I decided to start this thread because we got a bit off topic on one of the feature discussion threads, and it brought up a topic that's always fun to talk about - the joys of writing your name in katakana.
Some people, of course, have it easier than others, since there's a common way of spelling their name in katakana. Others spend hours trying to figure out how to make it sound right. Some think it sounds horrible, some are fond of it, some ask themselves, "[i]Why[/i] do they spell it that way? ???" And many of us have all kinds of confusion pop up over them, or are teased about their similarities to an actual Japanese word.
So - let's talk about the experiences we've had with names in katakana. :D
I decided it would be easier to put my part of this into a second post. xD So here we go.
My name's Cassie, so before starting Japanese classes it was assumed it would be spelled カシ - which, of course, turned out to be totally wrong. My sensei and her TA discussed for a minute or two, and decided on キャシー. I've found I really like the name, aside from the general assumption on just about everyone's part that my name is Cathy. Darn you, katakana, and your inability to make either a th [i]or[/i] a "see" sound!
Oddly enough, I have the exact same problems in Japanese that I do in English - people think I'm Cathy, not Cassie, and カレンダ becomes "calender". Ah well.
My best friend had it easy, though - her name is Jennifer, so everyone knows how to say it and exactly what it is, since she doesn't spell it weirdly... but she hates it. The number of times I've heard her say "God! It's so horrible. Jennifaaah. Ugh." I keep telling her to go by Jenny, since that sounds normal in Japanese and it's what her family and I call her, but she of course won't listen to me. e.e;;
Ok. My name is a little odd, because it has an "impossible" sound in both the first and last names. I normally go by Tim, but that ended up "ティム” and I didn't like the u sound at the end, so I converted my full name. I could have done "シー" instead of just "シ" but again, it didn't sound right to me. My last name was even more interesting, because there is no real way of getting around not having a straight up "L" sound (Lane)
my name is pretty easy I suppose...even though most people call me Dan in English, I decided to go with ダニエル in Japanese because two characters was boring. :)
My real name is a Bible name: Esther, so of course there was already a Katakana version used in bibles in Japan. However, I didn't think of that way back in my first Japanese classes, and just went with エスタ instead. But my coworkers always want to spell it エスター even though I can't hear the extension when it's spoken. I guess finial R always end up getting extended? I just sorta hate having that flap hanging off the end of the text, so I never write it myself. Amusingly, my last name becomes much more easy to pronounce on sight in katakana than in the English spelling. It has a superfluous H (as does my first name, i guess) which seems to confound telemarketers, making it easy to hang up on them. :)
Yeah, I've noticed a tendency for people to leave off the ー in their names when they do it themselves, rather than have a Japanese do it. I can usually hear the long vowel (it kind of places emphasis on the syllable in question, if nothing else), although in names it seems like it's often easier to hear (at least the native ones). So instead of "esta" it's "esTAH".
Yep, final Rs always have a ー. (I think they're called non-trilled Rs? I know trilled Rs are the ones pronounced before a vowel...)
That's the beautiful thing about katakana, isn't it? Even if the name isn't pronounced right, at least it's always pronounced the same. xD The manglings I've gotten from the telemarketers... ::)
When I was Japan with two friends, we decided to get bracelets made with our names in Harajuku. We had a minor arguement over mine, which is Mousa-pi (Like Yamapi), because we couldn't decide between マウサP or モウサP. They insisted I wanted the 'ma' sound, but I held out for the 'mo' because the katakana for mouse like computer mouse uses the モウ, so it was kind of a joke because Mousapelli is my internet name.
Anyway, in the end we just wrote it down for the guy and let him decide, and he put マウサP, but I ended up thinking it was cute, because the マ slanted in the one way, and the P slanted in the other way, so it was aethetically pleasing.
I don't think I've ever seen mouse (computer or otherwise) spelled with モウ. o.O All the dictionaries I have access to insist that it's マウス. The only reason I can think of for using モウ is because the English spelling has an O, which isn't much of a reason at all, really...
It's good that it turned out aesthetically pleasing - it is really nicely shaped, I must agree. xD I'm never quite sure about mine, because for some reason I just can never write it neatly enough. xP Since all the characters sort of slant to the left, I end up overdoing it and underslanting the シ and making them look horrible and sloppy. xD My sister, on the other hand, refuses to use her actual name at all and goes exclusively by her nickname in Japanese, which she says looks and sounds cuter (though she bemoans the fact that she can't write it in hiragana, since that is ubercute). Can't really blame her with a name like チェルシー.
It makes me wonder how many name decisions are made based on aesthetics rather than accuracy... two characters was boring, I hate having the flap hanging off the end... ;D I was fortunate enough that the accurate one is actually nicer, I think, in both sounds and looks.
Hey everyone, first post.. lol My real names Corey, so it's boring in katakana no matter how you spell it, コリ or コリー I think it actually looks better with the flap on the end haha :)
But the simple look of it makes for a not very entertaining aesthetic.
If you have a common name like me, it leads to other problems. Most Japanese have heard the name マイケル countless times, so when they hear me, it's just one short step to calling me マイケル ジャクソン先生.
xD Not the person I'd want to be nicknamed after, but I can't really blame them - more than one of my teachers had unfortunate nicknames for similar reasons (sorry Mr. Pepperoni! ^^; At least Mr. Helin was a good sport about being called Helin Potter, or just Potter, courtesy of my English teacher). Learn to moonwalk, that should get you some laughs. ;D
Speaking of Michael Jackson, have you guys seen the pictures of him in Genki? I was flipping through one day and said, "Ack! He looks like Mi- oh, he is." Then promptly lost over how funny he's drawn. xD I don't know which is better, that picture or the picture of poor Takeshi getting molested on the train. xD
You have no idea how often I turn to that Michael Jackson picture and just laugh and laugh (かっこいいです！ or whatever it says... priceless). That and Arnold Schwartzenegger. And Batman. Come to think of it, I love all the illustrations in that book.
Okay, here's a katakana question: what's the accepted order for us 外人 to write our names in, last name first or first name first? I've always done mine [i]last[/i]・[i]first[/i], but it seems like I notice more the other way around.
I guess there's no getting around confusion, since Japanese tend to switch their order when speaking with westerners anyway... but what's the [i]proper[/i] way for us to do it?
The first inclination on our part seems to always be writing last・first, in deference to how the Japanese do their names, but I always see the Japanese write it first・last. I didn't get any comments from my first year teacher about writing it last・first, but she often wasn't the type to comment unless it was outright Not Done.
I've personally taken to writing first name first, since that's how I most often see them written, and it makes for a clean segue into using it for furigana of sorts for my name in English if need be.
