Ruth
ルース
Rūsu
How It Is Said
- ルru
- ーu
- スsu
Rūsu: 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
- Japanese has no th; it is written with the s row, サ シ ス セ ソ: ス (su).
- 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: ルー (rū).
The Book of Ruth is ルツ記 in Japanese: Ruth is ルツ (Rutsu) there.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type ru-su (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 ルース 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
