
:''For other meanings, see Hepburn (disambiguation).'' The Hepburn romanization system (Japanese language: ヘボン式 ''Hebon-shiki'') was devised by the Revd James Curtis Hepburn to transcribe the sounds of the Japanese language into the Roman alphabet for his Japanese–English dictionary, published in 1867. This system was subsequently revised and called Shūsei Hebon-shiki (修正ヘボン式). This revised version is sometimes also referred to as Hyōjun-shiki (標準式) (standard style). The original and revised variants of Hepburn remain by far the most popular methods of transcription of Japanese. It gives the best indication to an English speaker of how the word is pronounced in modern Japanese. Native Japanese speakers familiar with the Roman alphabet through the study of English language tend to find Hepburn more comfortable than the official Kunrei-shiki system. ==Legal status== Hepburn is based on English phonology, not Japanese, and as such has faced some opposition in Japan. In particular, a September 21, 1937 cabinet ordinance proclaimed an alternative system now commonly known as Kunrei to be Japan's official romanization for all purposes, but this was overturned by the SCAP during the Occupation of Japan. The (slightly revised) ordinance was reissued in 1954. In 1972, a revised version of Hepburn was codified as ANSI standard Z39.11-1972. It was proposed in 1989 as a draft for ISO 3602, but rejected in favor of Kunrei. The Z39.11-1972 standard was consequently deprecated on October 6, 1994. However, despite its lack of ''de jure'' status, Hepburn remains the ''de facto'' standard. In Japan, almost all official signs (street signs, warnings, notices, etc) are romanized in Hepburn. Japan Railway and all the other transportation systems (buses, subways, other train systems, aeroplanes, et cetera) use Hepburn. Signs and notices in city offices and police stations use Hepburn. Signs at shrines, temples and attractions use Hepburn. Newspapers and TV use Hepburn. Cities and prefectures use Hepburn. Publications by the Japanese Foreign Ministry use Hepburn. Official tourism information put out by the government uses Hepburn, as do all guidebooks, local and foreign, on Japan. Students of Japanese as a foreign language often learn Hepburn. ==Standard variants of Hepburn romanization== There are three standard variants of Hepburn romanization. *The first is traditional Hepburn, which renders long vowels and syllabic ''n'' in a variety of ways. *The second is revised Hepburn, a revised version of ''traditional Hepburn'', in which the rendering of syllabic ''n'' as ''m'' before certain consonants is no longer used. This is the most common form of Japanese romanization used today, and is used by the Library of Congress. (''Revised Hepburn'' may be referred to as ''modified Hepburn''.) *The third is modified Hepburn, which builds on ''revised Hepburn'' to further modify ''traditional Hepburn''. This version is consistent in its treatment of long vowels and syllable ''n''. It has been adopted by some major dictionaries (e.g. the ''Pocket Kenkyusha Japanese Dictionary'' published by Oxford University Press), but is still mainly the preserve of linguists. (The term ''modified Hepburn'' may be used to refer to ''revised Hepburn''.) Details of these variants can be found below. ==Features of Hepburn romanization== The main feature of Hepburn is that its orthography is based on English phonology. More technically, where syllables constructed systematically according to the Japanese syllabary contain the "unstable" consonant for the modern spoken language, the orthography is changed to something that, as an English speaker would pronounce it, better matches the real sound, for example し is written ''shi'' not *''si''. ===Particles=== *When ''he'' へ is used as a particle it is written ''e''. *When ''ha'' は is used as a particle it is written ''wa''. *When ''wo'' を is used as a particle it is written ''o''. ===Long vowels=== In traditional and revised Hepburn: *The long vowels o and u are indicated by a macron, e.g. long o is written ''ō''. *In words of Japanese or Chinese origin, the long vowel e is written ''ei''. *In words of Japanese or Chinese origin, the long vowel i is written ''ii''. *In words of foreign origin, all long vowels are indicated by macrons. In modified Hepburn: *All long vowels are indicated by doubling the vowel, e.g. long o is written ''oo''. **The combination ''ei'' is reserved for cases where the two vowels are pronounced as distinct sounds, e.g. in the word ''supein'', meaning 'Spain'. ===Syllabic ''n''=== In traditional Hepburn: *Syllabic ''n'' (ん) is written as ''n'' before consonants, but as ''n''' (with an apostrophe) before vowels and ''y''. It is written as ''m'' before other labial consonants, i.e. ''b'', ''m'', and ''p''. In revised Hepburn: *The rendering ''m'' before labial consonants is not used, being replaced with ''n''. It is still written ''n''' before vowels and ''y''. In modified Hepburn: *Syllabic ''n'' is always written as ''n'' with a macron, such as is used to indicate long vowels in traditional Hepburn. (This can be achieved on word processors through the use of various specialized fonts, e.g. Times Gandhari.) This renders the use of apostrophes unnecessary. ===Double consonants=== *Double (or 'geminate') consonants are marked by doubling the consonant following the っ, except for ''sh''→''ssh'', ''ch''→''tch''. ===Variations=== Variations of the Hepburn system indicate the long vowels ō and ū as follows: * ''Tōkyō'': indicated with macrons. This follows the rules of the traditional and revised Hepburn systems, and is considered to be standard. * ''Tôkyô'': indicated with circumflexes. Circumflexes are often used when a word processor does not allow macrons. With the spread of Unicode, this is becoming rare. * ''Tokyo'': not indicated at all. This is common for Japanese words that have been adopted into English. * ''Tohkyoh'': indicated with an "h". This is sometimes known as "passport Hepburn", as the Japanese Foreign Ministry has authorized (but not required) this usage in passports. [http://www.seikatubunka.metro.tokyo.jp/hebon/] * ''Toukyou'': written using hiragana spelling: ''ō'' as ''ou'' and ''ū'' as ''uu''. This is sometimes called ''wapuro'' style, as this is how text is entered into a Japanese word processor (''wādo purosessā'') using a keyboard with Roman characters. *''Tookyoo'': written by doubling the long vowels. This follows the rules of the modified Hepburn system, but is also common when writing words of foreign origin without reference to any particular system, i.e. ''paatii'' for パーティー ("party") instead of ''pātī''. Some linguists object to Hepburn, as it does not transcribe Japanese phonetic structures, inflections, or conjugations properly. Supporters argue that Hepburn is not intended as a linguistic tool, and that International Phonetic Alphabet should be used in such contexts instead. ==Hepburn romanization charts== ===For hiragana=== {| border="0" cellspacing="2px" cellpadding="2px" width="100%" |-bgcolor="#BECFEB" valign="top" align="center" !