Hazel
ヘイゼル
Heizeru
Also written ヘーゼル.
How It Is Said
- ヘhe
- イi
- ゼze
- ルru
Heizeru: 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 | ヘイゼル | Heizeru | the usual form |
| ヘーゼル | Hēzeru | also in use |
What Happens to the Sounds
- The English a of Hazel is said ay: written エイ (ei) or エー (ē), so both ヘイゼル and ヘーゼル are in use.
- 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).
The hazel is 榛 (hashibami) in Japanese.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type heizeru, 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 ヘイゼル among the suggestions.
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
