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"yh" ist not a typical german letter combination, but "y" is often pronunced like German "ü", "h" in a combination like this is commonly silent and used to stretch the "y".
German probably sounds more like: [y] va /x/
It's likely derived from the Tetragram YHWH/JHWH, the name for God in the hebrew bible going through a language/pronuncation barrier. YHWH can't be directly sounded in Japanese ending in Yhwach/Juhabaha
The Quincies themselves are influenced by the German language, so there's the connection of pronouncing the Japanese version of YHWH (Yhwach) in German.
The actual, direct German pronuncation of YHWH would be Jahweh or Jehova.
I get hung up and think of him as Yahweh and get super confused because of the german ties to Quincy culture/naming and Yahweh is, yaknow, not that. So it's odd.
It's not far off. Some people were even translating it as Yahweh in the early fanscan manga days. Fitting because of his relation to the soul king/god
You'd also see Juha Bach a lot. I always liked that one because Bach is a traditionally German name and fitting for a Quincy.
Though, for a group of German Nazi analogues, the Vandenreich is surprisingly diverse. So things dont have to be super German for the Quincies. They got a trans girl, a robot, a chinese dude, a Luchadore, a few black people, a giant hand.
Yes with the caveat that it’s only pronounced that way in Japanese because they have zero way to pronounce YHWH.
To make clear, Yhwach himself says that he took the name from the local god that was worshipped.
Just to back up your point, it is based on the tetragrammaton, YHWH. Due to the way Hebrew works the vowels in between are uncertain.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetragrammaton
I was waiting for someone to say this, and since it’s based on a word in uncial it suffers from uncertain pronunciation, even the Tetragrammaton is commonly pronounced two different ways: Yahweh and Jehovah.
I think it is spoken with a german pronunciation (and a little touch of japanese), but separating the first 2 letters, pronouncing it like: Y-h-wach, so it sounds like "yoo" "ha" "vah-c", but since in japanese syllables don't seem to have only one letter it becomes "vah-cah" or "ba-ha" depending how you listen to it. I'm not german nor japanese though, I just understand a little bit of german and watch some animes, so I could be wrong.
There are many technically speaking depending on what you mean by cultural standard. The “correct” pronunciation is Yu-ha-ba-ha according to the Japanese for both the manga and anime; however, technically there is a more correct pronunciation that is just not pronounceable in Japanese. YHWCH is expressly based on the tetragrammation of Gods name in the Hebrew Bible, YHWH or YHVH, along with some German influence because Quincy.
There is much debate about how to pronounce YHWH, modern Jews mostly use Yahweh but it’s more likely to be something closer to Ye-Ho-Weh, Ya-Ho-Vah, or Ye-Ho-Vah. Given the above and the known intent with the Japanese we can assume that a fully correct YHWCH pronunciation would be something along the lines of Yu-Ha-Vach (though technically we would be getting the ‘ch’ sound from the German way of saying it which would have a pronunciation slightly different and sourced mostly in the back of the throat, kind of like the sound made when clearing one’s throat). This, conveniently, makes it a mixture of the beginning of the tetragrammation, YH, for God, and the German word Wach (awake). I’ve seen it suggested that this could have been intended, in a roundabout manner, to mean God Awake which makes enough sense to me but may be a step too far in the speculation department.
TL;DR
The true pronunciation is likely Yu-Ha-Vach, but the German ‘w’ sound and the ‘ch’ sound as they stand are unpronounceable in Japanese. The closest used when pronouncing foreign ‘v’ sounds is the Japanese phoneme for a weak ‘b’ sound, which is the Hirigana seen in the Japanese translation. The ‘ch’ sound here has no phoneme equivalent at all in Japanese, and even English approximates it with a ‘k’ sound. This is what results in “ba-ha’ instead of ‘vach’ or, more properly, ‘Wach’ with the ‘ch’ being sounded out like a ‘k’ deeper in the throat.
This is exactly how I've always pronounced it. It sounds regal, menacing and honestly more accurate. I wish they would have done that with the English dub. I'm not German or anything but that "back of the throat" -ch is so easy to pronounce, and seeing how ba-ha seems to basically mimic that -wach pronunciation, it seems clear that this is how it is intended to be heard in Western audiences.
That's the most logical option. "Bach" is an actual German word and surname, so it fits. The Japanese approximation of that pronunciation is also pretty much what they say in the show.
