Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [rōmaji]

ローマ字. The various ways in which Japanese can be transliterated into the Latin script.

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How to differentiate between んい and に in romaji?

Occasionally I want to look up a word on Jisho.org from a device where it is inconvenient to use a Japanese keyboard. The default is to interpret an input as romaji if possible, so that's usually not a problem, but a word like 音{おん}韻{いん} would be…
Paul
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Why is the Hepburn system of romanization generally used over the Nihon-shiki system?

Generally when you see romanization of Japanese it is in the Hepburn system; however, I recently came across the Nihon-shiki system which seems to be preferable. Why is it that the Hepburn system caught on as opposed to the Nihon-shiki system?
user51
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When romanizing a Japanese title, which words should be capitalized?

Specifically, when you are trying to romanize Kanji titles of movies, plays, written works, etc. for formal writing targeting non-Japanese speakers, what are some good guidelines? As seen in this English stack exchange question, there are some well…
NickW
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How is determined whether a sound should be romanized into an L versus an R?

I know there isn't a particularly distinct difference between L and R in native Japanese, but very often proper nouns and other non-translated Japanese names/words work their way into English translations. An odd thing I've noticed is that often…
Ben Brocka
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Romanization of じ and ジ with ji and zi

From some basic research I've found that when romanizing じ and ジ we can use "ji" or "zi." Apparently "ji" is used by Hepburn romanization which is the most popular for non-Japanese speakers but "zi" is used by Nihon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki…
Kairei
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Romanization of kanji compounds: when are spaces used?

I don't know if the answer depends on the system used. Information on this is welcome too, but mainly I'm interested in the Hepburn system. When romanizing a kanji compound, how do you decide if you should use a space or not? For example, should 女教師…
kuchitsu
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Which romanization system should I use in my word game?

I have developed a word game quite similar to Scrabble, and I am currently considering adding a Japanese word list to it. Please note that I have no real knowledge of the language, apart from knowing the different alphabet types. While Hiragana or…
Sébastien
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Is rōmaji actually used in Japan?

I am a Japanese beginner and I see many instruction books containing rōmaji. As I understand, rōmaji helps English speakers to pronounce the words. But is rōmaji really used in Japan or by Japanese people? Or is it used only for an English speaker…
flow2k
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What type of romanization is "Hatchōbori"?

I found somewhere on the internet that the romanization of 八丁堀{はっちょうぼり} is written as "Hatchōbori". Given that scheme, how could you write "しゅっぱつ"? Given that scheme, how could you write "しゅぱつ"? What is the name of that romanization scheme?
user312440
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Is ii or ī more common in rōmaji?

A question about rōmaji: Is it more common to use ī or ii? For loanwords, it seems to be common to use ī, e.g. コーヒー　　kōhī アンチーク　antīku For other words, using ii seems more common, e.g. 涼しい　suzushii 大きい　ōkii 小さい　chiisai Google translator shows…
digory doo
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Reversed S in Japanese transliteration

I recently found a strange spelling of a reversed S (Ƨ) on an old Japanese matchbox label (late 19th century), in the phrase "MANUFACTURED IN ƧEIRYUKWAN". At first I thought this was just a mistake in the graphics, or perhaps the Latin alphabet was…
user32849
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The stylistic use of romaji for the particle "de"

Or other cases when a single word/particle is rendered in romaji within a sentence otherwise written in normal Japanese. This is something I first came across on cooking websites, for example: ルクエde白パン (where ルクエ refers to the cookware…
nkjt
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Jumbichū or Junbichū for じゅんびちゅう, Konban wa or Komban wa for こんばんは？

Can someone give me some advice. In some text books I see N used and in some I see M used for ん and in a dictionary I see them using n with a line above it. I assume this is because of the way the words appear in Romaji but would like some advice…
Alan
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How to write 日付 in romaji?

Looking at the google translator I find: 日付 (Hidzuke): Date But when I try to write the same letter, it doesn't pop up kanji Which all characters are used to write it?
Prince
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In romaji, is りょう spelled 'ryou' or 'ryoo'?

This has been bothering me because I am writing a Memrise course and have been implementing the romaji by hand for cases like these (since the Memrise platform interprets りょう as 'riyou'). Intuitively, I would think that 'ryou' would be correct, yet…
Sydney Maples
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