Jonas
ヨナス
Yonasu
How It Is Said
- ヨyo
- ナna
- スsu
Yonasu: three 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| German | ヨナス | Yonasu | |
| Swedish | ヨナス | Yonasu |
What Happens to the Sounds
- In German, j is said like the y of yes, so it is written ヨ (yo).
- Japanese syllables end in a vowel or in ン, so the final s takes a light vowel: ス (su).
Jonah in the Bible is ヨナ (Yona) in Japanese.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type yonasu, 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 ヨナス 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