あ ''a''!!い ''i''!!う ''u''!!え ''e''!!お ''o'' !bgcolor="#D4D4D4"|(''ya'')!!bgcolor="#D4D4D4"|(''yu'')!!bgcolor="#D4D4D4"|(''yo'') |- |colspan="8"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |か ''ka''||き ''ki''||く ''ku''||け ''ke''||こ ''ko'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|きゃ ''kya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|きゅ ''kyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|きょ ''kyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |さ ''sa''||し ''shi''||す ''su''||せ ''se''||そ ''so'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|しゃ ''sha'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|しゅ ''shu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|しょ ''sho'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |た ''ta''||ち ''chi''||つ ''tsu''||て ''te''||と ''to'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ちゃ ''cha'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ちゅ ''chu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ちょ ''cho'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |な ''na''||に ''ni''||ぬ ''nu''||ね ''ne''||の ''no'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|にゃ ''nya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|にゅ ''nyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|にょ ''nyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |は ''ha''||ひ ''hi''||ふ ''fu''||へ ''he''||ほ ''ho'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ひゃ ''hya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ひゅ ''hyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ひょ ''hyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ま ''ma''||み ''mi''||む ''mu''||め ''me''||も ''mo'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|みゃ ''mya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|みゅ ''myu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|みょ ''myo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |や ''ya''||bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| ||ゆ ''yu''||bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| ||よ ''yo'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ら ''ra''||り ''ri''||る ''ru''||れ ''re''||ろ ''ro'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|りゃ ''rya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|りゅ ''ryu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|りょ ''ryo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |わ ''wa''||ゐ ''wi''||bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| ||ゑ ''we''||を ''wo'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="4"| ||ん ''n'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |- |colspan="8"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |が ''ga''||ぎ ''gi''||ぐ ''gu''||げ ''ge''||ご ''go'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぎゃ ''gya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぎゅ ''gyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぎょ ''gyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ざ ''za''||じ ''ji''||ず ''zu''||ぜ ''ze''||ぞ ''zo'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|じゃ ''ja'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|じゅ ''ju'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|じょ ''jo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |だ ''da''||ぢ ''(ji)''||づ ''(zu)''||で ''de''||ど ''do'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぢゃ ''(ja)'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぢゅ ''(ju)'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぢょ ''(jo)'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ば ''ba''||び ''bi''||ぶ ''bu''||べ ''be''||ぼ ''bo'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|びゃ ''bya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|びゅ ''byu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|びょ ''byo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ぱ ''pa''||ぴ ''pi''||ぷ ''pu''||ぺ ''pe''||ぽ ''po'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぴゃ ''pya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぴゅ ''pyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぴょ ''pyo'' |} The characters in red are obsolete in modern Japanese. ===For standard katakana=== {| border="0" width=100%" cellspacing="2px" cellpadding="2px" |-bgcolor="#BECFEB" valign="top" align="center" |ア ''a''||イ ''i''||ウ ''u''||エ ''e''||オ ''o'' |bgcolor="#D4D4D4" colspan="3"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |カ ''ka''||キ ''ki''||ク ''ku''||ケ ''ke''||コ ''ko'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|キャ ''kya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|キュ ''kyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|キョ ''kyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |サ ''sa''||シ ''shi''||ス ''su''||セ ''se''||ソ ''so'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|シャ ''sha'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|シュ ''shu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ショ ''sho'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |タ ''ta''||チ ''chi''||ツ ''tsu''||テ ''te''||ト ''to'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|チャ ''cha'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|チュ ''chu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|チョ ''cho'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ナ ''na''||ニ ''ni''||ヌ ''nu''||ネ ''ne''||ノ ''no'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ニャ ''nya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ニュ ''nyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ニョ ''nyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ハ ''ha''||ヒ ''hi''||フ ''fu''||ヘ ''he''||ホ ''ho'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ヒャ ''hya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ヒュ ''hyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ヒョ ''hyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |マ ''ma''||ミ ''mi''||ム ''mu''||メ ''me''||モ ''mo'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ミャ ''mya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ミュ ''myu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ミョ ''myo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ヤ ''ya''||bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| ||ユ ''yu''||bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| ||ヨ ''yo'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ラ ''ra''||リ ''ri''||ル ''ru''||レ ''re''||ロ ''ro'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|リャ ''rya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|リュ ''ryu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|リョ ''ryo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ワ ''wa''||ヰ ''wi''||bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| ||ヱ ''we''||ヲ ''wo'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="4"| ||ン ''n'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ガ ''ga''||ギ ''gi''||グ ''gu''||ゲ ''ge''||ゴ ''go'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ギャ ''gya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ギュ ''gyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ギョ ''gyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ザ ''za''||ジ ''ji''||ズ ''zu''||ゼ ''ze''||ゾ ''zo'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ジャ ''ja'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ジュ ''ju'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ジョ ''jo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ダ ''da''||ヂ ''(ji)''||ヅ ''(zu)''||デ ''de''||ド ''do'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ヂャ ''(ja)'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ヂュ ''(ju)'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ヂョ ''(jo)'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |バ ''ba''||ビ ''bi''||ブ ''bu''||ベ ''be''||ボ ''bo'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ビャ ''bya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ビュ ''byu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ビョ ''byo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |パ ''pa''||ピ ''pi''||プ ''pu''||ペ ''pe''||ポ ''po'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ピャ ''pya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ピュ ''pyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ピョ ''pyo'' |} The characters in red are obsolete in modern Japanese. ===For extended katakana=== These are used mainly to represent the sounds in words in other languages. Most of these are not formally standardized and some are very rarely used. {| border="0" width="62.5%" cellpadding="2px" cellspacing="2px" |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |イェ ''ye'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |ウィ ''wi'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |ウェ ''we'' |ウォ ''wo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |ヷ ''va'' |ヸ ''vi'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |ヹ ''ve'' |ヺ ''vo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |ヴァ ''va'' |ヴィ ''vi'' |ヴ ''vu'' |ヴェ ''ve'' |ヴォ ''vo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |シェ ''she'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |ジェ ''je'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |チェ ''che'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |ティ ''ti'' |トゥ ''tu'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |テュ ''tyu'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |ディ ''di'' |ドゥ ''du'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |デュ ''dyu'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |ツァ ''tsa'' |ツィ ''tsi'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |ツェ ''tse'' |ツォ ''tso'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |ファ ''fa'' |フィ ''fi'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |フェ ''fe'' |フォ ''fo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |フュ ''fyu'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |} Japanese language romanization
A previous version of this article made the strange claim that "Hepburn was abolished in 1994". I've removed this until some proof can be found. Additionally, any hard information (copies of gov't decrees and such) regarding the legal status of Hepburn would be most welcome. User:Jpatokal 07:57, 24 May 2004 (UTC)
ANSI Z39.11-1972 American National Standard System for the Romanization of Japanese, American National Standards Institute, 1972, 11 pages. (known as Modified Hepburn) was abolished on Oct. 6, 1994. : Aha, so ''ANSI'' has abolished it! This is very, very different from the Japanese government doing so. ANSI revised Z39.11-1972 in 1989 as the draft for ISO 3602. But since ISO rejected the system and approved Kunrei system in the same year, ANSI finally abolished Z39.11-1972. Ask the institute if you don't believe the fact. There is no standard for the Romanization of Japanese in the United States today. Present valid standards are ISO 3602 (Kunreisiki), ISO 3602 strict (Nipponsiki), and Japanese Cabinet Order No.1 as of December 9, 1954 (Kunreisiki). ANSI itself, today, recommends ISO 3602:1989. Documentation--Romanization of Japanese (kana script). : In the US the ''de facto standard'' is to copy what the Library of Congress does -- and they use Modified Hepburn. Your so-called ''Modified Hepburn'' is NOT Modified Hepburn. Long-vowel omitted Hepburn is informal, and should be called Simplified Hepburn (通用ヘボン式). -Suika : No, the difference between original and modified is the treatment of syllabic N (Nihombashi vs Nihonbashi). I make no claims about the no-long-vowels version, so feel free to edit the text. User:Jpatokal 01:44, 25 May 2004 (UTC)
