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How should I write my name? 2020/6/28 11:23
Hello
my name is Melís and it’s pronounced with a stress on the last syllable so i’m not really sure how to write it in katakana. I don’t think メリス is right... what about メリッス? Almost like Melissa but without the “A” sound.
Thanks!
by melis (guest)  

Re: How should I write my name? 2020/6/28 12:24
メリース perhaps?
by Kamahen (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: How should I write my name? 2020/6/28 13:09
Melissa is pronounced with a staccato rather than a stress. Is the latter part of your name pronounced like "lease" as in "lease a house to someone"? If so, I would go for メリース
It sounds like a beautiful name either way.
by Uco rate this post as useful

Re: How should I write my name? 2020/6/28 14:19
Going by hunch, I would say メリス. メリース might work. But even with メリース people might pronounce it with the stress (or “high” intonation) on the first syllable (as if it was closer to “Mary’s” for comparison), so just informing people how it’s properly pronounced in your language when they say it wrong might be the only way to go, as there is no way to really mark a stress in katakana writing.

And… just like some Japanese names are difficult to pronounce right and always get twisted around a bit in another language environment, you might have to get used the idea that it “could” be pronounced a bit differently when transported to/written in another writing system.

What I mean is that for example a common Japanese girl’s name like “Hanako” is pronounced HA-na-ko, with the accent/high intonation on the first syllable in Japanese, but English language speakers almost always pronounce it with huh-NA-kou, with the strong accent on the second syllable. As long as the conversation is in the English language, I take this as the inevitable.

This doesn’t mean you have to put up with it when your name is not pronounced right, but just to let you know what “can” happen.


by AK rate this post as useful

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