Laura
ローラ
Rōra
How It Is Said
- ロro
- ーo
- ラra
Rōra: 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 | ローラ | Rōra | |
| German | ラウラ | Raura | |
| Spanish | ラウラ | Raura | |
| Italian | ラウラ | Raura |
What Happens to the Sounds
- Japanese has one sound where English has two, l and r: a light tap of the tongue, written ラ リ ル レ ロ. So the l and the r of Laura sound alike: ロ (ro), ラ (ra).
- The bar ー makes the vowel before it long, one beat more: ロー (rō).
- In German, Spanish and Italian, au is said as two sounds, a then u: ラウ; so in German, Spanish and Italian, Laura is ラウラ (Raura).
Petrarch's Laura is ラウラ in Japanese, after the Italian; the English Laura is ローラ.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type ro-ra (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 ローラ 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
