Joseph
ジョセフ
Josefu
Also written ジョーゼフ.
How It Is Said
- ジョjo
- セse
- フfu
Josefu: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | ジョセフ | Josefu | the usual form |
| ジョーゼフ | Jōzefu | also in use | |
| French | ジョゼフ | Jozefu |
What Happens to the Sounds
- A small kana joins the one before it into one beat: ジョ (jo).
- French j, and g before e or i, are soft, like the s of pleasure: ジ (ji); so in French, Joseph is ジョゼフ (Jozefu).
Joseph in the Bible is ヨセフ (Yosefu) in Japanese.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type josefu, 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 ジョセフ 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