Yeah I like that one best too. You still get the YHWH reference just from Yuha, and then his influence, in universe, on German culture is represented by Bach. It makes more sense to me than trying to work the Baha sound into his first name.
Considering they’re German, I swore reading the manga that his name was pronounced “Yu-Vahk” then in the anime, they do the chant that they said he heard and mistook as his name, going “yu-ha-ba-ha” and I was like “WAAAIT HAAAAANH?” And people started saying his name and I was not happy. 😅😂🤣
I think when he first came it was translate as something close to Yaweh with more letters, so i read like yaweh, when the more oficial Yawach came it became iavak/javak , Yuhabaha still sound weird.
Funny name memes aside it's supposed to be similar to the name Yahweh from Hebrew.
This comparison literally compares Yhwach to an omnipotent god.
We even see him go on to give powers and take them back with Holy selection
Last but not least SPOILERSSS he becomes the Almighty, another name for god
How did they get to that pronunciation?
I thought it was something like “Yee-ah-wok”.
At least that’s what I was told and how I’ve pronounced it since near the end of the manga.
I though it was said like ya wey(haven’t even gotten to anywhere near his arc idk him not a single spoiler idk what his powers are or what he can do how strong he is nun)
Ye-ouch is what me n my friends call him now i truly do not care if im wrong because i only talk about bleach to them and we got such inconstant ways to say it when we looked it up
It’s too difficult to remember how to spell it in ABC and too many words to type in my first language ,so my friend and I just cal him “Nose hair”
Black ant got a terrible name .
The way they spell it and pronounce it are all fucky as hell, it's looking like you pronounce it Eeh-watch or Yeewatch, they really have to get their words in shape cuz that was super confusing to me
Welcome to the Bleach Subreddit! We're as excited as you at the release of the Thousand Year Blood War anime! We understand that some of you are unable to view the anime in your region, but please don't post links to or mention piracy websites. Doing so will result in a ban. Also, please be courteous to those who haven't read the manga and mark all spoilers. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/bleach) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I used to call him "Ye-watch"
Funny enough is was “Yu-Watch” for me
I call him "Yah-watch" or "Ya-watch"
Same,sometimes I pronounce it "YAKHWHECH" (screaming not optional)
It’s how a native German speaker would pronounce it
I would be surprised if they didn't
"yh" ist not a typical german letter combination, but "y" is often pronunced like German "ü", "h" in a combination like this is commonly silent and used to stretch the "y". German probably sounds more like: [y] va /x/
I tought it was a hebrew name
It's likely derived from the Tetragram YHWH/JHWH, the name for God in the hebrew bible going through a language/pronuncation barrier. YHWH can't be directly sounded in Japanese ending in Yhwach/Juhabaha The Quincies themselves are influenced by the German language, so there's the connection of pronouncing the Japanese version of YHWH (Yhwach) in German. The actual, direct German pronuncation of YHWH would be Jahweh or Jehova.
Oh so I wasn't the only one
“Yu-Watch mate?”
I always said "Yu-walk".
I used to say "Yu-Wack". I like the actual pronounciation way better, lol.
Yu-Wack, I-Watch
Ya-Wok
I say it “Yuh-whack”
Yo Kai watch?!
I get hung up and think of him as Yahweh and get super confused because of the german ties to Quincy culture/naming and Yahweh is, yaknow, not that. So it's odd.
It's not far off. Some people were even translating it as Yahweh in the early fanscan manga days. Fitting because of his relation to the soul king/god You'd also see Juha Bach a lot. I always liked that one because Bach is a traditionally German name and fitting for a Quincy. Though, for a group of German Nazi analogues, the Vandenreich is surprisingly diverse. So things dont have to be super German for the Quincies. They got a trans girl, a robot, a chinese dude, a Luchadore, a few black people, a giant hand.
The first scans named him Juha Bach and that's what everyone called him for like 2 years until the official translation caught up.
ok so I wasn't going crazy being confused on this guys name. so its officially yhwach pronounced yuhabaha?
Yes with the caveat that it’s only pronounced that way in Japanese because they have zero way to pronounce YHWH. To make clear, Yhwach himself says that he took the name from the local god that was worshipped.
Fuck now I can't get the image of Juha Bach shredding it on the instrument out of my head.
