What exactly does "Saiya" mean?

[Dominator]

I've been watching the Toonami-dubbed DBZ movies (as they are currently being called), while everyone flames these for being "crap", I've noticed that this dub has improved a lot, and is a bit more accurate (using Japanese names and pronouncing Mr. Satan how his name is pronounced).

But I've noticed the Saiyans are called "Space Warriors" (despite that they use the words Saiya in some of their film titles). But what does Saiya mean? I've heard it used elsewhere (Saint Saiya). Does it mean space?

[Gamingdevil]

If I'm not mistaking it's an anagram of the Japanese word for vegetable, but I can't remember what that word is as I don't speak Japanese

[VegettoEX]

In terms of DragonBall, it doesn't mean anything. It's the word ヤサイ yasai ("vegetable") with its syllables rearranged. Throw a 人 jin on the end of it, and you've got サイヤ人.

I know of no actual saiya word in Japanese.

[Domon]

I've heard it used elsewhere (Saint Saiya). Does it mean space?

Saint Seiya, actually.

[gallagtor]

Note that the pronunciation of the first part of the word Saiya should be "sai" like the weapon, as opposed to "say" like Funimation's Saiyan.

[askani son]

Note that the pronunciation of the first part of the word Saiya should be "sai" like the weapon, as opposed to "say" like Funimation's Saiyan.

You know, I have known that for about 2 years now and I still call them "Say" -ans. It is just that I was introduced to DBZ through the FUNi dub so I just go by what I heard first.
This gets a bit wierd concerning the manga though, I read the Namek saga before I saw it so I would pronounce names like Burter "Butta" and Guldo "Gurd". I must say that I prefere these names too

[desirecampbell]

This is a little off topic, but has anyone else noticed that the Kannassians (the inhabitaints of planet Kannasa) look like fish-people?

And that 'kannasa' rearranged is 'sakanna', which means fish?

I've just never seen or heard it anywhere, and wondered if anyone else noticed.




Of course I might just be wrong about everything

[The S]

this is a little off topic, but has anyone else noticed that the kannassians (th inhabitaints of planet kannasa) look like fish-people?

and that kannasa rearranged is 'sakanna', which means fish?

i've just never seen or heard it anywhere, and wondered if anyone else noticed.

I never noticed that... that's cool. Usually I'm good at figuring those out (like TMNT's Mortu --> Utrom).

And note to anyone who doesn't know, "-jin" is added to the end to mean "people of", and is basically like the "-ese" in Japanese or Chinese, "-n" in American or Korean, et cetera.

[VegettoEX]

this is a little off topic, but has anyone else noticed that the kannassians (th inhabitaints of planet kannasa) look like fish-people?

and that kannasa rearranged is 'sakanna', which means fish?

i've just never seen or heard it anywhere, and wondered if anyone else noticed.




of course i might just be wrong about everything

Yes, that's the pun.

However, please re-read the forum rules that you agreed to upon sign-up. You're expected to type properly on this forum. Thank you.

And note to anyone who doesn't know, "-jin" is added to the end to mean "people of", and is basically like the "-ese" in Japanese or Chinese, "-n" in American or Korean, et cetera.

人 jin (which depending on the context, can also be read as nin [as in 人造人間 jinzôningen] or hito) literally means "person". When appended to the name of a race, it can be thought of to somewhat infer that they are a "person of..." said race, but that's not exactly what it means. That's just the context of how it's being used, in that case. But yeah, that's pretty much an accurate way to think of it in this particular situation.

[Dayspring]

So... I'm a Canada-jin?

[desirecampbell]

...
However, please re-read the forum rules that you agreed to upon sign-up. You're expected to type properly on this forum. Thank you.
...

Oops, sorry. It was 1 am, I'm usually pretty good about grammer.

[The S]

人 jin (which depending on the context, can also be read as nin [as in 人造人間 jinzôningen] or hito) literally means "person". When appended to the name of a race, it can be thought of to somewhat infer that they are a "person of..." said race, but that's not exactly what it means. That's just the context of how it's being used, in that case. But yeah, that's pretty much an accurate way to think of it in this particular situation.

