#Spy x Family x Linguistics

[xxscarletxrosexx]

An Anthology of Linguistic Analyses by XxScarletxRosexX

Of all the peculiar things I could have done with my Master's Degree in Linguistics, I didn't expect that I would be applying everything I learned in Spy x Family. In any case, it's the perfect marriage between my two passions <3

I decided to make a master post of my linguistic analyses because I have a feeling that this will be one hell of a deep dive. It's all thanks to the the Short Mission 11 / Chapter 90.1, which actually made me realize there's so much more to Spy x Family if I revisit the anime AND manga with my linguistic lense.

Below is a list of my published works thus far.

This list will be constantly edited when a new analyses is posted. So, if you wish to have the updated list, be sure to reblog this post (it will be pinned on my page).

Linguistic Jargons:

Discourse: written/spoken communiction or debate; dialogue.

Etymology: study of origin of words and the way in which their meanings of have changed throughought history.

Loss in Translation: to fail to have the same meaning or effectiveness when it is translated into another language; omitted text.

Orthography: spelling system; how letters combine to represent sounds and form words.

Phonology: a system of contrastive relationship among speech sounds that constitute the fundamental components of a language.

Psycholinguistics: the study of the relationship between linguistic behavior and psychological processes, including the process of language acquisition; metalingusitic.

Syntax: the arragnement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language; grammar.

A Linguistic Analyses... Anthology:

A

"Ania" is the closest to an identity reveal | Part 2

Source(s): Manga - Chapter 90.1 / Short Mission 11

Topic(s): Ania/Anya; Yor Forger; Loid Forger; Identity Reveal; Character Analyses

Linguistic Component(s): Discourse; Orthography; Etymology; Psycholinguistic

B

C

D

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

Manga Translation (EN/JP/TWN) Comparison of Chapter 90.1 | Part 3

Source(s): Manga - Ch. 90.1 / Short MIssion 11

Topic(s): Ania/Anya; Loid Forger; Ostania

Linguistic Component: Discourse; Orthography; Psycholinguistics; Loss in Translation

N

O

P

Q

R

S

A Linguistic Analysis of the Spelling Names "Ania" and "Anya" (and the chapter and languages of Ostania) | Part 1

Source(s): Manga - Ch. 90.1 / Short Mission

Topic(s): Ania/Anya; Loid Forger; Yor Forger; Ostania; Character Analyses; Setting Analysis

Linguistic Component(s): Orthography; Etymology; Discourse; Psycholinguistics

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

[night-heron-writes]

The World of Spy x Family: Newston Castle

We all know that Spy x Family is set in pseudo Cold War Germany. Tatsuya Endo makes that very clear—the capital city of Ostania is Berlint, just one letter off from the actual capital of Germany. And the names of the divided countries also pay homage to that: Westalis and Ostania come from the German words for “west” and “east”, respectively. 

But it doesn’t stop there. Take the castle from Episode 5 (Chapter 6 of the Manga), for example. Endo could have left it unnamed, or just made up a name, but he decided to call it Newston Castle. That name is very decidedly reminiscent of Neuschwanstein Castle, and is in fact almost a direct translation.

Furthermore, the location of the castle is listed as a little ways outside Münk. Now, Münk is very similar to München, or what non-German speakers would know as Munich. Münk would also fit with the in-universe trend of altering place names just a little bit, like Hugaria being the in-universe equivalent of Hungary.  Neuschwanstein Castle is similarly located a little ways southwest of Munich. Starting to sound familiar? Lets look at the pictures.

Newston Castle:

Neuschwanstein Castle:

Clearly, the animation team took a few creative liberties (like moving the lake right up to the castle), but the influence is pretty damn clear. It’s the little details like this that make me appreciate the series even more.

The only snag in this theory is that during the cold war, Munich and Neuschwanstein Castle were in West Germany, which leaves us with two possibilities: 1) that in Spy x Famliy, the two nations are divided much more equally than in actual history, and 2) that they all went to Westalis for the castle sequence, and risked being caught at the border just to celebrate Anya’s acceptance into Eden.

Personally, I think the first theory is more likely, given that Endo has already taken a number of creative liberties, and that we’ve not head anything about Berlint being divided into East and West, like what happened to real-world Berlin during the Cold War. And Anya gives the Forger Family address as 128 Park Avenue, West Berlint. Unless, she means the western part of East Berlint, but I think that’s not as likely. However, we don’t yet have a full map of both countries, so both theories are still viable.

