Hepburn romanization

The Hepburn romanization system (ヘボン式ローマ字, Hebon-shiki Rōmaji) is named after James Curtis Hepburn, who used it to transcribe the sounds of the Japanese language into the Latin alphabet in the third edition of his Japanese–English dictionary, published in 1887. The system was originally proposed by the Romanization Club (羅馬字会, Rōmajikai) in 1885. The revised edition by Romaji-Hirome-kai in 1908 is called Hyōjun-shiki Rōmaji (標準式ローマ字) (standard style) and this system has been used as the Hepburn system in Japan traditionally.

The original and revised variants of Hepburn remain the most widely used methods of transcription of Japanese. As Hepburn is based on English and Italian phonology, an English speaker unfamiliar with Japanese will generally pronounce a word romanized in Hepburn more accurately than a word romanized in the competing Kunrei-shiki.

Legal status

Hepburn is based on English phonology and has competed with the alternative Nihon-shiki romanization, which was developed in Japan as a replacement of Japanese script. In 1930, a Special Romanization Study Commission was appointed to compare the two. The Commission eventually decided in favor of a slightly modified version of Nihon-shiki, which was proclaimed to be Japan's official romanization for all purpose by a September 21, 1937 cabinet ordinance and is now known as Kunrei-shiki. The ordinance was temporarily overturned by the Supreme Commander Allied Powers (SCAP) during the Occupation of Japan, but was reissued (with slight revisions) 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-shiki. The Z39.11-1972 standard was consequently deprecated on October 6, 1994.

Although Hepburn is not a government standard, some government agencies mandate it. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requires the use of Hepburn on passports, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport requires the use of Hepburn on transport signs, including road signs and railway station signs.

In many other areas where it lacks de jure status, Hepburn remains the de facto standard. Signs and notices in city offices and police stations, at shrines, temples and attractions also use it. English-language newspapers and media use the simplified form of Hepburn. Cities and prefectures use it in information for English-speaking residents and visitors, and English-language publications by the Japanese Foreign Ministry use simplified Hepburn too. Official tourism information put out by the government uses it, as do guidebooks, local and foreign, on Japan.

Many students of Japanese as a foreign language learn Hepburn.

Variants of Hepburn romanization

There are many variants of Hepburn romanization. The two most common styles are:

• Traditional Hepburn, as defined in various editions of Hepburn's dictionary, with the third edition (1886) often considered authoritative (although changes in kana usage must be accounted for). This variant is characterized by the rendering of syllabic n as m before the consonants b, m and p, e.g. Shimbashi for 新橋.
• Modified Hepburn, also known as Revised Hepburn, in which the rendering of syllabic n as m before certain consonants is no longer used, resulting in e.g. Shinbashi for 新橋. This style was introduced in the third edition of Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary (1954), adopted by the Library of Congress as one of its ALA-LC romanizations, and is the most common version of the system today.

In Japan itself, there are some variants officially mandated for various uses:

• Kunrei-shiki romanization (訓令式ローマ字), which permits Hepburn system and Nihon-shiki romanization conditionally. The first five columns in the chart 2 are defined for Hepburn system (see also here).
• Railway Standard (鉄道掲示基準規程), which follows the Hyōjun-shiki Rōmaji. All JR railways and other major railways use this type for station names.
• Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Standard, which follows the modified Hepburn style. This is used for road signs.
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs Standard (外務省旅券規定), a permissive standard with explicitly allows the use of "non-Hepburn romaji" (非ヘボン式ローマ字, hi-Hebon-shiki rōmaji) in personal names, notably for passports. In particular, rendering the syllabic n as m before b, m, p, and romanizing long o as any of oh, oo or ou (e.g. any of Satoh, Satoo or Satou for 佐藤) is permitted.

Details of these variants can be found below.

