Vincent
ヴィンセント
Vinsento
Also written ビンセント.
How It Is Said
- ヴィvi
- ンn
- セse
- ンn
- トto
Vinsento: five 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 | ヴィンセント | Vinsento | the usual form |
| ビンセント | Binsento | also in use | |
| French | ヴァンサン | Vansan | the usual form |
| バンサン | Bansan | also in use | |
| Dutch | フィンセント | Finsento |
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, ヴィンセント and ビンセント.
- Japanese syllables end in a vowel or in ン, so the final t takes a light vowel: ト (to).
- A small kana joins the one before it into one beat: ヴィ (vi).
- The final t is silent in French, so it is not written: ヴァンサン; so in French, Vincent is ヴァンサン (Vansan).
- Dutch v is close to f: フィ (fi); so in Dutch, Vincent is フィンセント (Finsento).
Vincent van Gogh is フィンセント・ファン・ゴッホ in Japanese, after the Dutch: one name, three ways in katakana.
To Type It
On a computer with Japanese input switched on, type vinnsennto (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 ヴィンセント 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
