For The Last Time!!!!!

[Megaman X4]

Van as u call him is not Van its VON!!!!!!! ok its wit an o and dont u forget it!!!

[Dryden-san]

Look, I know it sounds like 'Von,' but that's just because the Japanese language pronounces letters differently. Trust me, it IS Van, but however you pronounce it is up to you.

[elvenfire]

Sorry, but it's definately spelled Van. The dub actors tend to mispronounce it somewhat, since the Japanese soft "a" is a little difficult for some English-speakers. The "a" in Van is pronounced something like the "a" in all.

[suzaku]

yep...

trust us, it's Van

[Drizzten]

Originally posted by Megaman X4
Van as u call him is not Van its VON!!!!!!! ok its wit an o and dont u forget it!!!
Yeah, well "wit" is actually spelled "with" and "u" is spelled "you." ;)

Who cares, really? No one is confused who Van or Von is...I'm sure the Japanese have all sorts of fun reading all the ways we spell their words...

[Sheex, The Dark Stalker]

watch the true version, you idiot, its pronounced "Vahn", not "Vaughn" like in that stupid FOX version.

[Megaman X4]

Originally posted by Sheex, The Dark Stalker
watch the true version, you idiot, its pronounced "Vahn", not "Vaughn" like in that stupid FOX version.


no,no,no,no i never said Vahn or what ever the heack u said!!! I said von ok cause thats wat it sounds like so thats why i said that!

its like boom, i put it in the hoop, like slam,i heard the croud screeming now jam, i swer im tellen u the facts, cause thats how i beat SHAQ!!!

[Hybrid]

Originally posted by Megaman X4



no,no,no,no i never said Vahn or what ever the heack u said!!! I said von ok cause thats wat it sounds like so thats why i said that!

its like boom, i put it in the hoop, like slam,i heard the croud screeming now jam, i swer im tellen u the facts, cause thats how i beat SHAQ!!!

Are you retarded?

Anyways, the way something sounds, and the way something is spelled, are two different things. I think thats just common knowledge that you somehow lost... Its spelled van.

[KetaSama]

Sorry all!:sulkoff:
I hate to be the party pooper but the real Japanese spelling is “Baan”. Listen to the tapes again you will hear it spoken that way Baan-Sama not Van-Sama or Von-Sama. I believe, don't beat me if I’m wrong, I remember reading that there is no V in the Japanese language. The replacement for the V is a Ba, which makes almost the same sound. :p

[Fenix]

Originally posted by Megaman X4
Van as u call him is not Van its VON!!!!!!! ok its wit an o and dont u forget it!!!

Hey, can't you spell? And who says that your spelling is correct????

It's V-A-N. van.

quoting a friend from wings of esca
yeah, prettymuch. same thing out there with a lotta languages, especially asian ones.

ie: in the chinese 'alphabet' [zhù yïn fû hào], there are many letters from the english aren't there. also, there are combinations of english letters that make up some of the different chinese pronounciations[such as ch, zh, ai etc]. the tone of the word also changes the meaning of the word completely. (zhöng is different from zhòng).

words in many other languages also have different literal translations. for example, the word 'pronounciatiation' in chinese is made up of the symbols standing for 'utter/send out' and 'sound'. where in english there is a word for prettymuch anything, in other languages, it is made up of a combination of words. that's why word-for-word translation can be difficult in some cases, because the preference of the translator is usually what goes.

when reading a character in japanese, the reader knows what the radical stands for. but when translating to get the same sound (especially with names), letters get mixed up. a 'zh' might sound the same as a 'zho', but when reading the symbol in it's correct language, you wouldn't be able to tell the diffence.

hope this sorta makes sense....

