Transcription of the Japanese language in Esperanto

Esperantists often use non-Esperanto transcriptions, such as Hepburn and Kunrei, to transcribe the Japanese language in the Esperanto alphabet. However, the need for a transcription in the Esperanto alphabet is essential for non-Japanese speaking Esperantists to be able to pronounce words.

Summary

There are two well-known transcription systems of Japanese in Latin alphabet: Hepburn and Kunrei. However, there is no official Esperanto transcription for Japanese. This page presents one of the unofficial methods of transcription.

Transcription

Most books on Esperanto published in Japan provide tables for transcription. In 2012, a book by Kenichi Fujimaki, called Revised Esperanto Grammar (まるごとエスペラント文法改訂版)^[1] explains one way of transcription, however, as far as 1923, Yoshimi Ishiguro writes his Beginning Esperanto Textbook (初等エスペラント教科書)^[2] explaining a transcription, however the remaining digital copies of his works are barely readable, so they are not included in this article.

Double consonant

The symbol "っ" / "ッ" is not actually transcribed, but instead, indicated by doubling the following consonant. For example, さっぽろ is transcribed as "Sapporo".

According to Hepburn:

c → tc (ts → tts)
ĉ → tĉ (ch → tch)
ŝ → sŝ (sh → ssh)

According to Kunrei:

c → cc (t → tt)
ĉ → ĉĉ (ty → tty)
ŝ → ŝŝ (sy → ssy)

Long vowels

These are various methods of transcribing the word Tokyo (とうきょう, kanji: 東京):

Tōkjō : Indicated by a macron.
Tokjo : No indication.
Tôkjô : Indicated by a circumflex.
Toukjou or Toŭkjoŭ: Indicated by the use of an ou for a long o sound, and a ŭ for a long u sound.
Tookjoo: Indicated by doubling the vowels.

Diphthongs

The Japanese vowel i is changed to j and the vowel u is changed to ŭ for Esperanto transcription.

ai → aj
ei → ej
oi → oj
ui → uj
au → aŭ
eu → eŭ
ou → oŭ
ue → ŭe

Consonants

If there is a じ (ji) before an ん (n) in a word, it must be written as ĝi. Otherwise, either ĵi or ĝi can be used.

"Ĝiŝin" (じしん, 地震, earthquakes)
"Buridĝi" (ブリッジ, contract bridge)
"Kanĝi" (かんじ, 漢字, kanji)
"Fuĵi-san" (ふじさん, 富士山, Fuji, Note: さん is a separate word, ĵ can be used)

When the syllable ず/づ is used at the beginning of a word, it is mostly transcribed as dzu, directly from Hepburn; but if the syllable is anywhere else in the word, it is mostly transcribed as zu.

Kazu (かず, number)
Manazuru (まなづる)
Dzuke (づけ)
Dzumen (ずめん, drawing)

Voiceless vowels

Generally, some vowels may not be said at all. This is very common in everyday speech in Japanese^[3]

Shita → Ŝta (した)
Desu → Des (です)

Romanization charts

あア a	いイ i	うウ u	えエ e	おオ o	やヤ ja	ユゆ ju	よヨ jo
かカ ka	きキ ki	くク ku	けケ ke	こコ ko	きゃキャ kja	きゅキュ kju	きょキョ kjo
さサ sa	しシ ŝi	すス su	せセ se	そソ so	しゃシャ ŝa	しゅシュ ŝu	しょショ ŝo
たタ ta	ちチ ĉi	つツ cu	てテ te	とト to	ちゃチャ ĉa	ちゅチュ ĉu	ちょチョ ĉo
なナ na	にニ ni	ぬヌ nu	ねネ ne	のノ no	にゃニャ nja	にゅニュ nju	にょニョ njo
はハ ha	ひヒ hi	ふフ fu	へヘ he	ほホ ho	ひゃヒャ hja	ひゅヒュ hju	ひょヒョ hjo
まマ ma	みミ mi	むム mu	めメ me	もモ mo	みゃミャ mja	みゅミュ mju	みょミョ mjo
らラ ra	りリ ri	るル ru	れレ re	ろロ ro	りゃリャ rja	りゅリュ rju	りょリョ rjo
わワ ŭa	ゐヰ ŭi		ゑヱ ŭe	をヲ ŭo
				んン n

がガ ga	ぎギ gi	ぐグ gu	げゲ ge	ごゴ go	ぎゃギャ gja	ぎゅギュ gju	ぎょギョ gjo
ざザ za	じジ ĝi / ĵi	ずズ zu / dzu	ぜゼ ze	ぞゾ zo	じゃジャ ĝa / ĵa	じゅジュ ĝu / ĵu	じょジョ ĝo / ĵo
だダ da	ぢヂ (ĝi) / (ĵi)	づヅ (zu) / (dzu)	でデ de	どド do	ぢゃヂャ (ĝa) / (ĵa)	ぢゅヂュ (ĝu) / (ĵu)	ぢょヂョ (ĝo) / (ĵo)
ばバ ba	びビ bi	ぶブ bu	べベ be	ぼボ bo	びゃビャ bja	びゅビュ bju	びょビョ bjo
ぱパ pa	ぴピ pi	ぷプ pu	ぺペ pe	ぽポ po	ぴゃピャ pja	ぴゅピュ pju	ぴょピョ pjo

			イェ je
	ウィ ŭi		ウェ ŭe	ウォ ŭo
ヴァ va	ヴィ vi	ヴ vu	ヴェ ve	ヴォ vo
			シェ ŝe
			ジェ ĝe / ĵe
			チェ ĉe
	ティ ti	トゥ tu
		テュ tju
	ディ di	ドゥ du
		デュ dju
ツァ ca	ツィ ci		ツェ ce	ツォ co
ファ fa	フィ fi		フェ fe	フォ fo
		フュ fju

Red letters indicate Kana no longer used in modern Japanese.

External links

References

^ Kenichi, Fujimaki (2012). まるごとエスペラント文法改訂版, Revised Esperanto Grammar. Japana Esperanto-Instituto. p. 94. ISBN 978-4-88887-072-6.
^ 修, 石黒 (1923-01-01). 初等エスペラント教科書. 東京. pp. 10–11.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Teshigawara, Mihoko (2002). "Vowel Devoicing in Tokyo Japanese" (PDF). SFU Digitized Collections.

[:0-1] Kenichi, Fujimaki (2012). まるごとエスペラント文法改訂版, Revised Esperanto Grammar. Japana Esperanto-Instituto. p. 94. ISBN 978-4-88887-072-6.

[2] 修, 石黒 (1923-01-01). 初等エスペラント教科書. 東京. pp. 10–11.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[3] Teshigawara, Mihoko (2002). "Vowel Devoicing in Tokyo Japanese" (PDF). SFU Digitized Collections.

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