Let’s compare the map we do have with an actual map of East and West Germany.

Spy x Family Map:

Real-world Map:

So far, the maps look pretty similar, but all we have is the northernmost bit of the Spy x Family map. Who knows what the rest of it looks like? The border could continue straight down the middle, in which case Münk and Newston Castle would be firmly in Ostanian territory. Do you see Munich down in the far-right corner of the real-world map? No wonder the Forgers needed a plane to get there from Belin(t)!

[yumeka-sxf]

Japanese Linguistic Observations in Spy x Family - part 2

Part 2 - Anya's "Anya-isms"

I think Anya has one of the most interesting ways of speaking out of all the SxF characters. But like with Twilight's dialogue that I previously discussed, it can only be fully appreciated in the Japanese version. Probably the most noticeable thing about her dialogue is how it's written compared to the other characters.

Written Japanese is comprised of three different alphabets: ひらがな (hiragana) and カタカナ (katakana), which together are referred to as "kana," and 漢字 (kanji). Kanji are the characters that hold the meaning of words, while kana simply represent the various Japanese syllable sounds and don't have any meaning on their own (much like the letters of the English alphabet). There are only about 100-ish total unique kana symbols, however, there are over 2,000 kanji in common use today. So Japanese children will start out learning kana and then learn kanji gradually during their school years. This is why Japanese children's books are typically written only or mostly in kana. This is also why manga and books aimed at a younger audience will have kana "translations" of kanji written above kanji characters, which are called furigana.

With that in mind, it's not surprising that all of Anya's dialogue in the Japanese version of the SxF manga is written entirely in kana. Even though using kanji in her dialogue wouldn't necessarily mean she knows kanji, reading a character's dialogue only in kana definitely gives off childish vibes – it conveys feelings of youthfulness and innocence, like "they're speaking only in kana because they don't know the kanji for these words…they're just a little kid, after all." At least, that's the feeling I get when I read Anya's dialogue. Though I haven't read enough manga in Japanese to say for sure, it seems like this concept of making little kids speak only in kana is not unusual, as there's at least one other example I know of: a manga from the mid-2000s called Yotsuba also has a titular 5-year old whose dialogue is written only in kana.

What's also interesting is that all of the other Eden kids speak "normally," using kana and kanji properly in their dialogue. This helps to convey the fact that, despite Anya being roughly the same age as them, their "rich family" upbringing has forced them to grow up faster. In the below panel, you can see how Damian's dialogue uses kanji (with furigana translations) while Anya's uses only kana, even for words that have kanji.

Interestingly, I found at least two cases where Anya does use kanji in her dialogue: when she's calling out the name of her big "Arrow of Light, Seize the Star" move during the dodgeball game, and when she calls out her "Lighting Bolt, Deliver my Aid" move when she tries to throw Yor's weapon back on the deck in the cruise arc. As you can see in the below panels, the names of these "moves" is written in kanji (with furigana translations). This makes sense not only because this is parodying shonen series where the characters shout out the names of their moves, but because it emphasizes how determined Anya was at these moments.

But going back to how Anya's speech compares to the other kids, another thing that stands out is that she speaks very "plainly." Her grammar is (mostly) correct, except for a few mistakes you'd expect a little kid to make. But she uses pretty much no colloquialisms, almost as if she knows the language but lacks the experience for using it in normal social interactions. I don't think this is unusual for a kid her age who's still learning, but it definitely stands out when compared to her classmates. For example, in the below panel, Becky uses normal interjections and other colloquialisms in her speech, like "ne" (ね), "wa" (わ), and "yo" (よ), which are all standard Japanese linguistic devices for softening or emphasizing your sentences. However, Anya doesn't use things like this in her speech. Again, this makes her speech come off as very plain and abrupt, almost like she's not a native speaker.

She also refers to herself in third person all the time in the Japanese version. In fact, I don't recall her ever using an "I" or "me" pronoun. I don't know why the English version of the manga doesn't keep this characteristic of her speech. I think it's very important in highlighting the childish aspect of her personality.

Putting all this together – the fact that she doesn't use typical colloquial speech and refers to herself in third person – really emphasizes the childish, naive, and almost baby-like nature of her character. I'm curious if Endo made her speak this way simply to show what a little kid she is compared to her classmates, or if it will somehow tie back to whatever roots she has in classical languages that he keeps hinting at. Regardless, as I mentioned in my full Anya analysis, what she lacks in speech and school smarts, she makes up for in empathy and resourcefulness.

