Japanese romanization system
Kunrei-shiki romanization
(
Japanese
:
訓令式ロ?マ字
,
Hepburn
:
Kunrei-shiki r?maji
)
, also known as the
Monbusho system
(named after the endonym for the
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
) or
MEXT system
,
[1]
is the
Cabinet
-ordered
romanization
system for transcribing the
Japanese language
into the
Latin alphabet
. Its name is rendered
Kunreisiki romazi
in the system itself. It is taught in the Monbush?-approved elementary school curriculum. The
ISO
has standardized Kunrei-shiki, under
ISO 3602
.
Kunrei-shiki is based on the older
Nihon-shiki romanization
, which was modified for modern standard Japanese. For example, the word かなづかい, romanized
kanadukai
in Nihon-shiki, is pronounced
kanazukai
in standard modern Japanese and is romanized as such in Kunrei-shiki. The system competes with the older
Hepburn romanization
system, which was promoted by the
SCAP
during the Allied
occupation of Japan
, after World War II.
History
[
edit
]
In 1930, the
Ministry of Education
appointed a board of inquiry to determine the proper romanization system of the Japanese language. This resulted in a cabinet order (訓令
kunrei
) issued on 21 September 1937
[2]
that a modified form of the Nihon-shiki system would be officially adopted as Kunrei-shiki.
[3]
The form at the time differs slightly from the modern form.
[4]
Originally, the system was called the
Kokutei
(?定, government-authorized) system.
[3]
The Japanese government gradually introduced Kunrei-shiki; which appeared in secondary education, on railway station signboards, on nautical charts, and on the 1:1,000,000 scale
International Map of the World
;
[5]
as well as literature and educational material for tourists.
[6]
Nevertheless, unofficial use of Nihon-shiki and Modified Hepburn continued concurrently because of support from individuals.
[5]
After Japan's defeat in the
Pacific War
in 1945, General
Douglas MacArthur
, the
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers
(SCAP), issued a directive, dated 3 September 1945, that stated that Modified Hepburn was the method to transcribe Japanese names. Some editorials printed in Japanese newspapers advocated for using only Hepburn.
[7]
Kunrei-shiki had developed associations with Japanese militarism, and the US occupation was reluctant to promote it.
[6]
Supporters of Hepburn denounced pro-Kunrei-shiki and pro-Nihon-shiki advocates to the SCAP offices
[8]
by accusing them of being inactive militarists
[7]
and of collaborating with militarists. Unger said that the nature of Kunrei-shiki led to "pent-up anger" by Hepburn supporters.
[8]
During the postwar period, several educators and scholars tried to introduce romanized letters as a teaching device and possibility later replacing
kanji
. On 9 December 1954, the Japanese government re-confirmed Kunrei-shiki as its official system
[3]
but with slight modifications.
[9]
Eleanor Jorden
, an American linguist, made textbooks with a
modified version of Kunrei-shiki
, which were used in the 1960s in courses given to US diplomats. The use of her books did not change the US government's hesitation to use Kunrei-shiki.
[6]
As of 1974, according to the Geographical Survey Institute (now the
Geospatial Information Authority of Japan
), Kunrei-shiki was used for topographical maps, and Modified Hepburn was used for geological maps and aeronautical charts.
[10]
As of 1978, the
National Diet Library
used Kunrei-shiki. The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
, the
Ministry of International Trade and Industry
, and many other official organizations instead used Hepburn, as did
The Japan Times
, the
JTB Corporation
, and many other private organisations.
[3]
Legal status
[
edit
]
The system was originally promulgated as Japanese Cabinet Order No. 3 as of 21 September 1937. Since it had been overturned by the SCAP during the occupation of Japan, the Japanese government repealed it and decreed again, as Japanese Cabinet Order No.1 as of 29 December 1954. It mandated the use of Kunrei-shiki in "the written expression of Japanese generally". Specific alternative spellings could be used in international relations and to follow established precedent. See
Permitted Exceptions
for details.
[1]
Kunrei-shiki has been recognised, along with Nihon-shiki, in
ISO 3602:1989. Documentation?Romanisation of Japanese (kana script)
by the
ISO
. It was also recommended by the
ANSI
after it withdrew its own standard,
ANSI Z39.11-1972 American National Standard System for the Romanization of Japanese (Modified
Hepburn
)
, in 1994.
In January 2024, the
Cultural Affairs Agency
proposed revising the 1954 Cabinet Order to make Hepburn the standard romanization system of Japan.
