Can someone help me translate this please?

[llew77]

Hi

Ok, could nayone help me translate these please, am i right in that they say the same but one is tradiotional and one simple?

馬克我心心相印，永遠永遠

马克我心心相印，永远永远

Many thanks

[jbradfor]

馬克 -- transliteration for "Mark" I think.

我 -- me / I

心心相印 -- Two hears beat as one [phrase]，

永遠 -- always

So I would translate this as "Mark + me TLA!!!!!"

[TLA -- True Love Always]

[skylee]

Yes one is traditional and the other is simplified. And both are missing a character, which means "and".

馬克和我心心相印，永遠永遠

马克和我心心相印，永远永远

See jbradfor's post for the meaning.

[llew77]

Thnakyou!!

Now, she wanted it to read:

Mark my soulmate, forever and always

Can anyone help with that?

Many thanks

[renzhe]

I think it's close enough.

I don't think you can translate "soulmate" directly.

[llew77]

So if it was changed so it went vertical would that be ok?

Thankyou all so much for your help x

[HashiriKata]

So if it was changed so it went vertical would that be ok?

Yes, it should be (from top down).

PS: the closest word for "soul mate" is 贴心人, but what you've already got sounds nice.

[jbradfor]

How can one tell whether 馬克我心心相印 is meant to be 馬克和我心心相印 or 馬克我的心心相印 ? It looks pretty ambivalent from the context to me.

Also, should it be 永遠永遠 or 永永遠遠?

[skylee]

馬克我的心心相印

What makes you think that this is correct?

[chrix]

yeah, usually the 相 stands for a reciprocal expression, so you would expect a plural subject and thus it would rule out jbradfor's interpretation.

[jbradfor]

Now I'm confused.

My first interpretation was for a plural subject, "Mark and I, [we are] soulmates". But then the OP stated that she wanted it to be addressed to Mark, e.g. "Mark, [you are] my soulmate". Hence the addition of the 的.

So skylee and chrix, are you saying that "我的心心相印" sounds strange?

[chrix]

Well, 心心相印 doesn't literally mean "soulmate" in the sense of a person, but it refers to a situation where two hearts "imprint" each other: 比喻彼此心意互通. The reciprocity is key here.

The phrase might be rendered into English as "X and Y are soulmates", but you can't change it to a singular interpretation in Chinese.

(Interestingly it originally referred to master and disciple in Zen, who understood each other without words. Quite interesting change in usage, for the phrase now is commonly used in wedding wishes)

[llew77]

Oh no! Now im confused!

She really wanted "soulmate" in it but if that can't be directly translated then thats not a problem.

HashiriKata what does 贴心人 mean?

Thanks again every one x

[chrix]

The phrase can be applied to people being soulmates because it means to know each other's minds and hearts. And I think it fits the bill here because it is a nice poetic expression Chinese speakers IMHO would favour for such an occasion.

貼心人, which also is not particularly poetic, can also just mean "close friend" or even more removed from that "a person who understands our concerns", so in some contexts it can even lack reciprocity. For example, you can get examples along the lines of "the cadres of the property tax administration in X Province are our 貼心人", I don't think they're referring to soulmates here.

[HashiriKata]

HashiriKata what does 贴心人 mean?

貼心人 is, as defined by Contemporary Standard Chinese Dictionary, a person who is very close to you and who understands you most, to the extent that there is as if no distance between you and such a person (最知己的人；亲密无间的人). For this reason, I think it's the closest to the word "soul mate". However, I already said that 馬克和我心心相印 sounds quite nice in your case, and I'd just leave it as it is.

[renzhe]

To my understanding, being a soulmate is less about knowing someone well or caring for them, as much as being suited to each other, or being extremely similar in worldview and affinities.

It's the same old problems of translating short phrases with little context

[anon6969]

Please don't get this tattooed anywhere on your body...!

[skylee]

I find 心心相印 in #1 very romantic. I don't feel the same about 貼心人 suggested by HashiriKata.

Now it seems that the OP doesn't really want a Chinese-English translation, but an English-Chinese translation for something like a tattoo. I feel being cheated.

[llew77]

No its not for a tattoo!! I have stated the reason i wanted it for, its for one of my very best friends to make a wedding gift......i can't see a tattoo being one can you?

She is actually making a frame up of photos from there life so far, he loves the chinese writing and is having this written out vertically down the middle of it all, just to top it off, and really wanted to make sure what she had was correct, alot of time and though has gone into this.

Many thanks to evreyone for helping us here tho, you have all been very kind.

[HashiriKata]

I find 心心相印 in #1 very romantic. I don't feel the same about 貼心人 suggested by HashiriKata.

I didn't really suggest it. I put it in a PS as an afterthought while confirming 心心相印 being a good choice. I feel being picked upon by everyone, 我想哭了！！！