Seek help with words I think I've created

To the Mod: If this is in the wrong section, please redirect. Thanks.

Also, my apologies for the long post.

This is hoping that I am not making a mess of my first post. I am an itinerant children's fiction writer. My first book is expected to be released online later this month. A sizable part of the book deals with robots and androids manufactured by a fictitious Japanese company. While the main action takes place in India, I have envisaged an alternate modern-day Japan where robots and androids are quite commonplace.

The issues I need help with are:
1) There are many Japanese words/terms I have created for the purpose of the book and future books. A preliminary online search (in English) has revealed that none of these words/terms exist yet. Please let me know me if I am wrong in my assumptions - or worse, if I am being presumptuous ...

2) Would these words/terms below make sense to a Japanese person? Could these words/terms be written in any of the three scripts, or would the two Hiragana terms I have coined [(b) and (c)] be acceptable? Would somebody recommend alternatives if these are incorrect?

The terms I need assistance with, initially, are:
a) The name of the fictitious Japanese android manufacturing company I propose is Nihon-Botto. Its abbreviated form is Nihombo (the correct pronunciation for Nihon-bo). Does such a company exist? Also, am I allowed to use the word 'Nihon' or are there any restrictions on who uses a country's name and how it is used?
b) Laws of Androids/Robots: Jinzoujinhou (じんぞうじんほう) [Think Asimov's 'Three Laws of Robotics']
c) Rights of Androids/Robots: Jinzoujinken (じんぞうじんけん) [My own addition to field of the Robotics]

There are several other Japanese words/terms I have created, but I don't want to ask too much of you all on my first attempt at seeking help.

If some kind soul(s) do assist me, I will be grateful

Should my requests not cross the limits of the forum's tolerance, I will seek further assistance.

Thank you for looking anyway and thanks in advance for any and all help.

Regards.

Hit Veda

P.S. I am not an expert at the Japanese language. I have studied a few levels of conversational Japanese. So ... please be gentle.

a) While quick searches on the internet do not reveal any company "Nihon Botto," "nihonbo" (with the last "o" sound extended) means "two bars/sticks," and thus is used as the name for a chopstick shop.

About b) and c): Actually the words "android" and "robot" are written in katakana as they are, and referring to them as "jinzou ningen" (man-made human being, literally) is very old fashioned. While I noted that you changed it to "jinzou jin," and combined it with other words in b) and c), this is not a word that exists in Japanese, and sounds a bit too unnatural.

For b): In addition, "laws" in the context of Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics means something close to "principles" or "fundamental rules." The word you chose, "hou," means "laws" as in "laws, regulations, ordinances, etc." something legal, so the meaning is slightly different.
Note that Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics has been known as "robotto kougaku no (of robotics) 3-gensoku," where the word "gensoku" means laws in the sense of fundamental principles.

Since you say that you've "created" some words, it is in the end up to you to decide if you want to use those in your fiction, but the above is my impression as a native Japanese speaker.

There is no definition of robot yet.
I think you are referring to ヒューマノイド規制法 that to be written in the (near) future.
It should cover the manufacturing, the operation(the usage) and the disposal.
Since a humanoid is not a human, it doesn't poses the right.

What you have there, amazinga, is "Humanoid Control/Regulation Law," not the "principle" kind of "law" which the Asimov's Laws of Robotics are :)

I'd be curious to know what the original poster says - probably his fictitious world is one where humanoids do have rights :)

If it's in Japan, Nihon-bo is not called as an abbreviation of Nihon-Botto, I think. Maybe Botto?
BTW, here is a list of Japanese robot-companies.
http://www.nikkan.co.jp/eve/irex/shuten.html

"jinzou jin"(人造人) sounds too bad in Japanese.

