Aeris or Aerith?

[Tony Rizz Gaming]

Why is she called Aeris in FF but Aerith in Kingdom Hearts?

[Mikalana]

mistranslation, I'm sure. Prior to the english release of FFVII, Aerith was always Aerith. even in the promotional material, where her name was actively spelled *using the english alphabet*
It was just that it was translated in the 90's, and frankly, localization teams just didn't give as much of a ♥♥♥♥ back then.

[Leonaura]

In Final Fantasy Tactics she is also called Aeris.

Extracted from Wikipedia:

— Aerith's original Japanese name is エアリス Earisu, pronounced [eaɾisɯ]. This was transliterated to "Aeris" in Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics, but in later products has been changed to "Aerith". Both transliterations have basis, as the Japanese "su" (ス) is used when transcribing "s" (/s/) and "th" (/θ/) to Japanese. However, official Japanese material uses the spelling "Aerith",[26][27][28] and developers have stated that "Aerith" is a near-anagram of "Earth".[29] Prior to the game's release, Western gaming magazines, such as the May 1996 issue of Computer and Video Games, also referred to her as "Aerith".

[Xengre]

What Leonaura posted plus a bit more detail basically indicates Aeris is the most technically correct translation due to what Japanese supports but because of extended inconsistent use between the two, notably Aerith elsewhere, popular fan misunderstanding claiming Aerith is the true name (mainly just to seem like hardcore fans, truly silly tbh), and because it is a near-anagram to Earth they simply decided to make Aerith the proper translation.

Personally, I think Aerith sounds awful in English and Aeris is quite pretty to speak.

[tonymack21]

in the early western releases it was mistranslated to Aeris, Aerith is the correct and has been fixed in everything since those early products. back then localization wasnt something they spent on, the original game is plagued with mistranslation. its supposed to sound similar to "earth", symbolizing her connection to the planet

[Xengre]

Originally posted by tonymack21:

in the early western releases it was mistranslated to Aeris, Aerith is the correct and has been fixed in everything since those early products. back then localization wasnt something they spent on, the original game is plagued with mistranslation. its supposed to sound similar to "earth", symbolizing her connection to the planet

No it was actually not mistranslated. This is a common misconception. Japanese alphabet lacks a true "th" sound and without context "th" cannot be inferred. In addition, "th" was not actually an intended meaning until much later interviews showed when the topic became a popular point of discussion and devs considered it and decided "th" was more appropriate due to wider usage in other materials and near-anagram relation to Earth. Aeris is the literal and correct translation of the original game. Aerith is the correct translation for later content and the remake because of later decided relations and reception, but this does not translate to the original as this all occurred post release.

[Ralen]

I personally like to call her flower girl.

[Mikalana]

Originally posted by Xengre:

Originally posted by tonymack21:

in the early western releases it was mistranslated to Aeris, Aerith is the correct and has been fixed in everything since those early products. back then localization wasnt something they spent on, the original game is plagued with mistranslation. its supposed to sound similar to "earth", symbolizing her connection to the planet

No it was actually not mistranslated. This is a common misconception. Japanese alphabet lacks a true "th" sound and without context "th" cannot be inferred. In addition, "th" was not actually an intended meaning until much later interviews showed when the topic became a popular point of discussion and devs considered it and decided "th" was more appropriate due to wider usage in other materials and near-anagram relation to Earth. Aeris is the literal and correct translation of the original game. Aerith is the correct translation for later content and the remake because of later decided relations and reception, but this does not translate to the original as this all occurred post release.

I see your explanation, and raise you one japanese instruction booklet.
http://archive.rpgamer.com/games/ff/ff7/packaging/ffchr.jpg

as you stated, there is no phonetical equivalent to the "th" sound in the japanese vocabulary. so it is entirely possible, in fact I'd argue likely, that she was always intended to be "Aerith", and it was simply mistranslated into Aeris.
yes. A japanese person saying "Aerith" and an american person saying "Aeris" is phonetically similar. that does not mean that the name isn't spelled incorrectly in the english release. hence, mistranslation.

[Xengre]

Originally posted by Mika Braghg:

Originally posted by Xengre:

No it was actually not mistranslated. This is a common misconception. Japanese alphabet lacks a true "th" sound and without context "th" cannot be inferred. In addition, "th" was not actually an intended meaning until much later interviews showed when the topic became a popular point of discussion and devs considered it and decided "th" was more appropriate due to wider usage in other materials and near-anagram relation to Earth. Aeris is the literal and correct translation of the original game. Aerith is the correct translation for later content and the remake because of later decided relations and reception, but this does not translate to the original as this all occurred post release.

I see your explanation, and raise you one japanese instruction booklet.
http://archive.rpgamer.com/games/ff/ff7/packaging/ffchr.jpg

as you stated, there is no phonetical equivalent to the "th" sound in the japanese vocabulary. so it is entirely possible, in fact I'd argue likely, that she was always intended to be "Aerith".

