Was Aeris a mistranslation?

:3 Let's see how this goes.

I, personally, believe it was NOT a mistranslation. This is mostly due to my hearing the name "Aeris" prior to knowing of Final Fantasy 7, but never have I ever heard of someone with the name Aerith. However, this is about translation, not silly stuff like that.

To my understanding, there is no thick "th" sound in the Japanese language. There is, however, a very "S" type sound, which can be translated as a "th" sound as well. Though, I'm no expert at Japanese, so don't quote me on this. But one thing I've noticed when watching trailers of both the US and JP versions of the game Phantasy Star Universe, the name "Ethan" is pretty much changed to "Esan" when introduced to the Japanese voice actor's vocal chords, since in the Japanese language, there is no hard "th" sound to represent his name well enough, the closest thing being the "S" sound.

So that's my thinking on this. :3 What about you?

I believe that both sound the same, but to prevent americans and europeans saying her name with a -th instead of a -s sound, they translated her to Aeris.

the name is still Aerith, but it is pronounced Aeris

I dont really care either way, but Aerith has the possibility of placing an 's behind it :p

Sephiroth is also called Sephiros in AC(i always watch it in japanese)

Dunno...not a linguist. All I know is that, with my American backwoodsy drawl, "Aerith" sounds as sublimely stupid as "Argath Thadalfus." As far as appropriate usage, either gets the point across.

Seeing as how the Kingdom Hearts games calls her "Aerith," I'd say the FF7 version of "Aeris" was a mistranslation.

Well, one of them has to be wrong. Seeing as how they've called her "Aerith" in all the Kingdom Hearts games and "Aeris" in only ONE game of FF7...

Square decides the English spelling of their characters' names before their games ever see release outside Japan, and from the beginning, their official spelling for the character in question has been Aerith.

But it was Sony, not Square, that translated FFVII itself into English. And as just one example of what an extremely sloppy localization they provided, they misrepresented Aerith as "Aeris."

Video game series have an unfortunately tendency to preserve mistakes such as these, but fortunately, Square bucked the trend in 2002, when they took Kingdom Hearts as an opportunity to fix Sony's error. And she's been known as Aerith worldwide, as originally intended, ever since.

But what that must mean is that she's known by a slightly different name in Japan, as there is no strong "th" sound available in the Japanese language's alphabets to perform it correctly, so an S sound is put there instead. So what this would mean is that she is known as Aerith everywhere, but Japan.

However, the fact that Sony did the translation for FF7, and Square did the translation for Kingdom Hearts, definitely does say something. It does open the possibility for me that Square decided that everyone outside of Japan would put their tongue between their teeth when saying this character's name.

In Japan, they would pronounce her name "earisu," because that's what's comfortable for them. But if they were going to write out that same name in Roman letters, they would write Aerith. That's the name they're saying, regardless of regional nuances.

But then how is it written in Hiragana or Katakana? The sound isn't represented in their alphabets to my knowledge, so they must write it in a way that also makes that phonetic alteration to the name, right?

エアリス
Earisu

Sounds like "air-ith."

Why is there a symbol or collection of symbols representing a sound that won't be said? o_O

There's nothing stopping Japanese people from pronouncing the "th" sound as we would in English. The structure of their language only inclines them towards doing it their way.

Similarly, the capital of France is named Paris whether you pronounce the S or not. It's not Paris in some places and "Pari" in others.

Meh, okay.

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Originally Posted by Shotgunnova

Dunno...not a linguist. All I know is that, with my American backwoodsy drawl, "Aerith" sounds as sublimely stupid as "Argath Thadalfus." As far as appropriate usage, either gets the point across.

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Between Aeris and Aerith, I'll take Aeris thank you very much. I mean...that extra TH...has...a weird buzz to it. Only Daffy Duck could say something ridiculous like Argath Thadalfus. >_>

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Originally Posted by Basic123s

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Originally Posted by Shotgunnova

Dunno...not a linguist. All I know is that, with my American backwoodsy drawl, "Aerith" sounds as sublimely stupid as "Argath Thadalfus." As far as appropriate usage, either gets the point across.

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Between Aeris and Aerith, I'll take Aeris thank you very much. I mean...that extra TH...has...a weird buzz to it. Only Daffy Duck could say something ridiculous like Argath Thadalfus. >_>

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Excattally what I think. Aerith sounds likes what someone with a lisp would say.

If the Squenix localisation staff don't end up in bus shelters begging for cigarette butts in the next few years then there is no justice in the world.

Aeris sounds less awful than Aerith, but both are stupid names anyway. Anyone who calls their kids something like that (lulz she a persn in gaem i liek) should have their children taken into foster care. Naming someone Bruce after a Bruce Springsteen or Bruce Dickinson or Bruce Forsyth is fair enough, but I think copying fictional names is pretty damn nasty. My deepest condolences go out to baby Sephiroth.

