All Questions
99 questions
2
votes
3
answers
902
views
へうげもの - Hyouge Mono?
There's this manga that is called へうげもの. However, this name is romanized as Hyouge Mono. Although I know little Japanese, I think the kana there spell something like Heuge Mono.
Why does this ...
JNat♦
- 1,184
2
votes
1
answer
732
views
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 ...
- 730
2
votes
1
answer
248
views
How have writers in English spelled うん?
I write fanfiction, some of it based on anime. There is the Japanese word うん, used to casually indicate agreement, very familiar to anyone who pays attention to the audio in subtitled works.
I am ...
- 25
2
votes
1
answer
714
views
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 ...
- 137
2
votes
1
answer
2k
views
In romaji is it okosan or oko-san?
I am reading the Japanese for Busy People book and I notice in the dictionary in the back some of the words ending in san use a hyphen:
okyaku-san
and some don't
okosan
Sometimes they use a ...
- 730
2
votes
2
answers
724
views
How can I write "tchi"
As in title, how can I write "tchi" in katakana as in the word "hotchikisu" (paper fastener)?
- 21
2
votes
1
answer
293
views
Correct romanization for ベオウルフ (Beowulf) and the use of ō
I want to know the correct romanization for ベオウルフ.
For me, it's Beōrufu, because the pronunciation of Be-o-wulf has a long vowel (oo/ou/ow/oh). However, some people discord for being a foreign name.
- 21
2
votes
1
answer
1k
views
"Yon" vs. "Shi" in school names
I've tried Voicetext.jp and Google's text to voice service to read this
四中の
It reads something like
Yon-chū no
But Google suggested this romanization, which left me doubtful
Shi-chū no
So, ...
- 143
2
votes
1
answer
197
views
How do I romanize "ように" and "二度と"?
First of all, sorry for any mistakes. English is not my native language, nor is Japanese, obviously.
Just curious, but (title). I saw some people romanizing "ように" as "you ni" and ...
- 23
2
votes
2
answers
703
views
Why is じどうしゃ (jidoushiya), jidōsha instead?
From what I understand, the hiragana characters above should make the word jidoushiya, but for some reason it is actually jidōsha.
Why did the word change this way even though the characters are:
...
- 153
2
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Converting を from Hiragana to Romaji
I realize that it's usually better to just learn / use hiragana but I have been asked to look into coding up a solution to convert from Hiragana/Katakana to the modified Hepburn Romaji.
One point I ...
2
votes
1
answer
628
views
Learning, where to start? [closed]
No, i'm not gonna ask you for tutorials, websites, books.
I've already started learning Japanese, i know a few words and can type them (well, the Japanese driver just puts the Japanese characters ...
- 125
2
votes
1
answer
300
views
Has the average native Japanese speaker heard of Hepburn romaji?
Is the average native Japanese speaker likely to have heard of Hepburn romaji? Not necessarily being able to recall the entire kana table, but at least knowing that it is a romanization system which ...
- 16.3k
2
votes
1
answer
401
views
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:
...
- 5,782
2
votes
1
answer
406
views
When is ō romanised ou Vs oh?
Top of my head, I think of these 6 anime/manga:
ō's that are 'oh'
Tamaki Suoh (須王 環 Suō Tamaki) from OHSHC
Ōtsuki (大槻) from Kaiji - ok I can't find on the fandom page, but I swear the subs say ...
- 605
2
votes
1
answer
203
views
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 ...
- 129
2
votes
1
answer
409
views
What is the correct romanization of イー?
According to the rules of Hepburn (http://www.halcat.com/roomazi/doc/hep3.html), しいたけ is correctly romanized as shiitake. What is the correct romanization of イー as in シート? Should it be shiito or shīto ...
- 559
2
votes
1
answer
4k
views
What does hoi mean?
I'm a General Music teacher.
One of my 1st grade books has a song called, "Naka Naka Hoi."