And "jinzou ningen" is old fashioned and remind Casshan or Kikaider.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casshan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kikaider
But it's used in the recent news.
http://jp.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idJPTYE91505J20130206
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/science/news/130208/scn13020808180000-n1.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U-VijJoEyQ
So if you want Kanji-Japanese, "jinzou ningen"(人造人間) is not so bad.
Maybe other Kanji-Japanese is not.
So I think "jinzou ningen" is formal, and it's commonly called "Robot" or "Android"?

b) Laws of Androids/Robots: Jinzou-ningen-hou 人造人間法
c) Rights of Androids/Robots: Jinzou-ningen-no-kenri 人造人間の権利

And I think they are called abusively 人形(ningyo; dolls), 機械(kikai; machine) and ニンジン(ninjin; carrots).
人人(jin-nin) will be an abbreviation of 人造人間(jinzou-ningen), so it will transform into ニンジン, I thought just now.

Thank you, AK and amazinga, for your replies. They were extremely helpful.

When I wrote about ‘laws’ and ‘rights’ I did mean 'Rights of Androids', which I am drafting at the moment. These will be something on the lines of the 'Rights of Man' or 'Droits de l'Homme'.

My generic names for these concepts, originally in French, are 'Lois des Droides', where they relate to Asimov's 3 'Principles' and 'Droits des Droides' (where 'Droits' mean 'Rights').

To AK: The ‘chopstick shop’ version of Nihonbo made me LOL. I understand that a native Japanese speaker would find my created words strange. Would they ‘look’ better if written in katakana? Also, I understand your remark about ‘laws’ and ‘principles’. I am working on that aspect now.

My original name for the made-up company was Nihon Robotto - but I saw publications (but not any company) by that name, I understand your clarifications. I will try to work on a simpler name.

To amazinga: In my fictitious world, androids will be given some‘Rights'. I understand your clarification re 'Humanoid regulations'. Besides the concepts you have specified (manufacturing, operation / usage, and disposal), I am also exploring the android-related concepts of awareness, leasing, financial implications, gender and self-rejuvenation leading to 'immortality' - among many others.

Once again, thank you for your replies. They were most helpful. I am rushing off to an assignment now. Will post more queries a little later. Thanks in advance also for any further contribution any reader chooses to make.

Hit.

To ajapaneseboy

Thank you. I did not see your post when I replied, so I could not thank you earlier.

I understand your point about jinzou-jin. Many Japanese people who gave me their reactions on this forum and another one found it strange. I appreciate your frank opinion and the many links you have provided.

I will see how best to use the suggestions you have made. Would it be okay with you if I do use the terms you have offered, viz. ‘jinzou-ningen-hou’, ‘jinzou-ningen-no-kenri’ and ‘jin-nin’ (or any other suggestion[s] from you) in my book(s)? Should you agree, I will accredit their creation to you (‘ajapaneseboy’ or any other name you suggest) in the acknowledgements section of the relevant book(s).

It was suggested that ‘hou’ is not really connected with the ‘Principles of Robotics’ as I had proposed. So, I will probably change that term to mean ‘principles’ rather than ‘laws’.
Thank you once again. I also thank you in advance for any further suggestions you may have.

Hit.

Hi, Hit Veda!

I find your fiction ideas very interesting!!
Your ideas about the robots sounds amazing and very original!
I would love to read your fiction someday!

The name of the fictitious Japanese android manufacturing company I propose is Nihon-Botto. Its abbreviated form is Nihombo (the correct pronunciation for Nihon-bo).

Have you decided how to formulate the above names in Japanese?

How about: 日本ボット (Nihon-botto) and: 日本ボ (Nihom-bo)

Hit Veda, thank you for your kindness.
Yes, do as you please, and no acknowledgement is required for my post (not so creative) on this forum.
If I could be of any help, I'm very happy.

And excuse my poor English, "jin-nin" never sounds good in Japanese, I don't think it will be popular abbreviated word of "jinzou-ningen".
But I thought "nin-jin(carrot)" is a bit interesting, so I noted it for reference.
If there are foul-tongued charactors in the story?

