The Unofficial Transliteration, Transcription and Translation Thread.

[Desassina]

Dragon Ball has been known for a few puns that range from foreign words that were adapted in terms of sound to the written form whose symbols had to be changed for their language. I say only a few puns due to the fact that some communities insist on using transliterations for potential translated material based on how the former were transcribed. For future reference, I'm using transliteration with italics, the original characters in bold, underlined transcriptions, and the English translation as is. Foreign words will appear under double quotes.

You may remember bejitto coming from bejita and kakarotto, a transliteration of Japanese characters fused like their entities, transcribed as Vegetto and translated into Vegito for the English audience (it makes sense, because unlike Vegeta, we read Vegetto with an open -e). Kakarot is supposed to be a unique name based on the vegetable kyarotto, sharing the kya- syllable with kyabetsu, which in turn became Cabba's name kyabe, or Cabbe due to its transcription. Doubling the Ka- in Kakarot allowed some languages to use kyarotto's French transcription "calotte" (type of hat) and repeat Ca- as cha- in Portuguese "Cachalote". Chi-Chi is "Quica" in Portugal, a short word for the feminine name "Francisca", read with the sound of Ki for Chi... You get the idea.

The process is simple: can you read this? メルス. I bet that most of us can't, so the group of characters needs to be transliterated (have its symbols changed for readability), which in this case is merusu, and this is when puns begin to make sense to Japanese people (surume is a type of sea animal), or require an additional step called transcription (to rewrite these words according to a dialect). It could be Merus in this case. The last step comes when you want to keep, adapt or make a pun of your own in your language, by translating words into something that makes cultural sense. Mels or Squid are both valid, the first one being Catalan "mels" (English honey), and the other a Japanese meaning of surume. What would I stick to? Why is this in the fan created works? These two questions answer each other by suggesting that we come up with names or puns that follow this process. The old seen in a new light, the new like they had always existed (instant classics), and the current working ones too. Have fun!

Examples used this far:

1. Goku's Saiyan name (in Portuguese too).
   1. Kakarot
      • translated from Cacarrot
      • transcribed from kakarotto
      • transliterated from カカロット
   2. Cachalote
      • translated from Calotte
      • transcribed from kyarotto
      • transliterated from キャロット
2. Vegeta and his fusion.
   1. Vegeta
      • translated from Vegeta
      • transcribed from bejita
      • transliterated from ベジータ
   2. Vegito
      • translated from Vegetto
      • transcribed from bejitto
      • transliterated from ベジット
3. Cabba and his vegetable.
   1. Cabba
      • translated from Cabbe
      • transcribed from kyabe
      • transliterated from キャベ
   2. Cabbage
      • translated from Cabbetz
      • transcribed from kyabetsu
      • transliterated from キャベツ
4. Mels and Chi-Chi's Portuguese name.
   1. Mels
      • translated from Merus
      • transcribed from merusu
      • transliterated from メルス
   2. Quica
      • translated from Kika
      • transcribed from kika
      • transliterated from キカ

And here's an original creation that I'm sure to have read before and a reinterpretation of one that exists:

1. A Freeza relative in cryogenic sleep.
   • Cryogen
     • translated from Cryogene
     • transcribed from kuraiojin
     • transliterated from クライオ人
2. The Old Norse Battle Guard.
   • Hildegard
     • translated from Hildegarn
     • transcribed from hirudegaan
     • transliterated from ヒルデガーン

I hope that this has been fun until now. I'm sorry about the transliterations, whether they're accurate or not, because that is the part that I'm not good at. Help is welcomed. Note, I am from Portugal, hence the examples in my language.

[Desassina]

I'm sorry for the double post, but I've made a huge update in terms of organization, and included a few more examples. I just wanted to bring to attention a means to participate by following the format. You don't need to manipulate lists though. It's quite taxing.

[Grimlock]

(it makes sense, because unlike Vegeta, we read Vegetto with an open -e).

Shouldn't the "GE" in both Vegeta and Vegetto be pronounced/read the same way? In writing, it's the words themselves fusing. Neither Kakarot nor Vegeta has letter "I", so I don't think it makes sense at all.

Same to Kafla. In which for some reason, it was opted for "Kefla". Where does that "E" even come from?

[VegettoEX]

I'm having a hard time parsing what it is you're actually asking, and this might be based more on what your original post was pre-editing, but Hildegarn/Hirudegarn is simply based on the "in shock" sound ("gaaaan!") assistant producer Sei'ichi Hiruta made when he saw the design. Throw the two together, and it's "hiruta-gaan" with a syllable change into "hirudegaan".

[Desassina]

Vegetto and Vegeta differ in the last syllable. It influences how we read the prior one. Whenever I read Vegeta's 'tuh', the second syllable containing 'e' becomes 'ee', and the first one 'eh'. In Vegetto's case, the first syllable 'e' is almost silent, like 'object' in case it used a 'v', and the second syllable 'e' opens up with an 'eh', ending with 'toe/tow' instead of 'toh' like kakarotto and bejitto. The last pronunciation is the correct one.

It also depends on the country: Portugal should have sticked to Vegetto, because Vegeta uses an open E, but Broly's movie went with Vegito.

I'm having a hard time parsing what it is you're actually asking, and this might be based more on what your original post was pre-editing, but Hildegarn/Hirudegarn is simply based on the "in shock" sound ("gaaaan!") assistant producer Sei'ichi Hiruta made when he saw the design. Throw the two together, and it's "hiruta-gaan" with a syllable change into "hirudegaan".

I've read that one. It's a nice story, one whose origin I won't debate, hence why I decided to adapt Hirudegaan's as a fan construct. This thread is not just for documentation. We may come up with our own. This is an exercise in word convertion with some meaning adaptation.

Same to Kafla. In which for some reason, it was opted for "Kefla". Where does that "E" even come from?

Kefla is the unfortunate case of being translated (or assumed as the English written form) from kefura, because the latter makes sense with keru and karifura, but the English name does not with Kale and Caulifla. Kafla was seen in a few sources, but there are similar words that make it an open 'ah' instead of 'hey'. Her name would have been better as Kayfla translated from Kaefula and transcribed from keifura. You know, to respect the part that comes from Kale, as 'keil'.