Oliver
オリバー
Oribā
Also written オリヴァー.
How It Is Said
- オo
- リri
- バba
- ーa
Oribā: four 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 | オリバー | Oribā | the usual form |
| オリヴァー | Orivā | also in use |
What Happens to the Sounds
- The English ending -er is written バー (bā): Japanese follows the British way of saying it, with no r.
- Japanese has no v. It is written ヴ (vu) and its row, ヴァ ヴィ ヴェ ヴォ, or more simply with the b row, バ ビ ブ ベ ボ: you will see both, オリヴァー and オリバー.
- Japanese has no l. It uses its one sound between l and r, a light tap of the tongue, written ラ リ ル レ ロ: リ (ri).
Dickens' Oliver Twist is オリバー・ツイスト in Japanese.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type oriba- (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 オリバー 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
