Solveig
ソルヴェイ
Soruvei
Also written ソルヴェイグ and ソルベイグ.
How It Is Said
- ソso
- ルru
- ヴェve
- イi
Soruvei: 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 | ソルヴェイ | Soruvei | the usual form |
| ソルヴェイグ | Soruveigu | also in use | |
| ソルベイグ | Sorubeigu | also in use |
What Happens to the Sounds
- Japanese has no v. It is written ヴ (vu) and its row, ヴァ ヴィ ヴェ ヴォ, or more simply with the b row, バ ビ ブ ベ ボ: you will see both, ソルヴェイ and ソルベイグ.
- Japanese has no l. It uses its one sound between l and r, a light tap of the tongue, written ラ リ ル レ ロ: ル (ru).
- A small kana joins the one before it into one beat: ヴェ (ve).
Solveig's Song, from Grieg's music for Peer Gynt, is ソルヴェイグの歌 in Japanese.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type soruvei, 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 ソルヴェイ 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
