Kai
カイ
Kai
How It Is Said
- カka
- イi
Kai: two 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
- German ei is said like the English word eye: two beats, アイ (ai).
Kai is also a Japanese reading: 海, the sea, is read kai in many words, and Kai is a Japanese name too.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type kai, 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 カイ 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