BTW, maybe "jin-nin" will be formal/official abbreviated word.
So for example, some laws called like "jin-nin-hou" or something.
Actually, in Japan, "Kousei-roudou-shou"(Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) is called "Kou-rou-shou" for short on the news on TV or papers.
In the same way, "Kousei-roudou-daijin"(Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare) is "Kou-rou-shou"(this shou is other Kanji) or "Kou-rou-daijin",
"Shakai-hoken-cho"(Social Insurance Agency) is "Sha-ho-cho".

How about
(as the Ideas) Principles of Robotics: Jinzou-ningen-gensoku 人造人間原則
called "jin-nin-soku" or "jin-nin-gensoku" for short
as AK said.
(as the Law) Principles of Robotics: Jinzou-ningen-kiseihou 人造人間規正法
called "jin-nin-hou" or "jin-nin-kiseihou" for short
as amazinga said.

The government make "Jinzou-ningen-kiseihou" on the basis of "Jinzou-ningen-gensoku" against the risks of the disordered jinzou-ningen making?

Thank you Mods for your kindness. Long post ahead...

To cherry blossoms
Blush! Thank you for your compliments and for your suggestions..

Currently, I am juggling with the several suggestions I have received, so I will have to sit down and look at the philosophy behind each new suggestion.

[How about: 日本ボット (Nihon-botto) and: 日本ボ (Nihom-bo)]

I do like your two ideas because they are so close to my original name. If I do use the Japanese translations, as these are not my creations, do I have your permission to use these terms? Should you agree, and should I use them, I will accredit them to you (‘cherry blossoms’ or whichever name you recommend) in the acknowledgements section of the relevant book(s).

To ajapaneseboy
Thank you for your permission to use your inputs. I will still make mention of the various contributors as a small gesture of thanks on my part. To answer your question, yes, there is one particular character who is highly abusive, but she is a pre-teen who plays havoc with all the languages she encounters. So, nin-jin just might fit very well in her vocabulary. Ha ha.

Also, as an English teacher, I find your language skills right up to the mark. So, don't worry about ‘poor’ English.

I will study your suggestions and see which I can use best for general comprehension by people all over the world.

To all:
Should you like to read some bits about the forthcoming novel, you can download a pdf of the first three chapters free from my website. However, I don't know if I can recommend my own website, so I will await permission from the moderators.

WARNING: LONG POST
To set your imaginations rolling, here are a few more of my created words (to the best of my knowledge):
============ ===============
1) The names of my android creations, except for the first one, are Japanese (or English) adjectives that end with the suffix ‘-bo’. The main ones, the good ones, also known as the ‘Free-bos’ are Sensei-bo, Ooki-bo and Kirei-bo. Sensei-bo is the first one created, and there is a whole different story behind him, which will be detailed in the third book in this series.