In the US the ''de facto standard'' is to copy what the Library of Congress does -- and they use Modified Hepburn. : That is the in-house standard of Kenkyusha's New English-Japanese Dictionary that the Library of Congress adopted. It's a kind of convension not corrected yet. Modified Hepburn is no longer regarded as a legally valid standard anywhere. : Ironically speaking, Table II of Japanese Cabinet Order No.1 as of 1954 allows Hepburn with slight differnces; Long vowels are indicated by a circumflex, Syllabic ん is written as n, Geminate consonants are marked by doubling the consonant WITHOUT exception. I think this is the only authority for Hepburn. -Suika ==Hyojun== This page (http://weblog.delacour.net/archives/2003/02/just_make_sure_you_spell_it_incorrectly.php) says that Hyōjun is another name for "Hepburn". Is this true? User:WhisperToMe 05:29, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC) In addition, KIZU/Britty sez that he's heard of "hyojun-shiki" as a way to refer to hepburn, and that "Hyōjun" means standard. User:WhisperToMe 06:25, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC) : Yes, Hyojun-shiki means "standard style". It's a somewhat ambiguous term but usually it does mean Hepburn. User:Jpatokal 14:27, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC) :: A while ago, I took the liberty of expanding the part about Hyojun-shiki a little bit. According to http://www.eurus.dti.ne.jp/~halcat/roomazi/iroiro1.html Hyojun-shiki specifically refers to Revised Hepburn... ==Long vowels== AFAIk the ''only'' Hepburn-sanctioned long vowel representations are macrons and (in old Hepburn as surrogates) circumflexes. All the other variants listed should be nuked and moved to Romaji where they belong. User:Jpatokal 16:04, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC) ::I agree. I don't think any representation except single vowel with no mark (Tokyo) or single vowel with macron are used. Stop it Whisper to me. User:Exploding Boy 18:38, Aug 5, 2004 (UTC) ::Maybe not in the case of "Tokyo" in the world of English-speakers, but Hepburn variants like "ou" are passed around like hotcakes, especially in the world of anime fans. Sorry, but the "Tohkyoh" thing wasn't really referring to the use specifically with "Tokyo", but in a more general context. Perhaps "Tokyo" isn't such a good example in explaining Hepburn variants, but it's not my fault that "oh" is used in place of ō, is it? Either all of them stay, or none of them stay. (Except in the case of ignoring the long vowels, which is done with loanwords into English) User:WhisperToMe 18:43, 5 Aug 2004 (UTC) :::WTM, I'd send you to the Japanese Romaji page which discusses Hepburn variants in detail, but hot-diggity-dawg, you can't read Japanese now can you? :::Anyway, "oh" is so-called "passport Hepburn" as endorsed by the Japanese Foreign Ministry for passports ''only''. "ou", on the other hand, is ''wapuro romaji'' and not Hepburn of any kind; I'll type up an article on this some day. User:Jpatokal 03:32, 6 Aug 2004 (UTC) ::::"Some day" finally came today: wapuro romaji No, "Tokyo" is not a good example to use. The "ou" construction used to be common but isn't any more, and anime fans aren't the arbiters of correct romanization. User:Exploding Boy 19:03, Aug 5, 2004 (UTC) :I agree with you here. I personally don't care what happens to the "alternate romanization" information on the romanization variants on the Hepburn page as the same info is more or less at the Romaji page. User:WhisperToMe 19:07, 5 Aug 2004 (UTC) "Features of Hepburn romanization" Perhaps I didn't read carefully enough, but I don't see much difference in the features of hepburn and the features of nihonshiki & kunreishiki. Is there something I missed? If there truely is no difference then how are these features? I agree that the things should be mentioned, but if they are exclusive, they are hardly features. The reason I came on here was to find out what system uses "ou" type romanization. I was surprised to find out that this is called "wapuro" and isn't as ubiquitous as it seems to be. Something I feel I should note is that when my friends and classmates (international students) send me email in Japanese they seem to mix wapuro and "adopted into English" styles. The difficulty of typing with macrons, circumflexes, and tildes seems to be changing the face of what is standard. User:Dustinasby 17:51, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC) ==Fundamental problem?== I removed the following: : ''There is also a fundamental problem in the use of ō-- when seeing a new word without a pronounciation it can be impossible to tell whether the Japanese would use the hiragana/katakana oo or ou.'' # This is not unique to Hepburn, both Kunrei and Nihonshiki do the same thing (just with a circumflex). # The ''pronunciation'' of the two cases is identical. Only the kana spelling isn't, and this is pretty much irrelevant if the original is kanji (which is usually the case). I'd suggest moving this to Romaji if you can explain why this is such a "fundamental" problem. User:Jpatokal 17:06, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC) =="Wi" and "we"== Shouldn't the hepburn romanizations for ゐ and ゑ reflect the pronunciation of those characters during the 11-20 centuries period, which were ''i'' and ''e/ye''? Just wondering that oh maybe a millennium is relevant and that hepburn is supposed to represent pronunciation. : Wikipedia doesn't propose improvements, it documents. And this isn't exactly a major problem. User:Jpatokal 08:33, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC) :: Wikipedia does not always have flawless documentation. And that's why we need fact checking when something doesn't sound right. :: Could you help me find some sources that shows why the two characters should (or "Wikipedia should") be documented as wi + we instead of something else for this article? If this doesn't interest you, it really isn't a major problem for you or me if you don't reply. :::Here's a link to [http://halcat.com/roomazi/doc/bs4812.html BS4812] (a British standard for Hepburn), which uses "wi" and "we". It's cross-referenced to ANSI, with incompatible parts visible but struck out, and references the Library of Congress standard. User:Jpatokal 07:25, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Hepburn:
Hepburn
Hepburn
Hepburn,_Canada
Hepburn,_Canada
Hepburn,_IA
Hepburn,_Iowa
Hepburn,_Saskatchewan
Hepburn,_Saskatchewan
Hepburn-shiki
Hepburn_(Band)
Hepburn_(band)
Hepburn_(disambiguation)
Hepburn_Act
Hepburn_Act
Hepburn_Chart
Hepburn_Romaji
Hepburn_romanization
Hepburn_Shire
Hepburn_Township
Hepburn_Township,_PA
Hepburn_Township,_Pennsylvania
Hepburn_transcription
Hepburn
