Josef
ヨーゼフ
Yōzefu
How It Is Said
- ヨyo
- ーo
- ゼze
- フfu
Yōzefu: 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
- 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 f takes a light vowel: フ (fu).
- The bar ー makes the vowel before it long, one beat more: ヨー (yō).
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type yo-zefu (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 ヨーゼフ 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
