Goku's slang/accent?

Silvor · Post by **Silvor** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 5:40 am

I was just wondering about something I've noticed in some english written translations of dragon ball.
It seems Goku has some sort of accent or slang.
Like "Ain't no helpin' it" and "you're here keepin' me company, ain't you?".
Why is this? I always found it kinda annoying.
Is this mostly in fan translations? As I remember it also being the case in the neko Majin 5 Goku cameo. And it seems to be in the Dragon Ball AF manga that gets translated too.
It's just that I never imagined Goku speaking like that.

Furu · Post by **Furu** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 5:48 am

Goku is written as having an accent because, well, he does have one. A fairly strong one in the Japanese anime. If someone's writing him that way, that's because they're being accurate.

Captain Awesome · Post by **Captain Awesome** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 5:53 am

Silvor wrote: It's just that I never imagined Goku speaking like that.

I'm guessing you're a dubbie?, in the original Japanese version Goku is a country bumpkin, I know very little Japanese but my understanding is that its emphasized a lot through the honorifics he uses, not to mention the fact that he speaks very simply.

/Waits for someone much more knowledgeable to step in

In Funimation's dub Goku has more of a generic super hero personality.

Furu · Post by **Furu** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 5:59 am

This should clear things up better.

Silvor · Post by **Silvor** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 6:30 am

Thank you for the replies guys.
Actually I'm more of a subbie? I guess.
Always watched it in japanese with english subs.
How official those subs were I don't know.
But in those subs Chichi seemed to speak with that same sort of slang/accent, wheras(spelling?) Goku didn't have any.
With that accent/slang he comes off as a some sort of texan redneck kinda guy to me haha.

Furu · Post by **Furu** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 6:36 am

Yeah, the official Funimation subs really only stress the accents for Chi-Chi, Gyumao, and Yajirobe. No idea why that is, exactly.

Tatsunoboshi Horoko · Post by **Tatsunoboshi Horoko** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 9:34 am

It's because their variation on the dialect is a bit more prominent than Goku's is. (Especially Yajirobe's.)

Also, is that sum my translationz in dis thread? OH SNAP.

Silvor · Post by **Silvor** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:05 am

"Tatsunoboshi Horoko"
Yeah those quotes are from your DB AF translation.
Reading those got me thinking about this again thats all

I really apreciate your work on those translations by the way, excelent work.

Chuquita · Post by **Chuquita** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 6:17 pm

I like how Goku's osaka accent sounds in japanese. I'd really like to hear what it sounds like in english but to my knowledge there isn't anything on the internet where Ms. Nozawa is speaking in english.

Bardock the Mexican · Post by **Bardock the Mexican** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:20 pm

The thing is I wouldn't know if Goku is speaking a more country-fied Español or not because I probably speak it. I have noticed in my work on the subtitles for the R29 Productions project that I have given Goku a more rustic style. This means using the usted form (more respectful than tú) and a more Mexicanized vocabulary. It is kind of hard to pay attention to this stuff because I really could just go on without giving any attention. He probably does and I think it kind of sends a more strong signal of his strange childhood and stuff. (Am I making any sense or is this just so utterly lost in translation?)

Post by **SaiyaJedi** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 1:09 pm

Chuquita wrote:I like how Goku's osaka accent sounds in japanese. I'd really like to hear what it sounds like in english but to my knowledge there isn't anything on the internet where Ms. Nozawa is speaking in english.

Goku doesn't speak anything like the dialect of Osaka (or anywhere in Kansai, for that matter). If you'll look at a map of Japan, you'll notice that the Tohoku region is to the north of Tokyo, whereas Osaka is way out west...

That said, for some anime characters who speak in Osaka dialect, please refer to Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga from Azumanga Daioh, Kero-chan from Cardcaptor Sakura, pretty much everyone in Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, et al. Also, the song "Baka Survivor" by Ulfuls (opening theme to Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo) makes extensive use of it, particularly in the spoken sections.

