚かな悪魔だという証明だわ
proves my very heart is an unsightly and foolish demon.

(I'm not in love with my word choice here [reusing the word "heart" bugs me to no end], but it should put you on the right track)

Anyways, I'm thinking the ひとつ in the first line's what threw you off? It basically means "not even one" here (so super literally, we get "I can't even trust one heart of my lover's," though obviously that's ugly in English).

As for the last line: putting it in future tense (i.e. "I will act" or "I will take action") is my gut instinct, but without seeing the exact context... *shrug*
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Yeah that helps a lot, I have a much clearer picture now, although I feel like 悪魔 might somehow be referring to the whole logical dilemma thing, or maybe I'm just overthinking.

 

For the last bit, "Will act" makes sense here imo.

A TL;DR version of the context (it's a really long ass monologue) is that her mother eloped with another man and her father committed suicide over it, they couldn't even solve their differences or talk things out and so their relationship was destroyed, but she is different from her parents, and the last line is なぜなら私は…行動する

When she says that last bit, we can see what she has done to her girlfriend in order to "correct" her and make sure the guy no longer "exists" in her heart.

So yeah, it makes sense that she "takes action", she will fix the situation by herself, with her own hands. 

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Translating loli dialogue is actually kind of hard.  Simple age-appropriate phrases in Japanese often don't have equivalents in English.

 

アナタは暇な大学生。

近所には大の仲良しさんの双子の美少女・西村ななみちゃん、このみちゃんが住んでいます。
ある日、ふたりのお母さんから夏休みの家庭教師をお願いされました。
 
「…ななみ、おにいちゃんとお勉強したいな」
「このみに勉強教えてくれる、おにいちゃん?」
 
もちろん、おにいちゃんは即答です。
「いいよ、僕でよければ喜んで」
 
「わぁ…よかった…」
「わぁーい、やったーっ!」
 
こうして、ななみちゃんとこのみちゃん、そしておにいちゃんの “いけない夏休み” が始まったのです。
Translated as:
 
You're a college student on vacation. Nearby live your best friend's beautiful twin girls Nanami and Konomi. One day their mother asks you to tutor the two of them.
 
"Nanami wants to study with onii-chan!"
"Could you help Konomi study, onii-chan?"
 
Of course, onii-chan immediately replies.
 
"Sure, I'd be happy to!"
 
"Thanks onii-chan!"
"Yay!"
 
And thus begins your summer "lessons" with Nanami and Konomi.

 

Maybe I need to spend more time around children...

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Are you looking for more suitable dialogue for the highlighted sections then or the whole lot? Is the first line from Nanami herself and the second from Konomi?

 


Maybe I need to spend more time around children...

 

 

If you're into loli eroge then I'd prefer you didn't. <_<

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Translating loli dialogue is actually kind of hard.  Simple age-appropriate phrases in Japanese often don't have equivalents in English.

 

Translated as:
 

 

Maybe I need to spend more time around children...

 

 

Mostly just depends on what you can fit in. A lot of little kids add -y and -ies onto words for example (Mom into Mommy, Dad into Daddy). Obviously you won't always be able to match things for every instance but then again there's times when you can find childish words to use for a word that might not have been in the JP. 

 

Are you looking for more suitable dialogue for the highlighted sections then? Is the first line from Nanami herself and the second from Konomi?

 

I'm assuming they're speaking in 3rd person, which is common for lolis. 

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I'm assuming they're speaking in 3rd person, which is common for lolis. 

 

Agreed, I'm just confirming. Native English speakers almost never do that which is why I'm asking, as getting rid of it in English makes things sound much more natural for kids. They'd just say "I".

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