"In Japan, most traditional names have characters, known as kanji, whose meanings represent what parents hope their child will grow up to become. (For instance, Hikari, a girl’s name, is written with a character meaning “light.”)
Each character — parents can choose from among 2,999 under the law — has a pronunciation generally associated with it, and those sounds together make up the reading of the name.
Here’s the catch: Most kanji have additional possible pronunciations, a quirk related to Japan’s adoption of the Chinese writing system more than 1,500 years ago
"...with many parents having only one shot at naming their child something distinctive."
The word has been applied to headline-grabbing names like Oujisama (“Prince”) and Akuma (“Devil”). Cases of unusual pronunciations include names drawn from anime, like Pikachu, or inspired by Western words.
There are, for instance, around 1,000 women and girls in Japan whose names are written with the character for “moon,” which is usually pronounced “tsuki,” but read as “Luna,” said Hiroyuki Sasahara, a linguist at Waseda University.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/01/world/asia/japan-baby-names.html
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"The biggest benefit to Mensa is the community,” Jason McNabb said to Guinness.
Isla, now three, is attending preschool.
She said she needed to wash the germs off her hands but pronounced it with a hard G,” Jason McNabb said."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/02/iq-youngest-female-mensa-member
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