Besides all this, Anya does make typical speech mistakes a normal kid would make, like mishearing words or saying things wrong. She mostly uses casual speech, but does try to use keigo (polite speech) on occasion, though not always correctly. For example, she says "ohayaimasu" (おはやいます) for "good morning" instead of "ohaiyou gozaimasu" (おはようございます).

But the most consistent "mistake" she makes (though it's not really a mistake) is what she calls Loid and Yor – "chichi" (ちち) and "haha" (はは) respectively.

Japanese has many different words for relatives depending on whether you're talking about your own relatives or someone else's, and whether you're talking to them or about them. "Chichi" and "haha" are the general, neutral terms for "father" and "mother," and are also used when talking about your parents to someone else. However, they're not used when talking directly to your mother and father. There are many other words for that, the usual ones being "o-tou-san" (お父さん) and "o-kaa-san" (お母さん), or some variations of these with different honorifics. Damian refers to his dad as "chichi-ue" (父上) which is very formal, while Becky calls her dad the actual English word "papa" (パパ) which is very informal and normal for kids to use. But again, "chichi" and "haha" are typically only used when talking about your parents, not to them the way Anya uses them. This started from the very first chapter where Loid asks her to call him something that sounds "elite." He originally suggests the very formal "o-tou-sama" (お父さま), but when Anya says "chichi," he doesn't bother to correct her.

Hearing a little kid call her dad and mom "chichi" and "haha" is kind of like calling them "my father" and "my mother" even when speaking to them directly – it's not wrong necessarily, just strange. But again, this serves to further emphasize the childlike nature of Anya's character.

<- Return to Part 1

Continue to Part 3 ->

[loosescrewslefty]

Spy x Family Name Etymology

Talked about this before with friends, but with linguistics being spoken of more in the manga lately, I really want to talk about the Name Etymology of the characters and patterns that emerge when looking up the meanings of their names.

To start with, we have Loid, Yor, Donovand, and Melinda. The four main examples of parents that this family-based story gives us, all of which have names that reference colors.

Loid is a clear play on the name Lloyd, a name of Welsh origin that means "Grey."

The Spy x Family art book revealed that Yor is actually a nickname for Yolanda, a name of Spanish origin which means "Violet Flower" (resisting the temptation to make a joke about "Viole(n)t Flowers" here, please respect that) Obviously Violets are a color as well, but interestingly enough in terms of floriography Violets are some of my personal favorite flowers in regards to expressions of love, and can specifically represent "impulsive acts of love."

Donovan is an Irish name, meaning "Dark Brown"

and Melinda is a Greek name that has a few different meanings, and is complex as the character herself. It can mean Sweet as Honey, combining the words Meli (Honey) and Lind (Beautiful). Or it could come from the word Melanie with Lind, meaning "Black and Beautiful" which fits with the color theme established by the other names present. There is a bit of debate with this one though, which leaves it a little more ambiguous.

Moving away from the parents we have the children, starting with the two Desmond boys. Interestingly, Demetrius and Damian are both Greek in origin, just like Melinda's name, which makes me suspect a little that she chose the names without her husband's input. (Or more likely, that he didn't care enough to contribute it).

Demetrius translates to "Follower of Demeter," the Greek Goddess of the earth.

Meanwhile, Damian means "To tame or subdue," coming from the Greek word 'Damianos' which means to master, conquer, or overcome. The name is ALSO linked to Demeter, as Damia is one of the Goddess' epithets.

Then we have Anya/Ania, which means "Gracious and Merciful"

and now we have Sigmund and Barbara.

Barbara is a Greek name, meaning "Foreign or Strange."

And Sigmund is German, meaning "Victorious Protector"

[befickleforever]

If you liked [inside no 9 episode] watch [film] : a guide. Part 2

If you liked ‘Wuthering Heist’, consider:

- Mon Oncle (1958). Genial, bumbling Monsieur Hulot loves his top-floor apartment in a grimy corner of the city, and cannot fathom why his sister's family has moved to the suburbs.

- A Night in the Show (1915). A man tries to find a seat for a show, while another man harasses both patrons and performers.

- Carry on Spying (1964). The dastardly organisation STENCH (Society for the Total Extinction of Non-Conforming Humans) is in possession of the secret Formula X, and its clear that the British secret service must do something.

