Roald
ロアール
Roāru
Also written ロアルド.
How It Is Said
- ロro
- アa
- ーa
- ルru
Roāru: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norwegian | ロアール | Roāru | the usual form |
| ロアルド | Roarudo | also in use |
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 Roald sound alike: ロ (ro), ル (ru).
- The bar ー makes the vowel before it long, one beat more: アー (ā).
Roald Amundsen is ロアール・アムンセン in Japanese, and Roald Dahl, born in Wales to Norwegian parents, ロアルド・ダール: one name, two spellings.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type roa-ru (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 ロアール 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
