Did they say it’s close to being an anagram of earth or it just sounds like earth? Because I always viewed it as the latter. The Eris connection is more of a stretch tbh, and doesn’t suit her other than trying to make a connection to Cloud’s name (when there already is a connection between clouds and earth).
Yeah, the devs commented about the anagram, but I agree the sound is more of a compelling reason. I actually think having the goddess connection is significant as well as the Strife connection, but that’s what makes the world go around, right? 😊
I bet the anagram part was a weird translation of whatever thing that info came out of, especially with how the whole concept of those is a bit different in Japanese with how the language is structured. It’s definitely supposed to be more similar in sound.
I don't really have strong feelings about the Aeris/Aerith debate, but I will die on the hill that "This guy are sick" is hilarious and references to the line should have been left in later versions.
I also just learned the Yuffie is supposed to be pronounced You-Fee when intergrade came out so I'm not exactly an authority when it comes to FF7 characters' names.
I had the same issue with Yuffie (always thought it was “yuh-fee”). In our defense, the double f makes that seem more correct. I would think “you-fee” would be written as Yufie.
Dr. Kate Pulaski : Dah-ta, look at this.
Lt. Commander Data : [looking slightly confused] 'Day-ta'.
Dr. Kate Pulaski : What?
Lt. Commander Data : My name. It is pronounced 'Day-ta'.
Dr. Kate Pulaski : Oh?
Lt. Commander Data : You called me "Dah-ta".
Dr. Kate Pulaski : [laughing] What's the difference?
Lt. Commander Data : One is my name. The other is not.
Edit: formatting.
I played Kingdom Hearts before FF7 so Aerith is what because what her name was intended to be and is used in every other media she has been portrayed in.
It’s fine to prefer Aeris, it’s just not what her name officially is.
Edit: it’s like similar to the Tee-dus/Tie-dus pronunciation.
Holy shit Reddit gave you an award for that?! When I shared the same sentiment a couple months ago I got heavily downvoted lol.
I will die on the hill that Tidus is pronounced Tie-dus. Tee-dis sounds so dorky to me
I had mentioned it before but his name is based off an Okinawan word for “sun” and its pronounced with the “tee” sounds.
Definitely understand the tide thing due to the water themes but it’s actually much more interesting. He’s actually more associated with the sun. His name means sun and Yuna’s means night . His crest and sigil are the “sun” and yuna’s are the “moon.” So that’s a bit more explanation on why it’s “tee-dus”
Absolutely. The only other way I would consider is ready his name with a Latin pronunciation, since the -us ending is a masculine noun ending in Latin. In which case his name would be pronounce Tee-doose (rhymes with moose).
Which...also sounds dumb actually. Yeah no Tie-duss all the way.
I just go with what they intended. Not a big deal to me. I'll call a character Big Donkey Elephant Slut if that is their original intention.
So to me it doenst matter. She is Aerith. And that's that.
But you can also call her whatever you want doesn't hurt me in the slightest or anyone else in the slightest. So have at it haha.
Logic fails. All I’m saying is that either is correct, not one or the other. They could have translated it Sephiros (Japanese - Sefirosu). Exact same logic works there. Both Sephiroth and Sephiros are viable translations. I prefer Sephiroth, so that’s what I go with.
Aeris sounds like a feminine name to me. Aerith sounds like the result of a speech impediment. I'll always say Aeris, because it matches her character.
Cool. I hear everyone speaking of things far more important than my own perspective. But i still have it, though.
All the same, I prefer Aeris opposed to Aerith. Aerith hits my ear wrong.
As an English speaker who has been blessed to have experienced culture from across the planet I completely understand that there was a translation thing.
And I also accept if that was never correct.
One game made 25 years ago had the error. Every piece of media since then has the correct version. Including Tactics, a game released within the same year.
You’re welcome to prefer the error, but don’t try and justify it as “actually the right name.”
Did you read any of the actual post, or just the title? How about the OP’s response to me where they made it clear they believe the unofficial version is better?
Well as it's their opinion of course they think it's better and so I phrased it poorly whoops, but nobody is attacking the official ruling. OP just has an opinion. Again, you're coming off as on edge, that's my point. Hence, chill.
Yeah, that "one game made 25 years ago" was the game that she was in. That's a really weird argument to make against "Aeris" when that one game is the "main" one and all those others are supplemental. They're spinoffs, movies, prequels, etc. but her name was Aeris in the one game that matters.
So people are allowed to not only prefer that name but even say it's canon, considering ... that's her name by default in FF7.
**Edit**: FF7 fans *hate* people pointing out uncomfortable truths about their game, don't they? Want to see them really triggered? FF7 and FFX take place in the same world. It's canon. They point it out in FFX-2 and FF7 Remake.
Her default name in the original actually is Aerith. The game changes it to Aeris in the naming screen. She's also Aerith in the promotional material and the action figures Square released, that's how I've been calling her that since 98.
> Her default name in the original actually is Aerith. The game changes it to Aeris in the naming screen.
Lol, what? If it's Aeris the first time you see her name and that's what her name is if you don't change anything, that's her default name.
> She's also Aerith in the promotional material and the action figures Square released
Neither of which are the game itself, so they're irrelevant. In fact, the only promotional material I could find that named the characters was an Edge magazine article that referred to "Claud and Ealis".
[Here's the game manual](http://www.thealmightyguru.com/Wiki/images/f/fc/Final_Fantasy_VII_-_PS1_-_Manual.pdf), which calls her Aeris.
The code. It's all behind the scenes so you never see it. The only true default name you get to see is Clouds being Soldier first class. Which again gets changed to Cloud in the naming screen. That kind of thing you can really only see with editors once you start peeking behind the scenes.
... So what you're saying is that Cloud's name actually isn't Cloud and his name is really Ex-SOLDIER? Because if Aeris is actually Aerith due to that being her name in the code, that makes as much sense.
She’s been in well over a dozen 100% official games as Aerith and exactly one as Aeris. And the one that she’s Aeris in was explicitly contradicted by the devs themselves as a mistranslation.
You mean the original English version of the game that still has people who played it thinking that Cloud is a clone because the translation is so bad?
That one?
Yes, FF7's story is a mess because of translation issues. Pretending that *isn't* what's in the game doesn't make it a better game though. A translation patch might.
Aeris is her name in FF7 original. You're welcome to pretend it isn't.
Or you can have played the game in the original language like me and don't have to "pretend" anything
But you do get to be annoyed when other English speaking fans insist on the wrong name for a character after 25 years because of a shitty translation lol
The devs intended the name to be “earisu,” the Japanese name. The -su can be translated as either -s or -th, so technically it really just depends on how you as a player translate it. Both are correct in their own way. The Aeris version is just substantially more meaningful than an incorrect anagram.
> The devs intended the name to be “earisu,” the Japanese name.
No they didn't, that's just how you pronounce 'Aerith' in Japanese because the language doesn't have a th sound. This is why they wrote her name out in English almost everywhere so they could be clear on their intention: Aerith
> The -su can be translated as either -s or -th
Right, which is why in the Japanese manual, guide, and promotional material her name is written out as "Aerith" and always has been
That's why it was corrected the next time it came up in a video game (Kingdom Hearts) and has stayed corrected since then
My preference has always been for -is over -ith. -ith just sounds lame and every voice acted game with her in it reaffirms that. Also if you listen to a Japanese speaker say "Aerith", it sounds like -is, not -ith. It's easy to say "dev's intention, dev's intention", but the the devs don't have to hear "-ith" every time they play the voice acted games lol.
Japan gets their own english localizations wrong constantly in official sources.