:''For other meanings, see Hepburn (disambiguation).'' The Hepburn romanization system (Japanese language: ヘボン式 ''Hebon-shiki'') was devised by the Revd James Curtis Hepburn to transcribe the sounds of the Japanese language into the Roman alphabet for his Japanese–English dictionary, published in 1867. This system was subsequently revised and called Shūsei Hebon-shiki (修正ヘボン式). This revised version is sometimes also referred to as Hyōjun-shiki (標準式) (standard style). The original and revised variants of Hepburn remain by far the most popular methods of transcription of Japanese. It gives the best indication to an English speaker of how the word is pronounced in modern Japanese. Native Japanese speakers familiar with the Roman alphabet through the study of English language tend to find Hepburn more comfortable than the official Kunrei-shiki system. ==Legal status== Hepburn is based on English phonology, not Japanese, and as such has faced some opposition in Japan. In particular, a September 21, 1937 cabinet ordinance proclaimed an alternative system now commonly known as Kunrei to be Japan's official romanization for all purposes, but this was overturned by the SCAP during the Occupation of Japan. The (slightly revised) ordinance was reissued in 1954. In 1972, a revised version of Hepburn was codified as ANSI standard Z39.11-1972. It was proposed in 1989 as a draft for ISO 3602, but rejected in favor of Kunrei. The Z39.11-1972 standard was consequently deprecated on October 6, 1994. However, despite its lack of ''de jure'' status, Hepburn remains the ''de facto'' standard. In Japan, almost all official signs (street signs, warnings, notices, etc) are romanized in Hepburn. Japan Railway and all the other transportation systems (buses, subways, other train systems, aeroplanes, et cetera) use Hepburn. Signs and notices in city offices and police stations use Hepburn. Signs at shrines, temples and attractions use Hepburn. Newspapers and TV use Hepburn. Cities and prefectures use Hepburn. Publications by the Japanese Foreign Ministry use Hepburn. Official tourism information put out by the government uses Hepburn, as do all guidebooks, local and foreign, on Japan. Students of Japanese as a foreign language often learn Hepburn. ==Standard variants of Hepburn romanization== There are three standard variants of Hepburn romanization. *The first is traditional Hepburn, which renders long vowels and syllabic ''n'' in a variety of ways. *The second is revised Hepburn, a revised version of ''traditional Hepburn'', in which the rendering of syllabic ''n'' as ''m'' before certain consonants is no longer used. This is the most common form of Japanese romanization used today, and is used by the Library of Congress. (''Revised Hepburn'' may be referred to as ''modified Hepburn''.) *The third is modified Hepburn, which builds on ''revised Hepburn'' to further modify ''traditional Hepburn''. This version is consistent in its treatment of long vowels and syllable ''n''. It has been adopted by some major dictionaries (e.g. the ''Pocket Kenkyusha Japanese Dictionary'' published by Oxford University Press), but is still mainly the preserve of linguists. (The term ''modified Hepburn'' may be used to refer to ''revised Hepburn''.) Details of these variants can be found below. ==Features of Hepburn romanization== The main feature of Hepburn is that its orthography is based on English phonology. More technically, where syllables constructed systematically according to the Japanese syllabary contain the "unstable" consonant for the modern spoken language, the orthography is changed to something that, as an English speaker would pronounce it, better matches the real sound, for example し is written ''shi'' not *''si''. ===Particles=== *When ''he'' へ is used as a particle it is written ''e''. *When ''ha'' は is used as a particle it is written ''wa''. *When ''wo'' を is used as a particle it is written ''o''. ===Long vowels=== In traditional and revised Hepburn: *The long vowels o and u are indicated by a macron, e.g. long o is written ''ō''. *In words of Japanese or Chinese origin, the long vowel e is written ''ei''. *In words of Japanese or Chinese origin, the long vowel i is written ''ii''. *In words of foreign origin, all long vowels are indicated by macrons. In modified Hepburn: *All long vowels are indicated by doubling the vowel, e.g. long o is written ''oo''. **The combination ''ei'' is reserved for cases where the two vowels are pronounced as distinct sounds, e.g. in the word ''supein'', meaning 'Spain'. ===Syllabic ''n''=== In traditional Hepburn: *Syllabic ''n'' (ん) is written as ''n'' before consonants, but as ''n''' (with an apostrophe) before vowels and ''y''. It is written as ''m'' before other labial consonants, i.e. ''b'', ''m'', and ''p''. In revised Hepburn: *The rendering ''m'' before labial consonants is not used, being replaced with ''n''. It is still written ''n''' before vowels and ''y''. In modified Hepburn: *Syllabic ''n'' is always written as ''n'' with a macron, such as is used to indicate long vowels in traditional Hepburn. (This can be achieved on word processors through the use of various specialized fonts, e.g. Times Gandhari.) This renders the use of apostrophes unnecessary. ===Double consonants=== *Double (or 'geminate') consonants are marked by doubling the consonant following the っ, except for ''sh''→''ssh'', ''ch''→''tch''. ===Variations=== Variations of the Hepburn system indicate the long vowels ō and ū as follows: * ''Tōkyō'': indicated with macrons. This follows the rules of the traditional and revised Hepburn systems, and is considered to be standard. * ''Tôkyô'': indicated with circumflexes. Circumflexes are often used when a word processor does not allow macrons. With the spread of Unicode, this is becoming rare. * ''Tokyo'': not indicated at all. This is common for Japanese words that have been adopted into English. * ''Tohkyoh'': indicated with an "h". This is sometimes known as "passport Hepburn", as the Japanese Foreign Ministry has authorized (but not required) this usage in passports. [http://www.seikatubunka.metro.tokyo.jp/hebon/] * ''Toukyou'': written using hiragana spelling: ''ō'' as ''ou'' and ''ū'' as ''uu''. This is sometimes called ''wapuro'' style, as this is how text is entered into a Japanese word processor (''wādo purosessā'') using a keyboard with Roman characters. *''Tookyoo'': written by doubling the long vowels. This follows the rules of the modified Hepburn system, but is also common when writing words of foreign origin without reference to any particular system, i.e. ''paatii'' for パーティー ("party") instead of ''pātī''. Some linguists object to Hepburn, as it does not transcribe Japanese phonetic structures, inflections, or conjugations properly. Supporters argue that Hepburn is not intended as a linguistic tool, and that International Phonetic Alphabet should be used in such contexts instead. ==Hepburn romanization charts== ===For hiragana=== {| border="0" cellspacing="2px" cellpadding="2px" width="100%" |-bgcolor="#BECFEB" valign="top" align="center" !