The (what I'm learning may be the romaji) words are:
Naka Naka Hoi
Soto Soto Hoi
Naka Soto Soto Naka
Naka ...
- 21
1
vote
4
answers
8k
views
Using "ha" instead of "wa" with QWERTY keyboards [closed]
Why is it standard practice to use "ha" when you are translating は{wa} to Romaji? This has always confused me. これは... is pronounced "Kore wa" but when you write it out you write &...
- 253
1
vote
2
answers
629
views
Mixture of romaji and hiragana in NHK "Meet and Speak"
In the NHK program "Meet and Speak", the phrases they use have a mixture of hiragana and romaji. Not as in hiragana on one line, and romaji underneath, but individual words being composed of the two, ...
- 16.3k
1
vote
1
answer
376
views
Pronunciation of long o (e.g. in Street Fighter)—"oo" or "ou"?
I have very little knowledge regarding Japanese, but I'm curious about the pronunciation of the long o. In Street Fighter, according to my basic research, the "ō" in "hadōken" is ...
- 280
1
vote
1
answer
411
views
Is きっさてん one or two words in romaji?
I realize I should not be spending too much time with romaji but I would like to try and understand more about how to translate hiragana to romaji. I used a translation web page and I noticed it ...
- 730
1
vote
1
answer
182
views
Romanizations of Japanese using consonant diacritics?
The Hepburn romanization, to express the different realizations of some consonants before /i/ or /u/, uses different spellings from the other syllables in their groups:
/si/ > "shi"
/zi/ > "ji"
/ti/ >...
- 283
1
vote
1
answer
113
views
What is the correct romaji/kanji for a phrase that sounds like “fui cabaru”
A japanese Aikido master used the term that sounds like “fui cabaru” or the “up” position of the a sword. I also believe it means something like “the place your hat goes”.
Can you tell me the correct ...
- 113
1
vote
1
answer
695
views
On hiragana, romaji and pronunciation
I have heard a Japanese teacher explain how long vowels should be pronounced and how they should be written when using hiragana. That's what I saw on the whiteboard:
がっこう - gakkoo, (not gakkou)
Is ...
- 2,275
1
vote
1
answer
284
views
How do I convert ちょうしょく to rōmaji with the modified Hepburn system?
I have seen two variations of this and I am confused now:
chōshoku
Choushoku
The second one makes the most sense to me but I am not 100% certain if it is correct. If the first one is ...
- 730
1
vote
2
answers
642
views
How to add spaces in Japanese transcriptions in romaji?
Is there any rules to add spaces when transcripting Japanese using the Latin alphabet? Per instance, Google Translate transcripts a sentence such as "空は青いと思います" into "Sorahaaoi to ...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
415
views
Kohsuke or Kosuke?
I saw a person write his name in Romaji as Kohsuke. I am a beginner Japanese student and it struck me as odd to see that "h" in there. I would have thought his name to be written as Kosuke if it were ...
- 115
1
vote
1
answer
2k
views
How do you spell half demon (like Inuyasha) han'yo, hanyo or hanyou?
I want to tattoo the word half demon but in japanese. Do you spell it hanyo, han'yo or hanyou? I saw all of them? Which one is correct?
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
157
views
How do you type Warsaw in Romaji?
I'm learning Japanese and just beginning to type.
When I type warusawa in Romaji mode, this is what I see by default:
But what I want is this:
Is it only possible by typing in Katakana mode? Or is ...
- 113
1
vote
3
answers
6k
views
Hiragana - Long vowel e (ei or ee)
I am wondering about the long vowel e, and whether it is -ee or -ei. Let's use hē as an example, is hē written as へい or へえ?
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
1k
views
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, ...
- 165
1
vote
1
answer
4k
views
How can I translate Romaji text to English? [closed]
I have a block of Japanese-language text that has been transliterated to Romaji that I would like to translate to English. They are lyrics to a song.
