AniDB Definition:Romanisation: Difference between revisions
(Hepburn is only correct in phonetic sense, all other romanizations are not less correct. One symbol save is really not a good reason.) |
(Hepburn is *not* a correct phonetic transcription, and it's misleading to imply 'other romanisaton schemes' as a reason to not use particle special cases) |
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''When used as a particle, transcribe へ as 'e' rather than 'he''' | ''When used as a particle, transcribe へ as 'e' rather than 'he''' | ||
* Better represents the pronunciation | * Better represents the pronunciation | ||
* Established Hepburn rule, and widespead usage by those who | * Established Hepburn rule, and widespead usage by those who follow transcription rules strictly | ||
* Titles will save one character per へ particle | * Titles will save one character per へ particle | ||
''Always transcribe へ as 'he', even when particle'' | ''Always transcribe へ as 'he', even when particle'' | ||
* Once less rule to remember | * Once less rule to remember | ||
* Common practice amoungst fansubbers | * Common practice amoungst fansubbers | ||
* Some titles including the particle へ are generally called by names romanised with 'e' by fans | * Some titles including the particle へ are generally called by names romanised with 'e' by fans | ||
:{{a2|1321|Kita He. ~Diamond Dust Drops~|北へ。 ~Diamond Dust Drops~}} also particularly resistant to using more sensible [[AniDB_Definition:_Kanji_%26_Romaji#Punctuation|punctuation]]. | :{{a2|1321|Kita He. ~Diamond Dust Drops~|北へ。 ~Diamond Dust Drops~}} also particularly resistant to using more sensible [[AniDB_Definition:_Kanji_%26_Romaji#Punctuation|punctuation]]. | ||
Line 71: | Line 71: | ||
''When used as a particle, transcribe を as 'o' rather than 'wo''' | ''When used as a particle, transcribe を as 'o' rather than 'wo''' | ||
* Better represents the pronunciation | * Better represents the pronunciation | ||
* Established Hepburn rule, and widespead usage by those who | * Established Hepburn rule, and widespead usage by those who follow transcription rules strictly | ||
''Always transcribe を as 'o', even when particle'' | ''Always transcribe を as 'o', even when particle'' | ||
* Once less rule to remember | * Once less rule to remember | ||
* Common practice amoungst fansubbers | * Common practice amoungst fansubbers | ||
* Many titles including the particle を are generally called by names romanised with 'wo' by fans | * Many titles including the particle を are generally called by names romanised with 'wo' by fans | ||
:{{a2|21|Full Moon wo Sagashite|満月(フルムーン)をさがして}} | :{{a2|21|Full Moon wo Sagashite|満月(フルムーン)をさがして}} |
Revision as of 14:44, 31 July 2005
The information on this page is provided as guidelines on the use of romanised Japanese (rōmaji) in AniDB. Please be aware that this is not an exact science, there are many viable solutions to the same problem, though when submitting change requests on romanised titles users are expected to adhere to the 'house style' of the database. When there is contention over a particular issue, this page will provide both alternatives. External links to Wikipedia are provided throughout for ideas and terms that might be unfamiliar.
What romanised titles are for
- Primarily, to provide a transcription of the Japanese title that is aurally recognisable and readable by a user with little or no knowledge of the language. In using roman script, this is obviously targeted at speakers of European languages, however as this consitutes a majority of the poulation of AniDB users, this is a fair restriction.
- Secondary purposes include corresponding with other transcriptions, assisting novices in reading unfamiliar words, enabling rough pronunciation of titles, providing an alternative method of searching for a japanese title, and clarification of the reading of a particular word or phrase where it might be ambiguous.
What romanised titles aren't for
- There is no requirement to be able to reconstruct the original title from romanised form. With three distinct scripts plus roman, a wide range of homophones, and typographic intricacies such as furigana usage, this is beyond the scope of a 26 letter alphabet. In all cases the Japanese title should be presented as well, a romanised form is in no way a replacement for this.
- Romanisation need not be a lossless transliteration of Japanese spelling. Though less so than English, Japanese pronunciation deviates somewhat from the phonemic spelling. As the aim is to provide an aurally recognisable transcription, it is more important to better reflect the sound than exact spelling.
- Romanised titles do not need to provide a basis for correct Japanese collation of titles. This is a technical problem that would be better handled correctly through its own system, and would interfere with the primary purpose of the romanisation.
Hepburn romanisation
The Hepburn romanisation system was devised for a Japanese–English dictionary, published in 1867. Despite having no official status, variations of it are used for a vast majority of transcriptions, both inside and outside Japan. Unlike the two other main romanisation schemes, it concentrates of representing Japanese phonology rather than the underlying spelling.
Table of kana romanisation
Each mora represented in the kana spelling of a Japanese word can be transcribed into roman letters according to the table below, with a few special cases that are listed in the following sections. The hiragana is on the left, katakana is on the right.
Table adpated from wikipedia article on Hepburn, doesn't place this page under GFDL, because facts are not copyrightable. Copyright only protects things that are creative, and this table isn't.. Obsolete kana are shown in red.
