Charles
チャールズ
Chāruzu
How It Is Said
- チャcha
- ーa
- ルru
- ズzu
Chāruzu: four 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 | チャールズ | Chāruzu | |
| French | シャルル | Sharuru |
What Happens to the Sounds
- An r after a vowel is not said in British English, and Japanese writes the vowel long instead: チャー (chā).
- 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: ル (ru).
- Japanese syllables end in a vowel or in ン, so the final s takes a light vowel: ズ (zu).
- A small kana joins the one before it into one beat: チャ (cha).
- The final s is silent in French, so it is not written: シャルル; so in French, Charles is シャルル (Sharuru).
Charlemagne is カール大帝 in Japanese, after the German form Karl; the French kings named Charles are シャルル.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type cha-ruzu (the - key gives the bar ー), 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 チャールズ 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