[11]
Usage
[
edit
]
Example: tat-u
Conjugation
|
Kunrei
|
Hepburn
|
Mizen 1
|
tat-a-
|
tat-a-
|
Mizen 2
|
tat-o-
|
tat-o-
|
Ren'yo
|
tat-i
|
tach-i
|
Syusi/Rentai
|
tat-u
|
tats-u
|
Katei
|
tat-e-
|
tat-e-
|
Meirei
|
tat-e
|
tat-e
|
Despite its official recognition, the Japanese commonly choose between the Nihon-shiki/Kunrei-shiki and
Hepburn
systems for any given situation. However, the Japanese government generally uses Hepburn, especially for passports,
[12]
road signage,
[12]
and train signage.
[13]
Most Western publications, as well, and all English-language newspapers use some form of Hepburn.
[14]
J. Marshall Unger, the author of
Literacy and Script Reform in Occupation Japan: Reading between the Lines
, said that the Hepburn supporters "understandably" believed that the Kunrei-shiki "compromise" was not fair because of the presence of the "un-English-looking spellings" that the Modified Hepburn supporters had opposed.
[8]
Andrew Horvat, the author of
Japanese Beyond Words: How to Walk and Talk Like a Native Speaker
, argued that "by forcing non-native speakers of Japanese with no intentions of learning the language to abide by a system intended for those who have some command of Japanese, the government gave the impression of intolerant language management that would have dire consequences later on."
[6]
Because Kunrei-shiki is based on
Japanese phonology
rather than the actual phonetic realization, it can cause non-native speakers to pronounce words incorrectly. John Hinds, the author of
Japanese: Descriptive Grammar
, describes that as "a major disadvantage."
[15]
[
page needed
]
Additional complications appear with newer kana combinations such as
ティ
?ム (チ?ム)
team
. In Hepburn, they would be distinguished as different sounds and represented as
t?
mu
and
ch?mu
respectively. That gives better indications of the English pronunciations. For some Japanese-speakers, however, the sounds
ティ
"ti" and チ "chi" are the same phoneme; both are represented in Kunrei-shiki as
timu
. Such complications may be confusing to those who do not know Japanese phonology well. Use of an apostrophe (t'imu), not unseen in
W?puro r?maji
, may be a possible solution.
Today, the main users of Kunrei-shiki are native speakers of Japanese, especially within Japan, and
linguists
studying Japanese. The main advantage of Kunrei-shiki is that it is better able to illustrate
Japanese grammar
, as Hepburn gives the impression of certain conjugations being irregular (see table, right).
[16]
[
page needed
]
The most serious problem of Hepburn in this context is that it may change the
stem
of a
verb
, which is not reflected in the underlying
morphology
of the language. One notable introductory textbook for English-speakers,
Eleanor Jorden
's
Japanese: The Spoken Language
, uses her
JSL romanization
, a system strongly influenced by Kunrei-shiki in its adherence to Japanese phonology, but it is adapted to teaching proper pronunciation of Japanese phonemes.
Kunrei-shiki spellings of kana
[
edit
]
goj?on
|
y?on
|
あ ア
a
|
い イ
i
|
う ウ
u
|
え エ
e
|
お オ
o
|
(
ya
)
|
(
yu
)
|
(
yo
)
|
|
か カ
ka
|
き キ
ki
|
く ク
ku
|
け ケ
ke
|
こ コ
ko
|
きゃ キャ
kya
|
きゅ キュ
kyu
|
きょ キョ
kyo
|
さ サ
sa
|
し シ
si
|
す ス
su
|
せ セ
se
|
そ ソ
so
|
しゃ シャ
