Based on the pronunciations [here](http://www.saiga-
jp.com/pronunciation_voice.html), what I hear in Anime, and the way I hear
kana pronounced in Japanese class, it seems to me that Austin should start
with ア rather than オ, but it is clearly spelled with an オ
([reference](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%B3)).
Why is this? Am I somehow seriously misunderstanding the way kana are
pronounced?

I am assuming that the reason for this has to do with cot/caught merger in
English. It seems to me that British people would very likely pronounce words
like "Austin" with the オ sound. On the other hand, I pronounce Austin much
like [this guy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8buFjFAnyy4).

This issue is particularly important to me because my last name also contains
this same sound, and in class, I've been spelling it with an ア.
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pronunciation katakana loanwords
Why is Austin spelled with an オ?
It takes a long time but I think asking "why" is usually the wrong approach in
Japanese. At least I found it that way. Many of these words were adopted ages
ago. As such they are Japanese words... they're just based on their foreign
equivalents. Memorization & repetition is your friend.

Some others worth mentioning:

Bomb = ボム (I've seen this one done improperly as バム in a gaijin-run
restaurant) Paul = ポール Scott = スコット

Tons more. Wait until you have to remember if it's カ vs キャ. Ex: Cat = キャット,
Cut = カット, Carrot = キャロット, Carrier = キャリアー
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2014-10-26T22:30:14.993
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The main two factors in transcription from English to Japanese are

  1. (Japanese perception of) pronunciation in English
  2. spelling in English

Transcribing `au` as `オー` is the norm (note the lengthening!):

> audio オーディオ  
>  auction オークション  
>  Australia オーストラリア  
>  Austria オーストリア  
>  audition オーディション  
>  automatic オートマ (abbr.)  
>  aura オーラ
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