Forums - What's the proper way of PRONOUNCING the word "RYU"? Show all 30 posts from this thread on one page Forums (http://www.shoryuken.com/forums/index.php) - Fighting Game Discussion (http://www.shoryuken.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?forumid=8) -- What's the proper way of PRONOUNCING the word "RYU"? (http://www.shoryuken.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=22025) Posted by Agent Guile on 05:31:2001 12:13 AM: What's the proper way of PRONOUNCING the word "RYU"? I just need some clarifications: There are three types (I could think of) of the letter R’s pronunciation: American type – curling the tongue in a downward parabolic fashion. Spanish/Latin type – tapping the palate with the tip of the tongue multiple times Japanese type – tapping the palate with the tip of the tongue only once. ( I’m not so sure about this) Am I right with this description? Anyway, at first I thought “REE-YOO” (“RA-YOO” is a joke) is already the proper way of pronouncing it, whether it’s American “R” or Japanese “R”. But I found out that only the Japanese “R” is the proper way of pronouncing it. I can pronounce RA, RE, RI , RO , and RU in the Japanese method quite easily. My problem is, I don’t know which of this should be used in pronouncing Ryu. By the way, is the method of pronouncing “R” in Ryu must be made in such a way that a vowel should follow “R”. Can we pronounce the Japanese “R” without any accompanying vowel next to it? Posted by Big Rex? on 05:31:2001 12:17 AM: Im pretty sure that its re-u but i like to call him r I-u, cause thats what i have been calling him since ST2. Posted by NerenatwaH on 05:31:2001 12:20 AM: Proper japanese way to pronounce Ryu is "roo" Posted by Agent Guile on 05:31:2001 12:36 AM: quote: Originally posted by NerenatwaH Proper japanese way to pronounce Ryu is "roo" Letter Y is a silent letter? R U sure? Posted by dragonkahn on 05:31:2001 12:40 AM: I've heard it pronouced two different ways: (1)Rye-U (2)Ree-U Posted by Ryu1999 on 05:31:2001 01:03 AM: quote: Originally posted by dragonkahn I've heard it pronouced two different ways: (1)Rye-U (2)Ree-U i go with pronunciation #1, simply b/c the 2nd way sounds really what the french call...i don't know what. sure the announcer pronounces it with #2, but it sounds pretty corny Posted by batsu13 on 05:31:2001 02:13 AM: When he wins in MvC 1, it says Ree-u wins! Posted by DannyCat on 05:31:2001 02:33 AM: Use the Japanese-type pronunciation, and say "Riyu". Now try it again, blending the R and y closer together until the i isn't there and the whole thing is one syllable. (actually, to be technical, the kana used by Capcom of Japan is katakana 'RYUU' with a long vowel...they just use "Ryu" for all the places it appears in English.) Posted by Optiks on 05:31:2001 02:49 AM: I say Rye-U but apparently the real way to say it is the Japanese way which sounds a lot like "roo". It's actually like saying the "ryu" in "shoryuken" (the way they say it in the game) so it's like "roo" but not quite. Posted by DannyCat on 05:31:2001 03:00 AM: quote: Originally posted by Optiks I say Rye-U but apparently the real way to say it is the Japanese way which sounds a lot like "roo". It's actually like saying the "ryu" in "shoryuken" (the way they say it in the game) so it's like "roo" but not quite. The difference between "ruu"(a.k.a. "roo") and "ryuu" is just that quick, barely discernable "yi"-ish sound in there. If you don't want to invest the time practicing getting that down, at least "ruu" > "raiyuu", as far as accuracy to the original Japanese goes. Posted by Havoc911 on 05:31:2001 03:32 AM: It's REE-UUU, but you just say it really quickly, with the japanese "R". It's kinda hard for some people to do, so they just say "Riyoo". Posted by Kuroi Kaze on 05:31:2001 03:52 AM: trust me the guy with the kenshin wallpaper is correct it is Re (note that's a long e sound) u not Re yuu but rather re uu...the double u makes you hold it for just a little longer than the typically short japanese u.... for those that are familiar with romanji it would be spelled Riuu Posted by DannyCat on 05:31:2001 03:58 AM: quote: Originally posted by Kuroi Kaze trust me the guy with the kenshin wallpaper is correct The super saiyan Kenshin wallpaper. quote: it is Re (note that's a long e sound) u not Re yuu but rather re uu...the double u makes you hold it for just a little longer than the typically short japanese u.... for those that are familiar with romanji it would be spelled Riuu Actually, in all the romaji systems I know about it'd be "Ryuu"...but what it'd look like in katakana is ri, a small yu, and then a dash for the elongated vowel, (RIyu-) or something.. And as for the length, it's basically two-syllable(ryu-u), although that's not really as important when you're just saying "Ryu" in English, unless you wanna get really picky. Like me. Posted by kusanagi on 05:31:2001 04:24 AM: say this: riyu now say it faster so that you barely hear the i Posted by ghgh on 05:31:2001 04:26 AM: I don't really think that the pronunciation is important, but just for the record: Ryu is not Ri-Yu, Ree-YU, RE-U or any of that. Ryu is pronounced RYU. That's why