Kunrei system
The Kunrei system ( Japanese 訓令 式 , kunrei-shiki , German "ordinance system") is a transcription system for the Japanese script , which was ordered in 1937 by the Japanese government. Another name is Mombushō system ( 文部省 式 , Mombushō-shiki , from Mombu-shō , dt. Ministry of Education ), because it is used in the primary school books of the Ministry of Education. A revised version was issued in 1954 . The Kunrei system is a modified version of the Nippon system and was intended to help standardize the spelling with Latin characters. The system partially underlays some letters (s, t, d, h, z) sound values that result from the Japanese systematics, but which they do not have anywhere else. It was standardized as ISO 3602 in 1989 by the International Organization for Standardization .
Japanese school children learn the Kunrei system first and then the Hepburn system .
Kunrei paraphrase for Hiragana and Katakana
Alternative spelling
The alternative spelling may (according to the order) be used where this spelling has become naturalized abroad, i.e. usually according to the Hepburn system .
-
し - shi
- し ゃ , し ゅ , し ょ - sha , shu , sho
- つ - tsu
-
ち - chi
- ち ゃ , ち ゅ , ち ょ - cha , chu , cho
- ふ - fu
-
じ - ji
- じ ゃ , じ ゅ , じ ょ - yes , ju , jo
-
ぢ , づ - di , you
- ぢ ゃ , ぢ ゅ , ぢ ょ - dya , dyu , dyo
- か - kwa
- が - gwa
- を - where
Long vowels
Long vowels are marked with a macron (¯). Due to the lack of a macron in some keyboard layouts , in which it cannot be generated with certain key combinations, a circumflex (^) is often used. (The German standard keyboard layout T2 contains the macron as the dead key AltGr + Tand thus enables the correct use of the Kunrei system.)
The following vowel combinations are used to represent long vowels within a word:
A + A
-
お 婆 さ ん : o + ba + a + sa + n = obāsan - grandma
I + I
-
新潟 : ni + i + ga + ta = Nīgata - Niigata -
美味 し い : o + i + si + i = oisī - tasty -
お 爺 さ ん : o + zi + i + sa + n = ozīsan - grandpa
U + U
-
数学 : su + u + ga + ku = sūgaku - mathematics -
注意 : tyu + u + i = tyūi - caution
E + I
In Sino-Japanese words (onyomi), e + i becomes a long ē :
-
学生 : ga + ku + se + i = gakusē - student -
経 験 ke + i + ke + n = kēken - experience -
制服 : se + i + hu + ku = sēhuku - uniform
There is no contraction for words of Japanese origin :
-
姪 : me + i = my - niece -
招 い て : ma + ne + i + te = maneite - call and then
E + E
-
お 姉 さ ん : o + ne + e + sa + n = onēsan - (older) sister
O + U
-
学校 : ga + (t) + ko + u = gakkō - school -
東京 : to + u + kyo + u = Tōkyō - Tokyo -
勉強 : be + n + kyo + u = benkyō - learn -
電報 : de + n + po + u = denpō - telegram -
金曜日 : ki + n + yo + u + bi = kin'yōbi - (day of the week of Venus ) Friday
O + O
-
大船 : o + o + hu + na = Ōhuna - Ōfuna -
遠 回 り : to + o + ma + wa + ri = tōmawari - detour
In the case of capital letters, the vowels can also be strung together:
-
大阪 : o + o + sa + ka = Ōsaka or Oosaka - Osaka
Further writing rules
End- n (ん)
The ending nん (Katakana: ン) is always written as n .
If a vowel or y-sound comes after an n , an apostrophe is used to avoid ambiguity.
-
金曜日 : kin'yôbi - Friday -
慎 一 : Sin'iti - Shin'ichi (name) -
四日 : siniti - four days
Small tsu (っ)
The darning sound, which is indicated by the small tsuっ (Katakana: ッ), is written with a doubling of consonants:
-
学校 : gakkô - school -
日本 : Nippon - Japan (ancient pronunciation; 日本 is usually read に ほ ん ( Nihon )) -
仰 る : ossyaru - say (politely) -
一致 : itti - match
Capitalization
The beginning of a sentence and proper names are capitalized. Nouns can be capitalized.
-
私 は 学校 に 行 き ま す 。 : Watasi wa gakkō / Gakkō ni ikimasu. - I go to school now. -
こ こ は 横 浜 で す 。 : Koko wa Yokohama desu. - This is Yokohama .