- The Lavender Hill Mob (1951). Henry Holland is a fussy supervisor who oversees gold bullion deliveries to the bank in which he works. Secretly, he is plotting to steal a load of bullion and retire early, but he cannot figure out a way to smuggle it out of the country.

If you liked ‘Last Night of the Proms’, consider:

- Eat the Rich (1987). Terrorists and a rude waiter attack a politician and take over an exclusive London club.

- The Last Supper (1995). A group of students meet every Sunday and invite a guest to discuss various topics. When one of them ends up killing a guest because of his views, they decide to rid society of such people.

- The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1987). A gang leader's wife starts an affair with a bookseller who regularly visits her husband's restaurant. However, things complicate when she, her lover, a thief and a cook come together.

- In The Loop (2009). During an interview, British Cabinet Minister Simon Foster delivers an off-the-cuff remark Profane political spin doctor Malcolm Tucker tries to cover up Foster's faux pas, but the ill-conceived comment is picked up by a warmongering American official.

If you liked ‘The Riddle of the Sphinx’ consider:

- Pygmalion (1938). When linguistics professor Henry Higgins boasts that he can pass off Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle as a princess with only six months' training, Colonel George Pickering takes him up on the bet.

- The Game (1997). Nicholas Van Orton is a successful banker who keeps mostly to himself. When his estranged brother Conrad returns on his birthday with an odd gift - participation in a personalized, real-life game - Nicholas reluctantly accepts.

If you liked ‘Séance time’, consider:

- Ghostwatch (1992). The BBC gives over a whole evening to an 'investigation into the supernatural'

- Talk to Me (2023). When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits with an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill and high-stakes party game - until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces.

- Hereditary (2018). When the matriarch of the Graham family passes away, her daughter and grandchildren begin to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry, trying to outrun the sinister fate they have inherited.

- Ghost Stories (2017). Professor Phillip Goodman devotes his life to exposing phony psychics and fraudulent supernatural shenanigans. His skepticism soon gets put to the test when he receives news of three chilling and inexplicable cases.

- Borley Rectory (2017). In 1937, leading paranormal investigator Harry Price is given an opportunity to investigate the most haunted house in England, the infamous Borley Rectory, where he hopes to discover the truth behind the hauntings that have plagued the property.

[smelmo]

Hello!

I'm new to tumblr and don't know what I'm doing :) also all my interests are grandmacore. My favourite thing to do is dabble in things. I'm a dabbler to the core

Things I care about/engage with (a growing list):

Knitting (learning pattern designing)

Crochet (wearables when I can find a pattern, and sometimes amigurumi)

Finding Japanese knitting patterns (They use diagrams instead of written patterns and that's super cool!)

Language learning (I am trylingual lol. Currently studying beginner Japanese via Genki I and kanji via Wanikani (on lvl 9), maintaining my French and Taglish)

Spy x family

Pokemon (Gen 4 and below and also Legends of Arceus)

For some reason, reading about property and environmental law

Linguistics fun facts (I've never studied linguistics but I wish I could)

Books (I love the library and pledge allegiance to my ereader)

Audiobooks

Going to the thrift store

Cozy gaming (Mostly Nintendo: Wii and 3DS and Switch)

Libraries <3<3<3

Dungeon meshi / Delicious in Dungeon

Chappelle Roan

(to be continued)

Sometimes I get into these (an incomplete list):

Minecraft

Stardew valley

Tomodachi life

Sims 2

Kdramas and Jdramas

bob's burgers

golden girls

carol and the end of the world

(to be continued)

ok that's all bye <3<3<3

[elbiotipo]

Holi vengo a agradecerte por tener excelente gusto, por tu recomendación estoy viendo Spy x Family y leyendo Dungeon Meshi! Muy buenos ambos, gracias por tanto perdón por tan poco

ME ALEGRO! No quiero ser snob pero me encantaban antes de que sean anime incluso cuando no eran demasiado conocidos, los sigo desde Cemento como dicen los más viejos que yo

Ahora leé Heterogeneous Linguistics y mirá Planetes. Es tu siguiente paso.

[xautunno]

Rant about Spy x Family & Covert Affairs (found on Amazon Prime):

**I am watching the anime and have not read the manga yet

***This is long and you might want to skip my rambling but I felt the need to get it out

Okay, I have a little rant about Spy Family cause I keep seeing posts and it's aggravating me just a little but people keep pointing out that while Loid is getting more and more comfortable with Yor and Anya, his ability as a spy is diminishing. But I recently just rewatched Covert Affairs S1 and honestly, he's not becoming less of a spy but rather more of one.