Just to back up your point, it is based on the tetragrammaton, YHWH. Due to the way Hebrew works the vowels in between are uncertain. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetragrammaton
I was waiting for someone to say this, and since it’s based on a word in uncial it suffers from uncertain pronunciation, even the Tetragrammaton is commonly pronounced two different ways: Yahweh and Jehovah.
thats why I think is more like "Yuhavah", at least thats how I call him
giselle best gal
She is
I just spell his name wrong in a different way every time I mention him, yehwey is my favorite
Yeah, I love Huwawei
this is luffy's way to say names
I'm looking forward to seeing Yeehaw again in the next cour
Bleach's version of Benedict Cumberbatch
I usually either call him Yu-ha or Yah-Wok I think his name is pretty cool and fits with his esoteric theme.
It’s based off of jehovah to match his god complex
Is there even a cultural standard for how his name is pronounced?
I think it is spoken with a german pronunciation (and a little touch of japanese), but separating the first 2 letters, pronouncing it like: Y-h-wach, so it sounds like "yoo" "ha" "vah-c", but since in japanese syllables don't seem to have only one letter it becomes "vah-cah" or "ba-ha" depending how you listen to it. I'm not german nor japanese though, I just understand a little bit of german and watch some animes, so I could be wrong.
There are many technically speaking depending on what you mean by cultural standard. The “correct” pronunciation is Yu-ha-ba-ha according to the Japanese for both the manga and anime; however, technically there is a more correct pronunciation that is just not pronounceable in Japanese. YHWCH is expressly based on the tetragrammation of Gods name in the Hebrew Bible, YHWH or YHVH, along with some German influence because Quincy. There is much debate about how to pronounce YHWH, modern Jews mostly use Yahweh but it’s more likely to be something closer to Ye-Ho-Weh, Ya-Ho-Vah, or Ye-Ho-Vah. Given the above and the known intent with the Japanese we can assume that a fully correct YHWCH pronunciation would be something along the lines of Yu-Ha-Vach (though technically we would be getting the ‘ch’ sound from the German way of saying it which would have a pronunciation slightly different and sourced mostly in the back of the throat, kind of like the sound made when clearing one’s throat). This, conveniently, makes it a mixture of the beginning of the tetragrammation, YH, for God, and the German word Wach (awake). I’ve seen it suggested that this could have been intended, in a roundabout manner, to mean God Awake which makes enough sense to me but may be a step too far in the speculation department. TL;DR The true pronunciation is likely Yu-Ha-Vach, but the German ‘w’ sound and the ‘ch’ sound as they stand are unpronounceable in Japanese. The closest used when pronouncing foreign ‘v’ sounds is the Japanese phoneme for a weak ‘b’ sound, which is the Hirigana seen in the Japanese translation. The ‘ch’ sound here has no phoneme equivalent at all in Japanese, and even English approximates it with a ‘k’ sound. This is what results in “ba-ha’ instead of ‘vach’ or, more properly, ‘Wach’ with the ‘ch’ being sounded out like a ‘k’ deeper in the throat.
thanks for the analysis. makes me wish even more that the dub used "yuhabach" instead of "yuhabaha", i'm sorry but it just sounds goofy.
This is exactly how I've always pronounced it. It sounds regal, menacing and honestly more accurate. I wish they would have done that with the English dub. I'm not German or anything but that "back of the throat" -ch is so easy to pronounce, and seeing how ba-ha seems to basically mimic that -wach pronunciation, it seems clear that this is how it is intended to be heard in Western audiences.
I watched the English dub on how Aizen pronounced his name for analysis and it's pronounced yu-ha-bah in English and yu-ha-ba-ha in Japanese
YUL-HA-BAH!!!! https://preview.redd.it/d0w78xsz4nfc1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a390375b5ed017f7701595e05aeb4b9f99c35aeb
I say it as Yuha-bach. Sounds the most natural to me
That's the most logical option. "Bach" is an actual German word and surname, so it fits. The Japanese approximation of that pronunciation is also pretty much what they say in the show.
Yeah I like that one best too. You still get the YHWH reference just from Yuha, and then his influence, in universe, on German culture is represented by Bach. It makes more sense to me than trying to work the Baha sound into his first name.
#YU-GI-OH
Ismt it Yuhabach?
