#nyasu

so, phonetic transpositions are commonplace, right? You adapt the sounds of one language to the phonetics of another and vice versa, it’s used in translation and transliteration, where a lot of original meaning is lost in the process.

BUT Nyasu<=>Meowth is a phonetic transposition, a transliteration, and a direct translation at the same time! Meow and Nya are both established words that mean the same thing: the noise a cat makes. And ス (su) is how θ̼ (voiceless ‘th’) is adapted to Japanese phonetics.