Hepburn romanization

The Hepburn romanization system (Japanese: ヘボン式ローマ字 Hepburn: Hebon-shiki Rōmaji) is named after James Curtis Hepburn, who used it to transcribe the sounds of the Japanese language into the Latin alphabet in the third edition of his Japanese–English dictionary, published in 1887. The system was originally proposed by the Romanization Club (羅馬字会 Rōmajikai) in 1885. The revised edition by Romaji-Hirome-kai in 1908 is called "standard style romanization" (標準式ローマ字 Hyōjun-shiki Rōmaji) and this system has been used as the Hepburn system in Japan traditionally.[1]

Although not officially approved, the original and revised variants of Hepburn remain the most widely used methods of transcription of Japanese, and are regarded as the best to render Japanese pronunciation for Western speakers. As Hepburn is based on English and Italian phonology,[2][3] an English or Latin-language speaker unfamiliar with Japanese will generally pronounce a word romanized in Hepburn more accurately than a word romanized in the competing Nihon-shiki romanization and Kunrei-shiki romanization, the official Cabinet-ordered romanization system.

Legal status

Hepburn is based on English phonology and has competed with the alternative Nihon-shiki romanization, which was developed in Japan as a replacement of Japanese script.[2] In 1930, a Special Romanization Study Commission was appointed to compare the two.[2] The Commission eventually decided in favor of a slightly modified version of Nihon-shiki, which was proclaimed to be Japan's official romanization for all purposes by a September 21, 1937 cabinet ordinance and is now known as Kunrei-shiki romanization. The ordinance was temporarily overturned by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) during the Occupation of Japan, but was reissued (with slight revisions) in 1954.

In 1972, a revised version of Hepburn was codified as ANSI standard Z39.11-1972. It was proposed in 1989 as a draft for ISO 3602, but rejected in favor of Kunrei-shiki. The ANSI Z39.11-1972 standard was consequently deprecated on October 6, 1994.

As of 1978, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and many other official organizations used Hepburn instead of Kunrei-shiki. In addition The Japan Times, the Japan Travel Bureau, and many other private organizations used Hepburn instead of Kunrei-shiki. The National Diet Library used Kunrei-shiki.[4]

Although Hepburn is not a government standard, some government agencies mandate it. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requires the use of Hepburn on passports, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport requires the use of Hepburn on transport signs, including road signs and railway station signs.

In many other areas where it lacks de jure status, Hepburn remains the de facto standard. Signs and notices in city offices and police stations, at shrines, temples and attractions also use it. English-language newspapers and media use the simplified form of Hepburn. Cities and prefectures use it in information for English-speaking residents and visitors, and English-language publications by the Japanese Foreign Ministry use simplified Hepburn too. Official tourism information put out by the government uses it, as do guidebooks, local and foreign, on Japan.

Many students of Japanese as a foreign language learn Hepburn.

Variants of Hepburn romanization

Former JNR-style board of Toyooka Station. Between the two adjacent stations, “GEMBUDŌ” follows the Hepburn romanization system, but “KOKUHU” follows the Nihon-shiki/Kunrei-shiki romanization system.

There are many variants of Hepburn romanization. The two most common styles are:

In Japan itself, there are some variants officially mandated for various uses:

Details of these variants can be found below.

Obsolete variants

The romanizations set out in the first and second versions of Hepburn's dictionary are primarily of historical interest. Notable differences from the third and later versions include:

Second version

First version

The following differences are in addition to those in the second version:

Features of Hepburn romanization

The main feature of Hepburn is that its orthography is based on English phonology. More technically, where syllables constructed systematically according to the Japanese syllabary contain the "unstable" consonant for the modern spoken language, the orthography is changed to something that, as an English speaker would pronounce it, better matches the real sound, for example is written shi not si.

Some linguists such as Harold E. Palmer, Daniel Jones and Otto Jespersen object to Hepburn, as the pronunciation-based spellings can obscure the systematic origins of Japanese phonetic structures, inflections, and conjugations.[13] Supporters argue that Hepburn is not intended as a linguistic tool.

Long vowels

The long vowels are generally indicated by macrons ( ¯ ).[14][15] Since this diacritical sign is usually missing on typewriter and computer keyboards, the circumflex ( ˆ ) is often used in its place.[16][17]

The combinations of vowels are written as follows in traditional/modified Hepburn:

A + A

In traditional and modified:

The combination of a + a is written aa if a word-border exists between them.

In traditional Hepburn:

The long vowel a is written aa

In modified Hepburn:

The long vowel a is indicated by a macron:

I + I

In traditional and modified:

The combination i + i is always written ii.