Okay, rant's over.

Aeris sounds better, so i don't really care if it's not official!

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Originally Posted by Mirage

Aeris sounds better, so i don't really care if it's not official!

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Yeah i agree, Aerith is fine too but ive known it has Aeris for years so i like it like that:)

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Originally Posted by ReloadPsi

Naming someone Bruce after... Bruce Forsyth is fair enough

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No.

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Originally Posted by Kawaii Ryûkishi

There's nothing stopping Japanese people from pronouncing the "th" sound as we would in English. The structure of their language only inclines them towards doing it their way.

Similarly, the capital of France is named Paris whether you pronounce the S or not. It's not Paris in some places and "Pari" in others.

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Many Languages are like that - for example my name, David, is pronounced as Dav-eeth in Hebrew and Dav-eed in Spanish, but in english it's pronounced as Dave-id. Either way the basic spelling is the same - the hebrew equivalent to "d"(dalet) has 2 sounds - that of a "d" and that of a "th". Just b/c its pronounced differently in another language doesn't mean you should change the spelling.

Point is I think the FFVII "Aeris" translation is wrong, especially considering it was spelled as "Aerith" in not only Kingdom Hearts, but also in FFVII: AC.

doesnt matter.. she rulezz either way

I think it's a misstranslation in FF VII.

I could care less anyways. I name her jail bait everytime anyways,

You know, does anyone in any of the FF7 or KH games actually say Aeris/th's name? I like using the Aeris spelling because even if I spell her name as 'Aerith,' I'm going to pronounce the 'th' sound as an 's' sound because I think it sounds better. Either way, one can pretend that her name has special meaning. As Aeris, she's an 'heiress' as a Cetra. As Aerith, her name looks similar to 'Earth' and links her with the lifestream and such. :D
Kingdom Hearts isn't infallible with names, however. The first Kingdom Hearts royally screwed up what I thought the 'Tidus' pronunciation was. In KHI, Wakka says 'Teedus.' But in KHII, Selphie says 'Tie-dus.' But hey, I'm sure everyone has their own interpretations of name pronunciations anyway. For example, I pronounce 'Celes' as 'Suh-LESS'...like CELEStial, or Celeste minus the '-te.'

There's really no room for interpretation. The official pronunciation is correct, and any others are not.

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Originally Posted by hhr1dluv

Kingdom Hearts isn't infallible with names, however. The first Kingdom Hearts royally screwed up what I thought the 'Tidus' pronunciation was. In KHI, Wakka says 'Teedus.' But in KHII, Selphie says 'Tie-dus.'

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'Teedus' is closer to the pronunciation of his name in various Japanese materials, from what I'm told.[q=hhr1dluv]I pronounce 'Celes' as 'Suh-LESS'...like CELEStial, or Celeste minus the '-te.'[/q]Me too, more or less. After all, Celes is a real name with a real origin and pronunciation. It's handy to have a guide like that.

I prefer her to be called Aeris tbh. Saying it as "Aerith" makes it sound like you have a lisp or something. But that's just me

I am inclined to believe that the localization process should take into consideration the pronounciation and presentation of certain names. I agree with Kawaii Ryûkishi. The character name is, officially, Aerith Gainsborough; however, I believe that Aeris Gainsborough is much more aesthetically pleasing to the Western audience.

I understand that it was never the creators' intent for her name to be Aeris Gainsborough in international releases, but Japanese writers tend to use names that are seen as symbolic or fashionable to Japanese audiences, yet can be taken literally to Western audiences if a translation is direct or literal. I can think of one example of this is in the tri-Ace and Square Enix title, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. Maria Traitor was renamed to Maria Traydor in the localization process. This is an example of a good change because someone with the last name Traitor — no matter how symbolic — is seen as cliché and unoriginal.

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Originally Posted by Bert

I could care less anyways. I name her jail bait everytime anyways,

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Correct answer.

I dunno! I say Aeris and think Aeris, but when I write or type the name I spell it Aerith.

doesn't matter to me, but I do name her Aerith in FFVII now, just to keep continuity w/ AC and the upcoming Crisis Core.

same here i say it with the S as it sounds way better anyway, and spell it with the TH to keep continuity... and all that heiress/Earth bull comes from looking too deep into it, besides the planet's name is Gaia not Earth, lol...

it was suppose to sound like this: "ae-re-su"

i dont really know how to write it, but watch something in japanese and youll know. So even if its written with a th, it should still sounds like an s

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Originally Posted by Elly

and all that heiress/Earth bull comes from looking too deep into it, besides the planet's name is Gaia not Earth, lol...

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Yeah, I know,:p I was just being ridiculous.

However, certain names that Square come up with definitely have clear significance. I would argue that Kain, Cloud, Tidus, and Yuna are all important, even if it was just the translators' attempts at making them significant.