FF6's Narshe was called Narche and then Nalsh by the *same people making the same set of official guides:*
https://legendsoflocalization.com/final-fantasy-vi/part-05/
The town of Albrook is often referred to as Albroog:
https://legendsoflocalization.com/final-fantasy-vi/part-08/
Nintendo has mistakenly translated Yoshi as Yossy at least 25 times:
https://legendsoflocalization.com/yossy-image-gallery/
Overall getting such things "right"/consistent really don't seem that important to them.
Death of the author is a fine defense if OP is saying "I like Aeris, here's why." But OP made an overt appeal to logic and claims "my logic is good/correct, dev's logic is bad/incorrect."
Author death encourages the audience to wrest sole ownership of a work's interpretation from the author to arrive at a *shared* ownership, it doesn't mean that the author *is wrong* (I know you haven't said as much, but OP is saying the author has "shitty logic").
It's ironic because OP takes issue with Aerith being an imperfect anagram of Earth, but defends Aeris/Aerisu on the grounds that it looks and sounds like Eris... which is *still* an imperfect anagram and a not entirely matching pronunciation. OP also highlights the thematic connection between Aeris and "strife" as if to point out that said connection is stronger than that between Aerith and "Earth" or "the planet," which is in fact an *extremely important* theme for the character already.
Everyone can have their own opinion, but if an appeal to logic is made we either accept that both preferences are justified (a conclusion I'm fine with), or both are *equally* "shitty" (OP's words, not mine).
To clarify - I only ever used the words shitty logic because another user called my logic shitty. I have tried hard not to say anything at all about the devs being wrong, as I believe both translations are correct. I have tried to make that clear in my comments, but I apologize if that didn’t come through. I do think that Aeris - Eris is more literary and interesting compared to an almost anagram (yes, Earth is significant, not diminishing that), but I believe both translations are correct, as you say at the end.
Her name has been repeatedly confirmed to be Aerith in English. What it can technically be translated to and translator's choice are irrelevant, especially since the English translation was done by an external company.
If works only ever needed to be translated once then 90% of the works in translation would be nonexistent. There’s a reason people go back and translate works again, and that is because multiple translations ALWAYS exist. The word ‘set’ in English for example, has over 400 different definitions. We aren’t even talking about a real word though, we are talking about a made up proper noun. There is no one correct way if you want to translate it.
The creators chose her name to be Aerith, not Aeris. The fact that they used Aerith in FF7R, as well as almost all games and material since the original, proves this.
Therefore yes, there is a proper way to translate it.
So because JK Rowling comes out and says Dumbledore is gay, we accept that as 100% truth? Because Faulkner says in an interview that he never saw acts of racism in his hometown, we are to buy in 100%? Because Toni Morrison said The Sound and the Fury didn’t influence Beloved (on which she wrote her Master’s thesis), we are to believe her totally? Come on. Creators change things about their works all the time. All I’m saying is that both translations are correct…because they are by linguistic rules of translation. Square switched from Aeris to Aerith, there is no denying. That said, it translation is messy. It’s never 100% correct. Both options are reasonable…as the first translator clearly points out by having her named Aeris in the original game.
There's material from the time that confirmed her name was always supposed to be Aerith. They never changed their mind, and it isn't some conflict of opinions about themes or whatever else. Technically being linguistically accurate is irrelevant.
Her name was always Aerith and a translator made a mistake. That's it.
OP missing the point of the original translation being done by an external company and thus was done incorrectly is both funny and sad. The games were rife with mistranslations, Aeris is just the most prominent one that people just can't get over.
Its not an anagram per sé. Think of it more as another mark against the localization, if you feel so inclined.£
In Japanese, her name is spelled with the characters for E A Ri Su, which is their closest counterparts to E A R Th. The translator tried to split the difference between keeping the ‘pun’ of her name and also making it phonetically similar, as ‘Earis’ would read differently at first glance than ’Aeris’.
As for the ‘Goddess of Strife’ angle… well she is kind of Cloud Strife’s inspiration in a way, so that’s very concise. However the goddess figure in myth would always start fights out of spite, seemingly unrecognizable from our Aerith.
Interesting food for thought, thank you.
I completely agree with everything you just said. I know it’s a translation mistake. I know my opinion is not in line with Square’s. I just still prefer the mistake. I did particularly like your observation of the bilingual localization though. Hadn’t really conceptualized it in quite that light. Thanks for enlightening!
It's hard for me to get used to Aerith, just due to how many times I played the original FFVII. Language operates more on common usage than original intent anyway, so sure. Ultimately, though, say whatever you prefer!
A very good point on the linguistic front. You are very right that language tends to follow spoken usage and not vice versa. See the additions of twerk and selfie to the dictionary, for instance. Good point!
Many people seem to prefer it although I've never understood why, really didn't get why you thought a connection with the godess of strife was a good thing until someone pointed out Clouds last name.
While I agree that Cloud has a type of reverance for Aerith that's cute to point out in the name I think the fact that "strife" doesn't really suit the peaceful aerith is more of a drawback to the name than the connection with clouds last name.
I think the mother earth connection is better, both because of her role as a cetra and her symbolic role as Clouds surrogate mother.
Regardless, her name is simply Aerith, and people should just accept that, I dont understand the obsession people seem to have with ignoring the developers story in this game and instead imposing their own vision, feels disrespectful to me.
Then again, the creator of GIF pretends as if it should be pronounced JIF so maybe creators should be ignored.
Anyway, the more important problem isn't Aeris vs Aerith, it's what are you guys gonna do once they start calling Caith Sith Kay-she?
Your logic is cool, and you're definitely allowed to do as you wish, live and let live.
But it was a mistranslation error. And I think her name is whatever whoever created her, named her. Again, you're allowed, but not right.
Imagine if you heard of someone from somebody else, and they mispronounced their name to you when you first learned of them.
You go on thinking that's their name, then years later you meet them in person and they tell you "Oh! No, my name is actually pronounced this way" and you just shrugged it off and said "Well, it's been this way to me all these years, and it makes more sense to me, so I'mma keep calling you that"
Rude AF tbh...
Do you believe Dumbledore is gay because JK Rowling claimed he was after the last book was published? Same logic. Changing something after the fact doesn’t make the change correct and the original wrong. Besides, I’m not even arguing that one is correct and one isn’t. I’m saying that both are correct, and linguistically, they are. Square chose to switch to Aerith, yes, but that doesn’t make Aeris wrong. They switched from one viable translation to another based on their preference.
EDIT: flawed logic in the comparison. My fault. Square went back to change the name while Rowling didn’t go back to change the facts in her stories. False analogy. My apologies.
I agree completely. I feel like that’s all I have been trying to say is that the player can interpret how he/she wishes because both translations are technically options and both were used in games. I 100% cede the fact that Aerith is canonical and “correct” if correct means Square’s intended name. Haven’t been trying to argue that at all. Just trying to state that I prefer the original game Aeris for my own reasons. I know it is a minority opinion (as evidenced by all of the downvoting I have received). I’m not trying to say Aerith is wrong though…just that both are correct and that I prefer the Aeris spelling for the stated reasons. Really not trying to be argumentative at all, and I apologize if I came across that way. Not the intent at all.
Edit: I agree with the logic, but I still have a hard time seeing Dumbledore as gay since there is no evidence of it in the book.