[Sheex, The Dark Stalker]

Originally posted by KetaSama
Sorry all!:sulkoff:
I hate to be the party pooper but the real Japanese spelling is “Baan”. Listen to the tapes again you will hear it spoken that way Baan-Sama not Van-Sama or Von-Sama. I believe, don't beat me if I’m wrong, I remember reading that there is no V in the Japanese language. The replacement for the V is a Ba, which makes almost the same sound. :p
In Japanese,

B = V
R = L
S = C

Thats why you hear Balgus also called Vargas, Celena also called Serena, etc...

[KetaSama]

Sheex,

so... am i correct in thinking that its Baan-Sama?? Not trying to be rude or sound like a --------, but i'm not to sure what to make of your little chart. Gomen!!:confused:

[Shadowbard]

Okay, I hope I can help here, at least a little bit.

I was poking around The Escaflowne Compendium (http://www.anime.net/escaflowne/) and went to the Characters section. They have the names written both ways ( "official" romanized version and the kana version). If you want to view the information yourself, you will have to have Japanese script enabled on your internet browser.

"Official" romanization (used in all subtitles and on all merchandise): Van Slanzar de Fanel (Fanelia)

Direct romanization of the kana (using the method I was taught): Baan Suranzaaru de Faanaru (Faanaria)

The reason for the differences are due to several things. The first is the nature of the Japanese language. With the exception of the "n" sound, all syllables in Japanese end in a vowel-type sound (a, i, u, e, o).

Secondly, as has been stated before, there are no actual "v" and "c" sounds. Each of these sounds will be written (using katakana) in one or two different forms. "V" is often written using the kana for "ba" or by using the kana for "u" and adding diacritical marks (they look sort of like the " symbol and are found to the right of the kana). If it isn't just a "V" sound, the first kana will be followed by a small "vowel" kana (a, i, u, e, o).

As for "C" the way it is written depends on how it is pronounced in the word being written. If it is a hard C (like in cat or card) it will be represented with one of the "k" kana (romanized as: ka, ki, ku, ke, ko). If it is a soft C (like in Celena or the first c in circus) it will be represended with one of the "s" kana (romanized as: sa, shi/si, su, se, so).

It's somewhat difficult to explain without having you look at a katakana or hirigana chart. I can give the romanization of the characters, but it doesn't do a lot of good if you don't know how they're pronounced or how they're written.

Anyway, I hope this helps, even if it's only a little.

~Anki

[Nulani]

There you have the worst problem for the translators...
How do you translate something not really typeable in roman letters?.

I think we'll just have to use what we think's right, as long as others understand who we mean...

[KetaSama]

Shadowbard

Thanks love! That was a huge help :) I thought I remembered seein' that info somewhere but I just couldn't remember where. If its not too much to ask could you please post the character names in the Direct Romanization style?? I would be ever so thankful…

[DarkPrimus]

"Van" is the correct spelling of the name, even though it's pronounced non-phonetically.

The "a" in Japanese language is pronounced like the "a" in "lawn". The "o" is pronounced like in "phone". So if his name was "Von", it'd rhyme with phone!:lol:

[Teddy]

I love it when people make fools of themselves. It is Van check any official or unoffocial site or check anything.

[Shadowbard]

Well, Keta.....it would be easier if you could tell me which characters' names you want done in the direct romanization.

The reason I say this is, although the direct romanization is often the "most correct" so to speak, it is generally not the official spelling of the name, if written using roman characters.

::shrugs:: Also there are a lot of characters in Escaflowne....and I don't know that I really want to go through 50 or 100 different names.....call me lazy if you'd like, but....

~Anki

[KetaSama]

Sorry it took so long for me to respond to ya'Just the basic main characters would be fine. Thanks for doin this for me :D

[Renard Baines]

lol, now THIS is a funny thread :D

Yes, like everyone else has said here, while it's said like VON, it's spelt VAN(check the DVD's silly)

[Callisto]

It's Van. Don't be fooled by how Dilandau will yell "Vaaaaaaaaaan!" It sounds like it's got an "O", but it doesn't.

[KetaSama]

::rolls eyes:: here we go again.