Iris
アイリス
Airisu
How It Is Said
- アa
- イi
- リri
- スsu
Airisu: four beats, each about the same length. Japanese has no strong stress, so the name is said evenly, beat by beat.
What Happens to the Sounds
- The English long i, as in Iris, is two beats in Japanese: アイ (ai).
- The Japanese r is a light tap of the tongue, like the quick t in an American "water": リ (ri).
- Japanese syllables end in a vowel or in ン, so the final s takes a light vowel: ス (su).
One of Japan's irises is あやめ (ayame), and Ayame is a Japanese girl's name.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type airisu, 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 アイリス 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