Obsolete variants

The romanizations set out in the first and second versions of Hepburn's dictionary are primarily of historical interest. Notable differences from the third and later versions include:

Second version

• エ and ヱ were written as ye (e.g. Yedo)
• ズ and ヅ were written as dzu (e.g. kudzu, tsudzuku)
• キャ, キョ, and キュ were written as kiya, kiyo and kiu
• クワ was written as kwa (e.g. Kwannon)

First version

The following differences are in addition to those in the second version:

• ス was written as sz
• ツ was written as tsz
• ズ and ヅ were written as dz
• クワ was written as kuwa

Features of Hepburn romanization

The main feature of Hepburn is that its spelling 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.

Some linguists such as H.E.Palmer, Daniel Jones and Otto Jespersen object to Hepburn, as the pronunciation-based spellings can obscure the systematic origins of Japanese phonetic structures, inflections, and conjugations. Supporters argue that Hepburn is not intended as a linguistic tool.

Long vowels

The long vowels are generally indicated by macrons. Since this diacritical sign usually is missing on typewriter and in the computer, also the circumflex is often used.

The combinations of vowels are written as follows in traditional/modified Hepburn:

A + A

In traditional and modified:

The combination of a + a is written aa, if a word-border exists between them.

• 真新しい(まあたらしい): ma + a + ta + ra + shi + i = maatarashii – Brand-new

In traditional Hepburn:

The long vowel a is is written aa

• お婆さん(おばあさん): o + ba + a + sa + n = obaa-san – Grandmother

In modified Hepburn:

The long vowel a is indicated by a macron in other case:

• お婆さん(おばあさん): o + ba + a + sa + n = obāsan – Grandmother

I + I

In traditional and modified:

The combination i + i is always written ii.

• 兄さん(にいさん): ni + i + sa + n = niisan – (Older) Brother
• お爺さん(おじいさん): o + ji + i + sa + n = ojiisan – Grandfather
• 美味しい(おいしい): o + i + shi + i = oishii – Delicious
• 新潟(にいがた): ni + i + ga + ta = Niigata
• 灰色(はいいろ): ha + i + i + ro = haiiro – Grey

U + U

In traditional and modified:

The combination u + u is written uu, if a word-border exists between them or it is the end part of terminal form of a verb:

• 食う(くう): ku + u = kuu – Eat
• 縫う(ぬう): nu + u = nuu – Sew

The long vowel u is indicated by a macron in other case:

• 数学(すうがく): su + u + ga + ku = sūgaku – Mathematics
• 注意(ちゅうい): chu + u + i = chūi – Attention
• ぐうたら: gu + u + ta + ra = gūtara – Loafer

E + E

In traditional and modified:

The combination e + e is written ee, if a word-border exists between them:

• 濡れ縁(ぬれえん): nu + re + e + n = nureen – Open veranda

In traditional Hepburn:

The long vowel e is written e or ee in other case:

• お姉さん(おねえさん): o + ne + e + sa + n = nesan – Older sister

In modified Hepburn:

The long vowel e is indicated by a macron in other case:

• お姉さん(おねえさん): o + ne + e + sa + n = nēsan – Older sister

O + O

In traditional and modified:

The combination o + o is written oo, if a word-border exists between them:

• 小躍り(こおどり): ko + o + do + ri = koodori – Dance

The long vowel o is indicated by a macron in other case:

• 氷(こおり): ko + o + ri = kōri – Ice
• 遠回り(とおまわり): to + o + ma + wa + ri = tōmawari – Roundabout route
• 大阪(おおさか): o + o + sa + ka = Ōsaka – Osaka

O + U

In traditional and modified:

The combination o + u is written ou, if a word-border exists between them or it is the end part of terminal form of a verb:

• 追う(おう): o + u = ou – To chase
• 迷う(まよう): ma + yo + u = mayou – To get lost
• 子馬(こうま): ko + u + ma = kouma – Foal

The long vowel o is indicated by a macron in other case:

• 学校(がっこう): ga + (sokuon) + ko + u = gakkō – School
• 東京(とうきょう): to + u + kyo + u = Tōkyō – Tokyo
• 勉強(べんきょう): be + n + kyo + u = benkyō – Study
• 電報(でんぽう): de + n + po + u = dempō or denpō – Telegraphy
• 金曜日(きんようび): ki + n + yo + u + bi = kinyōbi or kin'yōbi – Friday

E + I

In traditional and modified:

The combination e + i is written ei.