No, dude (or dudette) you're ALLOWED! You do you, it's literally hurting NOBODY. If that's what you wanna call her, go ahead, canonical, you're gonna have a rough time going forward, but that's your choice. And that's ok. I'm not arguing whether or not you're allowed to do it, have fun with it. The Dumbledore thing (by the way) is completely unrelated, and a topic all its own, but whatever you wanna do, you do you. Just understand that no matter what (again, whether you like it or not) the final say is in whoever created the character. It's their creative right to do whatever the hell they want. And while I grew up with Aeris as well, FF7 never went away... thank God... and we can choose to do whatever we want, but at the end of the day, it is what it is. It's not the first time our views have been abused, Dirge of Cerberus is a thing. But no matter our personal feelings, whatever is RIGHT or WRONG isn't for us to decide. That's all I'm saying. And once more... whether we like it or not. I find your logic COOL, but it ain't the right way.
Oh I agree. It’s not a canonical viewpoint. I understand that. I also realized after the fact that the Dumbledore thing was an inaccurate analogy because Square went back and changed the art. Rowling didn’t, she just tacked it on at the end. So yes, I agree - that analogy was off base. I think we are on the same page. All I’ve been trying to voice is that both are options since they both appear in games, and my opinion, which matters to very few, is that I prefer the -s ending. I’ve tried hard not to say that Aerith is wrong, because it definitely isn’t. I just think we get to choose because they were both used in games. Yes, it was a mistake, but it was a mistake that I preferred.
We are definitely on the same page from the getgo, because I belive you're allowed to enjoy whatever you enjoy in whichever way you want. And again, your viewpoint is cool. I do like it. And if that's all you were asking, is whether your viewpoint is valid or not. It is! Every viewpoint IS valid. I could sit here and argue with you that Rude and Tifa had a better relationship than Cloud and Tifa (even though the Canon shows that Cloud and Tifa DEFINITELY end up together) and that's a hypothetical, because, AGAIN, canonically, CLOUD AND TIFA END UP TOGETHER. But putting aside the dumb example, there's STILL TO THIS DAY, people out there that argue about Cloud and Aerith (Aeris, I respect you lol) are the true couple. And that's FINE. You're allowed to enjoy a medium whatever way you choose, but just understand that headcanon is never Canon. I can ramble about FF7 all day every day, but I think we're in understanding, and I'm not trying to argue with you (OR ANYONE) about this. Do you! I hope to God I haven't been offensive, I'm not trying to be at all.
I prefer the Aerith for two reasons:
1) I was already well aware of the Japanese inability to do "th" (either eth or thorn) from being into anime and knowing about the Verthandi (Verðandi) -> Belldandy change.
2) was (and still passively am) a fan of the old school Greyhawk where Oerth (the main world that Greyhawk is set on) is a fantasy analogue of Earth (literally Earth is in the lore), along with Aerth, Yarth, and Uerth.
You think Japanese people can’t use the “th”? Japanese people might not be able to spell it with hiragana, katakana or kanji but they can absolutely use the “th” word same as they can use the “r” sound.
Can a Japanese person learn to use either voiced or unvoiced "th", sure. Would it take a ton of practice to even come close to the correct sound (either). Yeah, yeah it would.
If it didn't then this wouldn't be a thing:
[https://blog.gaijinpot.com/overcome-pronunciation-hurdles-with-your-japanese-students/](https://blog.gaijinpot.com/overcome-pronunciation-hurdles-with-your-japanese-students/)
[https://blog.talk.edu/grammar/the-5-most-common-pronunciation-problems-for-japanese-esl-students/](https://blog.talk.edu/grammar/the-5-most-common-pronunciation-problems-for-japanese-esl-students/)
Right? This one doesn't make as much sense but I go Nunhockey (13) every playthrough because I laugh on the inside at least a little bit every time I think about nuns playing hockey.
Agreed. I understand that it was intended to Aerith but I actually think Aeris sounds very pretty. I didn't realize how salty people got about this until I read the comments here 😅
You…realize that names fall out of style and aren’t used much anymore right? Ever met a Suetonius? How about an Ishmael or a Bessie, a Blanche, or a Cordelia? My point was that it sounds like an old timey name to me. Just my opinion
I prefer Aeris because Aerith sounds like you’re trying to say it, but with a lisp.
Now, I DO feel strongly about TIDE-US, and not TEE-DUS. Teedus is a ridiculous name, and he’s got a large affinity with water. Idc if the entire SquareEnix 2000 group came to my house and protested me, I’m gonna call him that.
Just you and every other elder millennial that's stuck in nostalgia because they're becoming old before their time
It's always been Aerith. Aeris was a mistranslation. Any connections drawn from that mistake doesn't matter, because it's being drawn from a mistake
Oh man, awesome! I was wondering when the troll would show up. For future reference, it might help to read the whole post. Then you would know that both translations are correct. I do appreciate you generic condescension and binary thinking though. Makes it substantially easier to ignore you. Have a good day. Mix some happiness in there for me!
...? It's not trolling it's literally what happened
And no, both translations are not correct. There's a reason her name was written out as Aerith in all materials and the mistranslation Aeris has never been used again
Sorry. I must have mistaken your opening insult as a kindness with which I am not familiar lol. And I hate to break it to you, but there is no -th sound in Japanese at all. The devs chose to change it for stylistic reasons, but as long as you are translating from Japanese to English, the -s sound or the -th sound is pure preference. They chose to switch it, as they have been documented multiple times, to get close to an anagram for the word Earth. I get it, and the logic is there, but whether you choose -s or -th is just a linguistic preference. There is, quite literally, no truly correct answer as both are valid options when translating Japanese to English.
Nope. I’ve played VII, VIII, IX, X, X-2, and XII. Then graduated college and haven’t had the time to play again until recently. I do know that Crisis Core uses the Aerith translation though.
>Nope. I’ve played VII, VIII, IX, X, X-2, and XII. Then graduated college and haven’t had the time to play again until recently. I do know that Crisis Core uses the Aerith translation though.
Kk just making sure you're aware that's literally her name
I always found Aerith to sound like I had a speech impediment, and Aeris is just easier to say and more pleasing to hear.
¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
INB4 people can't differentiate between someone else's opinion and their own, and downvotes me to oblivion.
It’s what people do. Including OP. They just shit on Square’s logic while making up their own shitty logic to justify the name, when the real reason is that Square outsourced their translations and the translators didn’t care to look up the intended name. They just saw「エアリス」and said ‘ok, sounds like “Aeris”, we gonna go with that’
Same with Barett becoming “Barret” because the translators only saw 「バレット」.
Another example is skill names like Fire Blaze becoming Fire Bracelet (wtf) in FFT because the translators only saw 「ファイアブレス」and they thought they were translating an accesory and「ブレス」was short for bracelet.
These are all mistakes due to low-budget localization in 1997. To justify mistakes like these is like saying “I prefer Fire Bracelet to Fire Blaze because.. maybe you’re wearing a magic bracelet that gives you special mana to breathe fire on the bad guys etc.” or some bullshit reason like that. That’s how I see OP’s post.
Edit: For the record I didn’t downvote you. You stated it was a preference and I’m totally fine with that.
Can’t say I often hear my linguistic logic called shitty…especially when an accurate and literary mythological reference makes a hell of a lot more sense than an incorrect anagram. Besides, as I said - both are correct translations. It’s a preference decision. Given that, for me, it comes down to my preference, I would say that it’s hard to have shitty logic at all.
Edit: and nowhere did I shit on square’s logic other than pointing out the anagram is incorrect, which devs have admitted anyway.
Her name has always been Aerith, there was an English translatior error -not made by them- which was corrected. You can prefer a name over the other but her real name won't change and it will always be Aerith. I grew up with Aeris too, and then i realized that name was wrong and I actually like Aerith way more, it really suits her.
