The SFX Thread!

Okay, so this thread really has to do with translating, but I couldn't find a better board to post this in. GK, if you know of one, feel free to move it.

This one goes out to my fellow translators, although everyone can contribute if they have ideas. As the title states, this thread is about SFX! We're going to play a match'em up game with SFX found in Japanese manga and translate them into English. Why? 'Cuz there's some crazy SFX in manga that I just don't have a clue about what they signify. Also, I don't know all the SFX off the top of my head so feel free to mention any that I've forgotton. Here goes:


Japanese SFX
DOUN
DO
GYO
PIKI
FUOOOO
KOSO
DOKI DOKI


English Translation






BA-BUMP


English SFX List
CHIRP CHIRP
CLUMP
PSSSSSS
KLUNK
BONK
BZZZT
BAM BAM
THUNK
FUNK
SMACK
CRACK
FUMP
FIZZ
THWIP (Gotta love Spiderman)
BA-BUMP



That's all I can think of at the moment. Need input please.

Moved to General Translation Questions. ;)


I myself like it when they go untranslated, as the Japanese words are much cooler (except for bamf, of course)

I also prefer the original SFX because
1. they look cool
2. they sound cute

As a suggestion nevertheless: if you take DOKI DOKI I think the BA-BUMP is better than BAM BAM. BAM BAM sounds so agressive while the SFX is mostly used to express that your hearts beats faster because of love issues. BA-BUMP is not so hard like BAM BAM in my opinion.

Ditto, concerning the original Japanese SFX.

Good topic, shinwei.

Wikipedia: Japanese Sound Symbolism
Japanese Sound effects and what they mean
ONOMATOPOETIC ENGLISH-JAPANESE DICTIONARY
About Japanese: Onomatopoeic Expressions
Notes on Japanese Onomatopoeia
J-Slang: Japanese Onomatopoeia
Cool Slang: Japanese Onomatopoeia
Exploring Creativ Uses Of Japanese Onomatopoeia
'Waku Waku' Japanese Onomatopoeia Quiz

:D

how about:

BAKIBAKIBAKI - rubble falling i think
ZuDOOON
GARAGARAGARA - more stuff toppling over.
BITA BITA - liquid dripping

thanks for the links though.

anyone has suggestions for : Fuan fuan fuan - sound of sirens? pls

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by suhi

anyone has suggestions for : Fuan fuan fuan - sound of sirens? pls

---

Sirens are different in every nation. If you want to keep the typical Japanese sound it should be like "wooooaaa wooooaaa"? I don't really know, it's hard for me to bring that into English and I'm not sure whether I remember the sound correct or not. If you want to have it sounding like a... dunno... New York police car it must be something like "weeoo weeoo weeoo". German police would be "tatutatta tatutata". It's very different depending on what you translate into which language, I think.

Some SFX are based on the the verb which makes the sound. Like, "furufuru" (sound effect for shivering) comes from 振る (to shake). These, I tend to translate directly into the verb instead of a sound (i.e. "shivers"). Another example, "nadenade" (petting) comes from 撫で (to comb down / smooth down).

Other SFX are based on an actual description of the sound, and I try to relay that using some of the common English SFX or make up a new one. I found out that if you say the Japanese sound out loud, you can actually imagine what it's supposed to sound like. XD (Or maybe it's just me.)

Then, there are other SFX which represent things that are not supposed to have sound, e.g. nico (smile), piku (twitch), shin (silence). These, I guess you just have to translate.

In any case, I usually ignore background SFX (the ones that are huge, and filled screentone) when I'm reading so I ignore them when I translate too.

Firstly, I was wondering if there's some sort of SFX guide lying around?
Or that, if it isn't so much trouble, someone can write one up? :p:p

Because I personally have not done English translations for more than 9 years for manga, the places I get stuck the most is... the SFX :scry

While yes, I do read American comics every now and then (still following Angel), the sound of screaming seemed to always be "AHHHHHH" regardless of the gender and what not... Is there a better way to do the Japanese "Kyaaaaaaa" or "Gyaaaaaa"?

Secondly, I'm just curious, what word would you use for "yarou (野郎)" in English? Originally, I wanted to use "A-hole" or "Bastard", but A-hole seemed to be a bit too much while Bastard doesn't seemed to bring out the flavor of the word... Is there any more suggestions as to what word to use?

The keyword for SFX is 'Onomatopoeia' :)

Here's a list of Japanese Onomatopoeia sites I posted aaaages ago:
http://mangahelpers.com/forums/showt...745#post136745

Wait, I gonna merge your question with the SFX thread. It's high time to push it up >.<
Done and stickied~

Fine, we're going to re-structure this section tomorrow. I'll do that in a hidden section, so this thread (and others) will vanish for a while. Better bookmark the links today if you need them to be available.

As for yarou, according to my German dictonary that translates to something like rascal, wretch or dude. Bastard or jerk would work too, depending on how it's said.

Got it, thanks eni :)

yey i finally found this thread!
this is what i was looking for for a long time. T_T
thanks for the useful links eni.
i seriously appreciate it.

http://thejadednetwork.com/sfx ^_^

Spanish onomatopoeias Guide

Animal onomatopoeia
* abeja (bee): bzzz (zumbar) — buzz
* búho (owl): uu uu (ulular) — who, hoo, hoot
* burro (donkey): iii-aah (rebuznar) — heehaw
* caballo (horse): jiiiiiii, iiiiou (relinchar) — neigh, n-a-a-a-y
* cabra (goat): bee bee (balar) — b-a-a-a-a
* cerdo (pig): oink-oink, oinc-oinc (grunir) — oink
* cuco (cuckoo): cúcu-cúcu — cuckoo
* cuervo (crow): cruaaac-cruaaac — caw
* gallina (hen): coc co co coc (cacarear), kara-kara-kara-kara — cluck
* gallo (rooster): kikirikí, ki-kiri-ki (cantar) — cock-a-doodle-doo
* gato (cat): miau (maullar) — meow
* león (lion): grrrr, grgrgr (rugir) — roar, growl
* oveja (sheep): bee, mee (balar) — b-a-a-a-h
* mono (monkey): i-i-i
* paloma (dove): cu-curru-cu-cú (arrullar)) — coo
* pato (duck): cuac cuac — quack
* pavo (turkey): gluglú — gobble
* perro (dog): guau guau, guau (ladrar) — bark, bow-wow, arf, ruff
* pollito (chick): pío pío — chirp
* rana (frog): cruá cruá, berp, croac (croar) — ribbit, croak
* tigre (tiger): ggggrrrr, grgrgr (rugir) — roar, growl
* vaca (cow): mu, muuu (mugir) — moo



Others
Ay Ay Ay - oh my, overwhelmed, stressed
Ouch - ay
uf - oh
uy - opps
pow=¡paf!
bam=¡pam!
bang=¡bang!
crunch=¡crotch
punches: paf, pum, pin-pam-pum, puf (in the stomack)
explosions: bum, bam
shots: bang, pum, ratatata (machine gun)
break: crac, cric, trac
Boom = Bum
Ay si, yá! = Just figure out something or just relized something

Sources
http://spanish.about.com/od/spanishv...imalsounds.htm
My own knowledge

Please list any onomatopoeias that you know about.