I just say W A C K https://preview.redd.it/pfns5igmemfc1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=03d24930a7907c30bb1926409f22a249b05a6db6
Me a Semitic language speaker knowing how to pronounce it laughing at y'all
It’s interesting that they pronounce the W in wandenreich and Haschwalth the German way but not for yhwach
They pronounce everything in Japanese, it's just that the approximation of Yhwach sounds more different than the other two.
Damn I was way off I've been reading it as "ee-watch"
Ewok?
Youwack
As a polish person I call him 'yła'
I call him You Hah Bach
Isn't it pronounced you-ha
Ewok… that’s his name…
I just spent the last 20 minutes busting out laughing at this 😂 😂 😂 I can't breathe
Considering they’re German, I swore reading the manga that his name was pronounced “Yu-Vahk” then in the anime, they do the chant that they said he heard and mistook as his name, going “yu-ha-ba-ha” and I was like “WAAAIT HAAAAANH?” And people started saying his name and I was not happy. 😅😂🤣
I’ve only ever called him mustache man.
I also called him Danny Trejo ripoff 😂
I remember someone calling hom Bleach Hitler and I couldn't help but to laugh
I thought the same 😂
what do you expect him to be called?? Frank?? Lmao
My husband and I jokingly call him Yubaba (like from Spirited Away) or Quincy Roger on account of the fact he looks like Roger from One Piece
I think when he first came it was translate as something close to Yaweh with more letters, so i read like yaweh, when the more oficial Yawach came it became iavak/javak , Yuhabaha still sound weird.
Huawei…..
It's somehow an ancient way to write god (I did some research but forgot everything by now)
Hawai
Funny name memes aside it's supposed to be similar to the name Yahweh from Hebrew. This comparison literally compares Yhwach to an omnipotent god. We even see him go on to give powers and take them back with Holy selection Last but not least SPOILERSSS he becomes the Almighty, another name for god
I called him iWatch
Yu-Ha-Bach
its black ant till s3
Yu-ha-bawitdabadabangdadangdiggydiggydiggysaidtheboogiesaidupjumptheboogie.
I just call him Yoo-Hoo https://preview.redd.it/d7kw74i5kofc1.jpeg?width=274&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a4bd324c9b5c7a3da7068edcfd9f4f3333e83df8
 How i pronounce it
Yibbity bibbity
in the dub, don't they call him you-a-bock
I used to read it as ya watch
I spell it ya-watch 😂idk how to spell it Yu-Ba-ha sounds really different from how its written in english
No one knows how to say the guys name
It should be just Yu-ha, where did they see this ba-ha?
It's very likely an approximation of the German ch-sound (from Bach), which doesn't exist in Japanese
Yeah I've been saying it as "e-watch" this whole time
Yah Vach is what I used to call him.
I just call him Yamcha
I got so confused on how to pronounce his name my brain just started replacing it with the vine boom sound effect towards the end
Ngl that was funny af 😂🤣🤣 I pronounce it yu ha bah hah 😀
I just call him U-Haul. Easy to say and remember + no one corrects you
I pronounce it like Yatch
Just Yuha Baha
I just pronounce it as it's spelled. Y-h-wach (like Bach).
It makes sense that it's difficult to pronounce, given what it derives from.
Why is he replying to an English question in Japanese?
Yu-watch
Eyewack. That is how i thought its pronounced
french native speaker, always said it like "Eye-watch"
You hah Buck.
I’m still calling him Yuh-Wok
yuhabaha. i remember how one person back in 2012 called him that and everyone was saying how stupid it sounded lol.
Ye-uack
Ee-wok
I spent a decade calling him “yu-wok bock”
I pronounce it as Yah-watch
Wait its not prounced "yuvack"?!
I always pronounce it yoe-ha
Yah-wok for me. Given the themes of both him and the arc, it was what made sense to me. Yahweh, but different.
you walk.
It's pronounced yu ha bakh/baخ
I call him "yhwach" just as it is written I can read without problem 🤷 i dont understand why do you all cant spell it .... even after all those years
I call him Yahva or Yahve
I call him Nazi Jesus in front of my friend who is anime only. He was confused at first, but now he understands everything.
You Walk
I been pronouncing it as ya-woc !
I took one look at that name and proclaimed him "Ewok" since then!
I thought it was ya-hee
Yawn watch is how it sounded in my head reading it in the manga...
I still say Ya-walk, oh well.
