Cyrillization of Japanese
Encyclopedia
Cyrillization of Japanese is the practice of expressing Japanese sounds
using Cyrillic
characters. It is commonly accepted in Russia
.
Below is a cyrillization
system for the Japanese language
known as the Yevgeny Polivanov system. Note that it has its own spelling conventions and does not necessarily constitute a direct phonetic transcription of the pronunciation into the standard Russian usage of the Cyrillic alphabet.
to Polivanov cyrillization correspondence table, for single/modified kana.
before vowels and y it is transcribed as нъ in order to indicate syllable
boundary; in all other cases it is transcribed as н.
system.
People then try to transcribe Japanese names as if they were English.
Very often people want to transcribe shi as ши and ji as джи.
This is incorrect, because in Russian
ши is pronounced as шы and
джи as джы. The Russian sound /ɨ/ is in fact closer to Japanese /u/
than to Japanese /i/. It would probably be closer to Japanese to write щи, but the system uses си and дзи. Actually, Russian щи is pronounced like Japanese sshi.
Equally often people transcribe cha, chi, chu, cho as
ча, чи, чу, чо. This is acceptable phonetically,
but for reasons of consistency, it is better to follow the rules and
write тя, ти, тю, тё.
Sometimes э is replaced with е (but, ironically, not at the beginning of a word, even though there are Roman transliterations such as "yen" and "Yedo" which one might expect to be written as ен and Едо).
This is tolerable only for the words that are in general use (e.g. kamikaze > камикадзе instead of камикадзэ).
One should, however, never replace ё (yo) with е (ye) — it will change the Japanese word too much. The initial ё (yo) or after a vowel, is often written as йо (yo), which has the same pronunciation: Ёкосука -> Йокосука (Yokosuka), Тоёта -> Тойота (Toyota). Although, the spelling "йо" is not common in Russian words, these are more generally accepted for Japanese names than the transliterations using "ё".
Despite the rules, some Japanese words either are now spelled without following the system or have alternative spellings: Hitachi – Хитачи (the corporation
, while the city
is Хитати), Toshiba – Тошиба (not Тосиба), sushi is spelled "суси" and "суши", the latter is more common.
Many anime fandom members intentionally use the cyrillized Hepburn system and other alternative transcriptions because they believe the system distorts the Russian reading of Japanese pronunciation too much. Preference of a cyrillization system often becomes a matter of heated debates.
Some personal names beginning with "Yo" (or used after a vowel) are written using "Йо" instead of "Ё" (e.g. Йоко for Yoko Ono
, but Ёко for Yoko Kanno
and all other Yoko's). The letter "Ё" is not often used in Japanese Cyrillisation due to its facultative use in the Russian language (and possible subtitution with the letter "Е" which would affect the pronunciation), but professional translators use ё mandatory.
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
using Cyrillic
Cyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
characters. It is commonly accepted in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Below is a cyrillization
Cyrillization
A Cyrillization is a system for rendering words of a language that normally uses a writing system other than the Cyrillic alphabet into a Cyrillic alphabet. A Cyrillization scheme needs to be applied, for example, to transcribe names of German, Chinese, or American people and places for use in...
system for the Japanese language
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
known as the Yevgeny Polivanov system. Note that it has its own spelling conventions and does not necessarily constitute a direct phonetic transcription of the pronunciation into the standard Russian usage of the Cyrillic alphabet.
Main table
HiraganaHiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
to Polivanov cyrillization correspondence table, for single/modified kana.
| あ – а | い – и/й | う – у | え – э | お – о |
| か – ка | き – ки | く – ку | け – кэ | こ – ко |
| が – га | ぎ – ги | ぐ – гу | げ – гэ | ご – го |
| さ – са | し – си | す – су | せ – сэ | そ – со |
| ざ – дза | じ – дзи | ず – дзу | ぜ – дзэ | ぞ – дзо |
| た – та | ち – ти | つ – цу | て – тэ | と – то |
| だ – да | ぢ – дзи | づ – дзу | で – дэ | ど – до |
| な – на | に – ни | ぬ – ну | ね – нэ | の – но |
| は – ха | ひ – хи | ふ – фу | へ – хэ | ほ – хо |
| ぱ – па | ぴ – пи | ぷ – пу | ぺ – пэ | ぽ – по |
| ば – ба | び – би | ぶ – бу | べ – бэ | ぼ – бо |
| ま – ма | み – ми | む – му | め – мэ | も – мо |
| や – я | ゆ – ю | よ – ё | ||
| ら – ра | り – ри | る – ру | れ – рэ | ろ – ро |
| わ – ва | ゐ – и/й | ゑ – э | を – о | |
| ん – н/м |
Geminate Consonants
Consonants are geminated exactly as they are in romaji: e.g. -kk- > -кк-.Syllabic n
Before п, б, and м the syllabic ん is transcribed as м according to pronunciation, similar to Railway Standard (鉄道掲示基準規程) in romanization of Japanese;before vowels and y it is transcribed as нъ in order to indicate syllable
boundary; in all other cases it is transcribed as н.
| Japanese | Hepburn | Cyrillic |
|---|---|---|
| しんぶん | shinbun | симбун |
| さんか | sanka | санка' |
| かんい | kan'i | канъи |
| ほんや | hon'ya | хонъя |
Common errors
In English texts, Japanese names are written with the HepburnHepburn romanization
The 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 in 1885...
system.
