Rachel's Dragon Ball Pages: Name/Terminology Explanations

Here are some notes about my personal translations and spellings of various names and terminology (partly for my own reference!). This includes etymology to help explain my reasoning. You can hover over Japanese text to see the direct romaji.

Note that older pages that haven't been updated may use different terms than these.

(Bibliography coming sooner or later.)

General Notes

Some names are identical to existing words, typically of Japanese, English, or Mandarin Chinese origin. In those cases, I will spell them exactly the same as the existing words. For Japanese, this involves Hepburn romanization. For Mandarin, this involves Pinyin romanization. For English, this involves American English spellings (where applicable). But I don't use proper diacritics in any of these spellings, due to character set problems for my purposes.

I handle puns (names that are not written identically to their original meaning) under these general rules: If it is a pun on a Japanese word, it will be left in direct romaji. If it is a pun on an English word (or another Latin alphabet language), it will be spelled closely to the original word, but not exactly the same as that word. I don't believe there are any Chinese puns, but they would follow similar rules.

Very few characters have surnames, but most of the ones that do have their names in eastern order (surname, given name). There is a spelling convention in which the surnames of eastern names are written in uppercase, and I choose to use it to avoid confusion. Example: SON Gokuu. If a name lacks such capitalization, it is written in western order (given name, surname). Example: Gyousan Money. (The names of real people, such as Akira Toriyama, are also written in western order. Only fictional, in-series characters will use the eastern order with a surname in caps.)

Some names aren't really names at all. Instead, they are titles or descriptive terms. In those cases, I choose to translate them, to help prevent confusion of names versus titles. But I make exceptions for some unique kanji compounds that don't refer to people, such as Makankousappou, Kienzan, or Tenkaichi Budoukai. I also don't like to translate Chinese terms (such as Si Xing Qiu), mainly because I feel they are probably in Chinese rather than Japanese for a reason. Untranslated terms are distinguished by italics.

Main Cast

SON Gokuu (孫悟空): The Japanese pronunciation of Chinese 孫悟空. SUN Wukong is one of the main characters in the classic Chinese tale 西遊記, best known as "Journey to the West" to English speakers. We know that the Dragon Ball character's name is not meant to be SUN Wukong, because the associated furigana reads そんごくう, rather than something approximating the original Mandarin reading.; Since this is simply a Japanese name unaltered from its original spelling, I use a straight-up transliteration.

Blooma (ブルマ): A play on the English word "bloomers," referring to a kind of female underwear. It is approximated in Japanese a number of ways, such as ブルマー, ブルーマー, or even ブルマ (the same as the Dragon Ball character's name).; I started using the "Blooma" spelling based on the idea that it wasn't the same as the original word. Years later, I learned that ブルマ can also refer to bloomers, so one day I may even switch to using "Bloomer." We'll see.

Sea Turtle (ウミガメ): Simply a word that refers to sea turtles. He is sometimes referred to as just "turtle" (カメ). It is unknown if he has a more specific name.; Since this is more of a description than anything, I see no reason not to translate this.

Turtle Hermit (亀仙人): A title that refers to a hermit associated with turtles. Broken up, 亀 means turtle; 仙人 refers to a person that has achieved great power and wisdom through training, who then gives up their worldly attachments and becomes a hermit.; He is also commonly known by another title, 武天老師, or the Almighty Fighting Master. Broken up, 武 refers to the art of war; 天 refers to the sky or heavenly beings/objects; 老師 refers to an elderly master or teacher. It is unknown if he has a more specific name than these two titles.; Since these are both titles rather than names, I see no reason not to translate them.

Oolong (ウーロン): 烏龍茶 is the name of a type of Chinese tea. It is approximated as ウーロン茶 in Japanese, and commonly anglicized as "Oolong."; Normally I would use the proper Pinyin romanization (I actually did for a while), but "Oolong" is so well-known that I feel wrong to resist it. (Compare Tokyo vs Toukyou, for instance.)

Puer (プーアル): 普洱茶 is the name of a type of Chinese tea. It is approximated as プーアル茶 in Japanese.; This is simply a Chinese word, so I use the Pinyin romanization.

Yamcha (ヤムチャ): 飲茶 is a Chinese custom in which you enjoy yourself eating dim sam and drinking tea. It is approximated as ヤムチャ in Japanese.; This is simply a Chinese word, but it comes from Cantonese rather than Mandarin, so I instead use a Cantonese Yale romanization in this case.

Chichi (チチ): 乳 is a Japanese word referring to milk. It can also refer to breasts. Cows are famous for producing milk, and her father's name refers to cattle.; This is simply a Japanese word, so I use a straight-up transliteration.