Chuquita · Post by **Chuquita** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 2:28 pm

SaiyaJedi wrote:
Chuquita wrote:I like how Goku's osaka accent sounds in japanese. I'd really like to hear what it sounds like in english but to my knowledge there isn't anything on the internet where Ms. Nozawa is speaking in english.
Goku doesn't speak anything like the dialect of Osaka (or anywhere in Kansai, for that matter). If you'll look at a map of Japan, you'll notice that the Tohoku region is to the north of Tokyo, whereas Osaka is way out west...

That said, for some anime characters who speak in Osaka dialect, please refer to Ayumu "Osaka" Kasuga from Azumanga Daioh, Kero-chan from Cardcaptor Sakura, pretty much everyone in Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, et al. Also, the song "Baka Survivor" by Ulfuls (opening theme to Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo) makes extensive use of it, particularly in the spoken sections.

OH! I'm learning stuff today. :3
Now I'm curious.
So he's got a Tohoku accent then?
Or is his accent something Ms. Nozawa made up on her own?

DemonKingPiccolo · Post by **DemonKingPiccolo** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 7:27 pm

It doesn't really look like an accent to me, simply a way of speaking. A far fetched theory, but it possibly could have to do with Goku's lack of formal education.

Also I think I remember Toriyama stating one time that he always thought of Goku from a Chinese-y background and not Japanese. And if you actually use a bit of your imagination and look at the map of Dragon World and associate it with the general map of the world, it is simply a messed up composite of major parts of the real world:

Goku's house: China
Roshi's Island: Japan
South City: Australia.
West City: India.
North City: Either Russia or Canada
Muscle Tower Island: Greenland
Kami's Palace: North America (Native Americans at the base of Karin Tower are a big give-away.)
Tenkaichi Budokai Island: New Zealand

Post by **SaiyaJedi** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:51 pm

Chuquita wrote:OH! I'm learning stuff today. :3
Now I'm curious.
So he's got a Tohoku accent then?
Or is his accent something Ms. Nozawa made up on her own?

I'd say that Goku has a Tohoku "accent" based on the way the character says his words (especially the way he elides his vowel diphthongs), but he doesn't really show any real dialectal influences in terms of grammar or vocabulary (save "ora"). In contrast, Ogiue (Genshiken's resident self-loathing yaoi fangirl) uses quite a bit of actual Tohoku-ben when she gets flustered, which includes pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. In fact, even in pronunciation, Goku displays neither the lenition of intervocalic consonants (e.g., "otouto" [little brother] becomes "odoudo"), nor the non-distinction between "shi" and "su" sounds that characterize Tohoku-ben. So I guess it's better to say that Goku's speech has a Tohoku "flavor," moreso than anything else.

Chuquita · Post by **Chuquita** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 1:37 am

So its more of a pronounciation thing than an accent. Like how if you talk really fast your words come out differently.
Very interesting stuff.
Though now whatever fic-related mentionings I've ever done related to the name of Goku's accent are wrong. XD
That's ok, that's what plotholes are for.

jjgp1112 · Post by **jjgp1112** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:23 am

So Goku's basically a redneck in the Japanese version?

Jerseymilk · Post by **Jerseymilk** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 2:45 pm

jjgp1112 wrote:So Goku's basically a redneck in the Japanese version?

Yep. Though a more accurate description would be "country bumpkin".

Super Sonic · Post by **Super Sonic** » Wed Sep 19, 2007 7:58 pm

I think it's a good thing Goku didn't have an Osaka accent. Or else we might have had him sounding like English Naru or Osaka.

Jerseymilk · Post by **Jerseymilk** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 2:24 pm

Super Sonic wrote:I think it's a good thing Goku didn't have an Osaka accent. Or else we might have had him sounding like English Naru or Osaka.

I'm getting really tired of ADV always giving characters with Osaka accents, Southern ones in their dubs. It's almost become some constant caricature thing.

Rocketman · Post by **Rocketman** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 2:33 pm

Jerseymilk wrote:I'm getting really tired of ADV always giving characters with Osaka accents, Southern ones in their dubs. It's almost become some constant caricature thing.

What's wrong with the Southern accent?

Hehehe, Goku with a Southern drawl...

Kanzenshuu

Goku's slang/accent?

Goku's slang/accent?

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