Ruby
ルビー
Rubī
How It Is Said
- ルru
- ビbi
- ーi
Rubī: three 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
- The Japanese r is a light tap of the tongue, like the quick t in an American "water": ル (ru).
- The bar ー makes the vowel before it long, one beat more: ビー (bī).
The ruby is 紅玉 (kōgyoku) in Japanese, though most people say ルビー; the small reading aids printed beside kanji are called ルビ (rubi).
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type rubi- (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 ルビー 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
