shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 8, 2016 21:05:39 GMT -5
Sure that you know the correct way to pronounce a character's name? Share it here!
Usagi Yojimbo: "Ooh-soggy Yo-jimbo"
Gen: "Gen" (hard "G". NOT "Jen")
Tomoe: "Toe-moe-eh"
Jei: "Jay"
Correct me if I'm wrong on any of these, and please add to the list! How, for example, should one pronounce "Hebi"? Is it "Heh-bee"?
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Post by maichan on Feb 8, 2016 23:34:38 GMT -5
haha.... I just posted this elsewhere, but will re-post here:
Name pronunciations....
Usagi Yojimbo = Usagi, oo-sah-gee, or oo-saw-gee ... oo as in the sound a cow makes, moo. But not a long oo, it's a short oo.
using katakana - ウ= oo サ=sah ギ=gee
using Kanji - 兎 Usagi
Yojimbo, just like it's spelled = yo-jim-bo ....
using Kanji - 用心棒 - broken down, 用 = yo 心 = jim 棒 = bo
Gen = hard G, Gen like Genndy Tartakovsky
Tomoe = tow-mow-eh or toe-moe-eh
Jei = I think you're correct with Jay. My wife, who is Japanese, says Jei isn't really a common Japanese name, so even she is guessing with pronunciation.
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Post by usagigoya on Feb 9, 2016 3:22:25 GMT -5
Since Jei-san started as a pun on Jason, I would imagine it is pronounced like Jay....
I still catch myself pronouncing it as Jai (like chai), and Usagi as You-sagi. Of course, people say I talk real funny/peculiar....  |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 9, 2016 9:03:24 GMT -5
Tomoe = tow-mow-eh or toe-moe-eh. I've seen this in several places, but then I watched this interview Todd did with Stan in 1998, and he seems to pronounce it as "Toe-moy" or "Toe-moy-eh" at 1:20. Maybe he's just saying it really quickly? Jei = I think you're correct with Jay. My wife, who is Japanese, says Jei isn't really a common Japanese name, so even she is guessing with pronunciation. I'm pretty sure Stan indicated once, a long while back,that the name is not a real Japanese name at all, and that it's entire point was the pun usagigoya mentioned. |
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,864
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Post by shaxper on Feb 9, 2016 9:06:28 GMT -5
Since Jei-san started as a pun on Jason, I would imagine it is pronounced like Jay....
I still catch myself pronouncing it as Jai (like chai), and Usagi as You-sagi. Of course, people say I talk real funny/peculiar.... Heheh. I still can't say Gen in my head, no matter how much I know that it's the correct pronunciation. He was "Jen" for so long in my mind, you know? |
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Post by maichan on Feb 9, 2016 9:54:32 GMT -5
Tomoe = tow-mow-eh or toe-moe-eh. I've seen this in several places, but then I watched this interview Todd did with Stan in 1998, and he seems to pronounce it as "Toe-moy" or "Toe-moy-eh" at 1:20. Maybe he's just saying it really quickly? Jei = I think you're correct with Jay. My wife, who is Japanese, says Jei isn't really a common Japanese name, so even she is guessing with pronunciation. I'm pretty sure Stan indicated once, a long while back,that the name is not a real Japanese name at all, and that it's entire point was the pun usagigoya mentioned. I tend to drive my wife nuts with my constant questions... LOL FYI, she's a born and raised in Japan Japanese, so I trust in her answers. That being said, I have noticed that when she says certain words (as in a conversation) they come out sounding different than when I ask for a slow pronunciation. So it could well be that Tomoe's name sounds differently - in due part to our maybe non-Japanese ears, or due to simple dialect patterns - just as we have various dialects in the US, the same is true for various regions in Japan, plus the added variation of Hawaiian Japanese and Mainland Japanese. I can't tell the differences, but my wife often catches small differences in peoples speech. As for my own Japanese, I'm a failure.... I know more than I did 10 years ago, but it's a struggle. I'm just a bad student.  |
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Post by lobsterjohnson on Feb 9, 2016 10:08:26 GMT -5
All these different pronunciations...  Was I saying everything wrong?! (except Usagi; I knew that one). How would Ishida be pronounced? |
