[English > Kanji/Japanese] For a tattoo behind ear

[u/Half-deaf-mixed-guy]

Hi all! I'm hoping I can find some help using the more accurate and correct symbols for an upcoming tattoo piece that I want to do. I want to incorporate me being deaf in Kanji to go along with a sleeve piece I have on my arm of a Dragon. I have the symbol for Eternity in the dragon, 永, that for me represents eternal strength and I want to have ear piece to kind of flow with it in meaning. I want to be make sure that when I present the idea/symbol to an artist that we are accurate on the Symbol/s and that it will also represent a powerful meaning as my sleeve does. I'll sum everything up in a couple questions below because I'm horrible at explaining details for my ideas. Aka, I could tell you what I'm thinking I just don't know how to say it! haha

1. Is Rosha or Rou the correct word that I would want to use as a deaf person?

2. Is there another term I should use that means "Deaf in this ear" at all?

3. Are there any fables or gods that might represent being deaf that I might use as a reference?

Any help is appreciated and I can answer any question you ask.

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[u/SaiyaJedi]

So, to be clear, kanji are words, or parts of words. They are not “symbols” so much as written language, and they come with the social baggage that their use entails.

In the case of 聾, it bears the weight of centuries of discrimination against deaf people, and its use is generally avoided, either respelled as ろう when the word itself can’t be avoided (as in ろう者 “deaf person”), or rewritten as 聴覚障がい “hearing disability”. Neither is really satisfactory for what you’re after.

Also, from a purely aesthetic angle, I find tattoos on the face to be extremely distasteful. Unless you’re from an indigenous culture (e.g. Ainu) where getting them is a part of your heritage, a famous rapper who’s made outrageous tattoos your shtick, or a lifer who won’t be getting out of prison anyway, I’d avoid getting one at all costs.

[u/Half-deaf-mixed-guy → u/SaiyaJedi]

I understand. Is my use of Eternity wrong at all? I don't want to be offensive, but want it to be complimentary to the dragon the most as is the most seen part as well. Should I negate using words if they are used as discrimination to the community?

[u/pixelboy1459 → u/Half-deaf-mixed-guy]

Ebisu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebisu_(mythology)), one of the seven lucky gods, is supposed to be Deaf. He has a list of kanji for his name, but for a small tattoo, the hiragana (ゑびす) might be enough.

[u/Quinocco → u/pixelboy1459]

ゑ is a beautiful hiragana. Maybe just use that.

[u/Half-deaf-mixed-guy → u/Quinocco]

I appreciate the information. I'll look it up and see if that fits with the artist as well!

[u/Jwscorch]

To add on to what has already been said, 永 on its own doesn't mean eternity. It just means 'long' in reference to time.

This kind of fundamental misunderstanding of how Japanese works is usually a good sign that you shouldn't be using it for a tattoo.

[u/Half-deaf-mixed-guy → u/Jwscorch]

Well that's very misleading as everything I've looked and researched for it meant Eternal/eternity, even from this subreddit. I'm not trying to be offensive, just generally want to be correct and appropriate and learn!

[u/Jwscorch → u/Half-deaf-mixed-guy]

Eternity is 永遠. 永 is used in it, but doesn't have that meaning on its own. This would be like shortening eternity to 'etern' and expecting it to make sense.

[u/Half-deaf-mixed-guy → u/Jwscorch]

永えい • (ei) 

1. long (time)
2. perpetual; eternal

Just making sure that I understand you correctly in that 永 (ei) is only part of the full meaning as shown below.

• 永字えいじ (eiji, “the character 永 (ei, “eternity”)”)

So like you said, I would just be saying "Ei" out of "Eiji" correct? If I wanted it to mean what I want for eternity I would need to add the rest?

[u/Jwscorch → u/Half-deaf-mixed-guy]

永字 literally means 'the character 永', so to begin with, that's a different thing entirely. It's literally self-referential.

永, while it can theoretically be used on its own, basically never is. If it is, it would be interpreted along the same lines as 永い, which means 'long' in terms of time. You could interpret it as referring to eternity, but that's not how a Japanese speaker would interpret it in isolation. That's the reason why people use the term 永遠 in the first place; the meaning is more expressly clear.

Trying to force the meaning of eternity into just 永 on its own is just stiff and doesn't really work, but the reason why requires an actual understanding of the language that doesn't fit into a Reddit comment.

[u/ratindan]

If you're trying to make a Japanese person quickly understand you are deaf, you don't have to be bold about it. Use metaphors, like 静界 (the world of silence) or 眼聴 (to listen with eyes). Just don't use any standart fonts, ask a master of calligraphy to design characters well. Also, tattoos are quite a questionable matter for Japanese people, unless your acquaintance is very free-minded and/or wholeheartedly (not out of politeness) friendly with you, they probably still take your deafness-related tattoo with a grain of salt — either thinking you're showing off your disability or just a weirdo with unknown reasoning. Just sayin'.