WattMag: Spooky November Issue

Manonood ka pa rin ba kahit na nagta-Tagalog si Naruto?

TITLE: Manonood ka pa rin ba kahit na nagta-Tagalog si Naruto?

 

TOPIC: Translation: Filipino – English – Japanese

 

WRITTEN BY: Ryanne Salve

After 15 years of existence, “Naruto,” the famous manga series by Japanese mangaka Kishimoto Masashi, will come to an end come November 10 of this year. The manga was also translated to different media, such as anime TV series and movies, game cards, and video games. Up to this day, “Naruto” has garnered a huge following that fans stay late at night for a “Naruto” series marathon, cosplay characters, squabble as to who the best ninja in the series is, create fanfictions out of the series, or memorize the lyrics of the OSTs. “Naruto” had also been reasons for some to pick up Japanese expressions and words.

And it is not only “Naruto” that had pulled anime fans into learning the Japanese expressions and the language itself. Other animes and J-doramas had also grown on us and had us wanting to know what a certain word means. By the way, does “Sakura” even mean anything, aside from it being the name of a “Naruto” character? Yes, it sure does! But can it be translated directly into the Filipino language? “Sakura,” which can be translated in English as “cherry tree,” is “puno ng seresa” in Filipino. See?

Speaking of learning the Japanese language or Nihongo, this article is going to tackle about Filipino to English to Japanese translations. Formal and polite speech will be utilized here. Learning polite Japanese is important, as you may meet and befriend a Japanese citizen, work for a Japanese boss, or even meet Kishimoto-san himself. In fact, learning the formal and polite way is a must in learning any language. However, some informal words may be injected in this article. Word of warning though, you can only use informalities with someone if both of you are within the comfortable level already. We will also be explaining some context in some Japanese expressions. We will also not bombard you with too much Nihongo lessons so that you will not get information overload.

There are also some notes regarding pronunciation. Please take note that “-su” is pronounced as “s,” such as “gozaimasu (gozaimas) and Ryunosuke (Ryunoske).

Ja, hajimemashou (So, let’s begin!)

Filipino: Lenggwaheng Hapon

English: Japanese language

Japanese: Nihongo / Nippongo

“Nihon” or “Nippon” is Japan, and “-go” is “language.”

Filipino: Magandang umaga po.

English: Good morning.

Japanese: Ohayou gozaimasu. (pronounced as “ohayo gozaimas.” )

Filipino: Magandang hapon po. / Magandang araw po. / Hello po.

English: Good afternoon. / Good day. / Hello.

Japanese: Konnichiwa.

Filipino: Magandang gabi po.