it's spelled like that. It is ONE syllable. (Ex. Tokyo. You do not say To-ki-yo. You say To-kyo.) And Agent Guile got it right when he said curl the 'R' with the one-tap thingy. (That's the first time I heard that one, but it's true.) Just for credibility, above DannyCat's picture is some japanese. The translation: The cat shining alone (or by itself). And no, I didn't use a dictionary. FYI Agent Guile. By the way, I pronounce it with a heavy American accent- "RIE-YU" just so that everyone knows what I talking about. When I pronounce it the Japanese way, people usually say, "huh? what?" Posted by threesixtee on 05:31:2001 04:54 AM: Anyone seen the Street Fighter II movie anime in Japanese? Sometimes when Ken says Ryu it almost sounds like "Dyu." But anyways, yeah - its one syllable, at least that's how I say it. Posted by DannyCat on 05:31:2001 05:13 AM: quote: Originally posted by ghgh It is ONE syllable. (Ex. Tokyo. You do not say To-ki-yo. You say To-kyo.) Well, Tokyo's actually four syllables(Toukyou), but still the same idea on the "kyo"... quote: Just for credibility, above DannyCat's picture is some japanese. The translation: The cat shining alone (or by itself). And no, I didn't use a dictionary. Indeed. quote: By the way, I pronounce it with a heavy American accent- "RIE-YU" just so that everyone knows what I talking about. When I pronounce it the Japanese way, people usually say, "huh? what?" Yeah, kinda like the way nobody understands "karaoke" if you pronounce it the original way... Posted by Wil Power on 05:31:2001 05:29 AM: quote: Originally posted by dragonkahn I've heard it pronouced two different ways: (1)Rye-U (2)Ree-U I would go with option 2, because I don't think the Japanese would say "Rye-U". Posted by Wil Power on 05:31:2001 05:30 AM: quote: Originally posted by DannyCat The difference between "ruu"(a.k.a. "roo") and "ryuu" is just that quick, barely discernable "yi"-ish sound in there. If you don't want to invest the time practicing getting that down, at least "ruu" > "raiyuu", as far as accuracy to the original Japanese goes. ...AGREED!!! Posted by CyntalanMaelstrom on 05:31:2001 05:38 AM: I say Ree-you, simply 'cause the announcer says that. After all, the announcer says what Capcom wants. Capcom created Ryu. They're right no matter if they're wrong in terms of Japanese pronounciation. And if anyone brings up the "well SF The Movie pronounces it Rye-you!" argument, I won't even bother adding my part as you get laughed out of SRK. Posted by ChunLi on 05:31:2001 06:36 AM: i dunno.. i use to call it "rye-you".. like back when SFII came out. .haha boy i was like 9 at that time or something.. but i guess people tell me it's like "rue".. me dunno i just got "mah seksi japanese love machine!" .. :P Posted by kaseijin on 05:31:2001 07:29 AM: A girl in class here has problems pronouncing rya/ryo/ryu as a single syllable. To make sure she's understood, the teacher told her to add an 'i' after the r, rather than dropping the 'y'. In other words, 'Ri-uu' is better than 'Ruu', but 'Rai-uu' is completely wrong. Posted by Bezerka on 05:31:2001 08:53 AM: It could also be said as Li-U (the i is very short) since there is no distinction between 'L' and 'R' in Japanese, i think. Posted by Agent Guile on 05:31:2001 10:20 AM: quote: Originally posted by Bezerka It could also be said as Li-U (the i is very short) since there is no distinction between 'L' and 'R' in Japanese, i think. Nope there's a distinction. Japanese "R" is much like Spanish "R". If you can pronounce Spanish "R" (try watching some of those Spanish boxing matches and listen to the announcer), then you have no problem. Posted by Brettx96 on 05:31:2001 10:46 AM: i agree..the japanese way is roo but you have roll your tongue.. and ryuu would sound like roo-oo Posted by Brettx96 on 05:31:2001 10:47 AM: i just also realized you can pronounce differen names differenly like: Sa-got or Sag-it Chewn Lee or Chu n- lee Ball-rog Bal (sounding like pal)-rog Posted by willard3 on 05:31:2001 01:55 PM: I always thought it was "rye-oo", but then the MvC machine calls it "roo" or "ree-oo". I don't know. Posted by JumpsuitJesse on 05:31:2001 03:05 PM: Ryu is pronounced... RYE-YOUU(Like RYE BREAD!) LOL! No, I know that it's pronounced Roo..thats close enough.. If you are a hardcore Japanese anime fanboy then it's "Dyoo" or "Reyu" with the sound like "TEA" Like "TEA-Yu" but with an R instead of a T.. Is Balrog still pronounced "Bar-lawg?" JumpsuitJesse "You tell'em Steve-Dave!" MallRats - Posted by BloodRiotIori on 05:31:2001 03:17 PM: i grew up saying ry-yoo so i say it like that, even though i know its ree-yoo. when i go aracdes i say ree-yoo Posted by DannyCat on 05:31:2001 07:00 PM: http://regultra.rice.edu/~brent/jal/ryu.wav http://regultra.rice.edu/~brent/jal/yu.wav http://regultra.rice.edu/~brent/jal/ru.wav ...for some native pronunciation. Nothing with long vowels on this site, but and the distinctions are a little faint, but that's what they sound like originally. All times are GMT. The time now is 11:27 PM. Show all 30 posts from this thread on one page Powered by: vBulletin Version 2.2.4 Copyright © Jelsoft Enterprises Limited 2000, 2001.