I thought that -jin looked like the kanji for hito... but my kanji is very rusty. Quick semi-related question (because of the mention of the jinzoningen)... what does the "gou" at the end of each Jinzoningen mean? The kanji looks similar to the "gou" for power, but like I said, my kanji sucks.

So... I'm a Canada-jin?

It would probably be Kanada-jin. Don't quote me on that, though. My list of peoples in Japanese language excludes Canada for some reason.

What also might be of interest to some, is -jin isn't always listed after people's countries. For example, "gaikoku" means foreign, and "gai-jin" (or, less commonly, "gaikoku-jin") means "foreigner". "Ma-jin" means demon or magical person.

[Eclipse]

What also might be of interest to some, is -jin isn't always listed after people's countries. For example, "gaikoku" means foreign, and "gai-jin" (or, less commonly, "gaikoku-jin") means "foreigner". "Ma-jin" means demon or magical person.

.....Wasn't "Ma" demon? I'm sure "Ma-jin" was something else entirely

[VegettoEX]

Quick semi-related question (because of the mention of the jinzoningen)... what does the "gou" at the end of each Jinzoningen mean? The kanji looks similar to the "gou" for power, but like I said, my kanji sucks.

The gô along with their numbers literally means the word "number", as in it's a number in a sequence of something.

人造人間18号 = jinzouningen juu-hachi gou = Artificial Human Number 18

I think I figured out which kanji you're referring to. It looks like its main reading is kyo (as used in benkyo which means "study"). It's 11 strokes, as compared to this one, which is only 5 strokes. Don't have the HTML code on hand for it, sorry.

[MyVisionity]

人 jin (which depending on the context, can also be read as nin [as in 人造人間 jinzôningen] or hito) literally means "person". When appended to the name of a race, it can be thought of to somewhat infer that they are a "person of..." said race, but that's not exactly what it means. That's just the context of how it's being used, in that case. But yeah, that's pretty much an accurate way to think of it in this particular situation.

I thought that -jin looked like the kanji for hito... but my kanji is very rusty.

That's right. The -jin kanji looks very similar to the one for "hito", but they're drawn slightly different.

.....Wasn't "Ma" demon? I'm sure "Ma-jin" was something else entirely

"Ma" is simply the word for demon or demonic, yes, but "Ma-jin" would mean "demonic persons/people", which would more specifically say "demon".

[Ash]

Jin and hito don't just look the same, they _are_ the same. Just have a different reading/pronouncation because of the usage. Something with on and kun readings, dunno the particulars, in Chinese it's always the same ^^;

[Dragon Fist]

I know from where does the races name really come. There are islands on the south of Japan called Saiyans. I think that is the real version. What do you thinks about it?

[desirecampbell]

I know from where does the races name really come. There are islands on the south of Japan called Saiyans. I think that is the real version. What do you thinks about it?

Um, I'm pretty sure 'Saiya' is just a rearanged 'yasai', but let's go to the big V on this one:

In terms of DragonBall, it doesn't mean anything. It's the word ヤサイ yasai ("vegetable") with its syllables rearranged. Throw a 人 jin on the end of it, and you've got サイヤ人.
I know of no actual saiya word in Japanese.

[Xyex]

Dragon Fist: Just letting you know, your avatar's too large, the maximum allowed here is 80 x 80.

[Daimao]

Jin and hito don't just look the same, they _are_ the same. Just have a different reading/pronouncation because of the usage. Something with on and kun readings, dunno the particulars, in Chinese it's always the same ^^;

Here are the particulars. Under "readings," the capitals are the On-yomi readings (those are the Chinese pronunciations), and the lower-case ones are the Kun-yomi readings (the Japanese-specific pronunciations).

The "Ma" in "Ma-jin" can mean either magic (ie, a dark, supernatural power), or demon (ie, a dark, supernatural being), if it helps to think of it that way.