U + U

In traditional and modified:

The combination u + u is written uu if a word-border exists between them or it is the end part of terminal form of a verb:
The long vowel u is indicated by a macron:

E + E

In traditional and modified:

The combination e + e is written ee if a word-border exists between them:

In traditional Hepburn:

The long vowel e is written ee:

In modified Hepburn:

The long vowel e is indicated by a macron:

O + O

In traditional and modified:

The combination o + o is written oo if a word-border exists between them:
The long vowel o is indicated by a macron:

O + U

In traditional and modified:

The combination o + u is written ou if a word-border exists between them or it is the end part of terminal form of a verb:
The long vowel o is indicated by a macron:

E + I

In traditional and modified:

The combination e + i is written ei.

Other combination of vowels

All remaining combinations of two different vowels are written separately:

Loanwords

The long vowels within loanwords are indicated by macrons (ā, ī, ū, ē, ō) as follows:

Variations

There are many variations on the Hepburn system for indicating the long vowels. For example, 東京(とうきょう) can be written as:

Particles

In traditional and modified:

In traditional Hepburn:

In modified Hepburn:[15]

Syllabic n

In traditional Hepburn:[14]

Syllabic n () is written as n before consonants, but as m before labial consonants, i.e. b, m, and p. It is sometimes written as n- (with a hyphen) before vowels and y (to avoid confusion between, for example, んあ n + a and na, and んや n + ya and にゃ nya), but its hyphen usage is not clear.

In modified Hepburn:[15]

The rendering m before labial consonants is not used, being replaced with n. It is written n' (with an apostrophe) before vowels and y.

Long consonants

Elongated (or "geminate") consonant sounds are marked by doubling the consonant following a sokuon, ; for consonants that are digraphs in Hepburn (sh, ch, ts), only the first consonant of the set is doubled, except for ch which is replaced by tch.[14][15]

Hepburn romanization charts

Gojūon Yōon
あ ア aい イ iう ウ uえ エ eお オ o
か カ kaき キ kiく ク kuけ ケ keこ コ ko きゃ キャ kya きゅ キュ kyu きょ キョ kyo
さ サ saし シ shiす ス suせ セ seそ ソ so しゃ シャ sha しゅ シュ shu しょ ショ sho
た タ taち チ chiつ ツ tsuて テ teと ト to ちゃ チャ cha ちゅ チュ chu ちょ チョ cho
な ナ naに ニ niぬ ヌ nuね ネ neの ノ no にゃ ニャ nya にゅ ニュ nyu にょ ニョ nyo
は ハ haひ ヒ hiふ フ fuへ ヘ heほ ホ ho ひゃ ヒャ hya ひゅ ヒュ hyu ひょ ヒョ hyo
ま マ maみ ミ miむ ム muめ メ meも モ mo みゃ ミャ mya みゅ ミュ myu みょ ミョ myo
や ヤ ya ゆ ユ yu よ ヨ yo
ら ラ raり リ riる ル ruれ レ reろ ロ ro りゃ リャ rya りゅ リュ ryu りょ リョ ryo
わ ワ waゐ ヰ i  ゑ ヱ e を ヲ o 
ん ン n /n'
が ガ gaぎ ギ giぐ グ guげ ゲ geご ゴ go ぎゃ ギャ gya ぎゅ ギュ gyu ぎょ ギョ gyo
ざ ザ zaじ ジ jiず ズ zuぜ ゼ zeぞ ゾ zo じゃ ジャ ja じゅ ジュ ju じょ ジョ jo
だ ダ daぢ ヂ jiづ ヅ zuで デ deど ド do ぢゃ ヂャ ja ぢゅ ヂュ ju ぢょ ヂョ jo
ば バ baび ビ biぶ ブ buべ ベ beぼ ボ bo びゃ ビャ bya びゅ ビュ byu びょ ビョ byo
ぱ パ paぴ ピ piぷ プ puぺ ペ peぽ ポ po ぴゃ ピャ pya ぴゅ ピュ pyu ぴょ ピョ pyo

For extended katakana

These combinations are used mainly to represent the sounds in words in other languages.

