What's my name in Japanese? (make requests here!)

[mixmastermatt]

Hi Guys
How would you write Matthew Clifford?
Thanks

マシュー・クリフォード
mashuu kurifoodo

I am trying to break things down here and so far have come to learn that in my translated name:

マ means 'Ma'
シ means 'Shi'
ュ means 'U'

I have two questions; first of all In Mashuu (マシュー・) what does 'ー・' mean?
And secondly why in Katakana does シ represent the sound 'Shi' but when my name is translated in to Romaji there is no letter 'i' in there?

Sorry for the silly newbie questions. but thanks for your help!

[jemstone]

erm... i'll try my best to explain.

the ー is to represent a long vowel. so シュー is pronounced as shuu instead of shu.

the second part is why there's no "i" in there even though there's a シ (shi) in it. this has got something to do with the small ュ (yu) character. see... its actually shi-yu instead of shu. so it really looks like ma-shi-yu but because the character is small, it sorts of modifies the vowel of the character before it. so "shi" becomes "shu".

this is similar to the pronounciation of "ti". if you really wanna say "ti" with a hard "t", there really is no single japanese character that can do that. what people do is to combine "te" with small "i" like this, ティ

i hope this helps.

[mixmastermatt]

Wow, Jemstone, thanks. That really helps me break things down further. I really appreciate it.

[Ostil]

Hey everyone!

I'm still new at learning the Japanese language. Can someone help me translate my name? My name is Michael Ostil, or Mike if it's easier.

Thanks.

PS. Where can I get the Japanese font styles?

[Jessi]

Hi Michael!

Here's your first name in Japanese:

マイケル
pronounced: Mai-ke-ru

I'm not sure about the pronunciation of your last name, so if you let me know I can give you the Japanese for that as well!

[Ostil]

Awesome thanks.

I was thinking something like Mai-Ku, but I wasn't so sure haha. My last name is pronounced Ah-Still.

[Jessi]

Sure, Mai-ku works if you go by Mike also!

Here's your last name:

アースティル
A-su-ti-ru

[Halfwit]

My name is Antoine...which is french but it is pronounced An-twan. Anyway, could someone break it down for me on how its pronounced in Japanese. Dōzo Yoroshiku

[QuackingShoe]

Antoine pronounced as you described is usually either done as アントワン or アントワーヌ. Antowan or antowaanu. The latter seems much, much more common.

[zach]

My guess is you would write it this way...

サイモン・ヒッウ
sa i mon hi tsuu

supposedly it's

サイモン・ヒス
saimon hisu
it is common sense in japan thatthe "th" sounds are rounded to "s" syllables.
it sounds more natural because in japan "th" sounds are more close to "s" sounds.
it sounds like "simon hits" in english.
and if your translation is right, don't include the extra ウ or it will sound like
"simon hits ooh"
no offense

[jkid]

no offense

None taken, I must've been tired when I wrote that response. Thanks for the correction.

[jemstone]

Daniel = ダニエル
unless there is a special way to pronounce Daniel, otherwise that should be it.

[GriffN]

Hey, I'm not sure on my middle and last names

Bicknell= Bi ku ne ru?
Griffin= Ga ri fu n?

[jemstone]

Dlolor,
oops.. my bad... i just put in the katakana without the pronunciation. but you got it right. it's da-ni-e-ru. the "e" is pronounced like "eh".

Griffn,
i like your last name, the name of that eagle-head-lion-body-with-wings mythical creature.

you got your middle name correct, bi-ku-ne-ru, and it looks like this ビクネル.
your last name should be, gu-ri-fi-n, and it looks like this グリフィン. Do take note that the "i" next to the "fu" is a small "i". its フィ not フイ. they look alike but are pronounced differently. the former is "fi" while the latter is "fu-i".

[GriffN]

I see. Thank you very much.

I've always appreciated the name