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Post by maichan on Feb 9, 2016 10:38:03 GMT -5
All these different pronunciations... Was I saying everything wrong?! (except Usagi; I knew that one). How would Ishida be pronounced? Not 100% certain, since I've been saying it how I think it should be, but I've been saying it as = i-shi-da - I pronounce the first and second i like an i in " it" |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 9, 2016 10:55:47 GMT -5
So it could well be that Tomoe's name sounds differently - in due part to our maybe non-Japanese ears, or due to simple dialect patterns - just as we have various dialects in the US, the same is true for various regions in Japan, plus the added variation of Hawaiian Japanese and Mainland Japanese. I can't tell the differences, but my wife often catches small differences in peoples speech. These are excellent points. So what pronunciation should I put in the OP? "Toe-moe-eh"? Anyway, I'm enjoying learning from you. You may consider yourself a poor student, but you're making quite a sempai here |
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,864
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Post by shaxper on Feb 9, 2016 10:58:42 GMT -5
All these different pronunciations... Was I saying everything wrong?! (except Usagi; I knew that one). Heheh. Welcome to being an American fan of Usagi |
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,864
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Post by shaxper on Feb 9, 2016 10:59:55 GMT -5
All these different pronunciations... Was I saying everything wrong?! (except Usagi; I knew that one). How would Ishida be pronounced? Not 100% certain, since I've been saying it how I think it should be, but I've been saying it as = i-shi-da - I pronounce the first and second i like an i in " it" I've been saying "Ish-sheedah". Dang. How about Sanshobo? Sasuke? Chizu? Hebi? I'm embarrassed to admit I can't even pronounce Mifune (and I'm a fan of the actor!) |
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Post by maichan on Feb 9, 2016 11:58:48 GMT -5
I'm just as bad with English as I am with Japanese, so I have a hard time trying to write out the pronunciation of the words. One thing to remember, and it generally works for names, is pronunciation can be broken down into sound blocks - like, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, or ma, mi, mu, me, mo. San-sho-bo Sa-su-ke Chi-zu He-bi Mi-fu-ne Take a look at this and see if it helps... www.saiga-jp.com/pronunciation_voice.html |
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,864
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Post by shaxper on Feb 9, 2016 12:19:24 GMT -5
I'm just as bad with English as I am with Japanese, so I have a hard time trying to write out the pronunciation of the words. If you don't mind me asking, what is your background/native tongue? Yes. Okay, that's what I figured. but is the "ke" portion pronounced "kay" "Kee" or "keh"? "Chee" or "Chih"? "Heh" or "Hee"? "Bih" or "bee"? "nay" or "nee"? I will definitely spend some time with this when I have a free moment later today. Thanks! |
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Post by maichan on Feb 9, 2016 12:58:56 GMT -5
I'm just as bad with English as I am with Japanese, so I have a hard time trying to write out the pronunciation of the words. If you don't mind me asking, what is your background/native tongue? Is my accent that obvious? LOL Born in Germany, but grew up and raised in California since kindergarten. English was never my favorite class. I'd go with "keh" I'd say "Chee" I think Heh-beh ? uh... short e? so ne, not nee I think if you listen to the sounds from the link, you'll get the idea.  |
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,864
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Post by shaxper on Feb 20, 2016 17:42:02 GMT -5
This interview gave me a few more pronunciations today: Zato Ino: "zah-tow ee-no" Tokage: "Tock-ah-gay" Kitsune: "Kit Sue-Nay" ("Kit" functions as its own syllable with a beat before "Sue-Nay") |
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Was I saying everything wrong?! (except Usagi; I knew that one).