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My name in katakana

Muizers

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3 Jun 2015
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Hi there :)

I've been studying Japanese for a while, but a thing that has been bothering me is that people misinterpret my name in katakana.

My name is "Martijn". Some like to write "Mar" as マー and others as マル (if you know my native language it should clearly be マル but English people like to force their pronunciation マー haha).

However, "tij" causes some problems. It is pronounced exactly like the Romaji "tei" (so essentially テイ), however, when I write テイ people keep reading it as ティ, with a small ィ, so that it becomes "ti".

Is there a way to go around this to get the Katakana version of "ma-ru-te-i-n" without confusion? :)

Is マルテーイン somewhat valid? This was my idea, but some folks who know Japanese better than I do (but who aren't native speakers) said it was bad without offering a reason, so now I'm unsure.
 
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マルテーン comes pretty close I think. マルテーイン would be pronounced as Marteïn (i.e. with the イ pronounced separately, not as an extension of the エ sound).
 
Why not just see if you can find a site where native Japanese speakers will say what you write? Put up a few versions and pick the one which sounds most right?
 
If Martijn is pronounced マルテイン, there is no reason to find another katakana combination that comes close. You've already found the best rendering.
If your name were Gary, I can see how you would want to come up with an alternative to ゲリ, but マルテイン sounds and looks fine to me.
It's slightly unusual in Japan, and may cause some conversations that might become tedious to you, but assuming you like your name and マルテイン is the closest rendering/pronunciation, your work is finished. Its up to the people around you to get used to it.

Edit: Your name reminded me of this guy Marutei Tsurunen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Thanks all! I'm going to see if I can find native Japanese speakers to help me, but this has been very helpful! :)
 
I find マルテイン is perfectly OK to transcript your name Martijn.
Maybe there could be some people who might mistake it for マルティン which is maybe more common but you can always explain your name Martijn is pronounced differently from, for example, English version Martin.
 
A native speaker here. I wish you can record and upload how to pronounce your name so I can hear it. Another option to write your name is (to confuse you further... ;) マルテェイン. In my personal opinion, if I see マルテェイン, I would not forget to pronounce イ part. マルテェイン looks much different from マーティン so people know your name is not Martin. (Note that, the pronunciations of マルテイン and マルテェイン are basically the same. So you can pick whichever you like). In your initial post, you suggested マルテーイン. Is there a bit of a long "e"(エ) between your "te" and "i"? In that case, マルテーイン is fine. マルテエイン is also an option, but then, people might emphasize エ part (vs there is more emphasis on テ for マルテーイン). In the end, it is totally your choice : )
 
Hello, please help me!
I need to know how to write my name in japanese, Jerah. Please help me quick!
 
How you pronounce it decides how it is written in Japanese. e.g. Charles can be チャールズ or シャルル depending if you're talking about an English or French Charles.

Seriously, though, my first guess would be "Gera like the start of Gerald" but in some languages "J" is more like "Y", which is why I'm asking.
 
How you pronounce it decides how it is written in Japanese. e.g. Charles can be チャールズ or シャルル depending if you're talking about an English or French Charles.

Seriously, though, my first guess would be "Gera like the start of Gerald" but in some languages "J" is more like "Y", which is why I'm asking.
It is exactly like the Gera in Gerald actually, so how would you spell that? tysm for answering, Neko.
 
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