Speech styles

[Fuujin]

VegettoEX closed what could be a very promising topic, so please don't kill me for restarting it.

Now, there are a couple of characters that have distinct speech styles in Polish translation. Note however that it's generally easier to show those differences in English than in Polish, so translators here have a harder time.

General Blue uses a lot of diminutives and phrases like "oh my!", generally speaking like a stereotyped homosexual. There's another character who uses this style - Reecome. Oh God... On a side note, I don't know if that was intended, but he also seemed pretty gay in the English dub, and especially in Budokai dub. "Hiiii!"

Chichi and her father use the dialect of south-western region, which has roots in "Goral" peoples language, who used to live in the moutains. It's considered pretty obscure now, and sounds like a village dialect.

Goku doesn't use a specific dialect, he just uses very simple grammar and a lot of slang. Basically he talks like a child.

Kamesennin uses speech that I can only describe as "cool". Also a lot of slang, but of a different type. More English phrases than other characters. It terms of language used, Grandpa Gohan fits much better to the "Wise Old Man" stereotype.

Trunks is just sickeningly polite.

Tenshinhan has a very poetic style of speech, with a lot of metaphores, and characteristic grammar. He uses more "normal" language during 22nd Budokai, where he's much more arrogant, but later switches to this style. Piccolo seems to use it also, but with more diversity - one moment he can use advanced vocabulary, the next he uses arrogant, colloquial speech.

Freeza is also a linguistic chameleon. At first he uses very snobish, overly polite style of a gentleman, but when angered he switches to words almost bordering on vulgarisms.

Vegeta in Saiyan Saga has very colloquial, punkish style, definitely not what you would expect from a prince. Later he seems to cool off a bit, and by the Majin Buu Saga he's much less vulgar.

Vegetto uses very arrogant, disrespectful language while not being as vulgar as Vegeta.

#16 has complex, emotionless pattern you would expect from an Android, however in a few instances he seems to use more childish language. Could be my imagination, though.

Freeza and Videl use "papa". WTF?

Fat Buu is very childish, not to the point of using baby-talk like in the dub, but nonetheless he uses language you would expect from a six-year old. It diminishes in his later incarnation, to the point of being almost nonexistant after he absorbs Piccolo. However you can still pick it up, escpecially when Buu's angered.

Goten and Trunks use child-speak, of course, however Trunks uses more slang and seems more mature. His speech just screams "mini-Vegeta".

Mr Popo is just Ooga Booga tribal. "Me know. Me be trained by Kami. Me very strong." Yeah, exactly.

I guess that's all that stand out. I'm really curious what Julian & Daimao have to say on the matter.

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

"Papa" and "Mama" are common in anime (and maybe with Japanese people in general).

Does anyone know if Freeza uses a lot of honorifics?
I know he refers to Zarbon and Dodoria (I'm basing this off of the Bardock Special) "Zarbon-san," and "Dodoria-san," and in the VIZ manga, he calls everyone "Mr."

Hmmm, seems odd for a bad guy >_<

[SaiyaJedi]

General Blue uses a lot of diminutives and phrases like "oh my!", generally speaking like a stereotyped homosexual. There's another character who uses this style - Reecome. Oh God... On a side note, I don't know if that was intended, but he also seemed pretty gay in the English dub, and especially in Budokai dub. "Hiiii!"

Blue definitely uses feminine speaking style (he refers to himself as "atashi" and uses the sentence particle "wa" with a straight face, both female mannerisms "masculine" men don't use). Don't remember about Recoom though.

Chichi and her father use the dialect of south-western region, which has roots in "Goral" peoples language, who used to live in the moutains. It's considered pretty obscure now, and sounds like a village dialect.

They'd definitely be classified as "hick" in the Japanese, though I don't know too much about localized accents. Chichi alters the vowels in some words (somewhat similar to Goku but more extensive), and uses "da" after everything. I suppose it could be a "village" type deal, but I dunno... Daimao would probably know better.

Goku doesn't use a specific dialect, he just uses very simple grammar and a lot of slang. Basically he talks like a child.

Goku speaks with what Daimao has said is close to the Tohoku dialect, although in some respects I think it's closer to Tokyo Japanese with some affects of the former. He refers to himself as "ora," uses "na" instead of "ne" as a sentence-particle, and alters the diphthongs "ai" and "ae" to "ee". All of these things are significantly reduced when he's being serious (especially as SSJ), though. He always uses the blunt, casual speaking style, but he's also not vulgar with it (for the most part).

Kamesennin uses speech that I can only describe as "cool". Also a lot of slang, but of a different type. More English phrases than other characters. It terms of language used, Grandpa Gohan fits much better to the "Wise Old Man" stereotype.

