Simon
サイモン
Saimon
How It Is Said
- サsa
- イi
- モmo
- ンn
Saimon: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | サイモン | Saimon | |
| German | ジーモン | Jīmon | the usual form |
| ジモン | Jimon | also in use | |
| French | シモン | Shimon |
What Happens to the Sounds
- The English long i, as in Simon, is two beats in Japanese: アイ (ai).
- ン is a humming n, and it counts as a beat of its own.
- In German, an s before a vowel is voiced, like a z (and zi is written ジ): ジ (ji); so in German, Simon is ジーモン (Jīmon).
- French nasal vowels are written with ン (n): シモン; so in French, Simon is シモン (Shimon).
Simon Peter is シモン・ペトロ in the Japanese Bible of 1987.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type saimonn (nn gives ン), 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 サイモン 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
