Gen's Name!

General discussion about Usagi Yojimbo, the comics, the stories, the characters, collectibles, TV appearances, Stan Sakai, Space Usagi, Nilson & Hermy, and all other related topics.

Moderators: Mayhem, Steve Hubbell, Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
Ronin-K
Shugyosha<Student Warrior>
Posts: 143
Joined: Fri May 11, 2007 19:37 -0700
Location: Kelowna

Gen's Name!

Post by Ronin-K »

I'm sure someone already wrote an article about this, but I would like to know how Gen's name is pronounced. When I first read it, I figured it was pronounced "Gen-o-sue-kay". But when I saw him on TMNT Battle Nexus, it was pronounced "Jen-ahs-kay". At first, I was like "Aw man, they messed it up". But I'm not sure how it's pronounced, so could someone tell me?
Jei: Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh HEH!!
Me: Stop it! You're scaring me!
User avatar
Todd Shogun
Shogun
Posts: 1916
Joined: Fri Sep 20, 2002 12:43 -0700
Location: Orange Co., California
Contact:

Post by Todd Shogun »

All the characters appearing in the Cast section have the correct pronunciation referenced. "gen-NOS-keh" is how it is pronounced, with a "G" as in "goose", not a J-sound. The same G-sound is in Usagi's name. In fact, whenever you see a "G" in a Japanese word, it is always pronounded that way. J-sounds are always made with a "J".

Gennosuke's name looks like it could be four syllables instead of three...like gen-no-su-keh...but the Japanese tend to merge the "suke" into one syllable, like "s'keh". The reason why is because the "su" in "suke" is very soft, almost nonexistent, so it kinda rolls right into the "ke" without producing the fourth syllable. Maybe it's a half-syllable?

The TMNT stuff I wouldn't trust...they mispronounced many of the names.

http://usagiyojimbo.com/characters/gen.html
User avatar
Ronin-K
Shugyosha<Student Warrior>
Posts: 143
Joined: Fri May 11, 2007 19:37 -0700
Location: Kelowna

Post by Ronin-K »

Thanks, Todd.
Jei: Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh HEH!!
Me: Stop it! You're scaring me!
Post Reply