{"id":4096,"date":"2014-09-29T18:07:33","date_gmt":"2014-09-29T18:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/?p=4096"},"modified":"2018-07-25T14:10:41","modified_gmt":"2018-07-25T14:10:41","slug":"learning-romaji-to-read-japanese-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/japanese\/learning-romaji-to-read-japanese-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning Romaji to read Japanese words"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout my blog sites, I’ve often used Romaji(\u30ed\u30fc\u30de\u5b57)-Roman Alphabet<\/strong><\/em> to write Japanese words. If you are not familiar with\u00a0Hiragana, Katakana, or Kanji, Romaji will make it easier to for you to read and pronounce Japanese words. Romaji is simply a use of Latin script. Romaji is used in many places in Japan, especially for various public signs including the ones at train & bus stations. In today’s article, let me focus on Romaji and how they are shown in writing.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the examples of Romaji’s being used today.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Romajji chart from Wikipedia.org\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u3042<\/th>\n\u3044<\/th>\n\u3046<\/th>\n\u3048<\/th>\n\u304a<\/th>\n\uff08\u62d7\u97f3\uff09<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
\u3042<\/th>\na<\/td>\ni<\/td>\nu<\/td>\ne<\/td>\no<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u304b<\/th>\nka<\/td>\nki<\/td>\nku<\/td>\nke<\/td>\nko<\/td>\nkya<\/td>\nkyu<\/td>\nkyo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u3055<\/th>\nsa<\/td>\nsi<\/td>\nsu<\/td>\nse<\/td>\nso<\/td>\nsya<\/td>\nsyu<\/td>\nsyo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u305f<\/th>\nta<\/td>\nti<\/td>\ntu<\/td>\nte<\/td>\nto<\/td>\ntya<\/td>\ntyu<\/td>\ntyo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u306a<\/th>\nna<\/td>\nni<\/td>\nnu<\/td>\nne<\/td>\nno<\/td>\nnya<\/td>\nnyu<\/td>\nnyo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u306f<\/th>\nha<\/td>\nhi<\/td>\nhu<\/td>\nhe<\/td>\nho<\/td>\nhya<\/td>\nhyu<\/td>\nhyo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u307e<\/th>\nma<\/td>\nmi<\/td>\nmu<\/td>\nme<\/td>\nmo<\/td>\nmya<\/td>\nmyu<\/td>\nmyo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u3084<\/th>\nya<\/td>\n(i)<\/td>\nyu<\/td>\n(e)<\/td>\nyo<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u3089<\/th>\nra<\/td>\nri<\/td>\nru<\/td>\nre<\/td>\nro<\/td>\nrya<\/td>\nryu<\/td>\nryo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u308f<\/th>\nwa<\/td>\n(i)<\/td>\n(u)<\/td>\n(e)<\/td>\n(o)<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u304c<\/th>\nga<\/td>\ngi<\/td>\ngu<\/td>\nge<\/td>\ngo<\/td>\ngya<\/td>\ngyu<\/td>\ngyo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u3056<\/th>\nza<\/td>\nzi<\/td>\nzu<\/td>\nze<\/td>\nzo<\/td>\nzya<\/td>\nzyu<\/td>\nzyo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u3060<\/th>\nda<\/td>\n(zi)<\/td>\n(zu)<\/td>\nde<\/td>\ndo<\/td>\n(zya)<\/td>\n(zyu)<\/td>\n(zyo)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u3070<\/th>\nba<\/td>\nbi<\/td>\nbu<\/td>\nbe<\/td>\nbo<\/td>\nbya<\/td>\nbyu<\/td>\nbyo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u3071<\/th>\npa<\/td>\npi<\/td>\npu<\/td>\npe<\/td>\npo<\/td>\npya<\/td>\npyu<\/td>\npyo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u3057\u3083 sha<\/td>\n\u3057 shi<\/td>\n\u3057\u3085 shu<\/td>\n\u3057\u3087 sho<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n\u3064 tsu<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u3061\u3083 cha<\/td>\n\u3061 chi<\/td>\n\u3061\u3085 chu<\/td>\n\u3061\u3087 cho<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n\u3075 fu<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u3058\u3083 ja<\/td>\n\u3058 ji<\/td>\n\u3058\u3085 ju<\/td>\n\u3058\u3087 jo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n\u3062 di<\/td>\n\u3065 du<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u3062\u3083 dya<\/td>\n<\/td>\n\u3062\u3085 dyu<\/td>\n\u3062\u3087 dyo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u304f\u308e kwa<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u3050\u308e gwa<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n\u3092 wo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

When we write our names in English, we often use Romaji.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

\u3084\u307e\u3060\u3000\u3051\u3044\u3053\u3000 ==> \u00a0Keiko Yamada<\/p>\n

\u3084\u307e\u3082\u3068\u3000\u3051\u3044\u305f\u3000 ==> \u00a0Keita Yamamoto<\/p>\n

\u306f\u3057\u3082\u3068\u3000\u3084\u3059\u306e\u308a\u3000==> Yasunori Hashimoto<\/p>\n

There are two basic rules when using Romaji.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1) When using long vowels, circumflex or – is used.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

ot\u00f4<\/b>san, oto-san ==> \u304a\u7236\u3055\u3093\u3001\u304a\u3068\u3046\u3055\u3093\u3000(father)<\/p>\n

on\u00ea<\/b>san, one-san ==> \u304a\u59c9\u3055\u3093\u3001\u304a\u306d\u3048\u3055\u3093\u3000(big sister)<\/p>\n

on\u00ee<\/b>san, oni-san \u00a0==> \u304a\u5144\u3055\u3093\u3001\u304a\u306b\u3044\u3055\u3093 (big brother)<\/p>\n

2) Depending on a word, we might double the alphabet.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n

kitte \u00a0== >\u3000\u5207\u624b\u3001\u304d\u3063\u3066 (stamp)<\/p>\n

koppu \u00a0==> \u30b3\u30c3\u30d7\u3000(cup)<\/p>\n

gakk\u00f4, <\/b>gakko- \u00a0==>\u3000\u5b66\u6821\u3001\u304c\u3063\u3053\u3046(school)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The major things to remember about Romaji is just about these two rules. Other than that, Romaji is pretty simple. Try reading the Romaji below.<\/p>\n