-sai what does it mean in Japanese?
As I understand it sai in battousai is the same as sai in kensai. A kensai is someone like Miyamoto Musashi: a swordmaster of the calibur of legend. Ken is sword, sai is master, or something similar. Battou is drawing the sword, sai is master. Master of sword drawing.
Actually, I looked up the kanji that is used for sai in kensai and I guess I'm mistaken. Kensai seems to be 剣神, while battousai is 抜刀斎. (Battousai I know as a fact, kensai I'm trying to judge off of kanji that's a bit small to read)
Actually, I looked up the kanji that is used for sai in kensai and I guess I'm mistaken. Kensai seems to be 剣神, while battousai is 抜刀斎. (Battousai I know as a fact, kensai I'm trying to judge off of kanji that's a bit small to read)
Quote:Original post by Cibressus
so in aikedo gonzaru yokimidu sensei is just a title?
Huh? It's hard enough to figure out what you're trying to say when you misspell English, don't start doing in in romanized Japanese. [grin]
I believe that -sai serves the same purpose that -sa or -ja do in Korean, in which case is basically means a person, so a person who does whatever -sai is suffixed to.
Quote:Original post by Arek the AbsoluteIts not Kensai but Kensei, Musashi is refered to as the Kensei " Sword saint".
As I understand it sai in battousai is the same as sai in kensai. A kensai is someone like Miyamoto Musashi: a swordmaster of the calibur of legend. Ken is sword, sai is master, or something similar. Battou is drawing the sword, sai is master. Master of sword drawing.
Actually, I looked up the kanji that is used for sai in kensai and I guess I'm mistaken. Kensai seems to be Œ•_, while battousai is ”²“Ö. (Battousai I know as a fact, kensai I'm trying to judge off of kanji that's a bit small to read)
Quote:Original post by Tha_HoodRat
Its not Kensai but Kensei, Musashi is refered to as the Kensei " Sword saint".
That would explain it, wouldn't it? Hey, it's not exactly a common use japanese word though, so I don't feel all that bad about it. [grin] I'd heard the saint thing before, but I figured using that translation would probably confuse more people than anything else... I figured it was easier to explain it in terms of master than anything else. Ah well, I stand corrected, and thanks for setting me straight.
[edit] Seems a pretty common mistake too... Wikipedia's article on Musashi does the same thing. NOW I feel better. hehe
TangentZ had a good answer. To expand on it:
There are many uses of "-sai", but not really any rules in the sense of "-desu". The main one is age. But mostly, it is just the ending of many words; ex. Kudasai (please). It is traditionaly used as the ending of certain 'types' of words, but again, not as a rule. Festival names is one case in which they end in '-sai'.
Hope this helps. :)
[Edit] Minus points to Rhino for comparing Japanese to Korean.
There are many uses of "-sai", but not really any rules in the sense of "-desu". The main one is age. But mostly, it is just the ending of many words; ex. Kudasai (please). It is traditionaly used as the ending of certain 'types' of words, but again, not as a rule. Festival names is one case in which they end in '-sai'.
Hope this helps. :)
[Edit] Minus points to Rhino for comparing Japanese to Korean.
I always figured, that you needed all of kudasai, considering it is actually a modification of kudasaru(as listed here).
It basically is just something that says "please give me the favor of doing..." whatever you have before kudasai, usually a verb in its 'te-form'.
It basically is just something that says "please give me the favor of doing..." whatever you have before kudasai, usually a verb in its 'te-form'.
Christ, I sure hope Japanese turns out to be easier than you guys are making it sound when the time comes for me to take Japanese classes... =\
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