linguistic lampoon

the japanese language is a curious thing in many respects. the lists of set phrases they employ by rote, the numerous levels of formality, masculine and feminine vocabulary distinctions, varying alphabets used to scribe different types of words, the intermingling of those distinct alphabets in phrases and the words they borrow from other languages. foreign words that have been adopted into the japanese vernacular are written in katakana, one of the 4 writing systems they utilize [the others being hiragana, kanji and romaji]. foreigner’s names are also transliterated in katakana.
Tiffany becomes　ティファニー　which would be sounded out as ti fa nee
there is also an R and L issue when it comes to transliteration. the japanese alphabets simply don’t contain the L sound, so the closest they can come to approximating that pronunciation is with an R sound.
my middle name Lynn becomes リーン which is pronounced ri i n
as you can imagine, this makes for some pretty funny translations. some recent favorites:

ラップ = ra p pu
which is japanized english for ‘rap’, as in rap music, and ‘lap’, as in a lap ran during an athletic meet. they’ve also borrowed an American brand name and made it their own; ラップ means wrap too, as in saran wrap, or kitchen cling film.

ランチ = ra n chi
this is the way to write both ‘lunch’ and ‘launch’ in katakana. but be careful, if you want to talk about the dude ranch you should use the word 大牧場 [dai bokujou] instead.

ラフ = ra fu
these symbols are used to represent both the English words ‘laugh’ and ‘rough’. it’s up to you to decide based on the context.



and then there’s love…probably our favorite to utilize…ラブ ラブ…rabu, rabu…
and it’s variations, like ラブレター [rabu reta] or love letter.

or you go to the store and you don’t know the word for the new blades you need. you try to change razor into レーザー [re za] hoping that’s a word they have borrowed. the store clerk looks at you all puzzled; of course you can’t buy lasers over the counter.

or in class you are working on poems. you want your kids to rhyme so you say ライム [ra i mu] in the hopes they’ll get it. they can’t figure out what a sour fruit has to do with the assignment. they all start writing about limes.

you see. it’s such a mine field.