How do you pronounce Nikon

[NorthernNikon]

Not quite. It's Can-on in Japan too.

I doubt it, that goes against Japanese phonetics.

 

[AleksanderLoesch]

Not quite. It's Can-on in Japan too.

But Canon Inc used to be called 'Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory' and their first camera was the 'Kwanon' (named after a Buddhist deity IIRC).

ah, cheers! that explains it all. I should have looked it up on wikipedia:bonk::nono:

 

[Phobic]

some people say Nike as Nye-key which adds in a whole other layer of confusion

 

[PMK]

Always Nick-on, always!

 

[Chaz Photos]

I say Ni con as it winds my mate up

Anyhow it shoud be "Canon" because "Canon can"

 

[Voyager]

I doubt it, that goes against Japanese phonetics.

The Japanese person standing next to me says that you might best write it 'phonetically' in Roman characters as 'Kya-non'

But they don't ever do that and it is not 'against' anything.

HTH

 

[NorthernNikon]

The Japanese person standing next to me says that you might best write it 'phonetically' in Roman characters as 'Kya-non'

But they don't ever do that and it is not 'against' anything.

What your Japanese person said is different to what you wrote. Japanese has only a limited number of phonetic sounds. As your Japanese friend showed, he/she split the sylables, producing the 'Ka' sound, followed by 'non'.

Also, saying that they never write in Roman characters is nonsense. The Japanese have four different alphabets - kanji, katakana, hiragana and romaji, the last of which being the Roman script we're all used to.

 

[Voyager]

What your Japanese person said is different to what you wrote. Japanese has only a limited number of phonetic sounds. As your Japanese friend showed, he/she split the sylables, producing the 'Ka' sound, followed by 'non'.

It is my wife and it is her language and I'm not going to bother to argue with her as she will be right.

But you are mistaken. As what I wrote was as best as I could be bothered for an English reader and was not ever intended to be 'Japanese phonetics'.

Also, saying that they never write in Roman characters is nonsense.

Good job that is not what I wrote then. I just corrected the 'Japanese phonetics' for your pedantry. Even though that is the something that they 'don't ever do' (to words like Canon or Nikon).

The Japanese have four different alphabets - kanji, katakana, hiragana and romaji, the last of which being the Roman script we're all used to.

More correctly then they have three alphabets and ours....

 

[ROFL2K9]

actually, I read somewhere that canon used to be pronounced "kwa-non" in japan. dunno if its true though!

Maybe in New York, where "coffee" mysteriously turns into "cwoffee"