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A video game I've been playing has the following word in it:

アェウクス

I'm not familiar with アェ. Does it represent a specific sound? If so, what sound?

If it makes sense to do so, please include アィ・アゥ・ アォ in your answer.

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This is just a guess: In many European languages, the sound between a & e gives the "a" in "fat." Many languages don't have that sound, but it's considered somewhere between "a" (as in father) and "e" (as in pet). The Japanese ア is more like the "a" in "father," so if you wanted to specify the "a" in "fat," アェ seems reasonable. – AHelps Nov 27 '12 at 18:40

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up vote 17 down vote accepted

“アェ” is not a valid spelling of any sound in the standard usage of kana letters. If it is used to describe any sound (in a nonstandard way), I agree with AHelps that it probably describes “æ” sound.

However, according to web search, アェウクス is a password which appears in a video game “時空の覇者 Sa・Ga3.” As it is a video game, the password used in it does not have to be actually pronounceable. It is スクウェア (the name of the company who made the game) spelled backward.

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Ooh, I should have realized it was スクウェア backwards. Thank you! – snailboat♦ Nov 28 '12 at 4:44
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The company is now known as スクウェア・エニックス. – Kenzo Dec 1 '12 at 21:07
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I usually would do this in a comment, but I lack the reputation to do so.

http://translate.google.de/?q=%E3%82%A2%E3%82%A7%E3%82%A6%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9&sugexp=chrome,mod%3D10&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&sa=N&tab=wT

Click the "speaker" icon, usually Google gets those things quite right. Also I assume that you would rather spell the 'a' in 'fat' with a エ

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As I wrote, “アェ” cannot appear in any word according to the Japanese orthography, and therefore there is no correct pronunciation of it. Google Translate just treats it as アエ because アェ is not a valid spelling. – Tsuyoshi Ito Dec 2 '12 at 23:27

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