Kame-Sen'nin, Piccolo-Daimaô, Kami-sama, Kaiô-sama, and Karin-sama all speak with what's generally characterized as an "old man" speaking style. They use "washi" instead of "watashi," "ja" instead of "da" (and frequently un-contract the usual "ja" back to "de wa"), "oru" instead of "iru," and some nonstandard pronunciations for certain other words. However, Kame-Sen'nin does have some of the "hip" in him, and will spice up his language with loanwords in certain situations. Kami and Piccolo the elder both speak in a very dignified style, though of course their subject matter is quite different (and they drop some of the more "doddering" elements here and there). Karin is similar, although I can't remember whether or not he made cat-noises as well. Kaiô does both the "doddering" and "dignified" thing at different times, with the addition of... really, really bad puns.

Trunks is just sickeningly polite.

I wouldn't say "sickeningly," but he's definitely polite to those he meets in the past. I chalk it up more to him being a nice guy (and a mama's boy) than anything else.

Tenshinhan has a very poetic style of speech, with a lot of metaphores, and characteristic grammar. He uses more "normal" language during 22nd Budokai, where he's much more arrogant, but later switches to this style. Piccolo seems to use it also, but with more diversity - one moment he can use advanced vocabulary, the next he uses arrogant, colloquial speech.

I haven't really paid that much attention to how he speaks. Heh.

Freeza is also a linguistic chameleon. At first he uses very snobish, overly polite style of a gentleman, but when angered he switches to words almost bordering on vulgarisms.

The same way in Japanese. He starts out very humble and polite, but once he's pissed off, that all goes out the window.

Vegeta in Saiyan Saga has very colloquial, punkish style, definitely not what you would expect from a prince. Later he seems to cool off a bit, and by the Majin Buu Saga he's much less vulgar.

Vegeta's pretty well disrespectful of most people, saving a special contempt for "Kakarrot," towards whom he always adds the verb "yagaru." It's hard to classify it as "vulgar" per se, but he's certainly not "nice" to anyone.

Vegetto uses very arrogant, disrespectful language while not being as vulgar as Vegeta.

Haven't really noticed anything particularly unusual about Vegetto's speaking style.

#16 has complex, emotionless pattern you would expect from an Android, however in a few instances he seems to use more childish language. Could be my imagination, though.

I'd need to go back and look.

Freeza and Videl use "papa". WTF?

It's their thing. They do that in Japanese too.

Fat Buu is very childish, not to the point of using baby-talk like in the dub, but nonetheless he uses language you would expect from a six-year old. It diminishes in his later incarnation, to the point of being almost nonexistant after he absorbs Piccolo. However you can still pick it up, escpecially when Buu's angered.

Fat Buu uses very simple sentences and short words. It diminishes as he goes through his different phases, and as you say, it's much different after he absorbs Piccolo. The original Buu is, of course, non-verbal (though eardrum-shatteringly vocal).

Goten and Trunks use child-speak, of course, however Trunks uses more slang and seems more mature. His speech just screams "mini-Vegeta".

Heh... not too much of an argument there (but even Chibi-Trunks is nicer than Vegeta). Goten also talks differently from Gohan as a child, but it's hard for me to place exactly what it is.

Mr Popo is just Ooga Booga tribal. "Me know. Me be trained by Kami. Me very strong." Yeah, exactly.

Mr. Popo speaks in the third person, and uses humble-form when speaking to Kami-sama. Other than that, it's largely unremarkable.

So... I don't suppose Daimao wants to fill anything in...

[Daimao]

It sounds from your descriptions like the Polish translations have everyone's number. Some observations:

Yes, Blue's speech is positively flaming. Recoom, while still being more closeted, also has feminine traits to his speech (as in his choice of words in his signature line "O-inochi choudai!")

Blue's speech rivals Bulma's for femininity.

Chaozu and Fat Boo both drop some of their grammatical particles some of the time, which makes them sound unsophisticated, like a child would.

Goku's accent doesn't seem to me as thick as a child, compared to when he is an adult.

Add "nou" in place of "naa" to the old man speech mannerisms that are shared.

"Future" Trunks is polite because everyone in the past is his elder (from his perspective), his mentor, and he is there on an errand for them to assist him.

Kuririn remains respectful to all of his elders as well, to a certain degree (he minds his "-san"s and "desu"es), at least when not in the heat of things. At least until he marries 18.

Other polite-talkers include Gohan, Pu'erh, and Kaioshin.

If you watch out for this sort of thing, you may have noticed that in the subs, Freeza's polite speech is characterized by a lack of contractions.

Mr. Popo drops his grammatical particles frequently and consistently. He also speaks in short sentences. That's where his Tarzan-Tonto-Frankenstein (okay, Ooga Booga tribal) dialect comes from.

[SaiyaJedi]

Goku's accent doesn't seem to me as thick as a child, compared to when he is an adult.

It was those few years he spent alone with Chi-Chi and a pre-verbal Gohan.

[Fuujin]

Wow, thanks! I knew that the resident forum-goers are very helpful, but such detailed explanation I didn't expect. I was really wondering about the little things from the original that translators couldn't express. It can really give one a better udnerstanding of the characters.