• 学生(がくせい): ga + ku + se + i = gakusei – Student
• 経験(けいけん): ke + i + ke + n = keiken – Experience
• 制服(せいふく): se + i + fu + ku = seifuku – Uniform
• 姪(めい): me + i = mei – Niece
• 招いて(まねいて): ma + ne + i + te = maneite – Call/invite and then

Other combination of vowels

All remaining combinations of two different vowels are written separately:

• 軽い(かるい): ka + ru + i = karui – Light
• 鴬(うぐいす): u + gu + i + su = uguisu – Bush warbler
• 甥(おい): o + i = oi – Nephew

Loanword

The long vowels within loanword are indicated by macrons (ā, ī, ū, ē, ō) as follows:

• セーラー: se + (chōonpu) + ra + (chōonpu) = sērā – Sailor
• パーティー: pa + (chōonpu) + ti + (chōonpu) = pātī – Party
• レーナ: re + (chōonpu) + na = Rēna – Lena
• ヒーター: hi + (chōonpu) + ta + (chōonpu) = hītā – Heater
• タクシー: ta + ku + shi + (chōonpu) = takushī – Taxi
• スーパーマン: su + (chōonpu) + pa + (chōonpu) + ma + n = Sūpāman – Superman

Variations

There are many variations of the Hepburn system for indicating the long vowels. For example, 東京(とうきょう) can be written as:

• Tōkyō – indicated with macrons. This follows the rules of the traditional and modified Hepburn: systems, and is considered to be standard.
• Tokyo – not indicated at all. This is common for Japanese words that have been adopted into English. This is also the convention used in the de facto Hepburn used in signs and other English-language information around Japan, mentioned in the paragraph on legal status.
• Tôkyô – indicated with circumflexes. Circumflexes are how long vowels are indicated by the alternative Nihon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki romanizations. Circumflexes are often used when a word processor does not allow macrons.
• Tohkyoh – indicated with an h (only applies after o). This is sometimes known as "passport Hepburn", as the Japanese Foreign Ministry has authorized (but not required) this usage in passports.
• Toukyou – written using kana spelling: ō as ou or oo (depending on the kana) and ū as uu. This is sometimes called wāpuro style, as this is how text is entered into a Japanese word processor (wādo purosessā) using a keyboard with Roman characters. This method most accurately represents the way that vowels are written in kana, differentiating between おう as in とうきょう(東京), written Toukyou in this system) and おお (as in とおい(遠い), written tooi in this system).
  • However, using this method, the pronunciation of ou becomes ambiguous; it could either be a long o or two different vowels, o and u. See Wāpuro rōmaji#Phonetic accuracy for details.
• Tookyoo – written by doubling the long vowels. Some dictionaries such as Pocket Kenkyusha Japanese dictionary and Basic English writers' Japanese-English wordbook follow this style, and this is also used in the JSL form of romanization. This rule is also used when writing words without reference to any particular system.

Particles

In traditional Hepburn:

• When he へ is used as a particle it is written he.
• When ha は is used as a particle it is written wa.
• When wo を is used as a particle it is written wo.

In modified Hepburn:

• 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.

Syllabic n

In traditional Hepburn:

• Syllabic n (ん) is written as n before consonants, but as m before labial consonants, i.e. b, m, and p. It is sometimes written as n- (with a hyphen) before vowels and y (to avoid confusion between, for example, んあ n + a and な na, and んや n + ya and にゃ nya), but its hyphen usage is not clear.

Examples: annai あんない, gumma ぐんま, shinyo しんよ, shin-yō しんよう

In modified Hepburn:

• The rendering m before labial consonants is not used, being replaced with n. It is written n' (with an apostrophe) before vowels and y.

