Hikarin
12-25-2018, 08:14 AM
Looking through the forums, I deemed this probably the most appropriate place to make such a thread.
Anyhow, I'm curious what other people's romaji styles are.
As my fellow transliterators would know, there's really no "right" way.
That being said, I've been trying to perfect mine for many years, and think that I am finally coming close to a system that I will use consistently and am fairly content with.
I'll go over mine, but what is yours?
Conversion Preferences
は -> wa (particle)
へ -> e (particle)
を -> wo (particle)
ん -> n (When followed by a "b" or "p" consonant. I know that some people like to style this with an "m".)
づ -> dzu
ぢ -> dji
I know that the last two of those are more unusual these days. Still, the sound does exist today in some dialects, and are also prevalent in some Chinese dialects as well.
Use of Capitals for Katakana
I only use capitals to represent katakana when
a) it is a foreign word (from the view of Japanese), or
b) when the entire Japanese sentence is written in katakana to represent some kind of emotion or vocal distortion.
When representing a foreign word, however, the way in which the word is handled depends on how it, and potentially other foreign words, are being sung within the song.
For example : サテライト = SATELAITO vs SATELLITE
In the example of SATELAITO, each vocal grouping is being distinguished, as in Japanese.
In the example of SATELLITE, the word is being sung as though in its natural tongue.
You will notice that I have also amended the Japanese "r" sound to an "l" sound for the romaji (SATERAITO vs SATELAITO). It's only appropriate, I believe.
I will also alter a katakana "b" to a "v" when intended in the cases where the vocal difference between the two is unclear. If it is distinctly a "b" sound being sung, however, I may refrain from doing this.
The Use of Apostrophes
I notice that many people like to use an apostrophe to show an abbreviation of a word within romaji, such as 探してる being converted to "sagashite'ru". This is of course the same as the way in which we abbreviate words such as "can't".
I understand why some people might use this, but I personally believe that this usage is wasted in romaji. The reason for this is simple...
Romaji doesn't exist for us, who can read kanji and kana. If we need to create a distinction between sounds, we have furigana for that.
Romaji exists for those with little to no knowledge of the Japanese language, to make their reading of it easier.
In light of the decision to focus on that aspect, I use apostrophes in several cases.
a) As many others as do, to show where a sound is broken so to avoid confusion on the pronunciation, when it can be easily mistaken for another word (しねん = shinen / しんえん = shin'en).
b) When an "n" is proceeded by a "g" consonant. It may be obvious to us who know the language that there are no "ng" sounds in Japanese, but others may not realise this.
c) When connecting verbs to certain auxiliary verbs, such as いる. For example, 探している becomes sagashite'iru. In the past I would style this as "sagashite iru", but it just didn't look right. Simply connecting the two parts didn't seem a valid option either, as -てい- may be mistaken as "tei" rather than "te-i". Granted, at times this can be the case, but usually there is a clear vocalised distinction between the two parts. Romaji lyrics are all about matching the tone of the singer, so that the person following may easily replicate that.
d) Similar to the above instance, I may use the same method to distinguish between vowels in single words comprised of two verbs. For example, 舞い踊る becomes mai'odoru.
Any other times that I may use an apostrophe will follow similar circumstances to the aforementioned examples.
I realise that it probably seems strange, but again, this is operating on the idea that the person reading the romaji has a weak grasp on Japanese. I know that I personally know people who fit such a description.
Other
There are a few other rules I follow as well, such as さま, さん, and ちゃん, etc. are only broken up in the case of names. For example, 田中さん is "Tanaka-san", but お嬢様 is "Ojousama".
Then there's the decision of spacing between particles, auxiliaries, etc., but that could take all day to get into.
To be honest, even I am undecided as to how to space some of these at times.
Is なの better as "nano" or "na no"? のに as "noni" or "no ni"? Then, what do you do with なのに? "Nanoni", "na no ni", "nano ni", or "na noni"?
None of them look right to me... and this is probably why in the end, we're better off using furigana, anyway.
So, what are your personal preferences, and how do you believe romaji should be handled?