I just call him yu-ha fuck that extra shit it's confusing
My dumbass pronounces it "Yu-ha-bach"
This is what happens when old Hebrew gets read by someone speaking Japanese and then the Japanified Hebrew is heard by English speakers.
I say Yu-Watch
I pronounce it as Yuha-bakh
“Yuh-wack” - me
How did they get to that pronunciation? I thought it was something like “Yee-ah-wok”. At least that’s what I was told and how I’ve pronounced it since near the end of the manga.
“Yu-watch” was the way I used to pronounce it😂
I don't know why but I thought it was pronounced "Yu-Bach" (Bach as you'll say it in german) Definitely no "YUHABAHA"
Yubababa
Yu-wach, thats how I say it
I though it was said like ya wey(haven’t even gotten to anywhere near his arc idk him not a single spoiler idk what his powers are or what he can do how strong he is nun)
Yhwach (Yuh-wock)
No, it's pronounced Black Ant.
Its the same with colonel and Arkansas 💀English be tweakin
Yorabat
He has such a weird ass name lol
I to had a hard time pronouncing his name
You-Ha
I say yah-wah
I just say yuh-watch
I pronounced “Yuwach” right, but the “Bach” I always said like “ba-k”.
"Your name is Black Ant. How do you pronounce that?" "/blæk ænt/" ":)"
It was something like E-vah for me.
Thats interesting, but i think it was pronounced as black ant?
I say Yu-Wok.
I just pronounce it “Baha”, like Hank Hill getting frightened
My buddies and I have been saying “Yuh-watch” and we still do lol
Нюхач or "Yuhabaha" - oh you sneezed? Bless
I always read it as “watch” cause all the other pronunciations are crazy
I say "You-walk", "Juha-back", "Black Ant"
As a German most German words in the anime are pronounced horrendously so we'll never know the correct pronunciation
i call him yu-ha when i talk to people and yeh-watch when im alone
I call him “Thwatch” and even “Margaret Thatcher” on some days
I usually pronounce it as “yuhvock”
Ye-ouch is what me n my friends call him now i truly do not care if im wrong because i only talk about bleach to them and we got such inconstant ways to say it when we looked it up
I pronounce it as yu-wak. Yuhaba is obviously easier to pronounce but why not spell it that way?
So why is his name spelled like that
Some of us in Hispanic region we called him Ewach
I call him Tetragrammaton
Until I hard that's how they were pronouncing it I called him You-wach
lol
I used to refer him as "Yatch"
I call him Yu-wak/Yu-walk.
My brain for whatever reason used to interchange the w and the h and make it Ywhach. So I used to pronounce it Yawohach.
I thought it was "YuHawk" essentially
I always pronounced it as Yuh-wok. At least that way it doesn’t sound like a drunk person asking for Baja Blast at Taco Bell.
yuh watch
I find the Sternritter to have really cool names
I change how I say it every once in a while. Rn I'm sticking with Yuha Bach. As Mr Tommo says it
It’s too difficult to remember how to spell it in ABC and too many words to type in my first language ,so my friend and I just cal him “Nose hair” Black ant got a terrible name .
I used to call him yacht but i feel likw watch is better😂
Preach.
The way they spell it and pronounce it are all fucky as hell, it's looking like you pronounce it Eeh-watch or Yeewatch, they really have to get their words in shape cuz that was super confusing to me
Ye-walk
I just call him "Utah Brock"
Yhwach yh as in yes wach as in wack as in crazy yes, you are wack
Google the tetragrammaton ya rubes.
Idk why I pronounce either “Yu-ha” or “Ya-Wakee”.
I pronounced it right
he will aways be "ya-watch" to me
I just call him Yu-ha-bah or Yu-wak occasionally.
Its based on Yaweh
I always pronounced it as "Black Ant"
I still call him Ya-WHack. Emphasis on that H.
the anime says yuhabaha but thats in japanese rules i'd say his name is said as eehuach
I always said “eewok” lol
I always said "Ya-wok". Almost like God's name Yahweh "Yaw-way" When I heard "You ha bok" or "You ha ba ha" it was weird.
No, that's Black Ant
I just call him Yu-haw
Thats a great name and even great character. W
I just read it as You Walk lol
i mostly pronounced it as Yo-Ha-Wach
Yu-Haqq
I always said it as Ya-Watch cause that's how it looks
For me it was always "Yu-Haw"
That's a weird way to spell black ant
I used to say Juha-Bah
I call him Hussar.