Talk:Toshiko Sato

IPA please

Could someone who is familiar with IPA add the pronouciation for Toshiko Sato and her nickname (TOsh, not Toh-sh)? Thanks. --GracieLizzie 13:44, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Actually is it just me or is the Tosh nickname pronouciation a pretty bad mangling given how her name should be pronouced under the rules of Japanese pronouciation? Shouldn't it be "toh-she-ko sa-toh"? --GracieLizzie 13:52, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Thanks Smurrayinchester ^_^. --GracieLizzie 14:32, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm familiar with Japanese and the IPA, so... firstly, I don't understand why the Japanese is rendered using トシ子 for Toshiko - the first two symbols are generally used for foreign words, or emphasis, and indicate pronunciation (katakana). The second is a kanji (former Chinese character) for 'ko', correctly, but these two types of writing are not usually mixed. However, this is how it is on the website referenced in the article, so I don't propose changing it. 'Toshiko' is more properly written in kanji as 敏子 (toshi-ko) and in hiragana (a script indicating Japanese pronunciation) as としこ (to-shi-ko). Also (linguist's hat on now) GracieLizzie is right that 'Tosh' is a bit weird, since to English-native ears, Japanese 'Toshiko' would sound like 'to-she-ko' or just 'toeshko'. However, it's still possible as in English there is a rule that says that long vowels such as the last in 'photo' can become like the vowel in 'Tosh', i.e. in 'photography', the second vowel of 'photo' is now both shortened and pronounced differently (tenseness). When English words containing so-called 'long' vowels are abbreviated, this results in 'shortening'. Think of how the north-east of England word 'charva' is shortened to 'chav' - the vowels differ in length and tongue position. Jsteph 05:03, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

Unsourced statement

Both she and Harkness have met the Ninth Doctor, but it is uncertain whether they are aware of the other's meeting with him.

SOURCE?????????? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.137.228.2 (talk • contribs) 05:51, November 6, 2006 (UTC)

You can observe so by simply watching the shows. Toshiko meets him in Aliens of London, Jack obviously is a former companion, and they haven't been shown to ask each other "Hey did you ever meet a Northern guy with big ears and with massive alien expertise who wears a leather jacket?" so we can tell the above statement is true because of these observations. --GracieLizzie 10:08, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Kiss citation

I wasn't sure how to cite Toshi's kiss with the blonde woman, but it's from the HD trailer. You can see it at YouTube here, but of course that's a copyvio. Anyone know when or where that originally aired? —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 18:41, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

"Looking for a woman"

Would anyone mind if we lost this? After all, we now have much better evidence of her sexuality, and it's completely obvious she's talking about trying to find Carys. Daibhid C 15:33, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

Validity of Statements

Why is the Torchwood website being used on this page, (and other Torchwood pages for that matter), as 'proof' of facts - surely its place in the canon is subject to question as tie-in novels are for Doctor Who, for example? It is a website made for the fans, not something seen in the programme. It really shouldn't be offered as proof of facts. Wolf of Fenric 00:06, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Hmm, I see what you mean but it is produced by the BBC themselves... and is the source for most of our information. The canonicity comment should be included I suppose but I do consider the Torchwood.org as close to canon as the spin-off media can get if you ask me.--GracieLizzie 00:14, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Her name in Japanese

"Toshiko" is written as "トシ子" on the Torchwood site [1], and I'm unaware of any source where her name is rendered as "俊子". Either is a plausible way to write "Toshiko" in Japanese, but the first is semi-canonical, and the second (so far as I can tell) is not. With respect to Jsteph's comments, it's fairly common for a female Japanese given name to consist of a couple of syllables in katakana followed by "-ko" ("子") in kanji. 202.94.132.16 15:43, 11 June 2007 (UTC)