sya
|
しゅ シュ
syu
|
しょ ショ
syo
|
た タ
ta
|
ち チ
ti
|
つ ツ
tu
|
て テ
te
|
と ト
to
|
ちゃ チャ
tya
|
ちゅ チュ
tyu
|
ちょ チョ
tyo
|
な ナ
na
|
に ニ
ni
|
ぬ ヌ
nu
|
ね ネ
ne
|
の ノ
no
|
にゃ ニャ
nya
|
にゅ ニュ
nyu
|
にょ ニョ
nyo
|
は ハ
ha
|
ひ ヒ
hi
|
ふ フ
hu
|
へ ヘ
he
|
ほ ホ
ho
|
ひゃ ヒャ
hya
|
ひゅ ヒュ
hyu
|
ひょ ヒョ
hyo
|
ま マ
ma
|
み ミ
mi
|
む ム
mu
|
め メ
me
|
も モ
mo
|
みゃ ミャ
mya
|
みゅ ミュ
myu
|
みょ ミョ
myo
|
や ヤ
ya
|
(i)
|
ゆ ユ
yu
|
(e)
|
よ ヨ
yo
|
|
ら ラ
ra
|
り リ
ri
|
る ル
ru
|
れ レ
re
|
ろ ロ
ro
|
りゃ リャ
rya
|
りゅ リュ
ryu
|
りょ リョ
ryo
|
わ ワ
wa
|
ゐ ヰ
i
|
(u)
|
ゑ ヱ
e
|
を ヲ
o
|
|
|
ん ン
n
|
|
voiced sounds (
dakuten
)
|
|
が ガ
ga
|
ぎ ギ
gi
|
ぐ グ
gu
|
げ ゲ
ge
|
ご ゴ
go
|
ぎゃ ギャ
gya
|
ぎゅ ギュ
gyu
|
ぎょ ギョ
gyo
|
ざ ザ
za
|
じ ジ
zi
|
ず ズ
zu
|
ぜ ゼ
ze
|
ぞ ゾ
zo
|
じゃ ジャ
zya
|
じゅ ジュ
zyu
|
じょ ジョ
zyo
|
だ ダ
da
|
ぢ ヂ
zi
|
づ ヅ
zu
|
で デ
de
|
ど ド
do
|
ぢゃ ヂャ
zya
|
ぢゅ ヂュ
zyu
|
ぢょ ヂョ
zyo
|
ば バ
ba
|
び ビ
bi
|
ぶ ブ
bu
|
べ ベ
be
|
ぼ ボ
bo
|
びゃ ビャ
bya
|
びゅ ビュ
byu
|
びょ ビョ
byo
|
ぱ パ
pa
|
ぴ ピ
pi
|
ぷ プ
pu
|
ぺ ペ
pe
|
ぽ ポ
po
|
ぴゃ ピャ
pya
|
ぴゅ ピュ
pyu
|
ぴょ ピョ
pyo
|
Notes
[
edit
]
- Characters in
red
are obsolete in modern Japanese.
- When
he
(へ) is used as a particle, it is written as
e
, not
he
(as in Nihon-shiki).
- When
ha
(は) is used as a particle, it is written as
wa
, not
ha
.
- wo
(を/ヲ) is used only as a particle, written
o
.
- Long vowels are indicated by a circumflex accent: long
o
is written
o
.
- Vowels that are separated by a morpheme boundary are not considered to be a long vowel. For example, おもう (思う) is written
omou
, not
omo
.
- Syllabic
n
(ん) is written as
n'
before vowels and
y
but as
n
before consonants and at the end of a word.
- Geminate
consonants are always marked by doubling the consonant following the
sokuon
(っ).
- The first letter in a sentence and all proper nouns are capitalized.
- ISO 3602 has the strict form; see
Nihon-shiki
.
Permitted exceptions
[
edit
]
The Cabinet Order makes an exception to the above chart:
- In international relations and situations for which prior precedent would make a sudden reform difficult, the spelling given by Chart 2 may also be used:
しゃ sha
|
し shi
|
しゅ shu
|
しょ sho
|
|
|
つ tsu
|
|
ちゃ cha
|
ち chi
|
ちゅ chu
|
ちょ cho
|
|
|
ふ fu
|
|
じゃ ja
|
じ ji
|
じゅ ju
|
じょ jo
|
|
ぢ di
|
づ du
|
|
ぢゃ dya
|
|
ぢゅ dyu
|
ぢょ dyo
|
くゎ kwa
|
|
|
|
ぐゎ gwa
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
を wo
|
The exceptional clause is not to be confused with other systems of romanization (such as
Hepburn
) and does not specifically relax other requirements, such as marking long vowels.
See also
[
edit
]
Sources
[
edit
]
- Geographical Survey Institute
(Kokudo Chiriin).
Bulletin of the
Geographical Survey Institute
, Volumes 20-23
. 1974.
- Gottlieb, Nanette. "
The R?maji movement in Japan
."
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
(Third Series). January 2010. Volume 20, Issue 1. p. 75-88. Published online on November 30, 2009. Available at
Cambridge Journals
. DOI doi:10.1017/S1356186309990320.
- Hadamitzky, Wolfgang.
Kanji & Kana Revised Edition
(漢字?かな).
Tuttle Publishing
, 1997.
ISBN
0-8048-2077-5
, 9780804820776.
- Horvat, Andrew.
Japanese Beyond Words: How to Walk and Talk Like a Native Speaker
.
Stone Bridge Press
, 2000.
ISBN
1-880656-42-6
, 9781880656426.
- Hinds, John.
Japanese: Descriptive Grammar
.
Taylor & Francis Group
, 1986.
