Thomas
トーマス
Tōmasu
Also written トマス.
How It Is Said
- トto
- ーo
- マma
- スsu
Tōmasu: 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 | トーマス | Tōmasu | the usual form |
| トマス | Tomasu | also in use | |
| German | トーマス | Tōmasu | |
| French | トマ | Toma | |
| Dutch | トーマス | Tōmasu |
What Happens to the Sounds
- The th of Thomas is said t, as in English: ト (to).
- Japanese syllables end in a vowel or in ン, so the final s takes a light vowel: ス (su).
- The bar ー makes the vowel before it long, one beat more: トー (tō).
- The final s is silent in French, so it is not written: トマ; so in French, Thomas is トマ (Toma).
Thomas Blake Glover, a Scottish merchant in Nagasaki, is トーマス・グラバー in Japanese; his house there, グラバー邸, still stands.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type to-masu (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 トーマス among the suggestions.
The Same Name in Other Languages
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
