Thrawn

I've been wary to say their names when talking to others about cars because I'm not sure about their proper pronunciations. So, if you would, please provide me with a phonetic spelling of Mugen and Enkei, and even if you're not sure, just state how you normally pronounce them. If these were English derived names I probably wouldn't be concerned, and just pronounce them the way they are spelled, but they're obviously not, which is why I ask. So, is Mugen pronounced Moo (as in the cow sound) - Jen (as in the female name) and is Enkei pronounced En (as in end) Key? Thanks for the help.

vwong

You got the Enkei right. But Mugen is pronounced as "mute" (minus the "t" sound) "gun". Got it?

Let me put it this way,

Enkei = EN - key
Mugen = MU - gun

Capital letters represent stronger tone. Hope that make sense.

Thrawn

Yes, that makes perfect sense! Thank you very much. Now I can discuss these brands without mumbling their names under by brief to cover up my ignorance.

TurboBanana93

ENKEI
= Ann Kay

MUGEN
= Moo Gaen

larchmont

Actually, in Mugen, the "e" isn't really what y'all said -- it's more of a throwaway sound. It's exactly like the second syllable of "Morgan."

BTW that sound has a name -- it's called "schwa."

Thrawn

Thanks Turbo. I get Enkei, but I don't understand the 2nd part of Mugen, the "Gaen." Could you please break that part down (or provide an example of another word with that same sound in it)?


Anybody else have any input? As it stands I'm getting 2 different pronunciations for each, and I'm not sure which to follow (although Turbo's pronunciation of Enkei sounds a bit smoother and more natural).

larchmont

He looked, but he did not see.....

Thrawn

... Sorry.

So, since the e is a throwaway sound, that means its Moo-Jin, the Jin simply being the G and the N pronounced together?

EDIT

...or do you mean that the pronunciation (and not the throwaway) is exactly the same as the 2nd syllable in Morgan, making it Moo-gan.

Maxboost

I'm sure some on this board is Japanese or has a friend who is Japanese maybe we can ask that person!

larchmont

I guess people don't believe me anymore?

OK, I admit it, I'm wrong a good 80% of the time, but the rest of the time I'm right.

Here's a link with some stuff about this:

http://www.hpoa.org/showthread.php?t=13066

But don't worry a heck of a lot about it. Nobody much knows how to pronounce it. In fact, this would be a good topic of conversation wherever you go, because they don't know for sure either.

tycoon

–łŚŔ = Mugen = mu ge n
mu as in moon
ge as in game
n as in nnnnn

Enkei = En K
En is Japanese Yen minus the Y pronounciation
K is alphabet K

Thrawn

I believed you! I just didn't completely understand Mugen. However, tycoon's explanation has cleared that up, and his Mugen seems to be the same as yours.

By the way, thanks a lot tycoon and larchmont, I appreciate the help. Enkei sounds a lot more natural that way too, similar to turbo’s explanation, except his was “An” instead of “En” (although Mugen will take some getting use to). Thanks again.

dnl2ba

I haven't ever heard either name pronounced, so I'm just operating off the premise that they're Japanese words/names and therefore nearly perfectly phonetic.

In Romaaji (Japanese spelled with Roman characters), "E" sounds almost like the English long A (like in "bake" or "May"). You know, like the E at the end of "anime." Romaaji "I" is like the English long E (like in "eat" or "week"). Enkei would sound to us like "ane-kay." Japanese doesn't technically have accented syllables (though you might still perceive stressed syllables in conversation).

Edit: Oops, this board isn't in UTF-8 (wanted to use hiragana).

tycoon

Hmmm... I used it and it comes out ok on my PC. My sig is in kanji. I can see it, but maybe others don't...