I have very little experience with the Japanese ...
user1446
1
vote
1
answer
371
views
Introducing yourself in Japanese when you have a Roman name?
While reading online, I found numerous websites that had "Romaji translations" of names that use the Roman alphabet. For example, the Japanese version of Jordan is said to be either Jo-dan or Yorudan. ...
- 13
1
vote
1
answer
135
views
What does "zurusona" mean?
Miyabe Kingo wrote in an English-language letter the phrase “a sharp zurusona wife” to describe the woman whose house he boarded at. "Zurusona" seems to be the insertion of a Japanese word written in ...
- 2,163
1
vote
1
answer
345
views
Writing conventions / pronunciations for words with っ
I'm currently trying to figure out on how to do karaoke for some songs and I got a bit confused about the following. So let's say you have the words like
ずっと [zutto]
のって [notte]
How would you write ...
- 267
1
vote
1
answer
618
views
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?
- 13
0
votes
2
answers
420
views
How do Japanese people use 🅱️-substitution, if at all?
A common internet meme is to use 🅱️ as a replacement for B's in a word, such as "🅱️oneless" or "trou🅱️le". Sometimes it's additionally done for C's, such as "🅱️o🅱️a 🅱️ola". Is this a thing ever ...
- 221
0
votes
1
answer
330
views
Translation of words like マサラタウン
So I understand that translating literally is often not enough, since there has to be a "patching" between the cultures of the two languages. What I don't understand is how to handle ...
- 947
0
votes
1
answer
147
views
How is Y森飯ルド romanized?
A little context:
This is the name of a rather obscure Japanese band. The lead singer goes by the name of Yasue Dangerous Ojisan (ヤスエでんじゃらすおじさん) and this is his blog.
Record label and retailer Tower ...
- 145
0
votes
1
answer
151
views
Are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4....... also considered Romaji?
Are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4....... also considered Romaji? If they are not written using kanji?
- 6,785
0
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Understanding how macrons work in romaji
I understand how it works for Ohayō the o here is omitting the u from う, so without the macron it would be "ohayou". Even Tōkyō becomes Toukyou. But what about other vowels? such as ī ē ā ū ...
- 3
0
votes
1
answer
427
views
Correct spelling of "Gemu Otaku"
In studies on contemporary Japanese culture, they use "Gemu Otaku" in the sense of "video game nerd", "game freak".
Is this an academic term only or do people actually use this term in Japanese ...
0
votes
2
answers
132
views
Are there words whose kana spelling contains the sequence ょお/ョオ within the same morpheme?
The Kunrei-shiki standard (ISO 3602:1989; Documentation — Romanization of Japanese (kana script)) lists both よお/ヨオ and よう/ヨウ for yô, but in its Table 3b (Kana trigraphs representing palatalized long-...
0
votes
1
answer
108
views
What is the Japanese name for the genus of plants "Saxifraga"?
What is the Japanese name for Saxifraga (rockfoil) genus of plants (or any more well-known species within this genus) and how is it written in rōmaji?
0
votes
2
answers
385
views
About the surname Yos(h)ida
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 ...
- 502
0
votes
1
answer
94
views
Hepburn romanization of "知りせば"
I have a question regarding romanization of the verb 知りせば, in Modified Hepburn Romanization System.
From what I know, 知りせば is a form of past tense of 知る, but is not used in modern japanese. せば would ...
- 3
0
votes
1
answer
132
views
Romaji and Hiragana seem to disagree [closed]
I encountered 道路標識 (どうろひょしき) during my studies today. Google Translate shows romaji dōrohyōji. However, based on the hiragana alone, I was expecting to see dōrohyōshiki.
Why is しき romanized as ji ...
- 115
0
votes
1
answer
1k
views
matcha versus maccha [closed]
Which is grammatically correct? matcha or maccha?
In my opinion, according to its hiragana representation, it should be written as maccha rather than matcha.
Is there any rule about romaji writing ...
- 2,443