I've just bought a really nice used '02 2.5RS and was showing it to a Japanese co-worker the other day. He's just come over from Japan two months ago and told me that his brother has one back home. He also corrected me on the pronunciation of Impreza. He says that in Japan they say it like "Impressa" instead of the "Imprezza" that I've always heard. Has anybody else ever heard it that way?

Most other countries pronounce it Impret-za. That's assuming they're speaking English. :p

Easiest solution:

"Imp"

Europeans pronounce it "impret-za" Aussies pronounce it imm-prezza" Northamericans "imprezz-a" Asians "impress-a"

A little tidbit: in chinese subaru is a "broom road!" for the most part.

Because in Japanese the pronunciation of the syllable "za" becomes either "sah" or "jyah" (no provision for this sound in English - more like a voiced "sh" or a "jya"). The "sah" sound is simpler and flows more naturally.

Ok, I just checked on the Japanese Subaru site and the romanization of the Japanese is 'inpuressa', so the 'impressa' pronunciation is probably the closest to what Subaru originally intended it to be.

Oh, and cjbruce- sorry, but yes Japanese people do use the sound 'za' just like the English sound. I'm not sure why it's written as 'impreza' in English, but the Japanese ends in 'sa'... according to the website that is. Then again, words always seem to get butchered going from one language to another for some reason.

Hope that helps someone.

Ok, I just checked on the Japanese Subaru site and the romanization of the Japanese is 'inpuressa', so the 'impressa' pronunciation is probably the closest to what Subaru originally intended it to be.

Oh, and cjbruce- sorry, but yes Japanese people do use the sound 'za' just like the English sound. I'm not sure why it's written as 'impreza' in English, but the Japanese ends in 'sa'... according to the website that is. Then again, words always seem to get butchered going from one language to another for some reason.

Hope that helps someone.:D

Most of the translations that I've seen say "In Presser", I've seen it spelled z, zz, ss, I'd say say it the way you want to, ie. tomato vs tomato(e).

p.s. Based on those same translations, I personally say it with a S sound, Impressa, but that's just me.

namakemotoRS is right, there is indeed a "za" sound in Japanese. So I have no idea why they say "inpuressa" and we say "impreza". I would think "inpuressa" would flow easily from a Japanese tongue than "inpurezza", and likewise, "Impreza" looks cooler when written in english than "Impresa"

I wouldn't worry about using Japanese pronounciations when referring to Japanese products. It's ok to pronounce it Mazda, not Matsuda :)

In Polski Impreza can mean a party or celebration

Subaru with a risnig contour tone in chinese can also mean "Broom Guy"

:lol:

The guy from iron chef says im pree za, american "za" but pree with an "e" sound

I wish i could use the IPA on the net :(

we had a couple Japaniess students stay with us while they went to school when we lived in FL... and they couldn't say their "L's" very well ... pronounced more as "R's" so Z's are now S's and L's are now R's.. so.. we drive Subaru Impressas and Subaru Regacy's :lol:

My wife is Japanese and she says Imprezza...