Well, these were the styles that the Polish version seemed to translate nicely, but what about the accents, dialects, speech patterns etc. that are simply impossible to translate (to Polish, at least). The ones I listed were the major ones that stood out in Polish version, but what could you say about the original? Were there any examples of characteristic speech patterns that Polish version failed to capture?

The characters I'm especially curious about are: Cell (my version has him talk like a generic villain, is there any change in his language after transformations?), Jiisu (was the Scottish/Australian accent in the dub given just for the heck of it, or does he have a distinguished accent in the original), Ginyu (does he have the same militaristic streak that dub seems to give him), King Cold (any different from Freeza?) and Mr Satan (he seems like a parody of American phony "warriors", does his speech reflect this?).

BTW. As someone suggested earlier, you really ought to make a guide out of this. You have the basic information sorted out, so it shouldn't be that much work.

[El_Diablo]

I shall re-ask my question: Do any of the characters speak in the Kansai dialect?

[Sun_Wukong]

Mr. Popo drops his grammatical particles frequently and consistently. He also speaks in short sentences. That's where his Tarzan-Tonto-Frankenstein (okay, Ooga Booga tribal) dialect comes from.

The Hulk, and Victor from Darkstalkers also tend to speak that way^_^. Anyway, I know this is about the Japanese dub, but in the American dub, I'm pretty sure Popo speaks normally.

[SaiyaJedi]

Jiisu (was the Scottish/Australian accent in the dub given just for the heck of it, or does he have a distinguished accent in the original)

Not really, from what I remembe. I think it's just because he looks like a "rock-star" type that the Ocean VA gave him a Liverpudlian accent... which got transmutated into an Australian one when the production went to Texas ('cause as we all know, the two sound exactly the same ).

Mr Satan (he seems like a parody of American phony "warriors", does his speech reflect this?).

He's all bluster, but a real coward when it comes to getting down to business. Lotsa big talk and scared-shitless asides.

BTW. As someone suggested earlier, you really ought to make a guide out of this. You have the basic information sorted out, so it shouldn't be that much work.

Hmmm.... an interesting idea...

[number18]

I think a guide would be absolutely wonderful.

However...the chance of fanboys coming along and stating whatever they read on the site as the pure word of Toriyama is high. I think most of us have a decent grasp of Japanese basics, and there would have to be a lot of thought put into how the dialect guide is put together to prevent people totally misreading/mangling it.

Despite this chance, I would still love one. <3

[Daimao]

There's no one that speaks a really noticeable Kansai-ben in the series. Mayumi Tanaka does her lines for Yajirobe in with a slightly Nagoyan twist, presumably so she doesn't sound like Kuririn when doing so, but aside from that, there aren't any marked Kansai mannerisms (ie, "donai" instead of "dou," "honma" instead of "hontou," using "-hen" instead of "-nai" or "ya" instead of "da," etc.) that are Kyoto and Osaka giveaways.

[kenisu3000]

Speaking of Yajirobe, I keep hearing him say something to the effect of "baka-ki". Maybe I'm hearing it wrong, but I've never otherwise heard "ki" replacing the "me" in "baka-me". So I'm guessing that that is also a specific dialect.
So, anyone who has the answer, am I hearing him right?

[SaiyaJedi]

Speaking of Yajirobe, I keep hearing him say something to the effect of "baka-ki". Maybe I'm hearing it wrong, but I've never otherwise heard "ki" replacing the "me" in "baka-me". So I'm guessing that that is also a specific dialect.
So, anyone who has the answer, am I hearing him right?

Dunno about that, but he uses "da be" instead of "da yo" at least part of the time (going along with Daimao mentioned before).

It's worthy to note that Toriyama himself is from Nagoya, though I haven't really seen much in his own writing that suggests he actively speaks the regional dialect (though that could be more because of his national audience more than anything else -- there's a comic by the author of UFO Boy Gedo where Toriyama has a very strong Nagoya-ben).

[John]

What about the dragon? I've noticed that he's translated in sort of old-English style. Does the dragon speak an archaic Japanese dialect?

What about Parunga (the Namekian dragon)? By the way he's translated it seems like he has a pretty good sense of humor.

[El_Diablo]

Does Yamcha have any distinct style or accent?

[Daimao]

The dragons both speak in a somewhat archaic manner, but not so much that it gets in the way. "ドラゴンボールを揃えし者よ..." the "soroeshi" there is an old form of "soroeta."

Polunga did "サービスで" restore Kuririn's body. (Lit. "service," though we would probably say "no extra charge" or "gratis.") Didn't he also acknowledge one of his wishes by saying "Okay!" too? Maybe that's a strange sense of humor, I don't know.

As for Yamucha, nope. Him and Oolong probably have the most typical, unaffected (masculine) speech patterns of anyone in the show (with Kuririn running a close second (er, third?)). Bulma (when she's not trying to con Blue into thinking she's butch), Pan and Videl tie for first on the feminine side.

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

Yeah, I remember Porunga saying "Okke!" in volume 42!