Rabi-Ribi character names: What's the "correct" pronunciation?
What's the "correct" pronunciation of the Rabi-Ribi character names? I mean, what's the pronunciation that the developers intended? Here's the guess.
About the game Rabi-Ribi
Rabi-Ribi is a metroidvania game. See the official site for more. Except for its CGs, it's an excellent action game.
TL;DR: Conclusion first
English | alternative spelling |
suggested pronunciation |
Japanese | Romanized Japanese = Rōmaji |
Traditional Chinese |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Erina | eh-ree-nah | エリナ | Erina | 艾莉娜 | |
Ribbon | (natural) | リボン | Ribon | 莉波 | |
(Ribi) | ree-bee | リビ | Ribi | 哩比 | |
Cocoa | (natural) | ココア | Kokoa | 可可亞 | |
Ashuri | ah-shoo-ree | アシュリ | Ashuri | 艾希莉 | |
Rita | ree-tah | リタ | Rita | 麗塔 | |
Kotri | Kotori | koh-toh-ree | コトリ | Kotori | 可塔莉 |
Vanilla | (natural) | バニラ | Banira | 香草 | |
Chocolate | (natural) | チョコレート | Chokorēto | 巧克力 | |
Pandora | (natural) | パンドラ | Pandora | 潘朵拉 | |
Cicini | see-see-nee | シシニ | Shishini | 茜茜莉 | |
Syaro | Sharo | shah-roh | シャロ | Sharo | 紗蘿 |
Nieve | nyeh-beh † | ニエベ | Niebe | 拉涅 | |
Nixie | (natural) | ニクシー | Nikushī | 尼絲 | |
Seana | Shiina | see-nah † | シーナ | Shīna | 絲娜 |
Saya | sah-yah | サヤ | Saya | 沙耶 | |
Lilith | (natural) | リリス | Ririsu | 莉莉絲 | |
Aruraune | ah-roo-rah-oo-neh † | アルルーナ | Arurūna | 曼陀蘿莉 | |
Keke Bunny | keh-keh bunny | ケケバニー | Kekebanī | 科科兔 | |
Miru | mee-roo | ミル | Miru | 咪露 | |
Noah | (natural) | ノア | Noa | 諾鴉 | |
Miriam | (natural) | ミリアム | Miriamu | 米莉亜姆 | |
Rumi | roo-mee | ルミ | Rumi | 露咪 | |
Irisu | ee-ree-soo | イリス | Irisu | 伊莉斯 | |
Lilli | lee-lee | リリ | Riri | 莉莉 | |
Pixie | (natural) | ピクシー | Pikusī | 比希 | |
Skullo | N/A † | クロちゃん | Kuro-chan | 骷蘿 | |
Tako | tah-koh | タコ | Tako | 小紫 |
Here "natural" means "same as the same spelling common / proper noun."
The rest names are pronounced like Rōmaji (Romanized Japanese), Italian or Spainish, with some exceptions. See below.
What to consider
Rabi-Ribi has unique, complicating features:
- It was mostly developed by GemaYue, a Taiwanese.
- This game shows a big love to Japanese culture.
- Some characters' names have changed several times during its development.
Why Japanese matters?
You may wonder why the Japanese langauge comes in higher priority. But it's simple: the game title and the protagonists names are shown in Japanese! "ラビ・リビ" for Rabi-Ribi, and in the status screen, Erina and Ribbon's names are spelled "えりな" and "りぼん-ちゃん". ("ちゃん" is something like an honorific, but for children or younger people, showing affection.)
Also the currency is "en", obviously referring to Japanese Yen.
Chinese aspects
Since GemaYue is Taiwanese, you should respect the names in Chinese. Well, life is always complex.
"The" Chinese language has many dialects and historical complication is there, even when limited to the situation in Taiwan. In Rabi-Ribi, the traditional Chinese is in Taiwanese Mandarin. Accepting Mandarin pronunciation, the above pronunciations I suggest roughly agree with the Chinese names.
However, there's some discrepancy unique to the names in Chinese. For example 拉涅 = Nieve is pronounced lāniè.
"Natural" names
Vanilla and Pandora, for example, are words that exist independent of Rabi-Ribi. The Chinese spelling 潘朵拉 means Pandora in Greek mythology. 香草 means vanilla. (But its pronunciation is completely Chinese, xiāngcǎo.)
Per character notes
- Nieve means "snow" in Spanish (related to the word Nevada), and pronounced like NYEH-beh in Spanish. This is unnatural for English, though.
- Seana reads naturally "shaw-nah", but the spelling "Shiina", together with the Japanese and Chinese names suggest "see-nah".
- Aruraune derives from the German word Alraune for mandrake.
For some unknown reason, the Japanese name is Arurūna (アルルーナ), which comes from Alruna, a word cognate to Alraune.
To nitpick, her Chinese name 曼陀蘿莉 is pronounced mandaluoli, but 曼陀羅 means Datura, a poisonous, yet unrelated plant, in the modern nomenclature.
Miscellaneous notes:
- Skullo's name differs completely from the Japanese form, Kuro-chan.
- Tako means octopus in Japanese. I don't know why it's 小紫 (small purple) in Chinese.