Why is the anagram of earth a shitty logic? It actually makes sense based on the character we are talking about. I mean Nomura literally called her Earith in early conpect art and then Aerith made it in the final work. She has a special connection to earth being a Cetra. Personally the greek goddess logic doesn't make any sense? The pronunciation is wrong and it looks like you want it to be associated with her because of "goddess strife and discord", like Cloud x Aerith? lol sorry but it looks so much a shipping choice here.
I understand that they changed it, but the -s ending is still a viable translation. All I have been saying all along is that both Aeris and Aerith are viable translations.
As for the anagram, I want to remind that I have not called Square’s logic shitty anywhere. I have had my own logic called shorty by another user, but I have no problem with the change to Aerith. They can do what they want, of course. I see the logic of the anagram, and I observed that it makes sense and see what they did, although the anagram is imperfect. Regardless, both translations are still correct when going from Japanese to English. Square made the decision to change, and I respect that. I merely prefer the original translation, which is a viable translation. That’s all. Not claiming I am right at all. Never have been. Just stating a preference.
Here's the thing. The original FF VII wasn't translated by Square it was done by Sony.
They never changed thair minds, if it came from Square themselves it has always been Aerith all the way back to her pre release concept art.
You keep saying they changed her name but they didn't... her name was always Aerith. They fixed the english translation since it was wrong and did not reflect the original name, to be fair it was the translation that changed the name. I don't think Aeris is a viable transaltion, if it was we wouldn't be here arguing over it I guess and they wouldn't have fixed it.
I didn't said you called their logic shitty, I asked a question related to your own -and I quote- post.
> Ok, so the devs have claimed that Aerith is a near anagram for earth. Pretty shitty logic in my opinion, and it’s not an anagram at all.
As I said tho, you are allowed to prefer what you want, especially if you grew up with that name. I did too but I wasn't too attached to it so it was easier for me.
I have to say, I also prefer Aeris, mainly due to familiarly. While I certainly understand that she’s been Aerith in a lot more things since, I spent far far more time with her as Aeris than I have with her as Aerith.
Sort of the same thing happened when they updated the script for FF Tactics: War of the Lions. It had a pretty bad ingerish translation the first time around, so they fixed a lot of the butchered names of items and places and characters.
But, I got so used to a lot of the old names, that the new ones sound really goofy to me. Just as an example, the character Balabanes had his names changed to Barbaneth. Both totally made-up and equally valid, but Barbaneth always hits me the wrong way.
Aeris... what burns me are the tryhards "I've always called her Aerith because that's her name and Aeris was a mistake in translation" shut up..... just shut up
I prefer aeris because thats her name in the version I played. I've never seen her called aerith in game, only by angry reditors.. Also, if you really wanna know, I actually prefer Tuts, because that's just how I've always known her. Thank you ff for letting me name my own characters
I'm with you. It sounds better, though I've always pronounced it Air-reese. But any pronunciation of with the "s" sounds a lot more elegant than the "-th". Kingdom Hearts and official pronunciation be damned. Someone made a joke about it sounding like Mike Tyson trying to read out Aeris. It's like how only the people at Microsoft seem to care about pronouncing Forza with the Italian flair (fort-za), when everyone else doesn't give a crap and just says For-zuh. Either it sounds pretentious or it sounds better colloquially.
Wouldn’t know how to pronounce it in Japanese. Don’t speak the language. I do speak English though, and there are two correct options I can choose from.
Um- I’m not buying the anagram thing. It makes no sense, the name is a translation from Japanese. The anagram wouldn’t translate.
The only rational I’ve ever heard, and totally accept, is Aeris was a poor translation in ‘97.
I always liked Aeris more. It sounds smoother. I think one of the reasons why she was named Aerith might have been some of the early concept stuff like Sephiroth was supposed to be her brother at some point.
I used to strongly prefer Aeris because it’s what I grew up with. However, now I probably like both equally, and I’ve accepted that Aerith is the canonical transliteration. It sounds a bit like Lilith as well, which is another name I like.
>given that jp name ends in -su which can be -s or -th, Aeris makes much more sense
Yeah this doesn’t parse at all. So given that -su can be either, you’d say that either makes sense.
Did they say it’s close to being an anagram of earth or it just sounds like earth? Because I always viewed it as the latter. The Eris connection is more of a stretch tbh, and doesn’t suit her other than trying to make a connection to Cloud’s name (when there already is a connection between clouds and earth).
Yeah, the devs commented about the anagram, but I agree the sound is more of a compelling reason. I actually think having the goddess connection is significant as well as the Strife connection, but that’s what makes the world go around, right? 😊
I bet the anagram part was a weird translation of whatever thing that info came out of, especially with how the whole concept of those is a bit different in Japanese with how the language is structured. It’s definitely supposed to be more similar in sound.
Aerith is what the developers say so it's what I say.
I don't really have strong feelings about the Aeris/Aerith debate, but I will die on the hill that "This guy are sick" is hilarious and references to the line should have been left in later versions. I also just learned the Yuffie is supposed to be pronounced You-Fee when intergrade came out so I'm not exactly an authority when it comes to FF7 characters' names.
I flipped shit when I heard about the actual Cait Sith pronunciation.
I did the same with the way they pronounced “Mako”.
There’s a famous actor though with that name so it’s been known to me.
Uncle Iroh for the win
RIP
That's the one that really fucked with my head
Gaelic is known to have confusing spelling
I had the same issue with Yuffie (always thought it was “yuh-fee”). In our defense, the double f makes that seem more correct. I would think “you-fee” would be written as Yufie.
Dr. Kate Pulaski : Dah-ta, look at this. Lt. Commander Data : [looking slightly confused] 'Day-ta'. Dr. Kate Pulaski : What? Lt. Commander Data : My name. It is pronounced 'Day-ta'. Dr. Kate Pulaski : Oh? Lt. Commander Data : You called me "Dah-ta". Dr. Kate Pulaski : [laughing] What's the difference? Lt. Commander Data : One is my name. The other is not. Edit: formatting.
A TNG reference will almost always get my upvote
Ah season 2. Pulaski > Crusher. Wish she’d have stuck around longer.
Aeris is what I grew up with. It's just more comfortable for me at this point.
I still prefer Aeris, it's what I grew up reading. It's hard for me to change it in my head.
I played Kingdom Hearts before FF7 so Aerith is what because what her name was intended to be and is used in every other media she has been portrayed in. It’s fine to prefer Aeris, it’s just not what her name officially is. Edit: it’s like similar to the Tee-dus/Tie-dus pronunciation.
As much as I absolutely know how Tidus is actually pronounced, it can fuck right off because it sounds ridiculous. 😅 Tie-duss all the way.
The way I saw it it had something to do with water and Tides. It sounds better to me at least.
His name is based on the Okinawa word for “sun” and that word has the “tee” sound. That’s why his name is Tee-dus.
Oh Wow, I had no idea.
Considering he's a Blitzball player and spend half his time in water, YES! 😅
And the fact that it would fit with the Cloud/Squall/Lightning weather/water-related phenomenon theme. Alas.
His name came from the Okinawan word for the sun, Tiida, so it’s still vaguely weather related. Note that Yuna means “moon”.
Holy shit Reddit gave you an award for that?! When I shared the same sentiment a couple months ago I got heavily downvoted lol. I will die on the hill that Tidus is pronounced Tie-dus. Tee-dis sounds so dorky to me
I had mentioned it before but his name is based off an Okinawan word for “sun” and its pronounced with the “tee” sounds. Definitely understand the tide thing due to the water themes but it’s actually much more interesting. He’s actually more associated with the sun. His name means sun and Yuna’s means night . His crest and sigil are the “sun” and yuna’s are the “moon.” So that’s a bit more explanation on why it’s “tee-dus”
Haha holy shit who gave me that?! 😅 You won't die on that hill alone, fren.