あ ''a''!!い ''i''!!う ''u''!!え ''e''!!お ''o'' !bgcolor="#D4D4D4"|(''ya'')!!bgcolor="#D4D4D4"|(''yu'')!!bgcolor="#D4D4D4"|(''yo'') |- |colspan="8"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |か ''ka''||き ''ki''||く ''ku''||け ''ke''||こ ''ko'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|きゃ ''kya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|きゅ ''kyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|きょ ''kyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |さ ''sa''||し ''shi''||す ''su''||せ ''se''||そ ''so'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|しゃ ''sha'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|しゅ ''shu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|しょ ''sho'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |た ''ta''||ち ''chi''||つ ''tsu''||て ''te''||と ''to'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ちゃ ''cha'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ちゅ ''chu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ちょ ''cho'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |な ''na''||に ''ni''||ぬ ''nu''||ね ''ne''||の ''no'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|にゃ ''nya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|にゅ ''nyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|にょ ''nyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |は ''ha''||ひ ''hi''||ふ ''fu''||へ ''he''||ほ ''ho'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ひゃ ''hya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ひゅ ''hyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ひょ ''hyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ま ''ma''||み ''mi''||む ''mu''||め ''me''||も ''mo'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|みゃ ''mya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|みゅ ''myu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|みょ ''myo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |や ''ya''||bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| ||ゆ ''yu''||bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| ||よ ''yo'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ら ''ra''||り ''ri''||る ''ru''||れ ''re''||ろ ''ro'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|りゃ ''rya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|りゅ ''ryu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|りょ ''ryo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |わ ''wa''||ゐ ''wi''||bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| ||ゑ ''we''||を ''wo'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="4"| ||ん ''n'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |- |colspan="8"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |が ''ga''||ぎ ''gi''||ぐ ''gu''||げ ''ge''||ご ''go'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぎゃ ''gya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぎゅ ''gyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぎょ ''gyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ざ ''za''||じ ''ji''||ず ''zu''||ぜ ''ze''||ぞ ''zo'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|じゃ ''ja'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|じゅ ''ju'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|じょ ''jo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |だ ''da''||ぢ ''(ji)''||づ ''(zu)''||で ''de''||ど ''do'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぢゃ ''(ja)'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぢゅ ''(ju)'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぢょ ''(jo)'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ば ''ba''||び ''bi''||ぶ ''bu''||べ ''be''||ぼ ''bo'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|びゃ ''bya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|びゅ ''byu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|びょ ''byo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ぱ ''pa''||ぴ ''pi''||ぷ ''pu''||ぺ ''pe''||ぽ ''po'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぴゃ ''pya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぴゅ ''pyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ぴょ ''pyo'' |} The characters in red are obsolete in modern Japanese. ===For standard katakana=== {| border="0" width=100%" cellspacing="2px" cellpadding="2px" |-bgcolor="#BECFEB" valign="top" align="center" |ア ''a''||イ ''i''||ウ ''u''||エ ''e''||オ ''o'' |bgcolor="#D4D4D4" colspan="3"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |カ ''ka''||キ ''ki''||ク ''ku''||ケ ''ke''||コ ''ko'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|キャ ''kya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|キュ ''kyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|キョ ''kyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |サ ''sa''||シ ''shi''||ス ''su''||セ ''se''||ソ ''so'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|シャ ''sha'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|シュ ''shu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ショ ''sho'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |タ ''ta''||チ ''chi''||ツ ''tsu''||テ ''te''||ト ''to'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|チャ ''cha'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|チュ ''chu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|チョ ''cho'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ナ ''na''||ニ ''ni''||ヌ ''nu''||ネ ''ne''||ノ ''no'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ニャ ''nya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ニュ ''nyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ニョ ''nyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ハ ''ha''||ヒ ''hi''||フ ''fu''||ヘ ''he''||ホ ''ho'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ヒャ ''hya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ヒュ ''hyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ヒョ ''hyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |マ ''ma''||ミ ''mi''||ム ''mu''||メ ''me''||モ ''mo'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ミャ ''mya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ミュ ''myu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ミョ ''myo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ヤ ''ya''||bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| ||ユ ''yu''||bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| ||ヨ ''yo'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ラ ''ra''||リ ''ri''||ル ''ru''||レ ''re''||ロ ''ro'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|リャ ''rya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|リュ ''ryu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|リョ ''ryo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ワ ''wa''||ヰ ''wi''||bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| ||ヱ ''we''||ヲ ''wo'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="4"| ||ン ''n'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ガ ''ga''||ギ ''gi''||グ ''gu''||ゲ ''ge''||ゴ ''go'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ギャ ''gya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ギュ ''gyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ギョ ''gyo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ザ ''za''||ジ ''ji''||ズ ''zu''||ゼ ''ze''||ゾ ''zo'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ジャ ''ja'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ジュ ''ju'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ジョ ''jo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |ダ ''da''||ヂ ''(ji)''||ヅ ''(zu)''||デ ''de''||ド ''do'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ヂャ ''(ja)'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ヂュ ''(ju)'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ヂョ ''(jo)'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |バ ''ba''||ビ ''bi''||ブ ''bu''||ベ ''be''||ボ ''bo'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ビャ ''bya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ビュ ''byu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ビョ ''byo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign="top" align="center" |パ ''pa''||ピ ''pi''||プ ''pu''||ペ ''pe''||ポ ''po'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ピャ ''pya'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ピュ ''pyu'' |bgcolor="#F3F5DE"|ピョ ''pyo'' |} The characters in red are obsolete in modern Japanese. ===For extended katakana=== These are used mainly to represent the sounds in words in other languages. Most of these are not formally standardized and some are very rarely used. {| border="0" width="62.5%" cellpadding="2px" cellspacing="2px" |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |イェ ''ye'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |ウィ ''wi'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |ウェ ''we'' |ウォ ''wo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |ヷ ''va'' |ヸ ''vi'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |ヹ ''ve'' |ヺ ''vo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |ヴァ ''va'' |ヴィ ''vi'' |ヴ ''vu'' |ヴェ ''ve'' |ヴォ ''vo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |シェ ''she'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |ジェ ''je'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="3"| |チェ ''che'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |ティ ''ti'' |トゥ ''tu'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |テュ ''tyu'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |ディ ''di'' |ドゥ ''du'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |デュ ''dyu'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |ツァ ''tsa'' |ツィ ''tsi'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |ツェ ''tse'' |ツォ ''tso'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |ファ ''fa'' |フィ ''fi'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9"| |フェ ''fe'' |フォ ''fo'' |-bgcolor="#E7F5DE" valign=top align="center" |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |フュ ''fyu'' |bgcolor="#E9E9E9" colspan="2"| |} Japanese language romanization
Hepburn
A previous version of this article made the strange claim that "Hepburn was abolished in 1994". I've removed this until some proof can be found. Additionally, any hard information (copies of gov't decrees and such) regarding the legal status of Hepburn would be most welcome. User:Jpatokal 07:57, 24 May 2004 (UTC)
ANSI Z39.11-1972 American National Standard System for the Romanization of Japanese, American National Standards Institute, 1972, 11 pages. (known as Modified Hepburn) was abolished on Oct. 6, 1994. : Aha, so ''ANSI'' has abolished it! This is very, very different from the Japanese government doing so. ANSI revised Z39.11-1972 in 1989 as the draft for ISO 3602. But since ISO rejected the system and approved Kunrei system in the same year, ANSI finally abolished Z39.11-1972. Ask the institute if you don't believe the fact. There is no standard for the Romanization of Japanese in the United States today. Present valid standards are ISO 3602 (Kunreisiki), ISO 3602 strict (Nipponsiki), and Japanese Cabinet Order No.1 as of December 9, 1954 (Kunreisiki). ANSI itself, today, recommends ISO 3602:1989. Documentation--Romanization of Japanese (kana script). : In the US the ''de facto standard'' is to copy what the Library of Congress does -- and they use Modified Hepburn. Your so-called ''Modified Hepburn'' is NOT Modified Hepburn. Long-vowel omitted Hepburn is informal, and should be called Simplified Hepburn (通用ヘボン式). -Suika : No, the difference between original and modified is the treatment of syllabic N (Nihombashi vs Nihonbashi). I make no claims about the no-long-vowels version, so feel free to edit the text. User:Jpatokal 01:44, 25 May 2004 (UTC)
