Quartet and Quartetto
karutetto can also approximate the English word quartet, but it can also approximate the Italian word quartetto. ( karutetto closer approximates the quartetto than quartet. The a sound in karutetto is much like the a sound in quartetto [IPA symbol: {a}]. Both have sections that contain the double-"t" sounds, and both have an "o" sound after the double-"t" sounds. The a part of quartet sounds more like "aw" [IPA symbol: {
}]. "Quartette," another English spelling of "quartet," has the double-"t" in its spelling, but it does not contain a section with the double-"t" sounds.)
The word quartetto refers to a group of four people. When the Japanese wish to write that Italian word into their language's katakana script, they often use the characters for karutetto. The English form of the word apparently comes from the French form quartette. Even in English, the word could be written either "quartette" or "quartet." Even though the Italian word is phonetically closer to the sounds that the katakana-characters actually represent, at least one Bish
jo Senshi S
r
M
n source actually shows "quartet" instead of "Quartetto."
Objections to My Proposal
There have been some objections to the spellings Amazones Quartet and Amazones Quartetto. I will respond to them here.
One may claim that the phrase "Amazones Quartet[to]" is grammatically awkward ("Amazons Quartet") and therefore cannot be valid. However, why must they follow grammatical rules? The names of many of the maneuvers that are performed in the various continuities do not follow any particular grammatical rules. Even the names Princess Usagi Small Lady Serenity and Sailor Heavy Metal Papillon do not follow any strict grammatical rules. One may say that both "Amazoness "Quartet" (where the "Amazoness" comprises the '-ess") and "Amazones Quartet[to]" are both awkward, but the difference is that when Amazones is by itself, it is not awkward like "Amazoness" is. In other words, "Amazoness" is awkward regardless of its orthographical environment.
"AmazonesQuartet" actually appears on several of the Japanese doll boxes: Cere Cere, Palla Palla, and Ves Ves. (Kotetsu gave me those images.) Those boxes are evidence for the "Amazoness" and "Quartet" spellings, but they don't indicate whether "Amazoness" is supposed to comprises the suffix "-ess" or not. "Amazoness" may be an alteration of Amazones (the Greek word) instead an alteration of "Amazon."
If "Amazoness" Is the Intended Spelling...
What if the Ms. Takeuchi told us that she did intend the spelling "Amazones"? Even if that happened, that would not mean that the word comprises the suffix "-ess." It would not make sense to say that such a situation would indicate that the Greek term is not meant. "Amazoness" can be an alteration of "Amazon" or an alteration of the Greek word Amazones. The change from Amazones to "Amazoness" is smaller than the change from "Amazon" to "Amazoness. In that case, which interpretation is more parsimonious? We should consider some facts:
The former one has fewer terms (it has one extra letter instead of three) and it also has more evidence to back it up (there are other Greek words indicated). It is closer to the sounds indicated by the katakana characters. That one is not perfect, flawless, and completely comprehensive, but it is better (i.e. more parsimonious) than the former one.
amazonesu can approximate "Amazoness" ("Amazon" + "-ess"), but it cannot accurately approximate "Amazon"
ne sounds more like the "e" in the English word "met."
