Why we?

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While I do not own a gaming console, nor have I ever owned one, I am aware of them.

Nintendo's newest one is called Wii.

The question is how to pronounce it? Given that there are two consecutive vowels, and the general rule is to make the first vowel long, along with the fact that the Wii features a novel wireless controller interface, I would assume it to be pronounced "Why".

Lately, I noticed that articles on the Wii give the pronunciation as "wee".

This makes sense, since, in Japanese, the "i" is pronounced as a long "e". We find this in words like sushi (sue shee) and sashimi (sah shee mee). As well as names like Megumi (meh goo mee) and Hitomi (hee toe mee).

Comments

Mother of Invention said…
I didn't know the Japanese said "I" as "e". Not that I've ever seen these!
I need kids to keep me in tine with the times!
May 05, 2007 8:49 AM
Richard said…
It didn't really dawn on me until I thought about it for a few moments.

Granted, I do not have an extensive Japanese vocabulary, but the words and terms I do know fir that rule.
May 07, 2007 5:56 PM
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