Examples: annai あんない, kin'en きんえん, gunma ぐんま

Double consonants

• Double (or "geminate") consonants are marked by doubling the consonant following the sokuon, っ, except for sh → ssh, ch → tch, ts → tts.
  • けっか kekka, さっさと sassato, ずっと zutto, きっぷ kippu
  • ざっし zasshi, いっしょ issho, みっつ mittsu, こっち kotchi (not kocchi), まっちゃ matcha (not maccha)

Hepburn romanization charts

Gojūon					Yōon
あ ア a	い イ i	う ウ u	え エ e	お オ o
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 shi	す ス su	せ セ se	そ ソ so	しゃ シャ sha	しゅ シュ shu	しょ ショ sho
た タ ta	ち チ chi	つ ツ tsu	て テ te	と ト to	ちゃ チャ cha	ちゅ チュ chu	ちょ チョ cho
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 fu	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		ゆ ユ yu		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/wi†		ゑ ヱ e/we†	を ヲ o/wo‡
				ん ン n-n'
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 ji	ず ズ zu	ぜ ゼ ze	ぞ ゾ zo	じゃ ジャ ja	じゅ ジュ ju	じょ ジョ jo
だ ダ da	ぢ ヂ ji	づ ヅ zu	で デ de	ど ド do	ぢゃ ヂャ ja	ぢゅ ヂュ ju	ぢょ ヂョ jo
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

• † — The characters in red are rare historical characters and are obsolete in modern Japanese. In modern usage they are either undefined, or romanized varyingly with or without the w.
• ‡ — The characters in blue are rarely used outside of their status as a particle in modern Japanese, and romanization follows the rules above, but they are sometimes used in loanwords where it is transliterated as wo.

For extended katakana

These combinations are used mainly to represent the sounds in words in other languages.

Digraphs with orange backgrounds are the general ones used for loanwords or foreign places or names, and the ones with blue backgrounds are used for more accurate transliterations of foreign sounds, both suggested by the Cabinet of Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Katakana combinations with beige backgrounds are suggested by the American National Standards Institute and the British Standards Institution as possible uses. Ones with purple backgrounds appear on the 1974 version of the Hyōjun-shiki formatting.

	イィ yi		イェ ye
ウァ wa	ウィ wi	ウゥ wu*	ウェ we	ウォ wo
		ウュ wyu
ヴァ va	ヴィ vi	ヴ vu⁑	ヴェ ve	ヴォ vo
ヴャ vya		ヴュ vyu	ヴィェ vye	ヴョ vyo
			キェ kye
			ギェ gye
クァ kwa	クィ kwi		クェ kwe	クォ kwo
クヮ kwa
グァ gwa	グィ gwi		グェ gwe	グォ gwo
グヮ gwa
			シェ she
			ジェ je
	スィ si
	ズィ zi
			チェ che
ツァ tsa	ツィ tsi		ツェ tse	ツォ tso
		ツュ tsyu
	ティ ti	トゥ tu
		テュ tyu
	ディ di	ドゥ du
		デュ dyu
			ニェ nye
			ヒェ hye
			ビェ bye
			ピェ pye
ファ fa	フィ fi		フェ fe	フォ fo
フャ fya		フュ fyu	フィェ fye	フョ fyo
		ホゥ hu
			ミェ mye
			リェ rye
ラ゜ la	リ゜ li	ル゜ lu	レ゜ le	ロ゜ lo
ヷ va⁂	ヸ vi⁂		ヹ ve⁂	ヺ vo⁂

• * — The use of ウゥ to represent wu is rare in modern Japanese outside of Internet slang and transcription of the Latin digraph VV into katakana.
• ⁑ — ヴ has a rarely used hiragana form in ゔ that is also vu in the Hepburn romanization systems.
• ⁂ — The characters in green are obsolete in modern Japanese and used very rarely.

See also

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• List of ISO romanizations

External links

• Preface of first edition of Hepburn's original dictionary, explaining romanization
• Preface of third edition of Hepburn's original dictionary, explaining romanization