I have recently bumped into the Japanese mathematician 吉田{よしだ}耕筰{こうさく}. I was wondering two things about his surname:
- Why is it so often spelt Yosida instead of Yoshida? And taking lead from it, when did し change sound from /si/ to /ɕi/? That is, is it possible that at the time this mathematician was working his name was actually read /Josida/, hence the spelling? Or is it an older scheme of transliteration that stuck for some reason?
- Where should I stress Yoshida? /'joɕida/, /jo'ɕida/ or /joɕi'da/? Naturally, the answer to this lies in the Japanese pitch accent, so how is the pitch accent of this particular word?