Allowing truth to bleed into your lies makes your lies stronger and his family is not necessarily a lie with all the (forged) paperwork. His emotions being genuine bleeds through not only his act as a family man but Anya's and Yor's acts as well. Anya is a kid that obviously cannot lie well and his treatment, his relationship with her is how best he's going to influence her when she is out on her own representing them.

He also makes a point to always remind Yor she is part of the family because 1) she is and 2) in order for her to play her part, she has to believe in her role, that's going to allow others to believe their family tho it's also fair to assume her role will be more stepmom rather than mom.

This is a spy's life, managing assets in the field and expanding connections, all things Loid has given Twilight access to. A respected job, a daughter that goes to a prestigious school, and a wife that works in public service. He now has access to communities he might not have had before and more importantly, he has access long-term. No one can possibly question why he's hanging around this area for so long or perhaps not trying to move up the ladder because he's a family man devoted to his wife and his child's care. His child is in a very well respected school and his wife is a local (per the Handler).

In comparison, Annie Walker works at the Smithsonian and is a linguist which allows her to travel and she is comfortable traveling from previous experience. It gives her a way in with people but she also shares with others (typically other agents but sometimes assets) that she has a family waiting back at home, she's human too, with loved ones and that's what Twilight is finally becoming in my eyes is indeed the perfect spy.

I also feel like from some of the clips we do see before he gets to Operation Strix, he operated on almost an assassin basis rather than a spy. At least, from watching Covert Affairs, I see spies as managers in the field and collectors of intel. These spies in Spy x family might take on more of a dual role, I'm not sure.

I'd also like to point out that this is probably Twilight's first long-term mission. Long-term as in over a year. He could stay as Loid Forger indefinitely so long as he remains within valuable communities that allow him opportunities for WISE. And, while others call him the greatest spy of the West, we have no idea how he handled missions before Strix, and from what I can see of the missions he does alongside Strix, he probably messes up a lot more than we credit him. BUT, his success rate is high because he knows how to catch himself (and charm his way out), and once more, he probably never did a mission this long before so I doubt he knows how to handle himself when things he said last year come back to him because typically, his mission would already be over with.

And to address the Handler, we see her express emotion about the mission. She admitted to once having a daughter. That's probably why she joined WISE. All spies there seem to despise war and want only to bring peace. This is personal in their own way and that's why they must remind themselves to keep emotions out of their decision-making. That doesn't mean to suppress themselves or their compassion but do not let the heart rule on decisions that could be the key to a peaceful tomorrow and a war. I have yet to see her rule on the thought of emotions being bad (have not seen the manga yet) and Twilight also seems to have some qualms about his emotions during missions but Nightfall is the only one that I've seen take it so far and the others around her make note that is too far. That's not expected or required of them. In fact, her suppression of emotion can probably make some of her missions more difficult for her and other agents. And, it also means her inability to properly handle her emotions leads her to nearly compromise Twilight's mission.

Back to Annie Walker, we see her struggle with her emotions (she is a rookie after all) in the field. That's why she has Auggie (her handler) and Joan (her boss). Their job is to keep Annie focused and Annie's job is to keep her assets safe and focused so intel goes back to the CIA. But, Joan knows that the life of a spy is difficult especially with family and friends not knowing the truth. That's why Joan demands Annie takes a vacation, why she's watching closely, because the minute an operative snaps, they're gone. They either leave or they go rogue (seen in S1 with other agents). A handler has to know their operative better than anyone else so that when operatives reach the end of their rope, the handle can pull them back into safety.

I think The Handler knows Twilight all too well and that's honestly a good thing. and I think one reason for that is she will bear herself to him like she did speaking of her daughter and he bears a little of himself back. There's mutual respect and trust. If nothing else, an alliance that makes this possible. And, ensures Twilight doesn't go off the deep end. With his family around him now, I think this might make it easier to keep him focused, centered, and motivated.

[twstrhythm]

“The flowers speak their own language. Listen closely and you will hear their story.”