The evil androids (Bad-bos) are named Warui-bo (the leader), Psycho-bo, Shock-u-bo, Abunai-bo, Burei-bo, Baka-bo and Osoi-bo.
============ ===============
Quote from the book:
2) Robots were prevalent in the world that the AdvenChaar live in. Very few individuals could afford to buy one of the more advanced robots because their costs were prohibitive. These included domestic robots such as the but-ro [robot butler], meido-ro [robot maid], gad-o-ro [robot gardener], sho-fur-ro [robot chauffeur], etc.
However, simpler robots – such as robotic pets – had become extremely popular and relatively affordable. These cute creations were known as ro-petto in Japan and as ‘ro-pets’ in the rest of the world. Some popular examples were the inu-ro [ro-dog], neko-ro or meow-ro [ro-cat], nezu-ro, also called ron-zumi [ro-mouse] and tori-ro or totto-ro, also called cana-ro [ro-bird or the play on the word ‘canary'].
============ ===============
Quote from the book:
3) Known by the generic term of Uchi-bo (domestic robots; ‘uchi’ means ‘house’ in Japanese) were offered in non-Japanese markets under the ‘Home-bro’ line. This was a play on ‘Home’, ‘robot’, and, surprisingly, brother.
All robot names had the prefix or suffix ‘ro’ or, sometimes, ‘bo’, added to the noun to indicate what the robot was (example ro-dog) or a close phonetic approximation of that noun (example ro-sho, where ‘sho’ represented ‘chauffeur’ – pronounced as “show-furrr”).
**********
Meanwhile, robots were also replacing humans in jobs that involved drudgery or a high degree of peril. Such robots were offered to the professional world at large under the brand name ‘Pro-Bro’ (professional robots), while being termed as ‘Puro-Bo’ in Japan.
Thus, it was not uncommon to see 'pro-bros’ assisting humans or performing strenuous jobs (such as in warehousing, mining, heavy manufacturing, etc.) by themselves; in 'lightweight’ jobs (such as maintenance personnel, repair-persons, data-checkers, record keepers, etc.); or as untiring, incorruptible public servants or utilities (such as bank-teller robots [ro-tella], robotic ATMs [ro-tei-mu], police robots [ro-kei – from which derived the term ‘Rocky’; and robotic policemen were often called as ‘Rockies’], firemen robots [ro-tobi], rescue robots [rescu-bo], etc). In fact, the different jobs that robots could do were increasing as rapidly as the Japanese manufacturer could programme them.
============ ===============
Quote from the book:
4) Ooki-bo was a disaster management android from the ‘Su-Pa-Bo’ (すーパーぼ) line-up. This term came from the Japanese words for ‘wonderful’ すばらしい (subarashii = great, wonderful, magnificent, splendid) and ‘person’ (パーソン = paa-son = person). In general parlance, they became known as Su-Pa-Bo. Eventually, one they are marketed outside Japan, this line will be named as ‘Super-Bo’.
============ ===============
Quote from the book:
5) Kirei-bo is from the ‘Wonda-bo’ (ワンダーぼ) line-up. This line-up is to be called ‘Wonder-Bo’ elsewhere in the world.
Ooki-bo and Kirei-bo were representatives of the most recent development in the field of android technology. They were not just androids. They were originally termed as Free Robots, but this got abbreviated to ‘Freebots’ and later to ‘Freebos’.
Some outside Japan even termed them as ‘FrAnds’ – an abbreviation of ‘Free Androids’, but we will stick with Freebos for now.
============ ===============
Quote from the book:
6) This sign language (of androids) that manipulated fingers and palms that were very supple and could bend backwards and forwards was too fast for humans to decipher and well-nigh impossible to replicate, given that our fingers and hands cannot bend backwards beyond a certain angle.
In Japan, this ‘language’ is variously called 'isshi-go' (いっしご),'jisshi-go' (じっしご) and 'fuinga-go' (フィンガご). The word ‘-go’ is the Japanese suffix for 'language'. I will use one of these three, probably, fuinga-go. In English, this language is called 'Fing-lish'. :-)
============ ===============

Thanks for looking. Any and all suggestions and criticisms are welcome.

Hit.

Edited because of error (in italics):

Quote from the book:
4) Ooki-bo was a disaster management android from the ‘Su-Pa-Bo’ (すーパーぼ) line-up. This term came from the Japanese words for ‘wonderful’ すばらしい (subarashii = great, wonderful, magnificent, splendid) and ‘person’ (パーソン = paa-son = person). In general parlance, they became known as Su-Pa-Bo. Eventually, once they are marketed outside Japan, this line will be named as ‘Super-Bo’.

Hi,

Correct me if I missed out anything, but if we were to abbriviate Nihon-Botto, I think it's natural to simply call it Botto or something like NBT which are the initials.

You don't usually put in a whole country name when abbreviating, at least not in Japan. The point is the Botto part and not Nihon.

But then, something like Nihon-Robo or Nippon-Robo is more natural as a company name. You don't usually abbreviate "robot" as "botto," but the word is very commonly abbreviated as "robo."

Also, if you do insist on calling it "(something) Botto," it's more natural to spell it as just "Bot" (and pronounced as "botto"). Usually, imported words are spelled in its original language even though it is pronounced in the Japanese way.

