Forum - View topic[Slightly OT, I think] Aprostrophes in people's names
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kk
 Posts: 109 Location: Edmonton, Alberta |
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Hi, it's me again!
 Okay, I'm not sure if this topic belongs on this forum so please direct to the right one if it isn't, okay?
Anyways, I sometimes see Japanese names spelt with an aprostrophe (sp?) like an example would be Shinichiro spelt like that and sometimes spelt like this: Shini'chiro. Is there any reason why an aprostrophe is there? Does it make a difference in pronouncing the person's name? Sorry, if this might be a little off topic, but it's just been bugging me. Any replies would be nice. |
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Jadress
 Posts: 812 Location: Seattle. It purdy and nerdy! |
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Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that means there is a slight pause when saying the name. So you wouldn't say Shini'chiro all together quickly as "Shinichiro," but with a pause, like "Shini - chiro."
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one3rd
 Posts: 1820 Location: アメリカ |
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Actually, it would be Shin'ichiro. It has to do with the Japanese pronunciation system and the kanji for a particular name. Japanese has a character that represents "n," one that represents "i," and one that represents "ni." In romanizing, it is a common practice to insert an apostrophe to show that the syllables should be pronounced separately as "n" and "i" and not pronounced as "ni." The same goes for a name like Ken'ichi. It really doesn't have anything to do with a pause. I hope I explained it well enough, but someone with Japanese language support on his or her computer could probably show it better.
EDIT: I just thought of a more visual example that might show what I mean. Shi-n-i-chi-ro <---- Shin'ichiro. Five syllables. This would be how one would pronounce the name with the apostrophe. The first kanji would represent "shin" and the next two (I think) would represent "ichiro" Shi-ni-chi-ro <---- Shinichiro. Four syllables. This would be the name without the apostrophe. This would not match with the kanji for the name. Ke-n-i-chi <---- Ken'ichi. Four syllables. This would be how one would pronounce the name with the apostrophe. The first kanji would represent "ken" and the next one would represent "ichi" Ke-ni-chi <---- Kenichi. Three syllables. This would be the name without the apostrophe. This would not match with the kanji for the name. I hope the addition to my original post makes things clearer. |
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