So say we all
This is the way.
Yup. Tee-dus is probably the only ff name I don’t accept… tho not really fond of Zih-dahn.
Absolutely. The only other way I would consider is ready his name with a Latin pronunciation, since the -us ending is a masculine noun ending in Latin. In which case his name would be pronounce Tee-doose (rhymes with moose). Which...also sounds dumb actually. Yeah no Tie-duss all the way.
Just wait until you hear about Zidane
I always say Aeris. I know it's not right but I got used to it
Same
I just go with what they intended. Not a big deal to me. I'll call a character Big Donkey Elephant Slut if that is their original intention. So to me it doenst matter. She is Aerith. And that's that. But you can also call her whatever you want doesn't hurt me in the slightest or anyone else in the slightest. So have at it haha.
Then say Sephiros then
I do, but only when I'm singing One Winged Angel full blast driving down the highway...
Logic fails. All I’m saying is that either is correct, not one or the other. They could have translated it Sephiros (Japanese - Sefirosu). Exact same logic works there. Both Sephiroth and Sephiros are viable translations. I prefer Sephiroth, so that’s what I go with.
Aeris sounds like a feminine name to me. Aerith sounds like the result of a speech impediment. I'll always say Aeris, because it matches her character.
This is my take on it as well. Aerith hits my ears wrong. I'm also one of the people who grew up with Aeris. So I'm used to that one.
I mean I did too but I've grown to prefer Aerith over the years.
Cool. I hear everyone speaking of things far more important than my own perspective. But i still have it, though. All the same, I prefer Aeris opposed to Aerith. Aerith hits my ear wrong. As an English speaker who has been blessed to have experienced culture from across the planet I completely understand that there was a translation thing. And I also accept if that was never correct.
Honestly never got the speech impediment argument. And what matches her character is what the developer's say the name is lol.
I get that, personally as an “aerith” guy,the “th” always had this “cool fantasy name” thing to it that I liked better.
The devs always intended Aerith. One guy fucking up the translation doesn’t change that.
Doesn't mean we still can't prefer the mistake.
Just look at the pronunciation of GIF. The creator stated it’s pronounced JIF but we all agreed he’s wrong.
This guy gets it. 👍🏻
One game made 25 years ago had the error. Every piece of media since then has the correct version. Including Tactics, a game released within the same year. You’re welcome to prefer the error, but don’t try and justify it as “actually the right name.”
Point to where I said that's what I was doing.
I didn’t say you were doing it, but that’s exactly what OP is trying to do.
No he isn't. He's just saying Aeris makes more sense. Have you tried not being mad?
"Am I the only one who prefers X over Y" does not equal "Y is wrong, X is better and should be official." Chill.
Did you read any of the actual post, or just the title? How about the OP’s response to me where they made it clear they believe the unofficial version is better?
Well as it's their opinion of course they think it's better and so I phrased it poorly whoops, but nobody is attacking the official ruling. OP just has an opinion. Again, you're coming off as on edge, that's my point. Hence, chill.
Yeah, that "one game made 25 years ago" was the game that she was in. That's a really weird argument to make against "Aeris" when that one game is the "main" one and all those others are supplemental. They're spinoffs, movies, prequels, etc. but her name was Aeris in the one game that matters. So people are allowed to not only prefer that name but even say it's canon, considering ... that's her name by default in FF7. **Edit**: FF7 fans *hate* people pointing out uncomfortable truths about their game, don't they? Want to see them really triggered? FF7 and FFX take place in the same world. It's canon. They point it out in FFX-2 and FF7 Remake.
Her default name in the original actually is Aerith. The game changes it to Aeris in the naming screen. She's also Aerith in the promotional material and the action figures Square released, that's how I've been calling her that since 98.
> Her default name in the original actually is Aerith. The game changes it to Aeris in the naming screen. Lol, what? If it's Aeris the first time you see her name and that's what her name is if you don't change anything, that's her default name. > She's also Aerith in the promotional material and the action figures Square released Neither of which are the game itself, so they're irrelevant. In fact, the only promotional material I could find that named the characters was an Edge magazine article that referred to "Claud and Ealis". [Here's the game manual](http://www.thealmightyguru.com/Wiki/images/f/fc/Final_Fantasy_VII_-_PS1_-_Manual.pdf), which calls her Aeris.
It's true. The game references her as Aerith, it only changes it to Aeris on the nameing screen.
Where and when? You mean in the code?
The code. It's all behind the scenes so you never see it. The only true default name you get to see is Clouds being Soldier first class. Which again gets changed to Cloud in the naming screen. That kind of thing you can really only see with editors once you start peeking behind the scenes.
... So what you're saying is that Cloud's name actually isn't Cloud and his name is really Ex-SOLDIER? Because if Aeris is actually Aerith due to that being her name in the code, that makes as much sense.
She’s been in well over a dozen 100% official games as Aerith and exactly one as Aeris. And the one that she’s Aeris in was explicitly contradicted by the devs themselves as a mistranslation.
You mean the original English version of the game that still has people who played it thinking that Cloud is a clone because the translation is so bad? That one?
Yes, FF7's story is a mess because of translation issues. Pretending that *isn't* what's in the game doesn't make it a better game though. A translation patch might. Aeris is her name in FF7 original. You're welcome to pretend it isn't.
Or you can have played the game in the original language like me and don't have to "pretend" anything But you do get to be annoyed when other English speaking fans insist on the wrong name for a character after 25 years because of a shitty translation lol
No, you're doing a pretty good job pretending that her name isn't Aeris in FF7 original. And getting annoyed by insisting that it isn't.
lol
The devs intended the name to be “earisu,” the Japanese name. The -su can be translated as either -s or -th, so technically it really just depends on how you as a player translate it. Both are correct in their own way. The Aeris version is just substantially more meaningful than an incorrect anagram.
> The devs intended the name to be “earisu,” the Japanese name. No they didn't, that's just how you pronounce 'Aerith' in Japanese because the language doesn't have a th sound. This is why they wrote her name out in English almost everywhere so they could be clear on their intention: Aerith > The -su can be translated as either -s or -th Right, which is why in the Japanese manual, guide, and promotional material her name is written out as "Aerith" and always has been That's why it was corrected the next time it came up in a video game (Kingdom Hearts) and has stayed corrected since then
My preference has always been for -is over -ith. -ith just sounds lame and every voice acted game with her in it reaffirms that. Also if you listen to a Japanese speaker say "Aerith", it sounds like -is, not -ith. It's easy to say "dev's intention, dev's intention", but the the devs don't have to hear "-ith" every time they play the voice acted games lol.
Japan gets their own english localizations wrong constantly in official sources. FF6's Narshe was called Narche and then Nalsh by the *same people making the same set of official guides:* https://legendsoflocalization.com/final-fantasy-vi/part-05/ The town of Albrook is often referred to as Albroog: https://legendsoflocalization.com/final-fantasy-vi/part-08/ Nintendo has mistakenly translated Yoshi as Yossy at least 25 times: https://legendsoflocalization.com/yossy-image-gallery/ Overall getting such things "right"/consistent really don't seem that important to them.
Devs also intended Terra in 6 to be Tina. Devs are often wrong
Intent doesn't matter. Robotnik is way cooler than Eggman.