あ a ア | い i イ | う u ウ | え e エ | お o オ | (ya) | (yu) | (yo) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
か ka カ | き ki キ | く ku ク | け ke ケ | こ ko コ | きゃ kya キャ | きゅ kyu キュ | きょ kyo キョ |
さ sa サ | し shi シ | す su ス | せ se セ | そ so ソ | しゃ sha シャ | しゅ shu シュ | しょ sho ショ |
た ta タ | ち chi チ | つ tsu ツ | て te テ | と to ト | ちゃ cha チャ | ちゅ chu チュ | ちょ cho チョ |
な na ナ | に ni ニ | ぬ nu ヌ | ね ne ネ | の no ノ | にゃ nya ニャ | にゅ nyu ニュ | にょ nyo ニョ |
は ha ハ | ひ hi ヒ | ふ fu フ | へ he ヘ | ほ ho ホ | ひゃ hya ヒャ | ひゅ hyu ヒュ | ひょ hyo ヒョ |
ま ma マ | み mi ミ | む mu ム | め me メ | も mo モ | みゃ mya ミャ | みゅ myu ミュ | みょ myo ミョ |
や ya ヤ | ゆ yu ユ | よ yo ヨ | |||||
ら ra ラ | り ri リ | る ru ル | れ re レ | ろ ro ロ | りゃ rya リャ | りゅ ryu リュ | りょ ryo リョ |
わ wa ワ | ゐ wi ヰ | ゑ we ヱ | を wo ヲ | ||||
ん n ン | |||||||
が ga ガ | ぎ gi ギ | ぐ gu グ | げ ge ゲ | ご go ゴ | ぎゃ gya ギャ | ぎゅ gyu ギュ | ぎょ gyo ギョ |
ざ za ザ | じ ji ジ | ず zu ズ | ぜ ze ゼ | ぞ zo ゾ | じゃ ja ジャ | じゅ ju ジュ | じょ jo ジョ |
だ da ダ | ぢ (ji) ヂ | づ (zu) ヅ | で de デ | ど do ド | ぢゃ (ja) ヂャ | ぢゅ (ju) ヂュ | ぢょ (jo) ヂョ |
ば ba バ | び bi ビ | ぶ bu ブ | べ be ベ | ぼ bo ボ | びゃ bya ビャ | びゅ byu ビュ | びょ byo ビョ |
ぱ pa パ | ぴ pi ピ | ぷ pu プ | ぺ pe ペ | ぽ po ポ | ぴゃ pya ピャ | ぴゅ pyu ピュ | ぴょ pyo ピョ |
Extended Katakana - These are used mainly to represent the sounds in words in other languages. Most of these are not formally standardized and some are very rarely used. | |||||||
ye イェ | |||||||
wi ウィ | we ウェ | wo ウォ | |||||
va ヷ | vi ヸ | ve ヹ | vo ヺ | ||||
va ヴァ | vi ヴィ | vu ヴ | ve ヴェ | vo ヴォ | |||
she シェ | |||||||
je ジェ | |||||||
ti ティ | tu トゥ | che チェ | tyu テュ | ||||
di ディ | du ドゥ | dyu デュ | |||||
tsa ツァ | tsi ツィ | tse ツェ | tso ツォ | ||||
fa ファ | fi フィ | fe フェ | fo フォ | fyu フュ |
Possibly add modern katakana here as well
Special cases
Hepburn also has a few extra rules to deal with particular cases, the ones below the AniDB house style adheres to.
The particle spelling rules exist to reflect modern japanese pronunciation, note there are other features that Hepburn does not attempt to reflect, for instance the frequent dropping of the vowel /u/ (です is only pronounced 'desu' by kids), largely because there's no easy rule that could always be applied. The 'small tsu' rules reflect the fact it used in two rather different ways, and the syllabic n case is to deal with the problem that transcription might be ambiguous in a few cases.
Particle は as wa
This rule is basically accepted by everyone, generally only ignored in error.
When used as a particle, transcribe は as 'wa' rather than 'ha'
- Better represents the pronuciation
- Common practice everywhere
Particle へ as e
Sometimes contested, as romanisations that ignore this rule are somewhat more common. Use 'e' in preference, but if adding an anime title where 'he' is sometimes used, add that alternative as a synonym.
When used as a particle, transcribe へ as 'e' rather than 'he'
- Better represents the pronunciation
- Established Hepburn rule, and widespead usage by those who follow transcription rules strictly
- Titles will save one character per へ particle
Always transcribe へ as 'he', even when particle
- Once less rule to remember
- Common practice amoungst fansubbers
- Some titles including the particle へ are generally called by names romanised with 'e' by fans
- Template:A2 also particularly resistant to using more sensible punctuation.
- There's not much difference between pronunciation of /he/ and /e/
Particle を as o
Often contested, many romanisations in the wild will use 'wo'. Feel free to use either, but do not make change requests that just change the particle... If adding as an anime title, include a synonym with the alternative romanisation.
When used as a particle, transcribe を as 'o' rather than 'wo'
- Better represents the pronunciation
- Established Hepburn rule, and widespead usage by those who follow transcription rules strictly
Always transcribe を as 'o', even when particle
- Once less rule to remember
- Common practice amoungst fansubbers
- Many titles including the particle を are generally called by names romanised with 'wo' by fans
Discussion: 2004.06 / 2004.06 / 2005.07 (warning: profanity)
っ when geminate consonant
Often contested.
When part of a word, transcribe っ by doubling the following consonant, except っち as 'tchi' and similar
- May better represent pronunciation
- Some common words are best known with a 'tch' transcription
When part of a word, always transcribe っ by doubling the following consonant
- Once less rule to remember
- Some common words are best known with a 'cch' transcription
Template:A2 spelling 'tamagocchi' not used. Template:A2 pun on たっちゃん Tat[suya]-chan
っ when exclamation
Accepted?
Transcribe っ at the end of a word as '!', unless followed by one anyway, in which case drop
ん before vowels as n'
Accepted.
Deviations from Hepburn
These are rules in Hepburn that the AniDB house style does not follow, for reasons given.
Macron usage for long vowels
Accepted.
ん before labial consonants as m
Accepted.