Ask John: Why Does Japanese Language Use so Many Unpronouncable Names?

Question:
I’ve noticed that a lot of anime have names that are nearly unpronounceable by the Japanese toungue. One example is Trigun. Many names have L’s in them, such as Millie, Meryl, and Nicholas Wolfwood. Vash becomes “Vashu.” Why do they do this so often?

Answer:
Keep in mind that English speakers should not consider Romanizations of Japanese words the same thing as actual Japanese words. For example, the name of the protagonist of Trigun is pronounced in Japanese as “Vash.” Technically his Japanese name is spelled and pronounced “Vashu,” but when spoken with a Japanese accent in normal conversational Japanese, the final “U” is almost silent. Native English speakers tend to over emphasize the concluding “U” because it’s present in the written Romanization. But the fact that it’s included in the written name doesn’t mean that it should be stressed when the name is spoken in Japanese. Spoken Japanese does pronounce every sound included in a particular word, but not with equal emphasis. Especially native English speakers attempting to pronounce written Japanese words tend to forget that Romanizations are a guide to pronouncing Japanese language that should be used in conjunction with conscious awareness of the speed and natural pronunciation of spoken Japanese. To provide another example, the English word “fighter” is spelled in Japanese, “Faitaa.” Judging by its Romanization, an English speaker may be inclined to break the word into three syllables. But when the word is actually spoken in Japanese, it’s pronounced with only two syllables and sounds just like the English word “fighter,” spoken with a Japanese accent.

It doesn’t really make sense for Japanese language to use unpronouncable words. The confusion doesn’t lie in Japanese language; the confusion comes from English speakers that take Romanizations too literally or fail to recognize that Romanizations should be pronounced quickly and naturally, resulting in vowel sounds often becoming virtually silent. For example, when “Hokuto no Ken” is actually pronounced in Japanese, it sounds like “Hok’to no Ken.” The “U” is said so quickly and lightly that it becomes nearly inevident. Novice Japanese speakers also frequently assume that Japanese language literally has no “L” sound. The “R” and “L” sound are the same thing in Japanese language. So in practical effect, spoken Japanese does have “R” and “L” sounds. It’s only English language attempts at transcribing Japanese that make distinctions between “R” and “L.”

I think Japanese comics and animation often utilize Western names like “Millie,” “Nicholas,” “Milfeulle,” and “Mireille” because they add diversity and a sense of multiculturalism to stories that are set outside of Japan or star non-Japanese characters. There’s really no reason for Japanese authors not to use foreign names because these names are not “unpronounceable” in Japanese. In fact, since Japanese is a phonetic language, it may be argued that Japanese is more flexible and even more capable of pronouncing and writing words and names than English language is. English has so many situation specific grammatical rules such as “I before E, except after C.” On the other hand, Japanese is literally written however the spoken word sounds.