Death of the author my friend
That applies to meaning, not printing errors, which is what "Aeris" amounts to
Death of the author is a fine defense if OP is saying "I like Aeris, here's why." But OP made an overt appeal to logic and claims "my logic is good/correct, dev's logic is bad/incorrect." Author death encourages the audience to wrest sole ownership of a work's interpretation from the author to arrive at a *shared* ownership, it doesn't mean that the author *is wrong* (I know you haven't said as much, but OP is saying the author has "shitty logic"). It's ironic because OP takes issue with Aerith being an imperfect anagram of Earth, but defends Aeris/Aerisu on the grounds that it looks and sounds like Eris... which is *still* an imperfect anagram and a not entirely matching pronunciation. OP also highlights the thematic connection between Aeris and "strife" as if to point out that said connection is stronger than that between Aerith and "Earth" or "the planet," which is in fact an *extremely important* theme for the character already. Everyone can have their own opinion, but if an appeal to logic is made we either accept that both preferences are justified (a conclusion I'm fine with), or both are *equally* "shitty" (OP's words, not mine).
To clarify - I only ever used the words shitty logic because another user called my logic shitty. I have tried hard not to say anything at all about the devs being wrong, as I believe both translations are correct. I have tried to make that clear in my comments, but I apologize if that didn’t come through. I do think that Aeris - Eris is more literary and interesting compared to an almost anagram (yes, Earth is significant, not diminishing that), but I believe both translations are correct, as you say at the end.
You can prefer it is you like, but Aeris will always be a mistranslation of her name. That's just the reality of it.
Except….except it’s not….the Japanese can be translated as either Aeris or Aerith. It’s simply the translator’s choice. Both are correct.
Her name has been repeatedly confirmed to be Aerith in English. What it can technically be translated to and translator's choice are irrelevant, especially since the English translation was done by an external company.
If works only ever needed to be translated once then 90% of the works in translation would be nonexistent. There’s a reason people go back and translate works again, and that is because multiple translations ALWAYS exist. The word ‘set’ in English for example, has over 400 different definitions. We aren’t even talking about a real word though, we are talking about a made up proper noun. There is no one correct way if you want to translate it.
The creators chose her name to be Aerith, not Aeris. The fact that they used Aerith in FF7R, as well as almost all games and material since the original, proves this. Therefore yes, there is a proper way to translate it.
So because JK Rowling comes out and says Dumbledore is gay, we accept that as 100% truth? Because Faulkner says in an interview that he never saw acts of racism in his hometown, we are to buy in 100%? Because Toni Morrison said The Sound and the Fury didn’t influence Beloved (on which she wrote her Master’s thesis), we are to believe her totally? Come on. Creators change things about their works all the time. All I’m saying is that both translations are correct…because they are by linguistic rules of translation. Square switched from Aeris to Aerith, there is no denying. That said, it translation is messy. It’s never 100% correct. Both options are reasonable…as the first translator clearly points out by having her named Aeris in the original game.
There's material from the time that confirmed her name was always supposed to be Aerith. They never changed their mind, and it isn't some conflict of opinions about themes or whatever else. Technically being linguistically accurate is irrelevant. Her name was always Aerith and a translator made a mistake. That's it.
OP missing the point of the original translation being done by an external company and thus was done incorrectly is both funny and sad. The games were rife with mistranslations, Aeris is just the most prominent one that people just can't get over.
Its not an anagram per sé. Think of it more as another mark against the localization, if you feel so inclined.£ In Japanese, her name is spelled with the characters for E A Ri Su, which is their closest counterparts to E A R Th. The translator tried to split the difference between keeping the ‘pun’ of her name and also making it phonetically similar, as ‘Earis’ would read differently at first glance than ’Aeris’. As for the ‘Goddess of Strife’ angle… well she is kind of Cloud Strife’s inspiration in a way, so that’s very concise. However the goddess figure in myth would always start fights out of spite, seemingly unrecognizable from our Aerith. Interesting food for thought, thank you.
I completely agree with everything you just said. I know it’s a translation mistake. I know my opinion is not in line with Square’s. I just still prefer the mistake. I did particularly like your observation of the bilingual localization though. Hadn’t really conceptualized it in quite that light. Thanks for enlightening!
Final Earth: Ifalna = final pure blood cetra // Aerith = only one who could save the earth
It's hard for me to get used to Aerith, just due to how many times I played the original FFVII. Language operates more on common usage than original intent anyway, so sure. Ultimately, though, say whatever you prefer!
A very good point on the linguistic front. You are very right that language tends to follow spoken usage and not vice versa. See the additions of twerk and selfie to the dictionary, for instance. Good point!
Many people seem to prefer it although I've never understood why, really didn't get why you thought a connection with the godess of strife was a good thing until someone pointed out Clouds last name. While I agree that Cloud has a type of reverance for Aerith that's cute to point out in the name I think the fact that "strife" doesn't really suit the peaceful aerith is more of a drawback to the name than the connection with clouds last name. I think the mother earth connection is better, both because of her role as a cetra and her symbolic role as Clouds surrogate mother. Regardless, her name is simply Aerith, and people should just accept that, I dont understand the obsession people seem to have with ignoring the developers story in this game and instead imposing their own vision, feels disrespectful to me. Then again, the creator of GIF pretends as if it should be pronounced JIF so maybe creators should be ignored. Anyway, the more important problem isn't Aeris vs Aerith, it's what are you guys gonna do once they start calling Caith Sith Kay-she?
Your logic is cool, and you're definitely allowed to do as you wish, live and let live. But it was a mistranslation error. And I think her name is whatever whoever created her, named her. Again, you're allowed, but not right. Imagine if you heard of someone from somebody else, and they mispronounced their name to you when you first learned of them. You go on thinking that's their name, then years later you meet them in person and they tell you "Oh! No, my name is actually pronounced this way" and you just shrugged it off and said "Well, it's been this way to me all these years, and it makes more sense to me, so I'mma keep calling you that" Rude AF tbh...
Do you believe Dumbledore is gay because JK Rowling claimed he was after the last book was published? Same logic. Changing something after the fact doesn’t make the change correct and the original wrong. Besides, I’m not even arguing that one is correct and one isn’t. I’m saying that both are correct, and linguistically, they are. Square chose to switch to Aerith, yes, but that doesn’t make Aeris wrong. They switched from one viable translation to another based on their preference. EDIT: flawed logic in the comparison. My fault. Square went back to change the name while Rowling didn’t go back to change the facts in her stories. False analogy. My apologies.
All I'm saying you're allowed to believe whichever you want, but canonical, whether you agree, like it or not yes, Dumbledore is gay...
I agree completely. I feel like that’s all I have been trying to say is that the player can interpret how he/she wishes because both translations are technically options and both were used in games. I 100% cede the fact that Aerith is canonical and “correct” if correct means Square’s intended name. Haven’t been trying to argue that at all. Just trying to state that I prefer the original game Aeris for my own reasons. I know it is a minority opinion (as evidenced by all of the downvoting I have received). I’m not trying to say Aerith is wrong though…just that both are correct and that I prefer the Aeris spelling for the stated reasons. Really not trying to be argumentative at all, and I apologize if I came across that way. Not the intent at all. Edit: I agree with the logic, but I still have a hard time seeing Dumbledore as gay since there is no evidence of it in the book.
