Pronunciation Guide Thingamijigger

[Mr. All Sunday]

ver the last couple of weeks I’ve been adding to this pronunciation list every now and again, and decided to post it to see how you guys pronounce One Piece character names, as well as to see if anyone thinks I’m pronouncing things wrong. I missed several characters, so I’ll probably add them later. It is a rather long list by the way.

Characters:

! Luffy-loo-fee
Roronoa Zoro-rao-roa-noh-uh zoh-roh
Nami-nah-mee
Usopp-oo-sahp
Sanji-sahn-jee
Chopper-chaw-per
Nico Robin-nee-koh raw-bin
Kuro-koo-roh
Krieg-kreeg
Tashigi-tah-shee-gee
Laboon-lah-boon
Crocus-kroh-kus
Nefertari Vivi-neh-fer-tar-ee vee-vee
Igaram-ih-gah-ram
Dorry-door-ee
Brogy-broh-gee
Dalton-doll-ton
Kureha-koo-re-hah
Wapol-wah-pole
Portgas D. Ace-port-gus dee ace
Bon Kurei-bahn-kray
Bellamy-bell-uh-mee
Sarquiss-sar-kwee
Donquixote Doflamingo-dahn-kee-hotay doh-flah-meen-goh
Batholomew Kuma-bar-thah-loh-mu koo-mah
Van Auger-vahn-ow-ger
Jesus Burgess-hay-soos ber-giss
Lafayette-lah-fai-et
Montblanc Cricket-mahn-blahnk kri-ket
Montblanc Norland manh-blahnk noor-land
Shoujo-show-joh
Masira-mah-seer-uh
Satori-sah-toor-ee
Ohm-ome
Shura-shoo-rah
Gedatsu-geh-daht-soo
Eneru-eh-nare-oo
Conis-coh-niss
Kalgara-cal-gar-ah
Laki-lah-kee
Gan Forr-gahn-foor
Pierre-pee-are
Aokiji-ow-kee-jee
Akainu-ah-kah-ee-noo
Kizaru-kee-zar-oo
Paulie-pahl-ee
Kokoro-koh-koh-roh
Gonbe-gohn-bay
Kaku-kah-koo
Rob Lucci-rahb-loo-chee
Kalifa-kah-lee-fah
Blueno-bloo-no
Jyabura-jyah-bur-ah
Fukurou-foo-koo-roh
Kumadori-koo-mah-door-ee
Funkfried-funk-freed
Mozu-moh-zoo
Kiwi-kee-wee
Zambai-zam-bai
Franky (Cutty Flam)-frayn-kee (cuh-tee flam)
Tilestone-tile-stuhn
Lulu-loo-loo
Nero-near-oh
Wanze-wahn-zay
Yokozuna-yoh-koh-zoo-nah
Oimo-oh-ee-moh
Kaashi-kah-shee
Porsche-poh-ru-che
Carue-kah-roo
Shanks-shaynks
Reaux-roh
Yasopp-yah-sahp

Someday I’m going to try to create a comprehensive list with pronunciations for every character, location, and object, but because of my horrible laziness and schoolwork it will probably be someday like next Christmas. >>

[CosmicDebris]

Well, pronunciation is different if you're trying to use Japanese pronunciation or English pronunciation….Like Usopp would be said OO-sahp by a typical English speaker but it's pronounced oo-SOHPu by a Japanese person.
Usually the soft vowel at the end of Japanese words aren't said if you're trying to Americanize it. Like Gedatsu would be Gedats (I think the offical American spelling is Gedatz).

There's a few you have wrong, though.

Quixote is pronounced Kee-hoh-tay.
Blueno is Bloo-noh (like the color blue)
I'm pretty sure Sarquiss is Sar-kiss.
Nero is Nair-oh.
And it's Fukuro, not Fukoro.

There are some things that are kind of up in the air as far as how the names would be romanized.

@Mr.:

ver the last couple of weeks I’ve been adding to this pronunciation list every now and again, and decided to post it to see how you guys pronounce One Piece character names, as well as to see if anyone thinks I’m pronouncing things wrong. I missed several characters, so I’ll probably add them later. It is a rather long list by the way.

