Help Translating Languages from an Image

Neddy Bate · Jun 7, 2017

Hi everyone,

Image translation software can be hit or miss, for example if the text is not horizontal, like this:

So I thought it might be useful to have a thread where people could post their images for help translating.

The closest I could find for the above image would be something like "____ god innocent" but the first word still remains a mystery. I tried things that seemed to make sense in context, like "lamb of god innocent" but I have not been able to find a match. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

Neddy Bate · Jun 8, 2017

For reference, here is a screenshot showing the translation I have so far:

Those three Chinese words on the right-hand side appear to be the same as what is shown in the OP, but the first word is still unknown. Hence the place holder ____. Thanks for any help.

Fraggle Rocker · Jun 15, 2017

Neddy Bate said:
Those three Chinese words on the right-hand side appear to be the same as what is shown in the OP, but the first word is still unknown. Hence the place holder ____. Thanks for any help.

You can't work with written Chinese until you get a Mandarin-English dictionary--and learn to use it, which is an enormous pain in the ass!

Neddy Bate · Jun 15, 2017

Fraggle Rocker said:
You can't work with written Chinese until you get a Mandarin-English dictionary--and learn to use it, which is an enormous pain in the ass!

Ha, yes I would imagine so! Oh well, thanks anyway.

Fraggle Rocker · Jun 26, 2017

Neddy Bate said:
Ha, yes I would imagine so! Oh well, thanks anyway.

You can't read anything until you have a reading vocabulary of at least 2,000 symbols--more-or-less equivalent to a fifth or sixth-grade education in the USA. In general, you need to know about 5,000 symbols before you're considered to be "educated." And don't forget that most "words" are compounds, so you need to be able to parse a combination of two or three symbols, and then make sense out of them.

Neddy Bate · Jun 27, 2017

Fraggle Rocker said:
You can't read anything until you have a reading vocabulary of at least 2,000 symbols--more-or-less equivalent to a fifth or sixth-grade education in the USA. In general, you need to know about 5,000 symbols before you're considered to be "educated." And don't forget that most "words" are compounds, so you need to be able to parse a combination of two or three symbols, and then make sense out of them.

I see. When you say that most words are compounds, do you mean the way that the word "innocent" translates as two words/characters 无辜 (pronounced "Wú + gū")? For reference:

On a different note, I did notice that the word 神 (pronounced "Shén") which I thought meant "god" can also mean "look" or "expression". For reference:

I think the meaning of "look" or "expression" would make more sense in the context of the image I posted in the OP. But I still have not been able to figure out what the first word in that image might mean, even in this newer context. Do you think it might just be the puppy's name?

Fraggle Rocker · Jul 8, 2017

Neddy Bate said:
I see. When you say that most words are compounds, do you mean the way that the word "innocent" translates as two words/characters 无辜 (pronounced "Wú + gū")?

Most "words" (which is not a very good translation of the way a native speaker would say it) are combinations of two or three monosyllables, for the obvious reason that there are WAAAAY too many synonyms to be able to understand a sentence with no compounds.

But I still have not been able to figure out what the first word in that image might mean, even in this newer context. Do you think it might just be the puppy's name?

You're asking the wrong guy. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that my Chinese vocabulary is a little larger than yours, but it's not enough for anything except the most simple sentences.

Forty years ago, when I was living with my girlfriend from Sichuan province, I could carry on an extremely simple conversation with a native speaker. But I haven't used the language for so long, that I've forgotten most of it.

And amusingly enough, I picked up her Sichuan accent. This made it difficult for the majority of Chinese people, who speak Beijing Mandarin, to understand me.