Mistranslation. Read the instructions of the various other games that feature her and the voice that plays her. All spelled with a th. Credits in Advent Children same. Plus FF7 came out before Square set up a good localization system. FF8 and up they put extra effort into translation and less errors in the game for localization.

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Originally Posted by toad626

Mistranslation. Read the instructions of the various other games that feature her and the voice that plays her. All spelled with a th. Credits in Advent Children same. Plus FF7 came out before Square set up a good localization system. FF8 and up they put extra effort into translation and less errors in the game for localization.

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But if it was a mistranslation then how come it wasn't corrected in the PC version?

The PC version left more translation errors than it actually corrected.

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Originally Posted by Aerith's Knight

i dont really know how to write it, but watch something in japanese and youll know. So even if its written with a th, it should still sounds like an s

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No, the Japanese spelling is just emulating a "th" sound, which is the intended pronunciation.

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Originally Posted by Kawaii Ryûkishi

The PC version left more translation errors than it actually corrected.

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Originally Posted by Aerith's Knight

i dont really know how to write it, but watch something in japanese and youll know. So even if its written with a th, it should still sounds like an s

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No, the Japanese spelling is just emulating a "th" sound, which is the intended pronunciation.

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Indeed. If we treated the Japanese pronunciations as the 'official' pronunciations, then Cloud would have to be 'Kuraudo', and so on.

I'm still of the mind that 'Aeris' wasn't a mistranslation, merely a difference in localisation. Like Tina being called Terra in our version of FFVI, or Kefka being spelled with Ks rather than Cs, in contrast to the 'official English' spelling of his name in Japanese materials.

It was a mistranslation. I remember when I bought the PC version of FF7, the name by default was still 'Aeris' , but if you look in the box in the back there are images of fight scenes. One of which calls her by her real name, 'Aerith'. Therefore you can see they were conflicted in what to call her. Yet I still don't know why they would not change the name in the PC version. Maybe they just thought people got used to 'Aeris' so they kept it that way.

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Originally Posted by Sephitachi7

It was a mistranslation. I remember when I bought the PC version of FF7, the name by default was still 'Aeris' , but if you look in the box in the back there are images of fight scenes. One of which calls her by her real name, 'Aerith'.

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That's not really conclusive... in the instruction manual for the PAL version of FFVII, several screenshots have Cloud named 'nadim' and Red XIII named simply 'Red'.

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Originally Posted by Big D

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Originally Posted by Sephitachi7

It was a mistranslation. I remember when I bought the PC version of FF7, the name by default was still 'Aeris' , but if you look in the box in the back there are images of fight scenes. One of which calls her by her real name, 'Aerith'.

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That's not really conclusive... in the instruction manual for the PAL version of FFVII, several screenshots have Cloud named 'nadim' and Red XIII named simply 'Red'.

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Good point.

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Originally Posted by Jessweeee♪

I dunno! I say Aeris and think Aeris, but when I write or type the name I spell it Aerith.

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Although I don't think it should be a truly pressing issue. Both interpretations are fine.

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Originally Posted by Big D

I'm still of the mind that 'Aeris' wasn't a mistranslation, merely a difference in localisation. Like Tina being called Terra in our version of FFVI, or Kefka being spelled with Ks rather than Cs, in contrast to the 'official English' spelling of his name in Japanese materials.

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I want to agree with this line of thinking as well. Aeris is far more pleasing to the Western audience than Aerith, I think.

But my line of thinking is that is it was a mistranslation because Square Enix has been extremely inconsistent on keeping her name as Aeris in other localizations, so they appear to have considered it a translation mistake similar to old misspoken lines like several scores of lines in the original translation of Final Fantasy Tactics.

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Originally Posted by Big D

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Originally Posted by Kawaii Ryûkishi

The PC version left more translation errors than it actually corrected.

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Originally Posted by Aerith's Knight

i dont really know how to write it, but watch something in japanese and youll know. So even if its written with a th, it should still sounds like an s

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No, the Japanese spelling is just emulating a "th" sound, which is the intended pronunciation.

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Indeed. If we treated the Japanese pronunciations as the 'official' pronunciations, then Cloud would have to be 'Kuraudo', and so on.

I'm still of the mind that 'Aeris' wasn't a mistranslation, merely a difference in localisation. Like Tina being called Terra in our version of FFVI, or Kefka being spelled with Ks rather than Cs, in contrast to the 'official English' spelling of his name in Japanese materials.

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i didnt say that it was wrong.. i only said that its understandable that the translators used an s, because Aerith is pronounced as ae-re-su.. or something like that..

i still see it as Aerith though.. but i dont pronounce 'th' as an 's'.. more as an 'sz' .. but nobody here knows german.. so you prob wont understand that.