Bull Demon King (牛魔王): The Japanese pronunciation of 牛魔王. Niu Mo Wang is a character in the classic Chinese tale 西遊記, best known as "Journey to the West" to English speakers. We know that the Dragon Ball character's name is not meant to be Niu Mo Wang, because the associated furigana reads ぎゅうまおう, rather than something approximating the original Mandarin reading. Broken up, 牛 refers to cattle; 魔 refers to demons or witchcraft; 王 refers to kings. It is unknown if he has a more specific name.; Since this is more of a title than a name, I see no reason not to translate it.

Shen Long (神龍): A Chinese term meaning "dragon god." It refers to a kind of mythological dragon. It is unknown if he has a more specific name.; This is more of a title than a name, but since it uses a Chinese reading rather than Japanese, I choose to simply use a Pinyin romanization and leave it untranslated.

Kuririn (クリリン): A combination of 栗, meaning "chestnut," and 林, meaning "forest." 林 is used in 少林寺, the Japanese name for Shaolin Temple.; Since this name comes from Japanese words, I use a straight-up transliteration.

Lunch (ランチ): "Lunch" is an English word referring to meals eaten in the middle of the day. It is approximated in Japanese as ランチ.; This is simply an English word, so I use its normal English spelling.

Villains

Carrotizing Rabbit (兎人参化): A title referring to a rabbit that turns people into carrots. Broken up, 兎 refers to rabbits; 人参 refers to carrots; 化 refers to changing or altering the form of something/someone. It is unknown if he has a more specific name.; Since this is a simple descriptive title, I see no reason not to translate it.

Pilaf (ピラフ): A word referring to a seasoned rice dish that may contain meat or vegetables. It is approximated as ピラフ in Japanese.; This is simply an existing word of Turkish origin, but used in many different languages. I use the English spelling, which lines up perfectly with ピラフ.

Shuu (シュウ): 焼売 is the Japanese term for Chinese 焼賣. It refers to a kind of dumpling served in dim sam. In Japan, they typically consist of finely chopped vegetables and ground pork, which are wrapped in a thin layer of flour and steamed. シュウ of course comes from the first part of 焼売.; Since this comes from a Japanese word (or at least a Japanese reading), I use a straight-up transliteration.

Mai (マイ): 焼売 is the Japanese term for Chinese 焼賣. It refers to a kind of dumpling served in dim sam. In Japan, they typically consist of finely chopped vegetables and ground pork, which are wrapped in a thin layer of flour and steamed. マイ of course comes from the second part of 焼売.; Since this comes from a Japanese word (or at least a Japanese reading), I use a straight-up transliteration.

Movie Characters

Pansie (パンジ): A play on the English word "pansy," referring to a species of flower (Viola × wittrockiana, or Viola tricolor hortensis). It is approximated in Japanese as パンジー.; Since this is not identical to the original word, I do not spell it as such.

Vongo (ボンゴ): A play on the Italian word "vongole," referring to clams. It is approximated in Japanese as ボンゴレ or ヴォンゴレ. But the Japanese approximations tend to specifically refer to "spaghetti alle vongole," Italian for "spaghetti and clams."; This is not identical to the original word, so I only use a spelling resembling it.

Pasta (パスタ): A word referring to a type of dough typical of Italian cooking. It is approximated as パスタ in Japanese.; This is simply an existing word of Italian origin, but used in many different languages. I use the English spelling, which lines up perfectly with パスタ.

Gourmes (グルメス): A play on the word "gourmet," referring to refined food and drink. It is approximated in Japanese as グルメ.; This is not identical to the original word (of French origin, but used in many languages), so I only use a spelling resembling it.

Abilities

Janken (ジャン拳): ジャン拳 is simply the Japanese name of the Paper-Rock-Scissors game. Outside of Dragon Ball, it's also written じゃん拳 and じゃんけん.; I suppose there's no reason I couldn't translate this, but the English names for the game are so clunky. I should probably rectify this one day.

Rougafuufuuken (狼牙風風拳): Broken up, 狼 refers to wolves; 牙 refers to fangs; 風 refers to wind; 拳 refers to fists or fighting styles.; I choose not to translate this term because it is a unique compound with a relatively complex English translation.

Kamehameha (かめはめ波): Also spelled カメハメ波 in the anime. Because the kamehame portion is written only in kana, it doesn't have a distinct meaning. But the final 波 means "wave." However, kame is a homophone for 亀 ("turtle"), which is reminiscent of the technique's creator. The entire name is also a homophone for Kamehameha, as in the Hawaiian king.; Due to the connection to King Kamehameha, and the fact that there's not much of a meaning to translate, I choose to leave this untranslated.

Great Monkey (大猿): Broken up, 大 refers to large or grand things; 猿 refers to monkeys or apes.; Since this is such a simple term, I see no reason not to translate it.

Items

Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール): "Dragon" is an English word referring to mythical giant reptile monsters. It is approximated in Japanese as ドラゴン. "Ball" is an English word referring to spherical objects. It is approximated in Japanese as ボール.; This is simply two English words, so I use their normal English spellings.

