How do you pronounce some J-artists

[mtora83]

I have always pronounced Gackt as "Gacked" instead of "gakuto" and Dir en grey as "Dir EN grey". Although I head it's supposed to be "Dir ON grey". Any suggestions?
Any other artists name I should be aware of pronouncing it right? Thanks

[Hazuki]

I think that Dir en grey would be Diru An Gurei~
Alice Nine = Arisu Nine
An Cafe = Antikku Cafe / An Cafe

I'm not sure for anyone else, but if I have a list then I will know~

AHyOOmEE HAHmAHsAHkEE
NAHmEE-EH AHmOOrOH
YOOnAH EEtOH
MEEkAH NAHkAHshEEmAH
KOHdAH KOOmEE
SEEfOHw
SOOzOOkEE AHmEE
MAHkEE GOHtOH
AHEE(?) OHtSOOkAH

[CHE.R.RY]

Originally Posted by austin. ♥

SEEfOHw

Thanx I was wondering how her name was pronounced

[Hazuki]

^ ROFL. I had problems with my eyes after that xD

Not AHEE~ Aye.
: D

[Lyra-Shini-Gami]

I guess I pronounce them wrong... x)
I said to Dir en Grey: Dieeer en graaaay, L´arc ~en~ciel: L -----ark-en-ziel (o.k that is wrong!!!!>_<)

[Hazuki]

Oh～ L'arc～en～ciel!
Can be LARUKU EN SHIELLE.
In French, it's totally different thing xD
*I post in here too much /cough/*

[sugarbasil]

LOL. I have problems with this, too. Though there are Japanese ways to pronounce them and English/Americanized ways to pronounce them. Like, people overseas usually pronounce Gackt as Gahkted, but in Japan it's Gakuto.

Sorta like anime is an-ih-mey and in Japan it's ah-nee-mey.

(Note: All IPA transliterations are approximations. Please use audio charts found at http://www.paulmeier.com/ipa/charts.html for better understanding of proper sounds.)


If the artist/group have a foreign (non-Japanese, non-English) name, you should pronounce it the way it is meant to be pronounced in the original language.

Gackt [gækt] not [gakuto] as in ガクト
L'arc-en-Ciel [lɑʀk ɒ̃ sʸel] not [ɾaɾuku aɴ šiɛɾu] as in ラルク・アン・シエル
Antique Café [æntik kæfɛʸ] not [aɴči:ku kaɸɛ:] as in アンチック・カフェー
Dir en grey [diʀ ɒ̃ gɹɛʸ] not [diɾu aɴ guɾɛ:] as in ディル・アン・グレー

This is because the Japanese transliterations are, themselves, approximations. Obviously most English speakers won't pronounce them "properly", because many of these sounds don't occur (at least commonly) in English. So at the very least, you should pronounce the foreign name as you would approximate it in English (ie. [dɪɹ] instead of [diʀ]).

Pure-Japanese names should be pronounced as in Japanese, or your nearest English approximation.

浜崎あゆみ [hamasaki ayumi] or [haməsaki ayumi]
安室奈美恵 [amuɾo namiɛ] or [amuɹo namiɛʸ]
椎名林檎 [ši:na ɾiɴgo] or [šina ɹɪngo]

[elepop]

Originally Posted by evolusean

If the artist/group have a foreign (non-Japanese, non-English) name, you should pronounce it the way it is meant to be pronounced in the original language.

Exactly.

I don't call the brilliant green "buriguri". I just call them how they called themselves, the brilliant green. As for other J-artists, I don't really have a problem with their names. I find it easier to pronounce Japanese words since I talk French.

The only artist I always mess up the name is Namie Amuro, I always say Na-Mee... instead of Na-Mee-E haha

[LacusClyne]

huh? how to pronounce L'arc-en-Ciel?

[~Matt~]

lol

english speakers do have lots of problems with the pronunciation xD

[elepop]

Originally Posted by LacusClyne

huh? how to pronounce L'arc-en-Ciel?

It's a French word for rainbow. I think most English speaker can't pronounce it well. XD I'm lucky I'm fluent in French and almost fluent in English.

[Beauty4123]

okay, for ayumi, i prounounce it "ah-yoo-me". for namie amuro, i prounounce namie as "nay-me". that's all i can think of, lol.

[elepop]

Originally Posted by Beauty4123

okay, for ayumi, i prounounce it "ah-yoo-me". for namie amuro, i prounounce namie as "nay-me". that's all i can think of, lol.

It's supposed to be nah-mee-eh.

[Beauty4123]

i know, lol. i only found out recently. but it's easier the way i prounounce it, i guess.

[MemorialAddress]

Originally Posted by Beauty4123

i know, lol. i only found out recently. but it's easier the way i prounounce it, i guess.

LOLOL!!!
I used to pronounce it Nami too...until a few years ago I realized the EE was on the end XD

[Keishi]

LOL. I know I should pronounce it Nah-Mee-Ee, but I'm already used to just say Nah-Mee. XD

[minna]

for ayumi well I pronounce it like : Ah-You-mi (but the Ah is like more A XD)
koda it's KO-DA KOU-MI but that one isn't really hard
Sifow I'm really not sure = Shee-fo-w or see-fo (?)
d'you make a sound with the w or not?
it's really sifow who causing me problems XD because for the others I follow the pronounciation of the sounds that are composing the noun in japanese

but my biggest problem sometimes is the title of songs (like A Song for XX d'you pronounced the XX or it's A SONG FOR...)
but it's not really in the subject

[criminal]

Originally Posted by minna

(like A Song for XX d'you pronounced the XX or it's A SONG FOR...)

You don't pronounce the XX and you pronounce the A like the beginning of the word "eight". So basically you say [ei song for], not [uh song for].