Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Super Mario 64 1-1

Star #1 - 山の上のボムキング > やまのうえのボムキング > Yama no ue no bomu kingu >  Bomb-King Atop The Mountain


The title is officially localized as "Big Bob-omb on the Summit". The Japanese title has five major components within it.


1. 山 > やま > Yama > Mountain

This is the Chinese character (kanji) for mountain, pronounced "Yama". "Yama" is used to refer to any nondescript mountain. When a mountain has a name of its own, this kanji is placed as a suffix and pronounced "San." The most notable example is Mount Fuji: 富士山 > ふじさん > Fujisan. You would think the Bomb-King, proudly watching the havoc of his water cannons from atop the mountain would have already named the place after himself. But, it's just as well he didn't, since Mario's first big task is to toss him off.


2. の > No > Possessive particle

From the second Japanese alphabet, this hiragana character is a grammar particle whose function I was able to pick up even before seriously studying the language. Acting as an indicator of possession, it's meant to emphasize 'the top OF THE Mountain'. If you've been the type to pay attention to the Japanese title for Nintendo's other classic series, you'll quickly pick up that this is the same word and function used in ゼルダの伝説 > ゼルダのでんせつ > Zeruda No Densetsu > Legend of Zelda!


3. 上 > うえ > Ue > Over/Atop

Showing an object of some sort sticking above ground, this kanji has a number of pronunciations and uses. In this particular context, it's used as "Atop the mountain" which Mario struggled to scale by clearing the giant cannonballs, delicate bridges and slightly precarious camera angles.


4. の >  No > Possessive particle

Here's the exact same word used earlier, but referring to "Bomb King OF the top OF the mountain." It's used to emphasize Bomb King's importance. He's OF the top of the mountain. He's serious about the business of observing the rest of the battlefield from his rocky throne and will take more than a couple tosses to retire.


5. ボムキング > Bomu Kingu

Finally, here's a fun introduction to the third Japanese alphabet, katakana, mainly used for pronouncing words of foreign origin, but within the limits of Japanese pronunciation.

ボ = Bo ム = Mu キ = Ki ン = N グ = Gu

Add these all up and you have BO-MU KI-N-GU, Bomb King!


In the title for Mario 64's very first stage, you've seen a bit of all three of the Japanese alphabets, some important and oft-used grammar in action, and a couple of the most fundamental Chinese characters.  It all adds back together as山の上のボムキング > やまのうえのボムキング > Yama no ue no bomu kingu > Bomb-King Atop The Mountain.


If your brain hasn't exploded into a Power Star (like Bomb King when defeated), head on over to the next stage...

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