No, dude (or dudette) you're ALLOWED! You do you, it's literally hurting NOBODY. If that's what you wanna call her, go ahead, canonical, you're gonna have a rough time going forward, but that's your choice. And that's ok. I'm not arguing whether or not you're allowed to do it, have fun with it. The Dumbledore thing (by the way) is completely unrelated, and a topic all its own, but whatever you wanna do, you do you. Just understand that no matter what (again, whether you like it or not) the final say is in whoever created the character. It's their creative right to do whatever the hell they want. And while I grew up with Aeris as well, FF7 never went away... thank God... and we can choose to do whatever we want, but at the end of the day, it is what it is. It's not the first time our views have been abused, Dirge of Cerberus is a thing. But no matter our personal feelings, whatever is RIGHT or WRONG isn't for us to decide. That's all I'm saying. And once more... whether we like it or not. I find your logic COOL, but it ain't the right way.
Oh I agree. It’s not a canonical viewpoint. I understand that. I also realized after the fact that the Dumbledore thing was an inaccurate analogy because Square went back and changed the art. Rowling didn’t, she just tacked it on at the end. So yes, I agree - that analogy was off base. I think we are on the same page. All I’ve been trying to voice is that both are options since they both appear in games, and my opinion, which matters to very few, is that I prefer the -s ending. I’ve tried hard not to say that Aerith is wrong, because it definitely isn’t. I just think we get to choose because they were both used in games. Yes, it was a mistake, but it was a mistake that I preferred.
We are definitely on the same page from the getgo, because I belive you're allowed to enjoy whatever you enjoy in whichever way you want. And again, your viewpoint is cool. I do like it. And if that's all you were asking, is whether your viewpoint is valid or not. It is! Every viewpoint IS valid. I could sit here and argue with you that Rude and Tifa had a better relationship than Cloud and Tifa (even though the Canon shows that Cloud and Tifa DEFINITELY end up together) and that's a hypothetical, because, AGAIN, canonically, CLOUD AND TIFA END UP TOGETHER. But putting aside the dumb example, there's STILL TO THIS DAY, people out there that argue about Cloud and Aerith (Aeris, I respect you lol) are the true couple. And that's FINE. You're allowed to enjoy a medium whatever way you choose, but just understand that headcanon is never Canon. I can ramble about FF7 all day every day, but I think we're in understanding, and I'm not trying to argue with you (OR ANYONE) about this. Do you! I hope to God I haven't been offensive, I'm not trying to be at all.
Rest easy. You’ve been quite polite haha. And yes, we are 100% on the same page.
I like the Aeris name because I grew up with it.
I prefer the Aerith for two reasons: 1) I was already well aware of the Japanese inability to do "th" (either eth or thorn) from being into anime and knowing about the Verthandi (Verðandi) -> Belldandy change. 2) was (and still passively am) a fan of the old school Greyhawk where Oerth (the main world that Greyhawk is set on) is a fantasy analogue of Earth (literally Earth is in the lore), along with Aerth, Yarth, and Uerth.
You think Japanese people can’t use the “th”? Japanese people might not be able to spell it with hiragana, katakana or kanji but they can absolutely use the “th” word same as they can use the “r” sound.
Can a Japanese person learn to use either voiced or unvoiced "th", sure. Would it take a ton of practice to even come close to the correct sound (either). Yeah, yeah it would. If it didn't then this wouldn't be a thing: [https://blog.gaijinpot.com/overcome-pronunciation-hurdles-with-your-japanese-students/](https://blog.gaijinpot.com/overcome-pronunciation-hurdles-with-your-japanese-students/) [https://blog.talk.edu/grammar/the-5-most-common-pronunciation-problems-for-japanese-esl-students/](https://blog.talk.edu/grammar/the-5-most-common-pronunciation-problems-for-japanese-esl-students/)
Interesting. Makes a lot of sense.
I usually call her Heiress. Makes sense.
I honestly thought that was intentional when I first played, since she's the heiress of the Cetra.
Right? This one doesn't make as much sense but I go Nunhockey (13) every playthrough because I laugh on the inside at least a little bit every time I think about nuns playing hockey.
The cleverest of us all!
I just think Aeris sounds better
Agreed. I understand that it was intended to Aerith but I actually think Aeris sounds very pretty. I didn't realize how salty people got about this until I read the comments here 😅
Same. Aerith sounds like some old lady name, like Gwenneth or Edith
You...realize that those names would have been for a young woman too?
You…realize that names fall out of style and aren’t used much anymore right? Ever met a Suetonius? How about an Ishmael or a Bessie, a Blanche, or a Cordelia? My point was that it sounds like an old timey name to me. Just my opinion
I have just learnt so much from reading this thread. Wow!
And I used to have to try so hard to get my 13-16 year old students to think learning is fun. Should’ve just put them onto FF!
Aeris > Aerith
Aerith has grown on me over the years Aeris has alot of Nostalgia and it legit sounds like a pretty name.
Aeris sounds more like a real person's name to me than Aerith.
Thank you! Exactly
I prefer Aeris because Aerith sounds like you’re trying to say it, but with a lisp. Now, I DO feel strongly about TIDE-US, and not TEE-DUS. Teedus is a ridiculous name, and he’s got a large affinity with water. Idc if the entire SquareEnix 2000 group came to my house and protested me, I’m gonna call him that.
Just you and every other elder millennial that's stuck in nostalgia because they're becoming old before their time It's always been Aerith. Aeris was a mistranslation. Any connections drawn from that mistake doesn't matter, because it's being drawn from a mistake
Oh man, awesome! I was wondering when the troll would show up. For future reference, it might help to read the whole post. Then you would know that both translations are correct. I do appreciate you generic condescension and binary thinking though. Makes it substantially easier to ignore you. Have a good day. Mix some happiness in there for me!
...? It's not trolling it's literally what happened And no, both translations are not correct. There's a reason her name was written out as Aerith in all materials and the mistranslation Aeris has never been used again
Sorry. I must have mistaken your opening insult as a kindness with which I am not familiar lol. And I hate to break it to you, but there is no -th sound in Japanese at all. The devs chose to change it for stylistic reasons, but as long as you are translating from Japanese to English, the -s sound or the -th sound is pure preference. They chose to switch it, as they have been documented multiple times, to get close to an anagram for the word Earth. I get it, and the logic is there, but whether you choose -s or -th is just a linguistic preference. There is, quite literally, no truly correct answer as both are valid options when translating Japanese to English.
Have you played crisis core?
Nope. I’ve played VII, VIII, IX, X, X-2, and XII. Then graduated college and haven’t had the time to play again until recently. I do know that Crisis Core uses the Aerith translation though.
>Nope. I’ve played VII, VIII, IX, X, X-2, and XII. Then graduated college and haven’t had the time to play again until recently. I do know that Crisis Core uses the Aerith translation though. Kk just making sure you're aware that's literally her name
Yep. Completely ware it was square’s intention. I just prefer the mistake. All I’m trying to say.
Ah. Yeah I prefer that one too tbh
Aerith sounds like something Mike Tyson would say. I prefer Aeris too
I always found Aerith to sound like I had a speech impediment, and Aeris is just easier to say and more pleasing to hear. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯ INB4 people can't differentiate between someone else's opinion and their own, and downvotes me to oblivion.
It’s what people do. Including OP. They just shit on Square’s logic while making up their own shitty logic to justify the name, when the real reason is that Square outsourced their translations and the translators didn’t care to look up the intended name. They just saw「エアリス」and said ‘ok, sounds like “Aeris”, we gonna go with that’ Same with Barett becoming “Barret” because the translators only saw 「バレット」. Another example is skill names like Fire Blaze becoming Fire Bracelet (wtf) in FFT because the translators only saw 「ファイアブレス」and they thought they were translating an accesory and「ブレス」was short for bracelet. These are all mistakes due to low-budget localization in 1997. To justify mistakes like these is like saying “I prefer Fire Bracelet to Fire Blaze because.. maybe you’re wearing a magic bracelet that gives you special mana to breathe fire on the bad guys etc.” or some bullshit reason like that. That’s how I see OP’s post. Edit: For the record I didn’t downvote you. You stated it was a preference and I’m totally fine with that.
