18
Oct
The Debate Rages - Am I “Mai-keh-ru” Or “Mai-ku-ru”?
Topic: Japan 2007
Today I sent out my template for having business cards made. Since I’ll be in Japan for six months, I’m getting two-sided cards: one side English, and the other side Japanese. Having business cards in Japan is vital. Learning the correct procedures for exchanging and handling cards was one of the first things we learned in my Japanese class. Your card indicates your “group” identity, your status, and serves as a social ice-breaker. If you don’t have a card, chances are you’ll be considered unimportant.
My Japanese teacher (who is a native speaker) was kind enough to translate my card for me. I showed it to Maria, and she thought it was unusual that she translated my first name as マイクル which is pronounced “Mai-ku-ru” (the Japanese phonetic syllabaries simply don’t allow for the English pronunciation of Michael). Maria thought it should be マイケル “Mai-keh-ru,” which she said is a more common translation. Jen, who also speaks Japanese, concurred. Then today I showed it to my co-worker Chris, who spent his childhood in Japan, and he agreed with my teacher’s interpretation. So I was feeling inclined to go with Maikuru, given it’s support by two native speakers (Maria and Jen both learned Japanese only as adults). Chris then decided to put it to the ultimate test: Michael Jordan is quite popular in Japan - how do his Japanese fans spell his first name? A Google search of Japanese sites for “Michael Jordan” generated a lot of hits, and quickly revealed a clear consensus: everyone spelled it Maikeru. A bazillion online Japanese Michael Jordan fans can’t be wrong, and if it’s good enough for Mike, it’s good enough for me.
So you can call me マイケル トッパ (Maikeru Toppa). My last name translates perfectly: トis “tō”, パ is “pa” and ッ indicates that the following consonant should be doubled. The nice thing about a phonetic syllabary compared to an alphabet is that you never have to guess pronunciation (almost everyone mispronounces my last name if they’re going just by reading it, but with Katakana, you can’t get it wrong).
Print
