Patrick
パトリック
Patorikku
How It Is Said
- パpa
- トto
- リri
- ッk
- クku
Patorikku: five 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 | パトリック | Patorikku | |
| French | パトリック | Patorikku |
What Happens to the Sounds
- The Japanese r is a light tap of the tongue, like the quick t in an American "water": リ (ri).
- Japanese syllables end in a vowel or in ン, so the final ck takes a light vowel: ク (ku).
- The small ッ is a short pause that doubles the next sound: ック (kku).
Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, who wrote down Japan's ghost stories, became a Japanese citizen and took the name 小泉八雲 (Koizumi Yakumo).
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type patorikku, 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 パトリック 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
