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Language in the Titan World, more specifically the written language.
I'm sure a lot of you have seen this already:
(BEWARE! Although this information in the following link is present in the inside covers of the manga tankoubon, it is still somewhat major spoiler.)
http://calorescence.tumblr.com/post/51450703198/did-you-know-the-inside-covers-of-the-japanese (thanks Georgie for suggesting to me)
It's okay if you don't want to click on the spoiler! The point is, there are texts written all over the place by the author on the map design, which is basically in upside-down Japanese (in katakana, for those of you who know.)
Normally this could have a few main explanations.
- A little joke from the author
- Some kind of code within the SnK universe
- A made-up language within the SnK universe with the intention to parallel the real Japanese
- A made-up language that has nothing to do with the "Eastern race/Japanese/Mikasa's race" (as suggested by teioh in another thread, which happens to be as plausible as the previous explanation and this post will explain why.)
The main (& important) instance that involves 'language' in the story is perhaps the Ymir-Reiner canned food incident.
Reiner is surprised Ymir could read the language. The above picture has been flipped upside-down.
The text reads: ンシニ
which is herring (ニシン) in reverse.
(For real Japanese, you read from left to right.
To convert this SnK language into real Japanese, flip over, read from right to left. This is however not consistent as we will see later.)
At first, I thought there exists a language in the SnK Universe that is based on real-life Japanese. Since we know Mikasa is one of those (literally) "Eastern people," and that her name is Japanese, I assume that this upside-down Japanese language is Titan-related, and the "Eastern people" have something important to do with them.
But the contradiction comes in when I discover more 'language' examples scattered all over the place. Thanks to a major major tip-off from Pixiv member kao, I've located those examples and edited the panels in question.
The following two images come from the extra chapter about Ilse Langner, whose notebook is later picked up by Levi and claimed as her military gains.
Please be patient with me while I try to explain to a point so that all of us, Japanese speakers or not, are on equal-standing with regards to how much we know.
With the same logic as the canned food incident, we can assume the writing is upside-down to real Japanese. So the panels have been flipped over.
The first image is when Ilse's monologue is saying "On our way back, we met Titans."
In the same panel, her notebook reads (I've marked in blue):
ウグウソ
ジョキジンカ
u gu u so
ji yo ki ji nn ka
Reverse the writing to get:
so u gu u
ka nn ji ki yo ji
Now, the interesting thing.
souguu = to meet/encounter
kikanji kyojin = On our way back, Titan
(Bits I've bolded are letters I've added in to make sense of it.)
I have not yet bought the volumes yet so I cannot double-check the original phrase. But I am 99% sure what she writes in her notebook exactly matches her monologue in the raw. (Translated scans: "On our way back, my brigade encountered Titans.")
Second image:
イナ
ラカン
i na
ra ka nn
Reversing the text, and adding assumptions (bolded text):
kyojin kara nogarerarenai = Cannot escape from Titan
And guess what, Ilse monologue in the previous panel says: "It's impossible for a human to run away from Titans on foot."
Other instances (I can't be bothered to highlight all of them in blue lol, too much work and it actually HURTs my eyes) include:
Chapter 1, right before the Colossal Titan appears, a sign is shaken to swing about. Although in a very different font, it reads "douguya," meaning "Item Store." (This one is inconsistent with the notebook and canned herring (large panel): you flip, then read from left to right.)
Chapter 12, right before Eren turns into a Titan, there's a large panel featuring the large rock Eren's about to carry. Next to the rock is a sign, titled "ooiwa," meaning "big rock" (lol.) (Again, flip, read from left to right.)
Chapter 22, when the dude is point on the map briefing the team. On the map there are phrases like "enemy-detecting team" and "horse-cart protection" (sakutekihan and nibasha goei.) These two cases, although written upside-down, they are also not reversed. i.e. you flip them over and read left to right.
Chapter 38: the canned herring. Although we've discussed this above, prior to the larger panel, there are two smaller panels which you can just about figure out the Japanese words on the can. BUT! Inconsistency is present again:
The first two panels are written in reverse to the larger panel (when Reiner's reading the can.)
The hidden text in the inside covers of the tankoubon is written upside-down, left to right, top to bottom. This is not consistent with Ilse's note book (upside-down, right to left, bottom to top.)
Afterwords: By all means, this SnK language can simply be some random Easter Egg the author has made up, and does nothing to the main story, meaning the inconsistency in the writing system does not mean anything.
Also, because judging from Reiner's reaction, people in the walls aren't suppose to know this writing system, but Ilse the scout writes in exactly the same language as the canned herring...! Which kinda means we're not meant to care about this writing issue lol.
The only reason I cannot let is slide pass completely is because this language seems to play a role in the story (Reiner-Ymir incident.)
Concerning the inconsistency on the can of herring, I'll see if the author made any changes in the tankoubon when I finally get my hands on a copy. It most probably is a mistake, but I really can't tell in which direction it's meant to be read due to the plot.
I don't intend to come to any conclusion from this thread. My main purpose is to let people who aren't familiar with the language to gain the same insight as the ones who know it, and from then discuss what this could be all about.