Characters:

! Luffy-loo-fee
Roronoa Zoro-rao-roa-noh-uh zoh-roh
Nami-nah-mee
Usopp-oo-sahp
Sanji-sahn-jee
Chopper-chaw-per
Nico Robin-nee-koh raw-bin
Kuro-koo-roh
Krieg-kreeg
Tashigi-tah-shee-gee
Laboon-lah-boon
Crocus-kroh-kus
Nefertari Vivi-neh-fer-tar-ee vee-vee
Igaram-ih-gah-ram
Dorry-door-ee
Brogy-broh-gee
Dalton-doll-ton
Kureha-koo-re-hah
Wapol-wah-pole
Portgas D. Ace-port-gus dee ace
Bon Kurei-bahn-kray
Bellamy-bell-uh-mee
Sarquiss-sar-kwee
Donquixote Doflamingo-dahn-kweeks-otee doh-flah-meen-goh
Batholomew Kuma-bar-thah-loh-mu koo-mah
Van Auger-vahn-ow-ger
Jesus Burgess-hay-soos ber-giss
Lafayette-lah-fai-et
Montblanc Cricket-mahnt-blahnk kri-ket
Montblanc Norland manht-blahnk noor-land
Shoujo-show-joh
Masira-mah-seer-uh
Satori-sah-toor-ee
Ohm-ome
Shura-shoo-rah
Gedatsu-geh-daht-soo
Eneru-eh-nare-oo
Conis-coh-niss
Kalgara-cal-gar-ah
Laki-lah-kee
Gan Forr-gahn-foor
Pierre-pee-are
Aokiji-ow-kee-jee
Akainu-ah-kah-ee-noo
Kizaru-kee-zar-oo
Paulie-pahl-ee
Kokoro-koh-koh-roh
Gonbe-gohn-bay
Kaku-kah-koo
Rob Lucci-rahb-loo-chee
Kalifa-kah-lee-fah
Blueno-bloo-ay-no
Jyabura-jyah-bur-ah
Fukorou-foo-koh-roh
Kumadori-koo-mah-door-ee
Funkfried-funk-freed
Mozu-moh-zoo
Kiwi-kee-wee
Zambai-zam-bai
Franky (Cutty Flam)-frayn-kee (cuh-tee flam)
Tilestone-tile-stuhn
Lulu-loo-loo
Nero-near-oh
Wanze-wahn-zay
Yokozuna-yoh-koh-zoo-nah
Oimo-oh-ee-moh
Kaashi-kah-shee
Porsche-poorsh
Carue-kah-roo
Shanks-shaynks
Reaux-roh
Yasopp-yah-sahp

Someday I’m going to try to create a comprehensive list with pronunciations for every character, location, and object, but because of my horrible laziness and schoolwork it will probably be someday like next Christmas. >>

[Mr. All Sunday]

I knew I was mispronouncing Quixote, and thanks a lot for the corrections. Because of the way I pronounce Blueno, I was quite confused when Spandam said his name as "buruno", instead of "burueno", I should've caught on then. XD Maybe I'll do a guide for both the Japanese pronunciation and the English one…

[Throes]

Also, Montblanc would be pronounced more like "Mahn-blank", not "Mahnt-blahnk".

[BobTheDarkOne]

I have an obvious one: WAN PEES

[The Dude]

Technically, it's Monbran Norland/Cricket.

And Porche is pronounced po-ru-che.

[Jejune]

Pronunciation can also differ if you're not American.

[Local-chan]

I always pronounced Robin as Roh-bin myself XD Probably the British pronounciation different to the yanks like lol Anyways, interesting topic lol I was thinking of making a topic like this the otherday

[Mr. All Sunday]

This is now going to be my One Piece related project, and also an excellent media of procrastination. << >> And pronunciation differs depending on where you are of course, but I'm going to stick to American and Japanese pronunciation. As I don't know very much about any other languages.

Now, the Japanese pronunciations are easy, I just have to turn the names into Romaji. I'll post any progress I make, for corrections and any other problems you guys find.

I have a question. When words have been Romanized (or de-romanized or whatver you want to call it) such as Portgas D Ace to Porutogasu D Eesu (I think), would the extra vowels be pronounced or not?

[CosmicDebris]

They're pronounced very lightly…not the way an American would read them. Just listen to the way they speak in the anime. With a western name like "Ace", It's not wrong to pronounce it in a western way. Same goes with Porche. To say that you have to pronounce it with a Japanese accent is silly. It's not a Japanese name.

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Shanks is wrong.

It should be pronounced "Shahnks"

[ChopChopCannon]

I'm betting half of those pronunciations are wrong.

