What is this Japanese word?

[Argy]

蒼穹

I know that 蒼 alone is "blue (ao)," but I can't find any translation for 穹, or both words combined.

 

[Kthleen]

I can't find anything about it in Japanese, but from Chinese I get "vault of heaven," or the celestial sphere.

Ah ha. It's "soukyuu." Now I know what the hell "Soukyuu no Fafner" means. Thanks.

 

[Argy]

I suppose I should give some context.

蒼穹の王 is the name of one of the four ma-ou from Slayers/Lost Universe. However, that name is always pronounced カオティック・ブルー, "Chaotic Blue." I take it 蒼穹, "soukyuu," means "death," but 蒼 alone is "ao," or "blue," which makes more sense given "Chaotic Blue." Does 穹 alone have a meaning?

Actually, the Chinese meaning makes a lot more sense than the Japanese, given the context. 穹 alone in Chinese means "arched" or "vast."

So, could it be correct to translate 蒼穹の王 as "King of the Vast Blue" or something similar?

 

[Kthleen]

I've never watched Slayers.

I kept getting arched as well. *grumbles because she can't find either kanji in her cards and has to rely partially on... Babelfish....*
I suppose that would work. I see that "Soukyuu no Fafner" is usually called "Fafner of the Blue Sky," and that "vault of heaven" can mean not only "celestial sphere," but "sky" as well.

What I wonder is if Soukyuu no Ou is their title while their name is Chaotic Blue.


Do you know of a good, free online translator that has many languages?

 

[Murgatroyd]

For looking things up in Japanese, I recommend WWWJDIC.

 

[Argy]

I see that "Soukyuu no Fafner" is usually called "Fafner of the Blue Sky," and that "vault of heaven" can mean not only "celestial sphere," but "sky" as well.

What I wonder is if Soukyuu no Ou is their title while their name is Chaotic Blue.

Alright, then "King of the Blue Sky" it is, then.

蒼穹の王 is usually how Chaotic Blue's name is written, with カオティック・ブルー in katakana above as furigana, showing that "Chaotic Blue" is how to verbally pronounce "King of the Blue Sky." It's confusing, and even fans like me don't understand why it's donee that way. My only guess is that it gives more complexity to the character. There are dozens of names in Slayers like that.

 

[Zhen Lin]

Indeed. Ruby text adds quite an interesting dimension to Japanese writing - want to spell out sarcasm? No problem - just write what the character really means, and what the character actually says in furigana.

There are also examples like having the name of a place pronounced ここ - especially where the context isn't clear to the reader.

In Japanese lyrics, there are some very common substitutions - 宇宙 for そら, 生命 for いのち, 地球 for ほし, and 永遠 for とわ. The substitutes generally mean more-or-less the same thing - though sometimes it's a more precise meaning, as with 地球 (Earth) for ほし (star; planet), and sometimes it's much broader, as with 宇宙 (universe) for そら (sky).