# 水晶の沈黙



## Crystal Silence

Hello! 
Is 水晶の沈黙 the correct translation of the phrase "crystal silence" into Japanese? 
This phrase is the name of Chick Corea's 1972 instrumental piece from his solo album "Return to Forever".
I found this translation in a Japanese review of the album, but I'm not sure that の is really needed here. 
"Crystal" is an adjective, but I think that 水晶の沈黙 means something like "silence of the crystal". 
Also, I have no idea how it is pronounced. So I ask you to check this translation and write a romaji version of its pronunciation.

Thanks in advance! 

My knowledge of Japanese is, unfortunately, very basic, so I have to ask you to answer my question in English.


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## Isperia

Crystal Silence said:


> Is 水晶の沈黙 the correct translation of the phrase "crystal silence" into Japanese?
> 
> Also, I have no idea how it is pronounced. So I ask you to check this translation and write a romaji version of its pronunciation.


"水晶の沈黙"'(Suishou no Chinmoku) is correct translation.



Crystal Silence said:


> but I'm not sure that の is really needed here.
> "Crystal" is an adjective, but I think that 水晶の沈黙 means something like "silence of the crystal".


Necessary. "水晶沈黙" sounds odd.
For example, Original title of movie "Seven Samurai" is "七人の侍".
"七人" is "Seven". "侍" is "Samurai". But "七人侍" is quite odd. "の" is needed, because both "七人" and "侍" are noun.
In this case, "の" is 格助詞(particle) and makes noun 連体格(attributive). So "水晶の沈黙" "七人の侍" are correct.


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## SoLaTiDoberman

水晶の沈黙 is a correct literal translation, but I wonder whether it makes sense or not.

The 'crystal' of "it's crystal clear" is not the material it self, but it's a kind of figurative expression to refer to the very high transparency, right?

I don't know what "crystal silence" means, but I guess that it means "complete silence" or "perfect silence."
However, when I read 水晶の沈黙, I can't make out what it implies.

When I read 水晶の沈黙, I imagine that:
This is a crystal. Or there is a crystal here. Probably it has a long history to be made by God or Nature, but it says nothing.
So I cannot know anything about why it is here. The crystal just keeps silent. Or something like that.

I wonder if you might as well to make not-literal translation.
Sorry, my point was different from your question. Again the correct literal translation for "crystal silence" is "水晶の沈黙."

In this context, the English word "crystal" can be used both an adjective and a noun. 
However, in the Japanese language, 水晶 is a noun, not an adjective. 水晶の is the adjective form of it.

For example,
Technology development 技術革新
Technological development 技術の革新 

Does it make sense?


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## Crystal Silence

Thanks a lot, Isperia and SoLaTiDoberman! 
So that means that の is not only the possessive particle, but is also used for word formation, right? Like, transforming nouns into adjectives? 
Of course it all makes sense now. 
But still, when SoLaTiDoberman posted his interpretation of the Japanese phrase, he basically expressed my concerns over what the Japanese people may think when they see this phrase. In his interpretation, "silence" is the attribute of the "crystal", "the crystal just keeps silent", and that was precisely the interpretation I was trying to avoid when I (mistakenly) deleted the の from the phrase. Actually, it's the other way round, and "crystal" is the attribute of the "silence". If you know that Walt Whitman verse about the learn'd astronomer, it pretty much describes the, well, state of the soul which is expressed by the phrase I'm trying to translate. I'm not sure how many lines I can quote without violating the rules, but it ends with "look’d up in perfect silence at the stars". Maybe I should have used the "perfect silence" phrase in the first place, but it is a somewhat general expression, not a good metaphor.  
So, maybe you can suggest some non-literal translations which will make sense to the Japanese?


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## Isperia

Crystal Silence said:


> Maybe I should have used the "perfect silence" phrase in the first place, but it is a somewhat general expression, not a good metaphor.
> So, maybe you can suggest some non-literal translations which will make sense to the Japanese?


"透明な沈黙" or "透き通った沈黙" will make sense. They sounds bit odd, but I think they can be understood as a metaphor of perfectness of silence.
Both meaning are "transparent" or "clear".


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## Crystal Silence

ありがとう Isperia-san!
I think 透明な沈黙 will suffice.


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## Ranja

Since the original meaning of 'crystal' is 'ice', 凍った沈黙(Kootta chinmoku) or 氷の沈黙(Koori no chinmoku) might be a good candidate, if you want free translation.


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## gengo

Corea may have had some special meaning in mind, but "crystal silence" means nothing to me, so I don't think we should jump to the translation of 透明な沈黙 or 透き通った沈黙 or 凍った沈黙 or 氷の沈黙.  I think the original translation is perfect, because a Japanese reader will read it and think "あれっ、どういう意味だろう," which is exactly what I think when I read the English.


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## Crystal Silence

Ranja, thanks for your input!
gengo, thanks for your comment! There were lyrics to this song (it was sung by Flora Purim, although the album version and most of subsequent versions of the piece are instrumental), I won't post them here but they are available online. Maybe they can clarify the meaning of the name.


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## gengo

Having read the lyrics, I guess the meaning could possibly be interpreted as suggested by others above, but it is still a very poetic turn of phrase, so I wouldn't make it specific in Japanese when it is so vague in English.


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