How do you pronounce HAMON?

Ha! I wish I knew... ;)

I asked Hiroko Kapp this very thing. Her and her husband Leo, are the authors of The Craft of The Japanese Sword.

The way Hiroko pronounces it, to me, sounds like ha-mun.

But just about every American bladesmith I know pronounces it ha-moan.

I've listened carefully to Japanese swordsmith videos, and it's really hard to tell.
 
You don't even want to know how I pronounce it... let's just say it's not suitable for a family-friendly forum.
 
Ha-mun here. Just 'cause I want to say it that way. And also because I heard that's how the Kapps pronounced it.
 
This video is awesome... after watching it Japanese terminology and pronunciation will make a lot more sense.

[video=youtube_share;8daxlCwXunc]http://youtu.be/8daxlCwXunc[/video]
 
Well I must say that I didn't expect quite so many replies. I was saying ham-on and I had a pretty good idea that was not right. The reason I asked was that I finally have one (hamon) and I wanted to pronounce it properly when I show it off. Steve B
 
I heard it pronounced ha-mon on a documentary type thing on the history channel. I'm gonna go ahead and keep saying ham-on though. Just like katana. Properly pronounced cat-an-a but I'll stick with ka-tahn-a.;)
 
If you build/collect Japanese knives and swords then you should use proper Japanese pronunciation, whatever it is :D

If you make bowies, or any "western" world knives, - ha-mon, ha-moon will be ok.
 
As Murry showed, it is Hah - moan

I was told that ha is edge and mon is wave/line. The word means roughly, "ripples along the shore"..... or "wavy edge line".

I have also had it explained that mon is the "distinctive mark" of something ( a mon is a clan crest) and ha-mon means distinctive edge mark.
 
I'm sticking with the Jamaican derivation. Hey-Mon! With appropriate reggae syllabic emphasis... and maybe a dance move just to look more like 'the whitest guy in the room.'

-Eric
 
Welcome to Bladeforums, Josh. You should look at the date of a thread you pull up in a search. This one is two years old. Posting on old threads is called "necroposting" , and should be avoided.
 
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