By the way, the reason you find a lot of "nihon robot" on the internet is because it's simply two common words put together. I notice that most of these phrases are followed by words like "Commity" or "Institute" to make the name complete. You might want to make up another name such as "Nihon Robot Company" or something like that. Adding just one word can make it unique.

As for the laws, I think either "jinzouningen-hou" or "robot-hou" will do, but the feeling is quite different. The former sounds more serious and perhaps a bit grotesque due to the fact that it implies an artificial human while the latter sounds more cute. If you're writing a story for children, perhaps the latter is better although it depends on the context.

Hit Veda,

How about this 日本ロボット for the name of your made up robot company?

Thank you for your kindness.
No acknowledgement is required for my insignificant post.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate.

Regarding your fictitious company, for the colloquial name of your company you may want to consider a well-known equivalent as a model.

You have heard of NEC, right? The name in Japanese is structurally comparable to the name you want to use in your book. The formal name of NEC is "Nippon Denki K. K. (Kabushiki Kaisha)," which is literally "Japan Electric Corporation" but is usually referred to in English formally as "NEC Corporation" or just "NEC" for short.

In casual conversation in Japanese, though, it can be referred to as "Nichiden," using an alternative reading of the first kanji in "Nippon" and the first kanji in "Denki."

Therefore, you might consider using a formation like:

Nichiro
Nichirobo
Nichibotto
NRC

As Japanese native, I agree with Uco, and I think "Nihon-bo" and suffix "-bo" sound bad.
Also in Japanese, suffix "-robo" or prefix "robo-" are natural.

But I know Japanese speakers love the Engrish words is not always the same that English speakers love.
So many Engrish words have been made in Japan.
Therefore I dare to think suffix "-bo" positively.

First, after reading DanH2009's post, I think "Nichi-bo" is not so bad, if they release "-bo" series.

How about...
"-bo" is the abbreviation of "robo" and it's nickname means 坊(bou; little kids) also.
Though maybe it's a bit comical.

Just an idea...
Sensei-bo:
*The Kanjis of "sensei"(先生) means "born before" but it means "teacher".
Ooki-bo: big one? yojin-bo 用心棒(youjinbou; old-fashioned bouncer/bodyguard)
Kirei-bo: beauty one? bi-bo 美貌(bibou; beautiful face) or さくらんぼ(sakuranbo; cherry)
* very popular song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGHDrlvypWg
Warui-bo: ya-bo 野望(yabou; ill designs)
Abunai-bo: 暴れん坊(abarenbou; hooligan)

Taikoh-bo: 太公望(taikoubou; fisherman) from Chinese historical hero
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taikoubou
Musashi-bo: 武蔵坊(musashibou) from Japanese legendary hero
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benkei
Yabukara-bo: 藪から棒(yabu-kara-bou; complete surprise/attack from darkness) from Japanese phrase

isshi-go: 一指語(one finger language)?
jisshi-go: 十指語(ten fingers language)?
fuinga-go: 指語(yubi-go or shi-go; finger language) is better, I think.
* BTW, "shigo" is 死語(dead/obsolete word) and 私語(private talk/whisper).
* "manualism/sign language" is 手話(shuwa; hand talk) in Japan.

Long post of thanks and acknowledgements.

Thank you forum members.

I have decided to adopt Nichirobo, a contraction of Nihon Robotto Kabushiki Kaisha. The ‘Nihon Robotto’ was the original name I had assigned to this company, but I had become sidetracked with Nihombo. The abbreviated form is a joint suggestion by DanH2009 of this forum and, a little earlier still, by someone on another forum. The English name for the company will be Japan Robotics Corporation, derived from a suggestion by Uco.

Nichiro was the obvious first choice, but given that there is already a famous seafood company by that name, I preferred to shelve that suggestion to prevent any confusion.

