Riccardo
リッカルド
Rikkarudo
How It Is Said
- リri
- ッk
- カka
- ルru
- ドdo
Rikkarudo: five 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
- Italian double consonants are held a moment longer; Japanese writes this with a small ッ: ッカ (kka).
- In Italian, an r before a consonant is said, so it is written ル (ru): リッカルド.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type rikkarudo, 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 リッカルド 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
