Taneiko Griffith wrote:
> Mr. Bryant, I'm trying to understand what makes you
> such an authority on Japanese culture that you can
> discount any and every suggestions someone has that
> doesn't meet w/ your approval. What Brand had to say
> wasn't at all stupid and it is very possible that he's
> correct.
Did I say it was stupid? I said it's not a name.
"Kami" means "god" or "deity" specifically, not "the spirit of something."
So first of all, it's impossible for "Torakami" to means "spirit of the
tiger." If anything, it would be "tiger god."
> As far as my name goes, there is nothing odd
> about it and it is very much a Japanese name that was
> given to me by my great-grandmother who happened to be
> Japanese, which goes to show that you're not as much
> an authority as you seem to give yourself credit for
> being.
Then perhaps you will recall that my exact words were "Without the kanji, it
would be impossible. Frankly "Taneiko" doesn't sound typically Japanese to
me. Taneko would, but Taneiko... something seems odd."
Well, here goes.
Women's names using "-ko" endings are typically one kanji (haru, yuki, hana)
plus the finishing "-ko." There is *no* kanji that has "tamei" as a reading.
To get to "tanei" you need two kanji (or more) to produce tane+i, or ta+nei,
or ta+ne+i (the last one, meaning a four kanji name, is statistically
improbable. Therefore we're stuck with "tane+i" or "ta+nei." Since there few
kanji with the reading "nei", but not often seen in names, we're
functionally limited, then to "tane+i", which produces the question, which
kanji combination would allow a (positive meaning) name combining the
syllables tane+i+ko?
There are a few names that are listed in my books with the reading "Taneko"
(no "i") -- one "tane" meaning "seed/kernel" and the other meaning
"egg/seed" or "sincerity." There is a third "tane" which pops up in names --
"issue/offspring" -- but it's very unusual these days.
So what we have is a very improbably Tane*i*ko, but a very probable Tane[no
*i*]ko.
Now, it's possible that whoever Romanized the name added the "i" to make
sure people would pronounce it properly (like the errant "y" that sometimes
pops up in Ma[y]eda and U[y]eda. These variant readings are common, however.
Taneiko is not. Therefore, again, we're back to "either the name is Taneko
and someone mis-Romanized it" or "it's not a typical Japanese name."
Do you find a flaw with the argument or with the [original] conclusion?
For the record, Japanese onomastics, especially historical onomastics, is a
field I study, and I study it seriously.
Before you get all huffy, perhaps you should consider that some people *do*
know more than you do.
Tony