Digraphs with orange backgrounds are the general ones used for loanwords or foreign places or names, and the ones with blue backgrounds are used for more accurate transliterations of foreign sounds, both suggested by the Cabinet of Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.[26] Katakana combinations with beige backgrounds are suggested by the American National Standards Institute[27] and the British Standards Institution as possible uses.[28] Ones with purple backgrounds appear on the 1974 version of the Hyōjun-shiki formatting.[23]

イィ yi イェ ye
ウァ wa ウィ wi ウゥ wu* ウェ we ウォ wo
ウュ wyu
ヴァ va ヴィ vi vu ヴェ ve ヴォ vo
ヴャ vya ヴュ vyu ヴィェ vye ヴョ vyo
キェ kye
ギェ gye
クァ kwa クィ kwi クェ kwe クォ kwo
クヮ kwa
グァ gwa グィ gwi グェ gwe グォ gwo
グヮ gwa
シェ she
ジェ je
スィ si
ズィ zi
チェ che
ツァ tsa ツィ tsi ツェ tse ツォ tso
ツュ tsyu
ティ ti トゥ tu
テュ tyu
ディ di ドゥ du
デュ dyu
ニェ nye
ヒェ hye
ビェ bye
ピェ pye
ファ fa フィ fi フェ fe フォ fo
フャ fya フュ fyu フィェ fye フョ fyo
ホゥ hu
ミェ mye
リェ rye
ラ゜ la リ゜ li ル゜ lu レ゜ le ロ゜ lo
va vi ve vo

See also

Notes

  1. ヘボン式ローマ字綴り (in Japanese). Sanseido. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 Carr, Denzel. The New Official Romanization of Japanese. Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 59, No. 1 (Mar., 1939), pp. 99-102.
  3. Haruhiko Kindaichi, Takeshi Shibata, Naoki Hayashi (1988). 日本語百科大事典 [Japanese encyclopedia]. Taishukan Shoten.
  4. Kent, et al. "Oriental Literature and Bibliography." p. 155.
  5. "和英語林集成第三版". Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  6. "明治学院大学図書館 - 『和英語林集成』デジタルアーカイブス". Meijigakuin.ac.jp. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
  7. "Japanese" (PDF). Library of Congress. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  8. "UHM Library : Japan Collection Online Resources". Hawaii.edu. 2005-10-06. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
  9. "鉄道掲示基準規程". Homepage1.nifty.com. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  10. "道路標識のローマ字(ヘボン式) の綴り方". KICTEC. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  11. "パスポートセンター ヘボン式ローマ字表 : 神奈川県". Pref.kanagawa.jp. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  12. James Curtis Hepburn (1872). A Japanese-English And English-Japanese Dictionary (2nd ed.). American Presbyterian mission press. pp. 286–290. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
  13. 松浦四郎 (October 1992). "104年かかった標準化". 標準化と品質菅理 -Standardization and Quality Control- (Japanese Standards Association) 45: 92–93.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 James Curtis Hepburn (1886). A Japanese-English And English-Japanese Dictionary. (Third Edition). Z. P Maruyama & Co. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary (Fourth Edition). Kenkyūsha. 1974.
  16. 1 2 Fujino Katsuji (1909). ローマ字手引き [RÔMAJI TEBIKI] (in Japanese). Rômaji-Hirome-kai.
  17. Cabinet of Japan (December 9, 1954). 昭和29年内閣告示第1号 ローマ字のつづり方 [Japanese Cabinet Order No.1 in 1954 - How to write Romanization] (in Japanese). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Retrieved 2011-05-19.
  18. Bureau of Citizens and Culture Affairs of Tokyo. "PASSPORT_ヘボン式ローマ字綴方表" [Table of Spelling in Hepburn Romanization] (in Japanese). Retrieved December 13, 2011.
  19. Consulate-General of Japan in San Francisco. ヘボン式ローマ字綴方表 [Table of Spelling in Hepburn Romanization] (PDF) (in Japanese). Retrieved December 13, 2011.
  20. Consulate-General of Japan in Detroit. "Example of Application Form for Passport" (PDF) (in Japanese). Retrieved December 13, 2011.
  21. Pocket Kenkyusha Japanese Dictionary. "Pocket Kenkyusha Japanese Dictionary (9780198607489): Shigeru Takebayashi, Kazuhiko Nagai: Books". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-06-29.
  22. "ローマ字の長音のつづり方". Xembho.s59.xrea.com. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  23. 1 2 "標準式ローマ字つづり―引用". Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  24. 1 2 Cabinet of Japan (November 16, 1946). 昭和21年内閣告示第33号 「現代かなづかい」 [Japanese Cabinet Order No.33 in 1946 - Modern kana usage] (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 6, 2001. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  25. 1 2 Cabinet of Japan (July 1, 1986). 昭和61年内閣告示第1号 「現代仮名遣い」 [Japanese Cabinet Order No.1 in 1986 - Modern kana usage] (in Japanese). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  26. Cabinet of Japan. "平成3年6月28日内閣告示第2号:外来語の表記" [Japanese cabinet order No.2 (June 28, 1991):The notation of loanword]. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  27. "米国規格(ANSI Z39.11-1972)―要約". Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  28. "英国規格(BS 4812 : 1972)―要約". Retrieved 2016-02-27.

References

External links

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