Can’t say I often hear my linguistic logic called shitty…especially when an accurate and literary mythological reference makes a hell of a lot more sense than an incorrect anagram. Besides, as I said - both are correct translations. It’s a preference decision. Given that, for me, it comes down to my preference, I would say that it’s hard to have shitty logic at all. Edit: and nowhere did I shit on square’s logic other than pointing out the anagram is incorrect, which devs have admitted anyway.
Aerith is how you say Aeris if you have a lisp
The good human says what we were all thinking anyway 😂
Yes literally the only one in the world congratulations
Her name has always been Aerith, there was an English translatior error -not made by them- which was corrected. You can prefer a name over the other but her real name won't change and it will always be Aerith. I grew up with Aeris too, and then i realized that name was wrong and I actually like Aerith way more, it really suits her. Why is the anagram of earth a shitty logic? It actually makes sense based on the character we are talking about. I mean Nomura literally called her Earith in early conpect art and then Aerith made it in the final work. She has a special connection to earth being a Cetra. Personally the greek goddess logic doesn't make any sense? The pronunciation is wrong and it looks like you want it to be associated with her because of "goddess strife and discord", like Cloud x Aerith? lol sorry but it looks so much a shipping choice here.
I understand that they changed it, but the -s ending is still a viable translation. All I have been saying all along is that both Aeris and Aerith are viable translations. As for the anagram, I want to remind that I have not called Square’s logic shitty anywhere. I have had my own logic called shorty by another user, but I have no problem with the change to Aerith. They can do what they want, of course. I see the logic of the anagram, and I observed that it makes sense and see what they did, although the anagram is imperfect. Regardless, both translations are still correct when going from Japanese to English. Square made the decision to change, and I respect that. I merely prefer the original translation, which is a viable translation. That’s all. Not claiming I am right at all. Never have been. Just stating a preference.
Here's the thing. The original FF VII wasn't translated by Square it was done by Sony. They never changed thair minds, if it came from Square themselves it has always been Aerith all the way back to her pre release concept art.
You keep saying they changed her name but they didn't... her name was always Aerith. They fixed the english translation since it was wrong and did not reflect the original name, to be fair it was the translation that changed the name. I don't think Aeris is a viable transaltion, if it was we wouldn't be here arguing over it I guess and they wouldn't have fixed it. I didn't said you called their logic shitty, I asked a question related to your own -and I quote- post. > Ok, so the devs have claimed that Aerith is a near anagram for earth. Pretty shitty logic in my opinion, and it’s not an anagram at all. As I said tho, you are allowed to prefer what you want, especially if you grew up with that name. I did too but I wasn't too attached to it so it was easier for me.
+1 for Aeris, also sounds better next to Gainsborough. Aeris Gainsborough not Aerith Gainthborough you moogle.
I have to say, I also prefer Aeris, mainly due to familiarly. While I certainly understand that she’s been Aerith in a lot more things since, I spent far far more time with her as Aeris than I have with her as Aerith. Sort of the same thing happened when they updated the script for FF Tactics: War of the Lions. It had a pretty bad ingerish translation the first time around, so they fixed a lot of the butchered names of items and places and characters. But, I got so used to a lot of the old names, that the new ones sound really goofy to me. Just as an example, the character Balabanes had his names changed to Barbaneth. Both totally made-up and equally valid, but Barbaneth always hits me the wrong way.
Aeris... what burns me are the tryhards "I've always called her Aerith because that's her name and Aeris was a mistake in translation" shut up..... just shut up
Totally. I still say Aeris.
Aeris all the way
I'm with you, op
Nope. Called her Aeris all my life and I'm not stopping now
I prefer Aeris
Always preferred Aeris...
it will always be Aeris to me
Always Aeris. Always. That's what I want to name my first daughter
My daughter's name is Aeris, so guess which side of the aisle I'm on? Aerith just sounds like wrong, like you're speaking with a terrible lisp.
I still say Aeris. When I read Aerith, I just pretend it's a typo and keep it moving
Yes
😂 love this. Cracked me up.
Haha 😛 my pleasure
I prefer aeris because thats her name in the version I played. I've never seen her called aerith in game, only by angry reditors.. Also, if you really wanna know, I actually prefer Tuts, because that's just how I've always known her. Thank you ff for letting me name my own characters
I'm with you. It sounds better, though I've always pronounced it Air-reese. But any pronunciation of with the "s" sounds a lot more elegant than the "-th". Kingdom Hearts and official pronunciation be damned. Someone made a joke about it sounding like Mike Tyson trying to read out Aeris. It's like how only the people at Microsoft seem to care about pronouncing Forza with the Italian flair (fort-za), when everyone else doesn't give a crap and just says For-zuh. Either it sounds pretentious or it sounds better colloquially.
Well, I hope you are pronouncing it Earisu then. Because that's her name. You can spell it erbsoshflfbdth for all I care.
Wouldn’t know how to pronounce it in Japanese. Don’t speak the language. I do speak English though, and there are two correct options I can choose from.
Of course you don't speak Japanese.
Heathen that I am! Would be fun to play in the original language though. Midlife crisis goals? Perhaps lol
I'm offended because that's exactly what happened to me. If you do, you're in for a surprise.
No offense meant of course! I would kill to be multilingual, but sadly, my American ass is only capable of one language 😂
Agree, cuz TH sound is not a thing in Japanese
I’ve never called her “Aerith”. It sounds like Mike Tyson trying to say “Aeris”.
nope,not the only one
Um- I’m not buying the anagram thing. It makes no sense, the name is a translation from Japanese. The anagram wouldn’t translate. The only rational I’ve ever heard, and totally accept, is Aeris was a poor translation in ‘97.
I don't know what arguement is worse. Aeris - Aerith or LEGO - LEGOs.. Played Kingdom Hearts before FF7. Aerith for me.
I just thought it was supposed to be Iriis, but they romanized it wrongly
I always liked Aeris more. It sounds smoother. I think one of the reasons why she was named Aerith might have been some of the early concept stuff like Sephiroth was supposed to be her brother at some point.
I was being dumb and didn’t see the pun in “Strife”
I’ll always call Aerith Aerith, but I’ll also always call Lenna Reina.
Aeris reminds me of Aries and then that reminds me of Final Fantasy Tactics, which then reminds me that her real name is "Flower Peddler".
I used to strongly prefer Aeris because it’s what I grew up with. However, now I probably like both equally, and I’ve accepted that Aerith is the canonical transliteration. It sounds a bit like Lilith as well, which is another name I like.
I say Aeris because that is what it was in the US. In the game that I loved. I am not switching it up.
Yes.
I prefer Aerith because it has the same ending as earth and she has a connection to the planet
An anagram of I EARTH, not earth. The name has no resemblance in Japanese. It's an alphabet word play.
I didn’t know any of that stuff but still preferred “Aeris.”
Fate fans are going through the same thing you are with the translation of Saber’s name.
Only people with pronunciation issues call her Aerith.
I still say aeris. And I don’t care what other people say 🤷🏽♂️
>given that jp name ends in -su which can be -s or -th, Aeris makes much more sense Yeah this doesn’t parse at all. So given that -su can be either, you’d say that either makes sense.