-- Xing Qiu (--星球): The individual Dragon Balls are referred to using Mandarin Chinese: 一星球 Yi Xing Qiu ("one star ball"); 二星球 Er Xing Qiu ("two star ball"); 三星球 San Xing Qiu ("three star ball"); 四星球 Si Xing Qiu ("four star ball"); 五星球 Wu Xing Qiu ("five star ball"); 六星球 Liu Xing Qiu ("six star ball"); 七星球 Qi Xing Qiu ("seven star ball").; Since these use a Chinese reading rather than Japanese, I choose to simply use a Pinyin romanization and leave it untranslated.

Dragon Radar (ドラゴンレーダー): "Dragon" is an English word referring to mythical giant reptile monsters. It is approximated in Japanese as ドラゴン. "Radar" refers to methods of detecting objects via radio waves, and devices that use that method. It is approximated in Japanese as レーダー.; This is simply two English words, so I use their normal English spellings.

Nyoibou (如意棒): The Japanese pronunciation of 如意棒. Ruyi Bang is the name of SUN Wukong's expanding staff in "Journey to the West," and it means "staff of (my) will." The full name is 如意金箍棒, meaning "gold-bound staff of (my) will," but that is not used in Dragon Ball. We know that the Dragon Ball item's name is not meant to be Ruyi Bang, because the associated furigana reads にょいぼう, rather than something approximating the original Mandarin reading.; Since this is simply a Japanese name unaltered from its original spelling, I use a straight-up transliteration. I choose not to translate this term because it is a unique compound with a relatively complex English translation.

Hoi Poi Capsule (ホイポイカプセル): Blooma initially shouts "Hoi" (ほいっ) whenever she throws a capsule, and "Poi" (ポイッ) is onomatopoeia for the sound of a capsule being thrown. "Capsule" is a word referring to various kinds of casings, coatings, or containers. カプセル actually comes from German "kapsel" (meaning the same thing).; Since "Hoi" and "Poi" likely came from Japanese words, I've left them as is. And though カプセル is technically derived from German, "CAPSULE" is also frequently used in the series, implying that the English word may have been intended after all. Either way, they're similar enough in pronunciation anyway.

Kintoun (筋斗雲): A homophone for 觔斗雲, which is the Japanese pronunciation of 觔斗雲. Jindouyun is the name of SUN Wukong's ability to travel across clouds, and it means "somersault cloud." We know that the Dragon Ball item's name is not meant to be Jindouyun, because the associated furigana reads きんとうん, rather than something approximating the original Mandarin reading.; Since this is simply a Japanese name mostly unaltered from its original spelling, I use a straight-up transliteration. Also, since 觔 is not a normal Japanese character, the spelling used in Dragon Ball is probably just a phonetic substitute. I choose not to translate this term because it is a unique compound, and for consistency with Nyoibou.

PP Candy (PPキャンディー): "PP" is simply the letter P doubled, pronounced like "peepee." "Candy" is an English word referring to sweets and confectioneries. It is approximated in Japanese a number of ways, such as キャンディー, キャンディ, and キャンデー.; Since "PP" is already in romaji and does not have any special meaning, I simply leave it as is. And since "candy" is simply an English word, I use its normal English spelling.

Banana Fan (芭蕉扇): The Japanese pronunciation of 芭蕉扇. Ba Jiao Shan is the name of an item from "Journey to the West," meaning "banana (leaf) fan." We know that the Dragon Ball item's name is not meant to be Ba Jiao Shan, because the associated furigana reads ばしょうせん, rather than something approximating the original Mandarin reading.; The name for this item is a fairly simple descriptive term, so I see no reason not to translate it. (Though I have changed my mind about it many times, and may change it again one day.)

Rich Stone (リッチストン): "Rich" is an English word referring to wealth or abundance. It is approximated in Japanese as リッチ. "Stone" is an English word referring to rocks or gems. It is approximated in Japanese as ストン or ストーン.; This is simply two English words, so I use their normal English spellings.

Locations

Mount Baozi (パオズ山): 包子 is a type of filled bun common in Chinese culture. It is approximated in Japanese as パオズ. 山 is simply a Japanese word referring to mountains.; The name portion is simply a Chinese word, so I use the Pinyin romanization.

Kame House (カメハウス): カメ is a homophone for 亀 ("turtle"), which is reminiscent of the house's owner. ハウス is an approximation of the English word "house," which refers to a person or family's home.; Since kame is both written in katakana and spelled out in romaji on the house itself, I think it's far more logical to leave it untranslated.

Mount Frypan (フライパン山): フライパン is an approximation of the English words "fry" and "pan," together referring to frying pans. 山 is simply a Japanese word referring to mountains.; The name portion is simply a compound of two English words, so I use a compound of their normal English spellings.