[CosmicDebris]

@ChopChopCannon:

I'm betting half of those pronunciations are wrong.

Unless you actually have any real evidence to give, don't bother.

[ChopChopCannon]

I'm going to ignore the above post 'cos I don't want to get into yet another argument.

Are you sure Aokiji isn't pronounced 'Ay-oh-kee-jee'?

[CosmicDebris]

@ChopChopCannon:

I'm going to ignore the above post 'cos I don't want to get into yet another argument.

I don't want you to argue with me, I was telling you not to do something that was rude.

Are you sure Aokiji isn't pronounced 'Ay-oh-kee-jee'?

Ao is "blue" in Japanese. It is pronounced more closely "ow" (to break it down, it's Ah-oh run together very fast). Just listen to how they say it in the anime.

[Ubiq]

Lafitte (Lah Feet) after the pirate, not Lafayette after the Marquis.

[ooshi78]

http://apforums.net/showthread.php?t=4610

[CosmicDebris]

I thought there was a thread like that before.

The problem I have though is that like I said, I don't feel any obligation to pronounce Paulie "paw ooh lee" or Franky "Fu ran kee". That's just saying English names with a Japanese accent. Just as Japanese names shouldn't be pronounced with an American accent (like why does eveyone say "Uh-keer-uh" for Akira around here. :P)

[KaizokuFan22]

I pronounced Kuro mostly as Kur-o or cure-o

[SaiyaJedi]

@Mr.:

Usopp-oo-sahp
Chopper-chaw-per
Nico Robin-nee-koh raw-bin
. . .
Bon Kurei-bahn-kray
. . .
Donquixote Doflamingo-dahn-kee-hotay doh-flah-meen-goh
. . .
Eneru-eh-nare-oo
. . .
Paulie-pahl-ee
. . .
Rob Lucci-rahb-loo-chee
. . .
Franky (Cutty Flam)-frayn-kee (cuh-tee flam)
. . .
Shanks-shaynks
. . .
Yasopp-yah-sahp

(emphasis in the preceding supplied by me)

Are you from the South or the Lower Midwest, by any chance? You're showing signs of the father-bother and cot-caught mergers all over the place, along with what appears to be a Southern drawl.

My point for bringing this up is that not everyone's going to hear even the proper pronunciation the same way, depending on where they are, and spelling out pronunciations in terms of your own regional dialect will only deepen the confusion. IPA transcription would be ideal, of course, but it's not that widely-known (or supported by most fonts).

[KaizokuFan22]

what about lucky Roux would it be pronounced Row or Roo?

[Buuhan1]

I always thought "Rah-sh".

[SaiyaJedi]

So, going off of the idea I had in my earlier post, why don't I attempt some IPA transcriptions of name pronunciations, in Japanese and (hopefully fairly neutral) English?

(Note: I tried to indicate where vowels /i/ and /u/ are devoiced in Japanese, but the notation wouldn't show up. But where the vowel doesn't appear in English, it's a fair bet it's only minimally pronounced in Japanese.)

STRAW HAT PIRATES

Monkey D. Luffy:
Kana: モンキー・D・ルフィ
Romaji: Monkī Dī Rufi
Japanese pronunciation: [ˈmoɴkiː diː ˈɺɯɸi]
English: [ˈmʌŋki diː ˈlufi] (or ['lʊfi] to follow the standard spelling a bit more naturally)

Roronoa Zoro:
Kana: ロロノア・ゾロ
Romaji: Roronoa Zoro
Japanese pronunciation: [ˈɺoɺonoa ˈzoɺo]
English: [ˈɹoɹo'noə ˈzoɹo] (or [ˈzolo] in the English anime and manga)

Nami:
Kana: ナミ
Romaji: Nami
Japanese pronunciation: [ˈnami]
English pronunciation: [ˈnɑmi]

Usopp:
Kana: ウソップ
Romaji: Usoppu
Japanese pronunciation: [ɯˈsopːɯ]
English pronunciation: [ˈusɑp]

Sanji:
Kana: サンジ
Romaji: Sanji
Japanese pronunciation: [ˈsandʑi]
English pronunciation: [ˈsɑnʤi]

Tony Tony Chopper:
Kana: トニー・トニー・チョッパー
Romaji: Tonī Tonī Choppā
Japanese pronunciation: [toniː toniː ˈtɕopːaː]
English pronunciation: [ˈtoni ˈtoni ˈtʃɑpɚ]

