How do you pronounce Ryu?

[carlosrox]

;)

Ok this is one where I straight up know I'm saying this in a pretty westernized way and I absolutely refuse to change it for anyone, or any reason.

Since I was a kid, my natural assumption was that his name was pronounced RYE-YOU (like rye bread) or RYE-OO. I've stuck to that since the beginning. I won't ever change it.

I've also heard that company called Ryu in the UFC pronounced as ROO (wtf??). And people have claimed that's correct....

Then finally there's Ree-yoo, which I think sounds...okay. Or I'm just biased, cuz to me it's just Rye-Yoo.

I assume Ree-yoo is closest to how the Japanese would say It?

The pronunciation civil war continues.

 

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

Rye
Ooh
Wrong but I don't care.

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

It's just "Ryoo" but for maximum precision the "u" should be pretty short and the "R" should be said with your tongue flicking off the top of your mouth.

Alternate answer: How do you say "sho-RYU-ken"?

 

[Mona]

Ree-You

 

[srtrestre]

Rah
Yu
yeew
ee

 

[Reluctantly Gumblesmug]

"Lah-ruh Craft"

Spoiler

the japanese way

 

[Dunban]

Ree-yoo, as you said, but the 'ee' is slightly truncated.

 

[Strawberry Jam]

Ree-You is how I heard it pronounced.

 

[Hammee]

Rii yu

 

[zephyrcian]

Ree-You

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This

 

[Knight in Shining Armani]

Ree-you

 

[Crayon]

Ryu. Listen to a Japanese person say it.

 

[Fat4all]

HERE'S MY FRIEND, ROO

HE'S FROM JAPAN

 

[SHAQ]

Ree-you like Shoryuken

 

[bluexy]

Somewhere between Ru and Ree-yew.

 

[Sgt. Demblant]

Boxer

 

[djplaeskool]

竜

 

[Chocobo Blade]

I say Law-rah

 

[Kogasu]

It's Ree-yoo for the closest but if you want even more proper pronunciation, it should sound like "Dyu" because you roll your 'R' in Japanese

 

[Xavillin]

リュウ

リ = Ri (ree)
ユ = Yu
ウ = U (ooh sound)

Riyuu -> Ryu

 

[Menx64]

Rii yu

Click to shrink...

This

 

[MCD250]

Ree-oo.

 

[KtSlime]

リュウ is how I read his name.

 

[Deleted member 8463]

ɹəju:

Also please learn the phonetic alphabet. "RYE-YOU" is pretty meaningless when I don't know how you speak/where you're from :P

 

[RoboPlato]

Ree-yu

 

[scare_crow]

I've gone from Rai-You to the more-correct Ree-You (which is still a little off but I'm not going to go full Japanese accent).

Now "Lara" Croft and Mario. THOSE are names worthy of pronunciation threads!

 

[signal]

Someone make a Ys topic.

 

[nded]

R'lyeh

 

[V-Faction]

Dyu.

 

[Suzushiiro]

Ryu in Japanese and parsed back to basic English syllables is "ri-yu-u", so "ree-yoo" slurred into one syllable is technically the proper way to pronounce it, which is how it's been pronounced in-game since even the SNES days IIRC.

I do think that shit like this is one of those things where if you're American you tend to pronounce shit one way and then you watch enough Japanese-voice-English-subbed stuff you pronounce it the other way. Before I watched Naruto and Cardcaptor Sakura I pronounced Sakura as sa-KU-rah and after that I pronounced it as SA-ku-rah. I can't remember an exact example but I do feel like my weeb-ness has resulted in me defaulting to this-would-be-right-in-Japanese-but-this-isn't-a-Japanese-name-so-you're-wrong pronunciations with not-English-but-also-not-Asian names, though.

 

[dragonchild]

Americans tend to overdo the "y" and turn it into something it isn't. It's not Reeyoo or Rye-oo. But don't ignore the "y" either.
The three letters flow together and form a single, short syllable. Ryu.

 

[solari]

The correct Japanese way in one syllable. Or sometimes Ree-you.

 

[dragonchild]

Ryu in Japanese and parsed back to basic English syllables is "ri-yu-u"

Click to shrink...

No, the second syllable is smaller, which means it isn't a stand-alone syllable but it alters the preceding one. The "ri" becomes a short "ryu", which is then briefly extended with the "u" at the end, but you don't go "ryuuuu", just "ryu" is fine.

 

[Wachenroder]

i only had to hear pronounced correctly one time in the original animated. Went from RY-u to REE-u immediately

crazy that some people still say it the wrong way to this day

 

[ProtomanNeo]

As a kid encountering Hayabusa first I thought it was Rue. Once I was teen and Street Fighter 2 came out I realized it's Ree-you.

 

[RROCKMAN]

how do i shot web

 

[nded]

"How are you" but remove the first two syllables.

 

[Shroki]

Ree-yu.

I'd like to Zidane headbutt anyone who pronounces it "Roo" and I don't care if you think it's correct.

As you can tell, I am extremely passionate about this issue and only this issue.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Ree-yu.

There isn`t any other way to say it. It`s a Japanese name with syllables that are always pronounced the same way. Rye-oo is flat out wrong (and I say this as someone guilty of saying it incorrectly as a kid).

 

[Aurica]

I pronounce it the same as I pronounce 竜, but now that you mention it, I'm not sure if the pitch accent is the same as 隆. Huh.

 

[Deleted member 8463]

I swear IPA should be mandatory for these threads. It's like that Mario thread on the Voldemort site.
If someone asked you how much you weigh and you said "oh about 1 and a half of my rucksacks when they're nearly full" that would be useless information. But that is essentially what everyone in this thread is doing about sound.

 

[dragonchild]

As a kid encountering Hayabusa first I thought it was Rue. Once I was teen and Street Fighter 2 came out I realized it's Ree-you.

Click to shrink...

"How are you" but remove the first two syllables.

Click to shrink...

Argh, please stop butchering my name.

 

[StarPhlox]

The Nintendo Rii U

 

[Alienous]

ReeYou.

I do think there was a time where I pronounced it RyeYou, though.

 

[Deleted member 2145]

ree yoo

 

[sleepInsom]

Ree-you

 

[Surface of Me]

Ree-ooo

 

[Shoe]

Alternate answer: How do you say "sho-RYU-ken"?

Click to shrink...

Sure you can

 

[TheBeardedOne]

Rye-u

 

[BlueBadger]

I tend to say "Ree-you", but I say the "eee" part really quickly, almost like it's not there.
Idk tho.

The Nintendo Rii U

Click to shrink...

Lmao nice