I'm sure a lot of you have seen this already:
(BEWARE! Although this information in the following link is present in the inside covers of the manga tankoubon, it is still somewhat major spoiler.)
http://calorescence.tumblr.com/post/51450703198/did-you-know-the-inside-covers-of-the-japanese (thanks Georgie for suggesting to me)
It's okay if you don't want to click on the spoiler! The point is, there are texts written all over the place by the author on the map design, which is basically in upside-down Japanese (in katakana, for those of you who know.)
Normally this could have a few main explanations.
- A little joke from the author
- Some kind of code within the SnK universe
- A made-up language within the SnK universe with the intention to parallel the real Japanese
- A made-up language that has nothing to do with the "Eastern race/Japanese/Mikasa's race" (as suggested by teioh in another thread, which happens to be as plausible as the previous explanation and this post will explain why.)
The main (& important) instance that involves 'language' in the story is perhaps the Ymir-Reiner canned food incident.
Reiner is surprised Ymir could read the language. The above picture has been flipped upside-down.
The text reads: ンシニ
which is herring (ニシン) in reverse.
(For real Japanese, you read from left to right.
To convert this SnK language into real Japanese, flip over, read from right to left. This is however not consistent as we will see later.)
At first, I thought there exists a language in the SnK Universe that is based on real-life Japanese. Since we know Mikasa is one of those (literally) "Eastern people," and that her name is Japanese, I assume that this upside-down Japanese language is Titan-related, and the "Eastern people" have something important to do with them.
But the contradiction comes in when I discover more 'language' examples scattered all over the place. Thanks to a major major tip-off from Pixiv member kao, I've located those examples and edited the panels in question.
The following two images come from the extra chapter about Ilse Langner, whose notebook is later picked up by Levi and claimed as her military gains.
Please be patient with me while I try to explain to a point so that all of us, Japanese speakers or not, are on equal-standing with regards to how much we know.
With the same logic as the canned food incident, we can assume the writing is upside-down to real Japanese. So the panels have been flipped over.
The first image is when Ilse's monologue is saying "On our way back, we met Titans."
In the same panel, her notebook reads (I've marked in blue):
ウグウソ
ジョキジンカ
u gu u so
ji yo ki ji nn ka
Reverse the writing to get:
so u gu u
ka nn ji ki yo ji
Now, the interesting thing.
souguu = to meet/encounter
kikanji kyojin = On our way back, Titan
(Bits I've bolded are letters I've added in to make sense of it.)
I have not yet bought the volumes yet so I cannot double-check the original phrase. But I am 99% sure what she writes in her notebook exactly matches her monologue in the raw. (Translated scans: "On our way back, my brigade encountered Titans.")
Second image:
イナ
ラカン
i na
ra ka nn
Reversing the text, and adding assumptions (bolded text):
kyojin kara nogarerarenai = Cannot escape from Titan
And guess what, Ilse monologue in the previous panel says: "It's impossible for a human to run away from Titans on foot."
Other instances (I can't be bothered to highlight all of them in blue lol, too much work and it actually HURTs my eyes) include:
Chapter 1, right before the Colossal Titan appears, a sign is shaken to swing about. Although in a very different font, it reads "douguya," meaning "Item Store." (This one is inconsistent with the notebook and canned herring (large panel): you flip, then read from left to right.)
Chapter 12, right before Eren turns into a Titan, there's a large panel featuring the large rock Eren's about to carry. Next to the rock is a sign, titled "ooiwa," meaning "big rock" (lol.) (Again, flip, read from left to right.)
Chapter 22, when the dude is point on the map briefing the team. On the map there are phrases like "enemy-detecting team" and "horse-cart protection" (sakutekihan and nibasha goei.) These two cases, although written upside-down, they are also not reversed. i.e. you flip them over and read left to right.
Chapter 38: the canned herring. Although we've discussed this above, prior to the larger panel, there are two smaller panels which you can just about figure out the Japanese words on the can. BUT! Inconsistency is present again:
The first two panels are written in reverse to the larger panel (when Reiner's reading the can.)
The hidden text in the inside covers of the tankoubon is written upside-down, left to right, top to bottom. This is not consistent with Ilse's note book (upside-down, right to left, bottom to top.)
Afterwords: By all means, this SnK language can simply be some random Easter Egg the author has made up, and does nothing to the main story, meaning the inconsistency in the writing system does not mean anything.
Also, because judging from Reiner's reaction, people in the walls aren't suppose to know this writing system, but Ilse the scout writes in exactly the same language as the canned herring...! Which kinda means we're not meant to care about this writing issue lol.
The only reason I cannot let is slide pass completely is because this language seems to play a role in the story (Reiner-Ymir incident.)
Concerning the inconsistency on the can of herring, I'll see if the author made any changes in the tankoubon when I finally get my hands on a copy. It most probably is a mistake, but I really can't tell in which direction it's meant to be read due to the plot.
I don't intend to come to any conclusion from this thread. My main purpose is to let people who aren't familiar with the language to gain the same insight as the ones who know it, and from then discuss what this could be all about.
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