Did you pick up your romanisation style somewhere, or alter it to suit your own mental process?
Anyhow, I'm curious what other people's romaji styles are.
As my fellow transliterators would know, there's really no "right" way.
That being said, I've been trying to perfect mine for many years, and think that I am finally coming close to a system that I will use consistently and am fairly content with.
I'll go over mine, but what is yours?
Conversion Preferences
は -> wa (particle)
へ -> e (particle)
を -> wo (particle)
ん -> n (When followed by a "b" or "p" consonant. I know that some people like to style this with an "m".)
づ -> dzu
ぢ -> dji
I know that the last two of those are more unusual these days. Still, the sound does exist today in some dialects, and are also prevalent in some Chinese dialects as well.
Use of Capitals for Katakana
I only use capitals to represent katakana when
a) it is a foreign word (from the view of Japanese), or
b) when the entire Japanese sentence is written in katakana to represent some kind of emotion or vocal distortion.
When representing a foreign word, however, the way in which the word is handled depends on how it, and potentially other foreign words, are being sung within the song.
For example : サテライト = SATELAITO vs SATELLITE
In the example of SATELAITO, each vocal grouping is being distinguished, as in Japanese.
In the example of SATELLITE, the word is being sung as though in its natural tongue.
You will notice that I have also amended the Japanese "r" sound to an "l" sound for the romaji (SATERAITO vs SATELAITO). It's only appropriate, I believe.
I will also alter a katakana "b" to a "v" when intended in the cases where the vocal difference between the two is unclear. If it is distinctly a "b" sound being sung, however, I may refrain from doing this.
The Use of Apostrophes
I notice that many people like to use an apostrophe to show an abbreviation of a word within romaji, such as 探してる being converted to "sagashite'ru". This is of course the same as the way in which we abbreviate words such as "can't".
I understand why some people might use this, but I personally believe that this usage is wasted in romaji. The reason for this is simple...
Romaji doesn't exist for us, who can read kanji and kana. If we need to create a distinction between sounds, we have furigana for that.
Romaji exists for those with little to no knowledge of the Japanese language, to make their reading of it easier.
In light of the decision to focus on that aspect, I use apostrophes in several cases.
a) As many others as do, to show where a sound is broken so to avoid confusion on the pronunciation, when it can be easily mistaken for another word (しねん = shinen / しんえん = shin'en).
b) When an "n" is proceeded by a "g" consonant. It may be obvious to us who know the language that there are no "ng" sounds in Japanese, but others may not realise this.
c) When connecting verbs to certain auxiliary verbs, such as いる. For example, 探している becomes sagashite'iru. In the past I would style this as "sagashite iru", but it just didn't look right. Simply connecting the two parts didn't seem a valid option either, as -てい- may be mistaken as "tei" rather than "te-i". Granted, at times this can be the case, but usually there is a clear vocalised distinction between the two parts. Romaji lyrics are all about matching the tone of the singer, so that the person following may easily replicate that.
d) Similar to the above instance, I may use the same method to distinguish between vowels in single words comprised of two verbs. For example, 舞い踊る becomes mai'odoru.
Any other times that I may use an apostrophe will follow similar circumstances to the aforementioned examples.
I realise that it probably seems strange, but again, this is operating on the idea that the person reading the romaji has a weak grasp on Japanese. I know that I personally know people who fit such a description.
Other
There are a few other rules I follow as well, such as さま, さん, and ちゃん, etc. are only broken up in the case of names. For example, 田中さん is "Tanaka-san", but お嬢様 is "Ojousama".
Then there's the decision of spacing between particles, auxiliaries, etc., but that could take all day to get into.
To be honest, even I am undecided as to how to space some of these at times.
Is なの better as "nano" or "na no"? のに as "noni" or "no ni"? Then, what do you do with なのに? "Nanoni", "na no ni", "nano ni", or "na noni"?
None of them look right to me... and this is probably why in the end, we're better off using furigana, anyway.
So, what are your personal preferences, and how do you believe romaji should be handled?
Did you pick up your romanisation style somewhere, or alter it to suit your own mental process?