Pronunciation
- Thread starter ManDudeChild
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Shrike_Priest said:
That's EXACTLY the point. Your statement is inaccurate. The vowels in almost every other language in the world (Romance languages, Korean, Japanese, etc) ARE sounds in the English language. The reverse isn't true, so the capability of an English speaker to say a foreign word is higher than vice versa.
In fact, whenever you come across a foreign language, you should automatically assume it's like this first because it's so common worldwide that vowel sounds are like those in Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Latin, Tagalog, Korean, etc etc etc.
a = sound of "a" in paw
e = sound of "e" in pet
i = sound of "e" in evil
o = sound of "o" in home
u = sound of "u" in immune
Shrike_Priest
Member
"That's EXACTLY the point. Your statement is inaccurate. The vowels in almost every other language in the world (Romance languages, Korean, Japanese, etc) ARE sounds in the English language. The reverse isn't true, so the capability of an English speaker to say a foreign word is higher than vice versa."
Uhm... nope.
Sorry, but that just ain't true. Sure, the sounds are close, but they aren't identical.
a = sound of "a" in paw
e = sound of "e" in pet
i = sound of "e" in evil
o = sound of "o" in home
u = sound of "u" in immune
These are decent, yes, but not perfect.
Say inu, katana, hikouki/hikooki (not sure of the correct romanisation of that) and and ragnarök using English syllables, and get it spot on, and I will stand corrected. I'm sure you can get very close, but the a, o and u are pronounced differently, and the i is much shorter and not quite like the e in evil, although close.
You would be pronouncing it "correctly", but you'd have one hell of an American accent on it. As with everything, if you go by the rule that all the sounds in another language exist in English.
Uhm... nope.
Sorry, but that just ain't true. Sure, the sounds are close, but they aren't identical.
a = sound of "a" in paw
e = sound of "e" in pet
i = sound of "e" in evil
o = sound of "o" in home
u = sound of "u" in immune
These are decent, yes, but not perfect.
Say inu, katana, hikouki/hikooki (not sure of the correct romanisation of that) and and ragnarök using English syllables, and get it spot on, and I will stand corrected. I'm sure you can get very close, but the a, o and u are pronounced differently, and the i is much shorter and not quite like the e in evil, although close.
You would be pronouncing it "correctly", but you'd have one hell of an American accent on it. As with everything, if you go by the rule that all the sounds in another language exist in English.
Shrike_Priest
Member
^
Hence the fact that the Japanese O doesn't sound like the English one
Hence the fact that the Japanese O doesn't sound like the English one
carbonbased
Member
My friend insists on calling Pikmin "Peak-min", even after I've corrected him multiple times. It's "Pick-min", dammit.
carbonbased
Member
Or not.dog$ said:
http://www.nintendo.com/gameminiav?gameid=m-Game-0000-1727 Watch the commercial, first link.
You're both right. Pikmin is kind of flexible mainly because you will hear both pronunciations come from Nintendo, and it is not something that already has a preset pronunciation. It's also a title that seems to deliberately be neither Japanese sounding or English sounding, so you can kind of leave it somewhere in between the two.Gen.Wedge said:
Is this really the official pronunciation? Cause I've been saying "sigh-fer" all along. Just sounded right.
Ok, here's a good one which shouldn't spark a Japanese vs. English pissing contest:
Lunar (the game series, obviously, not the English word)
Now, logic would dictate that it be pronunced normally, as the word lunar should (i.e. loon-er). However, in reference to the game, I often hear it pronounced as "Loon-ARR." What's the deal with this?
Lunar (the game series, obviously, not the English word)
Now, logic would dictate that it be pronunced normally, as the word lunar should (i.e. loon-er). However, in reference to the game, I often hear it pronounced as "Loon-ARR." What's the deal with this?
BugCatcher
Member
I've got a question. How do you pronounce Cait Sith's name? I've always said "kayt sith", but in the V Jump scan in this thread it is written as ケット･シー. What do I say?
BugCatcher
Member
I assume the pronounciation was deliberately changed from its standard English pronounciation to avoid confusion or akwardness between lunar (a common noun) and Lunar (a proper noun in the context of the game). The Japanese penchant for appropriating foreign words as names can be a real pain when localizing them back into their original language. It's interesting to note that sometimes, it's easier to avoid this confusion and akwardness by allowing foreign nouns retain their Japanese pronounciation, rather than inventing a new one. Look at El Hazard, for example. Ignoring the multilingual hodgepodge of words that make up this title, the American localization pronounced Hazard as "ha-ZARD", from the Japanese ハザード. As ハザード just means hazard (eg. バイオ・ハザードMetatronM said:
, it would have been more accurate for the name to have been pronounced "el HA-zerd", as it seems to be an English loanword.* But saying "el ha-ZARD" distinguishes it as a proper noun, and its unique pronounciation to English speakers makes it sound like a plausible name for a foreign land, while "el HA-serd" sounds silly and unimaginative.*I did try to find this word in other languages, because I can't say with absolute certainty that it was derived from English. However, the closest I could find was the French hasard, and I don't know how that is pronounced.
Well, this is why I am confused. I don't know if Cait Sith is the creative romanization of "ketto shii", or if ケット・シー is the Japanese spelling of foreign words "cait" and "sith". Because a great many names in the Final Fantasy series are taken from mythology (and a host of other sources, I presume), I don't think it's unreasonable to wonder if the name has foreign roots. If it does, then there must be a more accurate pronounciation than "ketto shii" (or even "ket see") in English. Unless, of course, "Ket See" is the more accurate pronounciation.Miburou said:
Jonnyboy117
Member
Even up to my first E3, I thought "Miyamoto" was pronounced "MY-a-mo-toh". Of course, then I heard tons of people say his name correctly and ended up meeting him in person. (The correct way is "Me-ya-mo-toh".)
I know "Ryu" is one syllable, but damn that's hard to say.
When I say "Enix" in my head, I still say "Eee-nix" even though I know the right way. Just sounds cooler, and that's how I've been saying it since Dragon Warrior came out.
I know "Ryu" is one syllable, but damn that's hard to say.
When I say "Enix" in my head, I still say "Eee-nix" even though I know the right way. Just sounds cooler, and that's how I've been saying it since Dragon Warrior came out.
Jonnyboy117
Member
explodet said:
I don't speak Japanese, but I've been around tons of people who do, so I have a good feel for what it sounds like. I think Myers did a pretty good job. Same with the two girls in SNL's "Rabun to Shuri", the Japanese version of Laverne and Shirley.
BugCatcher said:
Yeah, I see your point. And even if the word has foreign roots, there's no guarantee that ケット・シー is the most accurate way to write it. For example, you'd think Spiderman would be written as スパーイダマン, but it's actually written スパイダーマン, which is supposedly easier for the Japanese to say, even if it's less faithful to the original word.
BugCatcher
Member
So nobody knows the answer to this? I didn't mean to stump the forum and kill the thread. I don't want to be that guy! Don't let me be that guyBugCatcher said:
radios shipping overview
Member
"Cait Sith" is Gaelic, and from what I gather, the pronunciation is pretty close to "ket shee".
BugCatcher
Member
Cool. That was exactly what I wanted to know, thanks!