Regarding the Principles and Rights of Androids … I still need to get my head around the various suggestions. Another day should do it. I still have to work :-)

To ajapaneseboy
I value your suggestions, because they have made me think in different directions. I will work on the –bo suffixes. Unfortunately, these names have become an integral part of this novel itself and future novels, so the names will remain. Sensei-bo will be the name of the ancient tutor android. It is wonderful that the kanji means ‘born before’… because Sensei-bo is the world’s first total android (in my world)! That adds another colloquial dimension to the name. The story of the world’s first android is much, much longer and will be told over another two sets of books in this series.

Ooki-bi is a huge android who used to be used in rescue missions; Kirei-bo is a beautiful governess android. These are the ‘good’ androids. Evil androids are named with negative adjectives followed by the –bo suffix. How can androids be good and evil? There is logic behind this as well and will be revealed in a future book.

Fuinga-go (also my choice) is a language form dependent on manual dexterity. It will be based – only on principle – on the sign language of the deaf, but will go well beyond that. It employs extremely rapid hand-, palm- and finger-movement combinations – think ‘Naruto', but with the movements being in shapes that no human hand can adopt. This language is used for communication purposes over long distances, where telephonic conversation is not possible or reception is unclear.

In future, it will be useful underwater or in space or in vacuum where sound cannot travel over long distances or at all. Using this, androids can still communicate using a combination of telescopic vision and fuinga-go. Androids won’t need a large light source. In fact, just enough light so that their hands are lit will be sufficient for both sides to communicate effectively.

This is a form of android-ic (not a word yet) semaphore, but extremely rapid – in short bursts, it can even be at Mach speeds, if I can invent a shorthand form of fuinga-go. As androids will have perfect and instant recall, there is no need to memorise forms or word combinations like we humans have to do.

Another use of fuinga-go is for purposes of concealed communication when all other forms of communication can be intercepted and cracked by an enemy. Each set of androids could be made to devise their own personal fuinga-go which would be indecipherable to any other entity.

The English equivalent of fuinga-go, quite humorously, is Fing-lish.

The ‘-bou’ suggestion makes sense. I have a little girl android in my book whose name is Masume-bo. ‘Masume’ is a combination of ‘masoom’ which means ‘innocent / guileless’ in Hindi and the Japanese ‘musume'. Maybe, I will change her name to Masume-bou!

Also, thank you for your permission.

To DanH2009
Thank you for your suggestions. They made complete sense to me. Luckily, I did ask the Japanese community this question!

Would you have any objection if I were to use the term Nichirobo or any other suggestions you have made? As a gesture of appreciation and meagre payment :-), I will acknowledge your contribution in my book, crediting the name of Nichirobo jointly to DanH2009 of Japan Forum or any other name you recommend and to the other person who made the same suggestion.

To Uco
I thank you for your suggestions. Robot-hou is so simple and so direct! Maybe, that is the direction I will take, provided I have your permission to use it. However, my main thrust is on creating Laws and Rights for 'Androids'. I will need to work some more on these.

To cherry blossoms
Thank you for the Japanese script and for your permission to use your contributions.

My regards to all. If I haven't thanked any other contributors personally, please accept my apologies. I will be doing so, once I get the book on the road (on the Internet, I mean).

For anyone interested in getting an idea about the book, you can download the first three chapters in pdf format (pre-Nichirobo) from www.advenchaar.com. It's really a book for pre-teens and above, so there is no upward age limit to the reader base.

Disclaimer: The book is still work in progress, so there are likely to be a few final changes to it later.

Now I will go and finish the book.

Hit.
(My pen-name is not pronounced as the egoistic 'Hit' as in English, but with the 't' softer, like in the French word tete. In Hindi, it means 'benevolence [towards all]'.)

To cherry blossoms
Thank you for the Japanese script and for your permission to use your contributions.

No need for acknowledgement on my part.
I'm glad to be of help.
Good luck with your book!

Sure, give me joint credit in your book for Nichirobo. It would be fun to see that.

Good luck.