Liquid phonemes in Ace Combat

The emblem of Galm Team; "Galm" is an improper localization of "Garm"

Liquid phonemes are voiced consonants that distinguish one word from another, depending on the sound. The Japanese language only has one liquid phoneme, /r/, while the English language has two: /r/ and /l/. As a result, Japanese speakers who learn English as a second language tend to have difficulty in differentiating between the English /r/ and /l/ sounds. When Ace Combat games are localized from Japanese to English, the letters "R" and "L" in various names tend to be incorrectly substituted for one another.

Description

Many languages, including English, have two liquid consonants: one lateral and one rhotic. When these consonants are voiced, they are referred to as phonemes. To English speakers, lateral consonants sound like the English "L", whereas rhotic consonants sound like the English "R". This is exemplified in the words led and red.

The Japanese language only has one liquid consonant that is traditionally romanized as "R" but can also be romanized as "L", depending on the phonetic context. This leads to Japanese speakers having difficulty discerning between the English "R" and "L", since they sound very similar. The slang term Engrish is derived from this issue (the "L" in "English" being replaced by "R"). This leads to errors in the localization of various products, including Ace Combat games.

There are two related speech sound disorders: lambdacism, which is the difficulty in pronouncing lateral consonants (the English "L"), and rhotacism, which is the difficulty in pronouncing rhotic consonants (the English "R"). The combination of lambdacism and rhotacism is sometimes referred to as lallation.

Examples

Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere

The names of the R-531 Mobura and the UI-4052 Cralias are supposed to be "Mobula" and "Clarias", respectively. Mobula is a genus of rays, and Clarias is a genus of catfish, following Neucom Incorporated's convention of naming aircraft after fish (R-101 Delphinus #1, etc).

The word "Flight" in Connection For Flight Interface was incorrectly spelled as "Fright" on a lore page for New Space Order -Link of Life-, part of the United Galaxy Space Force continuity.

Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies

The crater next to Farbanti is referred to by in-game dialogue as "Crater Ryker" (レイカークレーター). The maps of Strangereal released afterward changed the crater's name to "Laker Crater".

Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War

The bay northwest of Heierlark Air Force Base is referred to as "Aurick Bay" in a cutscene but as "Aulick Bay" in briefing maps. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown showed that an attack took place at "Aulick Port" in the bay.

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War

The name of Galm Team comes from Garmr, the guardian of Hel's gate. Ace Combat: Joint Assault changed the unit's name to "Garm" in the mission "Ace of Aces".

The Ruchs Transport Unit should have been named "Luchs Transport Unit". In keeping with Belka's similarities to the German language, "Luchs" is German for "lynx".

Directus was initially displayed as "Dilectus" in Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War briefing maps.

During the mission briefing for "The Final Overture", the briefing officer names the operation as "Operation Bloom". The detailed enemy display names the operation as Operation Broom.

Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception

The name of the XR-45 Cariburn should be "Caliburn", the name of Excalibur in the verse Roman de Brut.

Ace Combat: Joint Assault

The name of the Orgoi is believed to be a misspelling of "olgoi", referring to the Mongolian death worm.

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy

The ACE COMBAT 3D: CROSS RUMBLE Original Soundtrack features a track incorrectly titled "Zone of Endress". The track plays during two of the player's encounters with Zone of Endless.