I am looking for a Japanese term, that has the same meaning as the Greek
diphues (διφυής) “of two natures”, or latin semifera, which means part human,
part animal. It is a term to encompase mythological creatures like centaurs,
the Minotaur, sphinx, etc...
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-19T18:17:38.247
93468
2022-02-21T04:50:38.977
40024
question
translation terminology
Is there a Japanese term similar to semifera?
There is no such word (AFAIK) in Japanese, for two reasons:

**Reason 1**

Example: half-human + half-cow (bull, ox, etc.):

  * If it was a family of Minotaur, it would be a **怪物**

  * If it was a family of [Kudan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudan_\(y%C5%8Dkai\)), it would be a **妖怪**

We tend to categorize a group of similar bodies depending on perspective:
terrorist/holy-warrior, rotting/fermenting. Thus a creature may be: 怪物, 獣, 神,
神獣, 動物, 知的生命体, etc. for unreasonable reasons. Talk about double standards and
racism.

Therefore, we have no choice but to describe the creature using appropriate
terms:

  * Mr. Minotaur is a: **半分人、半分牛の姿をした怪物**
  * Mr. Kudan is a: **半分人、半分牛の姿をした妖怪**

In terms of Sphinx, she's in a totally different league, as she's closer to
god.

**Reason 2**

If I'm correct, I believe you're talking **dualism** , which is a conceptual
representation of how two components reside among one entity of a system.
Then, the Egyptian version of Sphinx would fit in, but the Greek version
(child of Orthrus) with at least three or sometimes four (human + lion + bird
+ snake/serpent) components would not. It would be blasphemous to include her
in the example of dualism.

As mentioned in comments, 半獣 may sound good at first, if we ignore the fact
some of those "creatures" are not 獣. But there's a bigger problem with the
**半** :

**半** in **半** 獣 doesn't necessarily mean the system is composed of 1/2 + 1/2.
The concept of **半ば** allows interpretation that as long as there is **at
least one** component that satisfies 1/2, the requirement is satisfied. Thus:

  * ManBearPig = 半獣 (because it is half human)
  * ManBearPig ≠ dualism (because there are three components)

Therefore, 半獣 ≠ dualism. And there is most probably no word that satisfies the
criteria you seek.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-02-21T04:39:14.720
93483
2022-02-21T04:50:38.977
2022-02-21T04:50:38.977
48366
48366
93468
answer