Alexander
アレクサンダー
Arekusandā
Also written アレキサンダー.
How It Is Said
- アa
- レre
- クku
- サsa
- ンn
- ダda
- ーa
Arekusandā: seven beats, each about the same length. Japanese has no strong stress, so the name is said evenly, beat by beat.
By Language
| Language | Katakana | Rōmaji | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | アレクサンダー | Arekusandā | the usual form |
| アレキサンダー | Arekisandā | also in use | |
| German | アレクサンダー | Arekusandā |
What Happens to the Sounds
- The English ending -er is written ダー (dā): Japanese follows the British way of saying it, with no r.
- Japanese has no l. It uses its one sound between l and r, a light tap of the tongue, written ラ リ ル レ ロ: レ (re).
- ン is a humming n, and it counts as a beat of its own.
Alexander the Great is アレクサンドロス大王 in Japanese, after the Greek form of the name.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type arekusannda- (the - key gives the bar ー and nn gives ン), then press F7 on Windows or Control+K on a Mac to turn it into katakana. On a phone, type the same letters with the Japanese keyboard and choose アレクサンダー among the suggestions.
The Same Name in Other Languages
Why Katakana
In Japan, names from abroad are written in katakana, the script for words from other languages. Kanji versions of Western names are mostly invented, and a Japanese reader often sees odd meanings in them; the katakana is what a Japanese person would really write. More on katakana and names
