# Hilux pronunciation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 29, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilux-pronunciation/753423 "2016-04-29T14:15:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilux-pronunciation/753423/1 "2016-04-29T14:15:16Z")
I asked this about the Toyota truck in another thread, but didn’t see an answer. What is the proper pronunciation of Hilux? My dad had one, way before they became the Tacoma. We pronounced it ‘high-lux’, as in ‘high luxury’. But I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it pronounced ‘hee-lux’ on _Top Gear_. This is the pronunciation suggested by the spelling; but ‘high-lux’ makes more sense for a car (even if that car is a truck). ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2016, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilux-pronunciation/753423/2 "2016-04-29T14:28:43Z")
According to Wikipedia, the name does come from “high luxury”. The Japanese transliteration is “hai rakkusu.” Top Gear often intentionally mispronounces car names for comedic effect, though I don’t know if that’s the case here. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilux-pronunciation/753423/3 "2016-04-30T02:38:32Z")
In case it isn’t clear, the hai in _hai rakkusu_ is like our word “high.” And the u’s are often devoiced, and are only added because Japanese is syllabic (always following a consonant with a vowel) so you get something that sounds more like “high rucks.” Throw in the r/l thing, and you realize they’re saying “high-lucks” the best they can in Japanese.