Technical Information:

Name: Peri Eclipse Nicknames: Harp Seal (Floyd); Monsieur Fleur de Dragon (Rook); BaiHua (Chenxi); Riri (Emil); Amethyst (Rayan); Child/Periwinkle (Ester); Proserpina (Jiawen); Lavender (Nyneve); Riri (Ruby) Voice Actor: Miyuki Sawashiro (Kurapika, Hunter x Hunter)

Biological Information:

Gender: Male Pronouns: He/Him Age: 250 Birthday: April 22 Star Sign: Taurus Height: 160 cm Hair color: Light Purple Eye color: Pink Homeland: Briar Valley Family: Ester Thorn (adoptive father); Cerise Moonshine (adoptive uncle); Unknown father and mother

Professional Status:

School: Night Raven College Dorm: Diasomnia School Year: Second Class: 2-A Student Number: 3 Occupation: Student Club: Gardening Club Best Subject: Ancient Incantations

Fun facts:

Dominant hand: Left Favorite Food: Peaches Least Favorite Food: Anything with Ranch Dislikes: People destroying plants; Cameras Hobbies: Gardening Talents: Can grow any plant regardless of season

Appearance:

Peri is a small fae with dragon horns protruding from the top of his head. He has long light purple colored hair that he keeps tied up in a high ponytail. He also has a few flower shaped hairpins in his hair. He has soft pink eyes. He also has a dragon’s tail and small dragon wings. For his school uniform, he wears the standard uniform and has his necktie tied in a bow.

Personality:

Peri is typically a soft spoken individual. He is kind to the people he befriends and has a tendency to be clingy with them. However, the story is different if you harm plant life. If you do harm a plant, he will attempt to make your life a living hell.

Background:

Peri was left behind in Briar Woods when his biological parents were fleeing from some humans that had been hunting them down. He is descended from spring fairies and dragon fairies, but he is not too aware of these origins. He only knows about the life that he has now living in Briar Woods with his newfound family. If you were to ask Peri about who his parents are, he would say Ester Thorn. As far as this young fae can remember, Ester is the only parent he has ever had. He will not give any other answer if people persist to ask for a different answer.

Peri liked to spend time walking through the woods and admiring the flowers. One time, he had wandered into a human village and had been chased away. Luckily for him, Ester had come to his rescue and prevented him from getting killed. Since that day, he has been more cautious with going too far from his home in the woods.

Because of this, he was hesitant to enroll in a magic school But with Ester’s encouragement, Peri had taken one step forward to learn how to trust and make new friends. It is a decision that he does not regret making to this day.

Skills and Abilities

Botanical Knowledge: Peri knows a lot about different kinds of plants. He is aware of which plants are poisonous and which ones are not. He knows how to determine the ones that are safe for consumption.

Magical Skill: He is skilled in magic, particularly flora magic. He has been able to grow different plants with it. He has great control over his magic, but he does not try to minimize damage done to his surroundings when he is angry.

Dragon Transformation: Peri is capable of transforming into a dragon.

Enhanced Speed: He has enhanced speed and is capable of keeping up with a fast moving car in his dragon form.

Enhanced Strength: He has enhanced strength in dragon form.

Enhanced Defense: He has enhanced defense in dragon form.

Flight: He is capable of flying.

Animal Linguist: He can understand animal languages.

Plant Linguist: Peri can also understand plant languages.

Unique Magic:

Peri’s Unique Magic is called Flora Dragon Dance. It allows him to create mini dragons made out of flowers. These dragons can be used to spy on people. Depending on what he feeds them, they can be gentle or aggressive towards other people.

Chant: "Dragons prowl about, dancing and playing in a garden of colors. Flora Dragon Dance!"

Trivia:

Peri is short for Periwinkle

Baihua ，百花 = 100 flowers

Peri had initially been enrolled at Royal Sword Academy.

He had been kicked out within the first 3 hours of being there.

Peri is one of 5 students who had gotten expelled from RSA in the first week of school.

He was part of the Friendship Club.

Friendship club is short for "Friendship because I got expelled from RSA for a stupid reason" club

Peri nicknames each of his little flower dragons.

[jaspertheshark]

At some point I need to do some linguistic research on Japanese because I have a very minimal amount of education on the language but did take it in college

Um, but particularly because of the way honorifics are used in Spy x Family. I noticed Loid using -kun for Fiona and at least one other woman and I am very interested in Why

[xxscarletxrosexx]

SxF Analysis Poll

I will most likely be able to work on this during my 3-week winter break ^^

[night-heron-writes]

Ok, so idk if anyone else has noticed (or cares), but in chapter 61 of the manga, the Tonitrus Bolt lady is named Donna Schlag, right?

Which sounds really similar to the German word donnerschlag, which means “thunderbolt”. 

Her name is a pun. A really bad pun.