ISBN
0-415-01033-0
, 9780415010337.
- Kent, Allen, Harold Lancour, and Jay Elwood Daily (Executive Editors).
Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science Volume 21
.
CRC Press
, April 1, 1978.
ISBN
0-8247-2021-0
, 9780824720216.
- Unger, J. Marshall.
Literacy and Script Reform in Occupation Japan : Reading between the Lines: Reading between the Lines
.
Oxford University Press
. July 8, 1996.
ISBN
0-19-535638-1
, 9780195356380.
- ロ?マ字のつづり方
.
文部科?省
(in Japanese).
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
. Archived from
the original
on 2013-05-29
. Retrieved
2013-05-21
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"What is Kunrei or Kunrei-shiki romanization?"
.
sci.lang.japan
. Retrieved
24 July
2023
.
- ^
Horvat, Andrew (2000).
Japanese Beyond Words: How to Walk and Talk Like a Native Speaker
. Stone Bridge Press. p. 166.
ISBN
978-1-880656-42-6
.
The
zi
ending of
roomazi
comes from the Kunreeshiki system promulgated in the 1930s through a cabinet order, or
kunree
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Kent, Allen; Lancour, Harold; Daily, Jay E. (1977).
Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science: Volume 21 - Oregon State System of Higher Education to Pennsylvania State University Libraries
. CRC Press. p. 155.
ISBN
978-0-8247-2021-6
.
- ^
Hadamitzky, Wolfgang; Spahn, Mark (1996).
漢字?かな
. C.E. Tuttle. p. 12.
ISBN
978-0-8048-2077-6
.
- ^
a
b
"
Romanization in Japan
." (
Archive
) (Paper presented by Japan)
United Nations Economic and Social Council
. 8 July 1977. p. 3. English only. Retrieved on 15 May 2013.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Horvat, Andrew. "
The Romaji (Roomaji) Conundrum
." (
Archive
) ? Excerpt from Horvat's book:
Japanese Beyond Words: How to Walk and Talk Like a Native Speaker
. Hosted at the David See-Chai Lam Centre for International Communication of
Simon Fraser University
. Retrieved on 13 May 2013.
- ^
a
b
Unger, John Marshall
(1996).
Literacy and Script Reform in Occupation Japan: Reading between the Lines
. Oxford University Press. p. 78.
ISBN
978-0-19-535638-0
.
- ^
a
b
c
Unger, James Marshall
(1996).
Literacy and Script Reform in Occupation Japan: Reading between the Lines
. Oxford University Press. p. 54.
ISBN
978-0-19-535638-0
.
- ^
Gottlieb, p. 78.
- ^
Geographical Survey Institute
(1974).
Bulletin of the Geographical Survey Institute
. p. 22.
As reported at the Second Conference, the writing of geographical names in Roman letters in Japan comes in two types ? Kunrei Siki (system adopted under a Cabinet ordinance) and Syusei Hebon Siki (Modified Hepburn System). Kunrei Siki is used for topographical maps, whereas Syusei Hebon Siki is in use for aeronautical charts and geological maps.
- ^
"Hepburn-Style Romaji Likely to Become Standardized"
.
The Japan News
.
Yomiuri Shimbun
. January 31, 2024.
Archived
from the original on February 3, 2024
. Retrieved
February 3,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
道路標識のヘボン式ロ?マ字綴り一?表
.
www.kictec.co.jp
(in Japanese). Archived from
the original
on 2002-11-23.
- ^
"?道?示基準規程"
. Tabi-mo.travel.coocan.jp
. Retrieved
2022-09-07
.
- ^
Powers, John. "Japanese Names",
The Indexer
Vol. 26 No. 2 June 2008. "It [Hepburn] can be considered the norm as, in slightly modified form, it is followed by the great majority of Western publications and by all English-language newspapers."
- ^
Hinds, John (1986).
Japanese: Descriptive Grammar
.
Croom Helm
.
ISBN
0-7099-3733-4
.
LCCN
86006372
.
The major disadvantage of this system (Kunrei-shiki) is that there is a tendency for nonnative speakers of Japanese to pronounce certain forms incorrectly.
- ^
Hinds, John (1986).
Japanese: Descriptive Grammar
.
Croom Helm
.
ISBN
0-7099-3733-4
.
LCCN
86006372
.
The major advantage of kunrei-shiki is that inflectional endings are seen to be more regular.
External links
[
edit
]
ISO
standards
by standard number
|
---|
|
1?9999
| |
---|
10000?19999
| |
---|
20000?29999
| |
---|
30000+
| |
---|
|