People then try to transcribe Japanese names as if they were English.
Very often people want to transcribe shi as ши and ji as джи.
This is incorrect, because in Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
ши is pronounced as шы and
джи as джы. The Russian sound /ɨ/ is in fact closer to Japanese /u/
than to Japanese /i/. It would probably be closer to Japanese to write щи, but the system uses си and дзи. Actually, Russian щи is pronounced like Japanese sshi.
Equally often people transcribe cha, chi, chu, cho as
ча, чи, чу, чо. This is acceptable phonetically,
but for reasons of consistency, it is better to follow the rules and
write тя, ти, тю, тё.
Sometimes э is replaced with е (but, ironically, not at the beginning of a word, even though there are Roman transliterations such as "yen" and "Yedo" which one might expect to be written as ен and Едо).
This is tolerable only for the words that are in general use (e.g. kamikaze > камикадзе instead of камикадзэ).
One should, however, never replace ё (yo) with е (ye) — it will change the Japanese word too much. The initial ё (yo) or after a vowel, is often written as йо (yo), which has the same pronunciation: Ёкосука -> Йокосука (Yokosuka), Тоёта -> Тойота (Toyota). Although, the spelling "йо" is not common in Russian words, these are more generally accepted for Japanese names than the transliterations using "ё".
Despite the rules, some Japanese words either are now spelled without following the system or have alternative spellings: Hitachi – Хитачи (the corporation
Hitachi
Hitachi is a multinational corporation specializing in high-technology.Hitachi may also refer to:*Hitachi, Ibaraki, Japan*Hitachi province, former province of Japan*Prince Hitachi and Princess Hitachi, members of the Japanese imperial family...
, while the city
Hitachi, Ibaraki
is a city located on the Pacific Ocean in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Its name could be directly translated as "sunrise", but probably more appropriately adapted to "prosperous wealth" .-Demographics:...
is Хитати), Toshiba – Тошиба (not Тосиба), sushi is spelled "суси" and "суши", the latter is more common.
Many anime fandom members intentionally use the cyrillized Hepburn system and other alternative transcriptions because they believe the system distorts the Russian reading of Japanese pronunciation too much. Preference of a cyrillization system often becomes a matter of heated debates.
Exceptions
Some proper names, for historical reasons, do not follow the above rules. Those include but are not limited to:| English (Rōmaji) | Russian spelling | Cyrillization | Japanese |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan (Nihon, Nippon) | Япония | Нихон, Ниппон | 日本 (にほん, にっぽん) |
| Tokyo (Tōkyō) | Токио | То:кё: | 東京 (とうきょう) |
| Kyoto (Kyōto) | Киото | Кё:то | 京都 (きょうと) |
| Yokohama | Иокогама (also Йокохама) | Ёкохама | 横浜 (よこはま) |
| Yokosuka | Йокосука | Ёкосука | 横須賀 (よこすか) |
| Toyota | Тойота (Тоёта in older publications) | Тоёта | トヨタ (originally: 豊田) |
| jujitsu (jūjutsu) | джиу-джитсу | дзю:дзюцу | 柔術 (じゅうじゅつ) |
| yen (en) | иена (also йена) | эн | 円 (えん) |
Some personal names beginning with "Yo" (or used after a vowel) are written using "Йо" instead of "Ё" (e.g. Йоко for Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
, but Ёко for Yoko Kanno
Yoko Kanno
is a composer, arranger and musician best known for her work on the soundtracks for many games, anime films, TV series, live-action movies, and advertisements...
and all other Yoko's). The letter "Ё" is not often used in Japanese Cyrillisation due to its facultative use in the Russian language (and possible subtitution with the letter "Е" which would affect the pronunciation), but professional translators use ё mandatory.
External links
- Online romaji<->kiriji converter
- Proposal for a co-ordinated Japanese transcription system for several Slavic languages
- Суси or Суши (Susi or Sushi) – Cyrillisation of し (and others) controversy (Russian)
- Automatic cyrillisation of hiragana and katakana
- Say no to romaji!, a resource promoting the use of kana in the Japanese learning industry, contains a discussion between students and teachers of Japanese on the subject of rōmaji and kiriji.
- Kiriji and Yevgeny Polivanov