sasimirobot
Junior Member
I know I am treading on thin ice, but I feel that there are some points that other posters brought up about official romanization that I can address.
Now first we all have to realize that any romanization of Japanese (or most foreign languages for that matter) is inherently inferior to just using the foreign alphabet, in this case Kana/Kanzi. But if we must...
I realize that Kunrei-shiki will never be "popular", but to dismiss it totally on the grounds that it looks funny, or doesn't fit into American English phonetic structure as well as we would like, is not looking at the big picture.
What about other native speakers studying Japanese besides English? French, Chinese, Russian, would not be so hung up that "zi" doesn't look like it sounds, since Hepburn basically force feeds this form of Japinglish romanization on the world.
But I still feel that for studying Japanese grammar and verb structure and conjugations the Kunrei-shiki system is miles ahead of the others, because it emphasizes consistency and corresponds directly to the native Japanese phonology.
It is easier to manipulate the words (mainly verb conjugations) down the line and doesn't run into the problem of irregular examples such at tatu/tachi.
This is of the main problems I have with the Hepburn system is that it changes the stem of verbs, which is not reflected in the underlying morphology of the language.
Some info and background information, for those that never even bothered to read one of my first links:
-------
Introduced to the world in 1885 by a physicist named Dr. TANAKADATE Aikitsu later to become an international standard. This is a very linguistically correct approach where phonemes are uniquely represented. The romanization scheme is based on the structure of the fifty sounds chart, making it easier for Japanese people to learn. It is the only system that unambiguously represents the original Japanese kana. A romanization system by the people, and for the people of Japan.
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A book I recommend- Japanese, The Spoken Language, by Eleanor Harz Jorden
http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Spoken-Language-Part-1/dp/0300038348
Dr. Jorden(is an American linguistics scholar and an influential Japanese language educator and expert) is best known for her textbook on the Japanese language.
This text uses the JSL system of romaji for transcribing Japanese into the Roman alphabet and explains very clearly the advantages of doing so.
One of my old Japanese professors (a PHD in Japanese linguistics) told me she would never teach any other form of romanization.
Now I understand that as of today, the main users of Kunrei-shiki are native speakers of Japanese (especially within Japan) and linguists studying Japanese, but I still feel Kunrei-shiki is perfect for all Japanese or non-Japanese who have a good understanding of Japanese phonology
Thanks for your time.
Now first we all have to realize that any romanization of Japanese (or most foreign languages for that matter) is inherently inferior to just using the foreign alphabet, in this case Kana/Kanzi. But if we must...
I realize that Kunrei-shiki will never be "popular", but to dismiss it totally on the grounds that it looks funny, or doesn't fit into American English phonetic structure as well as we would like, is not looking at the big picture.
What about other native speakers studying Japanese besides English? French, Chinese, Russian, would not be so hung up that "zi" doesn't look like it sounds, since Hepburn basically force feeds this form of Japinglish romanization on the world.
But I still feel that for studying Japanese grammar and verb structure and conjugations the Kunrei-shiki system is miles ahead of the others, because it emphasizes consistency and corresponds directly to the native Japanese phonology.
It is easier to manipulate the words (mainly verb conjugations) down the line and doesn't run into the problem of irregular examples such at tatu/tachi.
This is of the main problems I have with the Hepburn system is that it changes the stem of verbs, which is not reflected in the underlying morphology of the language.
Some info and background information, for those that never even bothered to read one of my first links:
-------
Introduced to the world in 1885 by a physicist named Dr. TANAKADATE Aikitsu later to become an international standard. This is a very linguistically correct approach where phonemes are uniquely represented. The romanization scheme is based on the structure of the fifty sounds chart, making it easier for Japanese people to learn. It is the only system that unambiguously represents the original Japanese kana. A romanization system by the people, and for the people of Japan.
-------------
A book I recommend- Japanese, The Spoken Language, by Eleanor Harz Jorden
http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Spoken-Language-Part-1/dp/0300038348
Dr. Jorden(is an American linguistics scholar and an influential Japanese language educator and expert) is best known for her textbook on the Japanese language.
This text uses the JSL system of romaji for transcribing Japanese into the Roman alphabet and explains very clearly the advantages of doing so.
One of my old Japanese professors (a PHD in Japanese linguistics) told me she would never teach any other form of romanization.
Now I understand that as of today, the main users of Kunrei-shiki are native speakers of Japanese (especially within Japan) and linguists studying Japanese, but I still feel Kunrei-shiki is perfect for all Japanese or non-Japanese who have a good understanding of Japanese phonology
Thanks for your time.
. I gotta study up so much its not even funny. Genki II here I come!
