Dear Swami, Can you clear up a language problem for me? I know the Cubs want to sign Japanese star Kosuke Fukodome and he might be great player, but I’m having a problem pronouncing his name. It can’t be the way it looks, can it? My son walks around the house saying “the word” and I try to tell him that’s not what the player’s real name is. Signed: Loopy in Lake Villa.
Dear Loopy,
Swami feels your pain.
Here’s the way it works. His name is not pronounced the way it would be if he were say, a municipal sports stadium. It’s not The Georgia Dome, the Astrodome, the Fukodome.
Sure, in America the word “dome” is always pronounced Dome as one syllable.
In Japan, the suffix in personal names is always pronounced doh-may.
So, his name is not Fuk-you-dome. (Oh, I feel so naughty just saying it) It’s foo-kho-doh-may with the accent on the “doh.”
Anglo Saxon crudities can be such a barrier to intercultural harmony.
And speaking of accent on the “doh,” it will take lots of dough for the Cuibs to get him. Probably $13 million a year and he’ll want at least four years and maybe five on his contract..
He’s a lifelong .300 hitter in nine seasons in Japan and is considered a more-than-adequate centerfielder. Wouldn’t Cubs fans love to get the next version of Ichiro Suzuki? And since the Tribune ownership doesn’t mind spending like a drunken sailor on shore leave, who’s to say it’s a bad investment?
On the other hand, if he arrives in town and turns out to be a star, fans from Chicago’s southside who prefer the White Sox might start identifying him with that other phonetic pronunciation.
I know this is completely off-topic, but isn't everyone loopy in Lake Villa?