I almost died laughing when it hit me. Bravo, Tastuya Endo, bravo.

[yumeka-sxf]

Japanese Linguistic Observations in Spy x Family - part 1

This is a post series I've been planning for a while and I've finally had the time to complete part 1! 😃 I may have mentioned here before that I got my B.A. in Japanese/East Asian Studies, and even though I'm not fluent, I know the linguistics of the language fairly well. So I thought it would be fun to examine the interesting aspects of the Japanese version of the SxF manga that aren't reflected in the English translation. It might also be an informative experience for those who don't know any Japanese to learn a bit about the language through SxF! I'll try not to get too technical with the linguistics and keep my explanations at a beginner's level.

-----

Part 1 - Twilight's "honne and tatemae"

One of the main themes in SxF is how many of the characters have secrets they want to hide, so they act a certain way in front of others in order to mask their true selves. Japanese has a word for this phenomena called 本音と建前 ("honne and tatemae").

I remember learning about the concept of "honne and tatemae" during my Japanese college studies – a quick google search will yield a lot of publications on the topic and its relation to Japanese culture in particular. While the idea of hiding one's true intentions behind a fake facade can exist anywhere and is not something unique to Japan, it is enough of an occurrence in Japanese culture that there are specific words for it. The Wiki article has a basic but good definition of honne and tatemae, to quote:

A person's honne may be contrary to what is expected by society or what is required according to one's position and circumstances, and they are often kept hidden, except with one's closest friends. Tatemae is what is expected by society and required according to one's position and circumstances, and these may or may not match one's honne. In many cases, tatemae leads to outright telling of lies in order to avoid exposing the true inward feelings.

Sounds very much like the characters in SxF, doesn't it? Twilight especially, because unlike other characters like Yor and Anya, who simply have secrets they need to keep but don't create fake personas for themselves, Twilight does – the cheerful, friendly Loid Forger is a different person from the cold, calculating Twilight after all. Also unlike Yor and Anya, who speak the same way consistently no matter who they're talking to, Twilight uses different speech levels depending on which persona he's using and who he's talking to.

There are many different levels of speech in Japanese, ranging from super formal to totally crude. These speech levels are distinguished mostly by the pronouns the speaker chooses to use for themselves and who they're speaking to, as well as how they choose to conjugate the words they use. For example, 座ってください (suwatte kudasai), 座って (suwatte,) and 座れ (suware) all mean "sit," as in, telling someone to sit down. But the tone being conveyed is different: the first one is polite, the second one is casual, and the last one could be seen as rude if you're not using it with a close friend/family member.

As Twilight, he uses casual speech with the masculine and less polite pronoun 俺 or オレ (ore). This is the speech he uses when talking to a fellow spy like Fiona, and for his own inner thoughts.

As Loid Forger, he uses the polite 敬語 (keigo) speech, which is basically comprised of using the -ます (-masu) conjugation for verbs and the "to be" verb です (desu). He also uses the pronoun ボク or 僕 (boku), which is the standard male pronoun and more polite than "ore." He uses keigo to address pretty much everyone who doesn't know his true identity. When talking to a higher-up like Sylvia, he'll still use "ore" but will use polite speech instead of casual speech.

Anya is an exception to this: with her, he uses his most casual speech, the same as he uses with Franky.

I discussed a bit about this in part 24 of my Twiyor analysis posts, but this could be because Anya is a little kid, so he doesn't feel the need to put on any airs with her (same with Bond, whom he also uses casual speech with).

An interesting side note is that, as a child, Twilight used the pronoun "boku" but then changed to "ore" as soon as he became an adult/soldier.

Another aspect of keigo, besides using the more polite forms of pronouns and verb conjugations, is putting the honorific さん (san) after people's names. Twilight does this all the time with Yor, as she does with him. However, he switches to casual speech and drops the "san" part in her name when addressing her in front of people who (supposedly) believe they're a real married couple, such as Yuri and Fiona – because it would be weird for a real couple who have been married for a year to address each other in such a formal way, especially the husband. In the below panel when Fiona visits them, he's calling her "Yor" instead of "Yor-san" and using casual speech instead of keigo.

Oddly in these situations, while he uses just "Yor" when addressing her directly, he still calls her "Yor-san" when talking about her. During Yuri's first visit for example, he calls her "Yor-san" when telling Yuri how much Anya loves her (talking to someone about her) but then calls her just "Yor" a few moments later when telling her that he'll clean up the spill (talking to her directly). It's strange to me that he wouldn't just consistently use "Yor" whether he's talking to her or about her in these situations...I'm honestly not sure if he does this intentionally or if he just slips up since he's so used to using "Yor-san" in her presence.

