Jonadab the Unsightly One
2012-10-29 13:16:08 UTC
(Note: this post contains non-ASCII characters. In the past,
Usenet has not always handled such things gracefully. Hopefully
these days it can. I guess we'll find out...)
I've been able to trace back the Japanese for most of NetHack's
samurai-specific words.
$BEa(B ($B$+$?$J(B) - origin of the English word "katana"
$BOF:9$7(B ($B$o$-$6$7(B) - short sword
$BG&<TEa(B ($B$K$s$8$c$H$&(B) - ninja sword (literally: stealthy person sword)
$BFeEa(B ($B$J$.$J$?(B) - long sword or halberd
$B%L%s%A%c%/(B - precise etymology unknown, but Japan got it from Okinawa
$BCC9](B ($B$?$s$3$&(B) - forged steel
$B3u(B ($B$+$V$H(B) - helmet
$Bd7(B ($B$3$H(B) - 13-stringed zither
$B<r(B ($B$5$1(B) - alcohol in general or Japanese rice liquor in particular
$B5]3]$1(B or $B5]7|$1(B (both pronounced $B$f$,$1(B) - archer's glove
The closest I can find for shito is this:
$B>.Ea(B ($B$7$g$&$H$&(B) - small knife
That would be quite a stretch on the transliteration, so it's
possible that the devs had something different in mind.
That leaves osaku and gunyoki. Setting osaku to one side
for the time being, here are the variations I have considered
for gunyoki:
$B$0$s$h$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$s$h$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$s$h$&$-(B -- $B73MQ5!(B (warplane), probably unrelated
$B$0$&$s$h$&$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$s$h$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$s$h$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$s$h$&$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$s$h$&$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$K$g$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$K$g$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$K$g$&$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$K$g$&$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$K$g$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$K$g$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$K$g$&$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$K$g$&$-$$(B - not in dictionary
Then I started grasping at straws...
$B$0$s$K$g$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$s$K$g$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$s$K$g$&$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$s$K$g$&$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$s$K$g$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$s$K$g$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$s$K$g$&$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$s$K$g$&$-$$(B - not in dictionary
Web searches for gunyoki turn up two kinds of results:
references to the NetHack samurai role, and places
people who have used "gunyoki" as a username on
various websites. I'm guessing most of the people in
this latter category have played NetHack. Some of
the results in the former category appear to indicate
that native-Japanese-speaking NetHack players don't
know what it means either.
So, I've still got nothing on the etymology of "gunyoki".
Is it some kind of pre-Meiji word that my dicationary
omits because it doesn't occur in modern Japanese?
Did the NetHack devs make it up out of whole cloth?
Can anybody clue me in here?
I know it doesn't matter. I'm just... curious.
I haven't seriously attempted to figure out osaku
yet, so it's still possible I'll find that one.
Usenet has not always handled such things gracefully. Hopefully
these days it can. I guess we'll find out...)
I've been able to trace back the Japanese for most of NetHack's
samurai-specific words.
$BEa(B ($B$+$?$J(B) - origin of the English word "katana"
$BOF:9$7(B ($B$o$-$6$7(B) - short sword
$BG&<TEa(B ($B$K$s$8$c$H$&(B) - ninja sword (literally: stealthy person sword)
$BFeEa(B ($B$J$.$J$?(B) - long sword or halberd
$B%L%s%A%c%/(B - precise etymology unknown, but Japan got it from Okinawa
$BCC9](B ($B$?$s$3$&(B) - forged steel
$B3u(B ($B$+$V$H(B) - helmet
$Bd7(B ($B$3$H(B) - 13-stringed zither
$B<r(B ($B$5$1(B) - alcohol in general or Japanese rice liquor in particular
$B5]3]$1(B or $B5]7|$1(B (both pronounced $B$f$,$1(B) - archer's glove
The closest I can find for shito is this:
$B>.Ea(B ($B$7$g$&$H$&(B) - small knife
That would be quite a stretch on the transliteration, so it's
possible that the devs had something different in mind.
That leaves osaku and gunyoki. Setting osaku to one side
for the time being, here are the variations I have considered
for gunyoki:
$B$0$s$h$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$s$h$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$s$h$&$-(B -- $B73MQ5!(B (warplane), probably unrelated
$B$0$&$s$h$&$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$s$h$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$s$h$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$s$h$&$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$s$h$&$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$K$g$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$K$g$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$K$g$&$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$K$g$&$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$K$g$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$K$g$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$K$g$&$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$K$g$&$-$$(B - not in dictionary
Then I started grasping at straws...
$B$0$s$K$g$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$s$K$g$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$s$K$g$&$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$s$K$g$&$-(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$s$K$g$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$s$K$g$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$s$K$g$&$-$$(B - not in dictionary
$B$0$&$s$K$g$&$-$$(B - not in dictionary
Web searches for gunyoki turn up two kinds of results:
references to the NetHack samurai role, and places
people who have used "gunyoki" as a username on
various websites. I'm guessing most of the people in
this latter category have played NetHack. Some of
the results in the former category appear to indicate
that native-Japanese-speaking NetHack players don't
know what it means either.
So, I've still got nothing on the etymology of "gunyoki".
Is it some kind of pre-Meiji word that my dicationary
omits because it doesn't occur in modern Japanese?
Did the NetHack devs make it up out of whole cloth?
Can anybody clue me in here?
I know it doesn't matter. I'm just... curious.
I haven't seriously attempted to figure out osaku
yet, so it's still possible I'll find that one.