Unlike English, the Japanese language has no singular/plural forms. After my long battle with the dillemma, I reached my decision in writing my manuscript in English. Most of native speakers of English and maybe even non native speakers probably disagree with me but I chose the way Japanese words are without the English forms. I dont know how many times I wrote kimono, a kimono, or kimonos and changed kimonos to kimono, and I still dislike a kimono, but as long as the word itself is unchanged, thats good enough. The problem is that I have to introduce more Japanese words in my writing such as han 藩. The translators in the past used domain for it but the word is unique to the Japans culture and I think its ripe time in the history of the literature, not depending on the past practice. And the past practice always added s to Japanese words, such as hans, harakiris, and so on. If we honor Japanese words into English, the form also come with them. I cant separate them. So this is my warning. My first book contains no plural form for Japanese words. Its my decision, not my editor or proof reader. I didnt arrive to this decision lightly. My camera is not good at the singular form.
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 02:01:06 +0000
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