*UPDATE* Thank you to @dentedintheworld-blog for enlightening me with the below reply about this!

"In Japanese, when speaking to your spouse's family about your spouse, you address her/him by attaching "san" her/his name out of respect for her/his family. This is also to show her/his family that you respect your spouse. That's why Loid calls Yor with san when he talks about how much he loves Yor to Yuri."

That definitely makes sense for why Twilight switches between "Yor" and "Yor-san" in these situations.

Regardless, this is why the scene in chapter 86 is so significant – when Yor isn't present, there's no reason for him to refer to her as "Yor-san," especially in front of a fellow spy like Fiona who knows he (supposedly) shouldn't have any feelings for her. Yet, even after he just called Yuri by his full name "Yuri Briar" a moment before, he doesn't do the same for Yor and continues to call her "Yor-san" here, much to Fiona's dismay.

In the same chapter, it's also significant that he uses "ore" when addressing Yor directly in his thoughts. Even though he's not speaking out loud, I believe this is the first time he's speaking directly "to" her as Twilight and/or his true self and not as Loid Forger.

But despite all this, I think that both Loid Forger and Twilight are tatemae…they're both masks to hide the person he truly is. The person who fondly talked about his mother to Yor on the park bench, the person who genuinely expressed gratitude for her sacrifice when leaving the resort island, the person who refused to kill Yuri in a life-or-death struggle because he knew it would hurt her…that's his actual honne. But of course, the ongoing conflict of the series is that he has yet to realize this. He won't even show his honne to his closest friend, Franky. Seems like it mostly comes out in dribs and drabs during his interactions with Yor...no surprise there, lol. The man is certainly a work in progress. When he finally starts letting his "honne" show, I'm curious what form of speech he'll adopt.

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Continue to Part 2 ->

[theharrowing]

Tag Nine People You Want to Get to Know Better

Thanks for the tag, @btsstan12 & @here2bbtstrash! ✨

Fav color: I don't have constant favorites, but I currently love greens, oranges and purples.

Currently reading: My linguistics textbook, Everything Falls by @blog-name-idk & Between Two Sinners

Last song: Best Lover by Bibi

Last series: I don't really watch TV often, but I started Spy X Family and I might chip away at it slowly over time

Last movie: Hell Fest. It sucked lol.

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: All of the above, but especially savory!

Currently working on: So many things! I just finished two oneshots for the Bottom Joon Fest, I have chapter 7 of Collateral in the works, two Soulmates stories for my Patreon subs, two oneshots for Ardour Dead Dove Fest in the works, a Summertime Seduction story, annnnd of course, Chapter 18 of Dollhouse!

Tagging: No pressure! @madbutgloriouspond, @blog-name-idk, @chimknj, @ffion451 @svgahigh <3 i know this isn’t 9 people lol i got lazy okay love you bye

[purenguyening]

tagged by @thenon-fictiondays​

it’s going to be a free-for all because I’m kind of lazy

favorite colours: navy blue, emerald green, indigo (i really love all jewel tones)

currently reading: HIgh Speed 2 (despite not even finishing the original High Speed, oopes). I guess also Gender in addressing and self-reference in Vietnamese a subsection in Volume 2 of Gender Across Languages, The linguistic representation of women and men. I haven’t made much progress on either though.

last song i listened to: Daniel Kim’s 2010′s Popology

last series i watched: I believe I was part-way through rewatching Soul Eater with a friend, but Spy x Family and Demon Slayer are still high up on what I want watch next.

last movie i watched: Free! Final Stroke Part 1, lol.

cravings: At the moment chocolate would be quite nice. I guess in terms of sensation? I really want to knead and scratch something...like a cat.

currently working on: This doodle of Mononobe no Futo and Soga no Tojiko after not drawing digitally for like...months:

It feels like Futo has the iconic ZUN face(TM) but in my style. I really love exaggerating a height difference between these two. 

I’m also gong to take a 40mm x 40mm paper and see if I can still fold a crane well out of it because it’s been a while. I saw a comic that talked about Edgeworth’s troubles with origami and it reminded me he mentioned he could fold one perfectly from a 1.5in x 1.5in (if I recall correctly). Made me want to give it a go again, myself.