In the US the ''de facto standard'' is to copy what the Library of Congress does -- and they use Modified Hepburn. : That is the in-house standard of Kenkyusha's New English-Japanese Dictionary that the Library of Congress adopted. It's a kind of convension not corrected yet. Modified Hepburn is no longer regarded as a legally valid standard anywhere. : Ironically speaking, Table II of Japanese Cabinet Order No.1 as of 1954 allows Hepburn with slight differnces; Long vowels are indicated by a circumflex, Syllabic ん is written as n, Geminate consonants are marked by doubling the consonant WITHOUT exception. I think this is the only authority for Hepburn. -Suika ==Hyojun== This page (http://weblog.delacour.net/archives/2003/02/just_make_sure_you_spell_it_incorrectly.php) says that Hyōjun is another name for "Hepburn". Is this true? User:WhisperToMe 05:29, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC) In addition, KIZU/Britty sez that he's heard of "hyojun-shiki" as a way to refer to hepburn, and that "Hyōjun" means standard. User:WhisperToMe 06:25, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC) : Yes, Hyojun-shiki means "standard style". It's a somewhat ambiguous term but usually it does mean Hepburn. User:Jpatokal 14:27, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC) :: A while ago, I took the liberty of expanding the part about Hyojun-shiki a little bit. According to http://www.eurus.dti.ne.jp/~halcat/roomazi/iroiro1.html Hyojun-shiki specifically refers to Revised Hepburn... ==Long vowels== AFAIk the ''only'' Hepburn-sanctioned long vowel representations are macrons and (in old Hepburn as surrogates) circumflexes. All the other variants listed should be nuked and moved to Romaji where they belong. User:Jpatokal 16:04, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC) ::I agree. I don't think any representation except single vowel with no mark (Tokyo) or single vowel with macron are used. Stop it Whisper to me. User:Exploding Boy 18:38, Aug 5, 2004 (UTC) ::Maybe not in the case of "Tokyo" in the world of English-speakers, but Hepburn variants like "ou" are passed around like hotcakes, especially in the world of anime fans. Sorry, but the "Tohkyoh" thing wasn't really referring to the use specifically with "Tokyo", but in a more general context. Perhaps "Tokyo" isn't such a good example in explaining Hepburn variants, but it's not my fault that "oh" is used in place of ō, is it? Either all of them stay, or none of them stay. (Except in the case of ignoring the long vowels, which is done with loanwords into English) User:WhisperToMe 18:43, 5 Aug 2004 (UTC) :::WTM, I'd send you to the Japanese Romaji page which discusses Hepburn variants in detail, but hot-diggity-dawg, you can't read Japanese now can you? :::Anyway, "oh" is so-called "passport Hepburn" as endorsed by the Japanese Foreign Ministry for passports ''only''. "ou", on the other hand, is ''wapuro romaji'' and not Hepburn of any kind; I'll type up an article on this some day. User:Jpatokal 03:32, 6 Aug 2004 (UTC) ::::"Some day" finally came today: wapuro romaji No, "Tokyo" is not a good example to use. The "ou" construction used to be common but isn't any more, and anime fans aren't the arbiters of correct romanization. User:Exploding Boy 19:03, Aug 5, 2004 (UTC) :I agree with you here. I personally don't care what happens to the "alternate romanization" information on the romanization variants on the Hepburn page as the same info is more or less at the Romaji page. User:WhisperToMe 19:07, 5 Aug 2004 (UTC) "Features of Hepburn romanization" Perhaps I didn't read carefully enough, but I don't see much difference in the features of hepburn and the features of nihonshiki & kunreishiki. Is there something I missed? If there truely is no difference then how are these features? I agree that the things should be mentioned, but if they are exclusive, they are hardly features. The reason I came on here was to find out what system uses "ou" type romanization. I was surprised to find out that this is called "wapuro" and isn't as ubiquitous as it seems to be. Something I feel I should note is that when my friends and classmates (international students) send me email in Japanese they seem to mix wapuro and "adopted into English" styles. The difficulty of typing with macrons, circumflexes, and tildes seems to be changing the face of what is standard. User:Dustinasby 17:51, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC) ==Fundamental problem?== I removed the following: : ''There is also a fundamental problem in the use of ō-- when seeing a new word without a pronounciation it can be impossible to tell whether the Japanese would use the hiragana/katakana oo or ou.'' # This is not unique to Hepburn, both Kunrei and Nihonshiki do the same thing (just with a circumflex). # The ''pronunciation'' of the two cases is identical. Only the kana spelling isn't, and this is pretty much irrelevant if the original is kanji (which is usually the case). I'd suggest moving this to Romaji if you can explain why this is such a "fundamental" problem. User:Jpatokal 17:06, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC) =="Wi" and "we"== Shouldn't the hepburn romanizations for ゐ and ゑ reflect the pronunciation of those characters during the 11-20 centuries period, which were ''i'' and ''e/ye''? Just wondering that oh maybe a millennium is relevant and that hepburn is supposed to represent pronunciation. : Wikipedia doesn't propose improvements, it documents. And this isn't exactly a major problem. User:Jpatokal 08:33, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC) :: Wikipedia does not always have flawless documentation. And that's why we need fact checking when something doesn't sound right. :: Could you help me find some sources that shows why the two characters should (or "Wikipedia should") be documented as wi + we instead of something else for this article? If this doesn't interest you, it really isn't a major problem for you or me if you don't reply. :::Here's a link to [http://halcat.com/roomazi/doc/bs4812.html BS4812] (a British standard for Hepburn), which uses "wi" and "we". It's cross-referenced to ANSI, with incompatible parts visible but struck out, and references the Library of Congress standard. User:Jpatokal 07:25, 7 Feb 2005 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
H
HA | HB | HC | HD | HE | HF | HG | HI | HJ | HK | HL | HM | HN | HO | HP | HR | HS | HT | HU | HW | HX | HY | HZ |Words begining with Hepburn:
Hepburn
Hepburn
Hepburn,_Canada
Hepburn,_Canada
Hepburn,_IA
Hepburn,_Iowa
Hepburn,_Saskatchewan
Hepburn,_Saskatchewan
Hepburn-shiki
Hepburn_(Band)
Hepburn_(band)
Hepburn_(disambiguation)
Hepburn_Act
Hepburn_Act
Hepburn_Chart
Hepburn_Romaji
Hepburn_romanization
Hepburn_Shire
Hepburn_Township
Hepburn_Township,_PA
Hepburn_Township,_Pennsylvania
Hepburn_transcription
These materials are based on Wikipedia and licensed under the GNU FDL
YouTube.com videos better site than Turbo Tax 2007