No, it isn't. In order to indicate a "th" sound it must have supporting context otherwise it is "s". The devs stated AFTER its release some time later they decided "th" was more appropriate because of its wider usage in materials and they later realized its relation as a near-anagram to "Earth" but that this was not originally planned, especially as her character went through massive story/design changes during development and early materials before Aerith became widespread in others was Aeris such as Final Fantasy Tactics, etc. However, it can also be addressed that there were inconsistencies between teams on the development projects that further split between the spellings which only serves to further confuse the issue. At its core, Aeris is simply the most purely correct translation and the near-anagram to Earth is actually pretty far fetched, especially considering her development history.

[Mikalana]

and yet, despite that, the original japanese instruction manual clearly has it written as Aerith.
your supporting context is right there.

I've linked you to my source, where's yours

[Xengre]

Originally posted by Mika Braghg:

and yet, despite that, the original japanese instruction manual clearly has it written as Aerith.
your supporting context is right there.

I've linked you to my source, where's yours

It helps if you fully read my post. I stated there was split among some teams during the development, example the more distant team who worked on the instruction manual.

Meanwhile, the proof which I already mentioned was the actual Japanese LANGUAGE which does NOT have a "th" sound, the fact that Aeris was initially used in games like Final Fantasy Tactics (like actual games, not manuals and small extra materials), and was widely used for years, not to mention her character development history changes, oh and developers saying after the fact they decided to go with Aerith after much debate because of the reasons provided in my prior posts. I'm not interesting in debating with you when it was already proven otherwise by actual facts from core materials, devs, and the language, itself. Literally, the only thing supporting "Aerith" is the fact that a few extra materials started using it and a while after the original release more and more material started adapting that variation of the name followed by devs later realizing it was a near-anagram to Earth which relates to several topics involving her character's heritage that it became wide spread and eventually officially adopted.

[Mikalana]

that's not proof. an instruction manual is more tangible than "because I say so". the fact of the matter is that, regardless of whether or not the japanese language has the "TH" sound, they are acutely aware of its existence, similar to "L" vs "R" sounds, given that English, to my knowledge, is a *required* course.
Regardless of whether or not "Aeris" is *technically* the correct pronunciation of the japanese text regardless of spelling, they actively went out of their way to write, approve, and publish, "Aerith" in roman characters for the original Japanese release. If you want to argue that there was a breakdown in communication, that's fine.
In fact, I'll even agree with you.
but it is *infinitely* more likely to have occurred during localization, and not during the production of the original source material.

Simply saying that '"Th" sounds don't exist in the japanese language' is not proof. the context is there, it *is* present.
simply saying that the devs said X,Y, or Z is not proof.

because I actually wanted to dig deeper, I did my *own* homework. supposedly, According to a Famitsu article, back in 1998, only one year after the release of the game, Aerith's name is a transliteration of the word in katakana: "earth"
Given her role in the story, and who she is, that symbolism *is actually really important to the story*.
the idea that Aerith's name is supposed to sound similar to "Earth" did not just pop out of thin air, and if records are to be believed, existed *before* any official name changes stateside.

I am going to remind you, Famitsu is a japanese exclusive publication, and as a result, carry *far* more weight than simply stating "well her name sounds like Aeris, so that must be correct."

[Silamon]

The Aeris vs Aerith debates always amuse me.
I wonder why no one ever debates Sephiroth vs Sephiros? It's the same change but no one debates that one lol.

[Mikalana]

Originally posted by Silamon:

The Aeris vs Aerith debates always amuse me.
I wonder why no one ever debates Sephiroth vs Sephiros? It's the same change but no one debates that one lol.

because 'Sephiroth' has roots in hebrew texts and, like, Aerith, has actual meaning behind the name.

Unlike Aerith, Sephiroth's name wasn't changed to be globally universal, because it didn't *have* to be to maintain its meaning. because, hey, it was translated correctly the first time. Aerith was the only character to actually receive that treatment, despite other incorrect translations like Reno vs Leno.

[Leonaura]

Originally posted by Silamon:

The Aeris vs Aerith debates always amuse me.
I wonder why no one ever debates Sephiroth vs Sephiros? It's the same change but no one debates that one lol.

I didn't know 'Sephiros' was a thing in english. In spanish, the debate focus on Sephiroth (due to the english/ international version) and Sefirot (hebrew word, closer to the japanese version and closer to the idea from which that name is inspired):

— səp̄îrôṯ (סְפִירוֹת, medieval Hebrew form of Sefirot), is a plural noun in Hebrew; the term is alternatively transliterated into English as Sephirot/Sephiroth. The Sephiroth are described in the Kabbalah as the manifestations of God that allow him to manifest in the physical and metaphysical universes. Sephiroth also means "counting" (of numbers).

These traits refer to Sephiroth's simultaneous existence in the Lifestream and the Planet, and his manifestations through Jenova. The counting aspects may allude to the Sephiroth Clones.

[Kristoffer]

In my experience a lot of Japanese content creators are terrible when it comes to translation and/or romanization.
Aerith becomes such a strange name, and doesn't really hold onto the earth-connotation if you ask me.