AniDB Definition:Romanisation: Difference between revisions

== Guidance for Using External Sources to Support Romanisations ==

"Officially" provided Japanese romanisations should '''not''' be added as the main name for AniDB purposes; the main name should always follow AniDB transcription rules as set out here. Add the "official" transcription as a synonym if needed.

=== Native Japanese Words and Names, Non-Native Japanese Words ===

=== Non-Native Japanese Names ===

# For non-native Japanese names (e.g. ルルーシュ・ヴィ・ブリタニア ''{{short|ch103|Lelouch vi Britannia}}''):

## If the Japanese producer provides an official spelling of the non-native '''name''' ("''Lelouch vi Britannia''"), use the official spelling.

### However, for '''foreign''' (non-Japanese) '''names''' where the correct foreign spelling is known, and/or there exists a standard Latin transcription (e.g. Chinese transcriptions): use that as the main name for the entry, instead of the Japan-provided spelling.

#### In such a scenario, add the Japan-provided official spelling as an alternate name of Type: Other, under the corresponding foreign language.

### Exceptions '''may''' (or may not) apply for completely senseless spellings or spellings that run greatly afoul of our house rules.

#### ネロ・カオス ''{{short|ch1949|Nrvnqsr Chaos}}'' is the official spelling. Since the name is essentially unreadable, the transcription used as the main name is ''Nero Chaos''; this matches the pronunciation in the anime, is accepted by fans and other third parties without dispute over its correctness, is routinely used by third parties, and is aurally sound when compared to the katakana.

#### クワトロ・バジーナ ''{{short|ch3975|Quattro Vajeena}}'' is an accepted official spelling despite being phonetically questionable and considered non-ideal by large parts of the community.

## If the Japanese producer does not provide an official spelling of the non-native name, use AniDB house rules and write a transcription that makes the most sense. Do '''NOT''' blindly copy transcriptions from international licensees (for example: Crunchyroll) or fansubs, especially if that transcription does not accurately reflect the proper reading of the name; remember, transcriptions should be ''aurally recognisable''.

## The romanised word provided by the international licensee can be used as <u>''secondary''</u> evidence to help determine a romanisation; it is '''NOT''' a definitive transcription and should '''NOT''' be used as such. As always, use AniDB's house rules described in this article when writing any transcribed Japanese titles in AniDB; do '''NOT''' blindly copy transcriptions from licensees such as Crunchyroll. If a better or more common transcription is prevalent, use that instead of the licensee's transcription.

### Historically, licensees have been equally as prone to making mistakes as anyone else would, and are not considered more trustworthy for transcriptions. The same applies to fansubs, translations of manga related to the anime (be they licensed or fan scanlations), and other similar English-language sources.

For foreign loan'''words''' and foreign '''words''' transcribed to Japanese, spell the word as the original language would spell it.  Do '''NOT''' write it as a Japanese romanisation.

For all foreign words with diacritics, AniDB follows the simplest and most common English-language convention: of drop '''all''' diacritics '''without''' the use of sound-substitutions.

In general, spell in the foreign language ''if it makes sense to do so.'' If it does not make sense, ''transcribe the reading directly'' without trying to map to the foreign language.

Always split from the associated word and set '-', '''unless''' the word is a pronoun, in which case keep glued.

but: '''kimitachi''', '''oretachi''', '''anatatachi''', '''omaetachi''', '''watashitachi''', and so on.

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