Trying to correct Hetalia's human names.

[anubismito]

EDIT:
I expanded the theme because in the comments there is an interesting debate about Hetalia characters' human names:

Here's a backup of  a page of Himaruya's old blog where appear some human names.

If you are a native speaker of some of these countries (or just manage "perfectly" the language, it would be great, also if you know a little bit of japanese).
Just a basic thing of japanese: Katakana writes the foreign names phonetically (or the most similar possible to the real phonetic). They use syllabes (except for the letter "n" and the vowels that can be alone. Sometimes the U after a consonant is not pronounced -if it's following an O, just makes the O sound "longer").

I think we should "correct" the transliterations once Shoutwiki is back (or a similar site), these mistakes were running since long ago, and I kow it wouldn't be easy get use to the "corrections", but maybe it's more accurate about them and not "live with the mistakes" XD.

サディク・アドナン (Sadikku Adonan) Usually written as Sadiq Adnan or Sadik Adnan. -Turkey

Just looking for Turkey's HFP (I didn't find it yet), I wrote his "human" name, and I found this site.
Not related to Hetalia... Erzi, Adnan Sadik was a turkish historian....

Maybe Hima got his name from this man O_O;;.

Sorry for this post, but I needed to tell you xD. Now we can see that, one more time, the transcription of the names to romaji is mistaken... The Q (some people told me), doesn't exist in Turkey, so, it's Sadik and not Sadiq... Actually, the name should be Sadık and the letter ı sounds like a similar u... Not sure about that...
• Sadık would probably be more correct, but "ı" sounds more like an "eh" sound, akin to a shortened "i." It wouldn't be stressed, so it'd be more like SAH-dehk.  (Thankskomektesiniz )



► トーリス・ロリナイティス  (Toorisu Rorinaitisu) . The transcription is "Toris Lorinaitis" (or Toris Laurinaitis). -Lithuania

The name Toris does exist, but it's inappropiate for a human (being used in pets mainly). Yes I found the name Tolys (Tolis) as valid, but is not that common, but it's a human lithuanian name XD.
About the surname: Lorinaitis doesn't exist. Laurinaitis could be valid... but does the lithuanian syllabe "Lau" have the same pronunciation in English?. I don't know, I'm not lithuanian and I don't know well the language...  If it was with english pronunciation, then Laurinaitis could be valid.  Since I wasn't sure, I just found another surname that could be valid too: Rolinaitis.
So, I think Toris Lorinaitis should actually be Tolys Rolinaitis... Sources that show that these names exist: 1  2  3



► ナターリヤ・アルロフスカヤ (Nataariya Arurofusukaya). Normally written Natalia Arlovskaya. -Belarus

• Belarus' surname is Arloŭskaja (maybe Arlowskaya) (belarusian variant). In Belarusian her name will be 'Арлоўская'. The 'Ў' reads like 'W' or 'U'.  The surname 'Arlovskaya' is not correctly for Russian and Belarusian grammar too. It's like a mix of Russian and Belarusian. (Thanks mg_emji )



► バッシュ・ツヴィンクリ (Basshu Tsuvinkuri). Transliterated as Vash Zwingli.

It' should be Basch Zwingli.
A user named Watermint at the old wiki pointed out that "Vash" would be different in rendering and not "basshu"*. And his name was exactly the same katakana as Basch von Rosenburg.

I saw a Japanese fan-compiled name chart a while back while browsing the net, and they wrote that "Basch" may have been used as a diminutive for "Sebastian" (so "Sebastian Zwingli"). (Thanks vysnia_cerasus )

* Yes, if it was Vash, should be ヴァシュ.



► エドァルド・フォンヴォック (Edwarudo Fonvokku).  The most common transcription is "Eduard Von Bock", sometimes Eduard Von Vock. -Estonia

I think it should be Eduard Von Wock due to the pronunciation and this is not an estonian surname... Seems to be german. And if I'm not wrong the V in german sounds like an english F, and the W sounds like an english V. (Feel free of correct me, please).


► アントーニョ・ヘルナンデス・カリエド (Antoonyo Herunandesu Kariedo).  Written in Romaji "Antonio Fernández Carriedo". -Spain

It should be Antonio Hernández Carriedo.
Hernández is one of the most common surnames there in Spain (but most common is Fernández, maybe from there came the mistake).
Even though Hima messed up the pronunciation here... In Spanish language, the "h" is a mute letter, while in japanese sounds similat to the h in "hello". The most similar letter we have to this is the "J", but the surname Jernández doesn't exist... Hernández is most accurate.


► リー・ヨンス (Rii Yonsu). Transcription: Im Yongsoo/Yonsu. -South Korea.
I think it should be Rhi Yong-Soo.  Most common transliterated as Lee.  Is one of the most common korean surnames, according to the wikipedia -is the most common surname in the world O_o). The correct pronunciation of Lee is simply "Ri"... And it's also transliterated "Yi", even though in North korea it's pronounced "Lee" as sounds in english.
The pronunciation of r and l in the Korean language are pronounced as an "r" at the start of a word.

► ギルベルト・バイルシュミット (Giruberuto Bairushumitto). Transliterated as Gilbert Beilschmidt / Weillschmidt. -Prussia.

I think Beilschmidt is the most accurate. I think the katakana should be written with V, for the other option (also, some people say this surname with W doesn't exist).  Also, the name Gilbert is not pronounced "Yilbert" (the Yi in spanish) it's similar to the "gui" in "guilty".


► ロヴィーノ・ヴァルガス. (Roviino Varugasu). Lovino Vargas (less common Rovino Vargas). -Romano.
Names like Lovino are ok. Last time we had this thread, someone found an old Roman city named Lovinus or something, and Lovino translates into "small wolf" in funny Italian. Plus the only other option is Rovino, we is just plain awful a name to give to poor Romano. And really old names are also ok. Doesn't matter if they seem outdated to us as some of the nations have had their names for more than 500 years... (Thanks taylorphantom )
Also, Lovino is currently an italian surname.
((xD I was one of the people that commented about Rovino's name coming from the italian word "rovina" -ruin- )).


----------------

 

Of course there are more names with "mistaken transliterations". If you find another, just tell us...

As taylorphantom  said, we should start a  "Figure out the best possible human names from katakana and language X" project ....