desirecampbell wrote:BUR became BA-, CK became KKU. Those parts didn't change, so why should they be anything other than BUR and CK after romanization?
Because these things happen? Because it's ultimately up to the author? ^^;
BA-DAKKU could have been transliterated from 'Barduck' - but it wasn't. It wasn't transliterated from anything.
Maybe not. But maybe whoever came up with that name had something in mind for the alphabet spelling. Or maybe Toriyama would have a preference for a particular spelling.
My point being that any spelling other than the direct romanization is a speculation in one way or another, and therefore can't be considered "true". Which is a bit of an issue when you're making a Wiki, in my opinion. ^^;
You're still looking at it like we don't know that the word comes from Burdock.
No, I'm just saying we don't know how altered the spelling should be, if at all. That would be up to Toriyama.
What sound does ダ make? Is it 'da' or 'du'?
More like "da", I guess...
But again, you could compare that with the "L" / "R" thing. What sound does the Japanese "R" make? Is it "R" or "L"?
It's just a character that's been inserted into the name. It's not based on anything
Maybe not. But then again...
I don't understand your system.
Er... I didn't explain it. ^^;
Why are you intent on making the process so difficult?
I'm not trying to make the process difficult, I'm just pointing out that any "system" will ultimately rely on personal preference and assumptions, at least to some degree. Choices that won't necessarily be shared by all.
If all that is correct, then the name is, logically, 'Burdack".
But logic has little to do with that. In the end, it's still a made-up imaginary name. Toriyama could decide to spell it "Voerdacku", if he felt like it, and that would be that.
I know you don't like that one, but I'm afraid it's kinda relevant: "Bulma". All the logic in the world can't get you there. ^^;
And I understand that you're trying to come up with what would be the most logical alphabet spelling according to you, but some people will still disagree. Not necessarily because they found a flaw in your reasoning, but maybe because, for example, they trust official merchandise (
possibly sanctioned by Toriyama) over fan guesswork (definitely
not sanctioned by Toriyama) as logical and methodical as it may be. That's another way to look at it. And neither side will be able to prove the other "wrong".
Using the original word's spelling is the least speculatory thing I can do.
Thing is, by doing so, you also made the decision to consider the official spelling "Barduck" as wrong, which is in itself pretty speculatory. Again, that's another way to look at it. ^^;
We know that the name comes from 'burdock'. Using the spelling of the word it's derived from is not speculatory.
If you're going to guess, using the original word as a reference seems like a good idea, yeah. But in the end, you're still going to guess. Saying "I think we should change
this part like
that" is speculatory. Even if you try to keep the changes to a minimum, to keep things as simple as possible, it's still speculatory. Maybe it
shouldn't look that much like the original word. Maybe it
shouldn't be that simple.
The letters vegeta form a word when placed next to each other. Exactly like katakana makes words that don't exist in the Japanese language, but have a definite pronunciation
Er... No. There's a difference. ^^;
Kana indicate the pronunciation, so of course you're going to be able to tell how your made-up word is to be pronounced.
On the other hand, you can't necessarily tell, with a made-up word written in alphabet. Heck, even with existing words... "Tomato"? ^^;
'Vegeta' has a long 'e' sound on the 'ge' syllable because of the 'a's placement. The addition of more letters can make a completely different sound.
Wait a minute... If the word "vegeta" doesn't exist by itself in the English language, and additional letters change things anyway (according to you)... how can you tell how "vegeta" should be pronounced? Based on what? Do you have examples of existing words that include "vegeta" and aren't longer than "vegeta"? ^_^;
I know you mentioned the "A"s placement, but that's a bit short an explanation for me...
Take the words 'hine' and 'mac' for instance. You can put 'mac' before many words and names without changing the sounds of the parts: mac + intosh = macintosh, mac - okay, I can't think of any more

but putting mac with hine makes a whole new sound: machine.
Erm... Yeah, but that's because the roots of both words are totally different. ^^;
Dictionary.com lists two different pronunciations for the word "vegetable": "vej-tuh-" and "vej-i-tuh-". While the former would indeed seem to justify a short "ji" in kana, the latter is the same as in "vegetal" or "vegetarian". And both "vegetal" and "vegetarians" are spelled with a short "ji", in kana.
In other words, the long "ji" in Vegeta's name is odd, in Japanese. It's an alteration of the original word... that isn't reflected in the alphabet spelling.
That is weird. The first syllable in vegetable needs to be broken up in katakana.
Well, if you think it's weird, I guess that means you use the former pronunciation ("vej-tuh-"). ^^;
BE JI TA BU RU? that 'JI' should probably be a 'JA'. Is there a 'JA' sound?
"Ja"??
(but yes, there is a "ja" sound)
In 'BEJI-TA' the name gained a long vowel sound to the 'e' in Vegeta - but there's already a long 'e' sound in Vegeta.
Considering it's not an existing word, I'm still not sure you can say that, sorry. ^^;
the romanization of BI-DERU would be Videl, but with a long 'i'. But, again, the word already has a long 'i' sound
So now there's also a "videl" word, in English? ^_^;;
Is there really a reason to pronounce the "vid" part differently than, say, the ones in "evidence" or "video" ("bideo" with a
short "bi" in kana, by the way)?
so nothing can be done.
"Veedel"?
If you think your deductions will always be correct, you get points for confidence, but... ^^;
I think they're right - but I'm willing to admit they're wrong, if they are.
The thing is, we just can't prove them right or wrong anyway. ^^;