Nico Robin:
Kana: ニコ・ロビン
Romaji: Niko Robin
Japanese pronunciation: [ˈniko ˈɺobiɴ]
English pronunciation: [ˈniko ˈɹɑbɪn]

Franky:
Kana: フランキー（カティ・フラム）
Romaji: Furankī (Kati Furamu)
Japanese pronunciation: [ɸɯˈɺaŋki:], [ˈkati ɸɯˈɺamɯ]
English pronunciation: [ˈfɹæŋki], [ˈkʌdi flæm] (or ['kʌti flæm] if being careful)

RED HAIR PIRATES

Shanks:
Kana: シャンクス
Romaji: Shankusu
Japanese pronunciation: [ˈɕaŋkɯsɯ]
English pronunciation: [ʃæŋks]

Ben Beckman:
Kana: ベン・ベックマン
Romaji: Ben Bekkuman
Japanese pronunciation: [beɴ ˈbek:ɯmaɴ]
English pronunciation: [bɛn ˈbɛkmɨn

Lucky Roux/Roo/Lou:
Kana: ラッキー・ルー
Romaji: Rakkī Rū
Japanese pronunciation: [ˈɺak:i: ɺɯ:]
English pronunciation: [ˈlʌki ɹu:] or [ˈlʌki lu:]

Yasopp:
Kana: ヤソップ
Romaji: Yasoppu
Japanese pronunciation: [jaˈsopːɯ]
English pronunciation: [ˈjæsɑp]

Rockstar:
Kana: ロックスター
Romaji: Rokkusutā
Japanese pronunciation: [ˈɺok:ɯsɯta:]
English pronunciation: [ˈɹɑkstɑɹ]

BUGGY / ALVIDA PIRATES

Buggy:
Kana: バギー
Romaji: Bagī
Japanese pronunciation: [ˈbagi:]
English pronunciation: [ˈbʌgi]

Alvida:
Kana: アルビダ
Romaji: Arubida
Japanese pronunciation: [aɺɯˈbida]
English pronunciation: [ɑlˈvidə]

Mohji:
Kana: モージ
Romaji: Mōji
Japanese pronunciation: [ˈmo:dʑi]
English pronunciation: [ˈmo:dʒi] or [ˈmoʊdʒi]

Cabaji:
Kana: カバジ
Romaji: Kabaji
Japanese pronunciation: [ˈkabadʑi]
English pronunciation: [ˈkɑbədʒi] or [kəˈbɑdʒi]

Ritchie:
Kana: リッチー
Romaji: Ritchī
Japanese pronunciation: [ˈɺit:ɕi:]
English pronunciation: [ˈɹɪtʃi]

More on the way!

[GearSecond]

I tend to use a mix of English and Japanese pronunciation.

I say Shaynks not Shawnks. With othe rnames I use the longer romanizations and give them english pronunciation, like Jayabura.

For Nero and similar names I just basically use all english. Near-oh.

As for Don Quixote, well I attempted to sound it out. I was left with Quee-So, even tohugh the Japanese seem to be saying Qee-Ho

[SaiyaJedi]

@GearSecond:

I tend to use a mix of English and Japanese pronunciation.

I say Shaynks not Shawnks. With othe rnames I use the longer romanizations and give them english pronunciation, like Jayabura.

For Nero and similar names I just basically use all english. Near-oh.

As for Don Quixote, well I attempted to sound it out. I was left with Quee-So, even tohugh the Japanese seem to be saying Qee-Ho

Oh dear.

I officially recommend that you not give any more pronunciations, if those are what you've come up with on your own. I don't know what Japanese and what English you're mixing, but ew.

The "Shaynks" I could give you, assuming you're from the Southern US, but more neutrally it'd be [ʃæŋks] - with /a/ as in "cat" or "hat". But it's "Jabura," with 3 morae, not the 4 you've given it. Your pronunciation of "Nero" works for the most part, though I don't know how you managed to come up with that pronunciation for "Quixote" - the Japanese pronunciation would be [kihotɛ], and the the English [ki'hoti]. This, of course, is derived from from the original Spanish [ki'xote] (that lovely velar fricative that so vexes English-speaking non-Jews). I think you're probably the only one who pronounces the "x" as ~~.

On the bright side, you've inspired me to keep working on more name pronunciations in IPA notation. See my previous post.~~