Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2016 May 7

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May 7

Benzaiten

My introduction to the music of Osamu Kitajima (and so far my favorite of his work) was a piece called "Benzaiten (the God of Music and Water)". At the end of this otherwise instrumental piece, a voice intones: Benzaiten, X X no kami / saichi uwata X X X X, where X represents a syllable that I cannot make out. I know this is a long shot: does anyone know what he's saying? —Tamfang (talk) 08:45, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Here it's transcribed as 弁才天　水の神　弁才天　妙音天　白蛇まといて　才知を与えたもゥ – "Benzaiten, mizu no kami, Benzaiten, Myōonten, hakuja matoite, saichi wo ataeta mo(u)." "Mizu no kami" = "god of water", Myōonten seems to be another name for Benzaiten (maybe that should be mentioned in the article), "hakuja matoite" = "wearing a white snake", "saichi wo ataeta" = "gave (us) intelligence". I'm not sure what the function of mo(u) is here. -- BenRG (talk) 20:07, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Wow, thanks!! —Tamfang (talk) 08:49, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

When Japanese write, do they also use the semi-cursive script or other systems?

How do Japanese write down in a lecture, to fill a form, or to leave someone a note? Regarding the type of letters, in the West it would be short-hand, cursive, or block letters. What are the Japanese alternatives for hand-writing? Is the semi-cursive script common in Japan?--Llaanngg (talk) 21:19, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

This article - Cursive script (East Asia) - gives a general description of the forms of cursive writing used in East Asian languages. 81.132.106.10 (talk) 10:20, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Not really. It is a discussion of some particular cursive scripts used at various times for Chinese. If is about calligraphy, not about everyday writing, and certainly not about everyday writing of Japanese (which includes kana). --ColinFine (talk) 19:57, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Yes, I am asking specifically about Japanese writing in an everyday context.--Llaanngg (talk) 20:53, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Semi-cursive is common amongst men in Japan, especially older men, whereas cutesy rounded block letters are common amongst women. KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (もしもし！) 11:10, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Adjective version of 'officer', 'registrar' and 'commissioner'

A president has presidential powers. A governer has gubernatorial powers. A director has directorial powers. A minister has ministerial powers. A judge has judicial powers. A visitor has visitatorial powers. A chancellor has chancellorial powers. An inspector has inspectorial powers.

What are the equivalents for an officer, a registrar and a commissioner? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.208.150.193 (talk) 22:27, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Apparently, "officerial" is a word ([1]), as awkward as it looks and sounds. Likewise, there's "registrarial", though my searches mostly brought up Canadian university websites ([2], [3], [4]), and neither Webster nor Oxford recognize it as a word. I'm not aware of any such word for "commissioner", though. clpo13_(talk) 22:34, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Commissional is attested, although the Oxford Dictionaries website marks it as "Obsolete - early sixteenth century". Tevildo (talk) 22:42, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

That's because they are so highly paid they don't need to rely on commission anymore KägeTorä - (^影_虎) (もしもし！) 12:30, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

The short answer is that in plain language there are no such equivalents. We say "the power of an officer" or similar phrases. --69.159.61.172 (talk) 19:59, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Potentially wikt:commissarial for commissioner - since commissary seems to be synonymous with commissioner MChesterMC (talk) 14:58, 9 May 2016 (UTC)