The main feature of Hepburn is that its
orthography is based on English
phonology. More technically, when syllables that are constructed systematically according to the Japanese syllabary contain an "unstable" consonant in the modern spoken language, the orthography is changed to something that better matches the real sound as an English-speaker would pronounce it. For example, is written not . This transcription is thus only partly phonological. Some linguists such as
Harold E. Palmer,
Daniel Jones and
Otto Jespersen object to Hepburn, contending that the pronunciation-based spellings can obscure the systematic origins of Japanese phonetic structures, inflections, and conjugations. Since the vowel sounds in Hepburn are similar to the vowel sounds in Italian, and the consonants similar to those of many other languages, in particular English, speakers unfamiliar with Japanese will generally be more accurate when pronouncing unfamiliar words romanized in the Hepburn style compared to other systems.
Long vowels In Hepburn, vowel combinations that form a long sound are usually indicated with a
macron (◌̄). Other adjacent vowels, such as those separated by a
morpheme boundary, are written separately: All other vowel combinations are always written separately: •
E + I: – + – 'uniform' (despite E + I often being pronounced as a long E) •
U + I: – + – 'light (in weight)' •
O + I: – – 'nephew'
Loanwords In foreign
loanwords, long vowels followed by a
chōonpu (ー) are indicated with macrons: • :
se + (ー) +
ra + (ー) = 'sailor' • :
ta +
ku +
shi + (ー) = 'taxi' • :
ko +
n +
ku + (ー) +
ru = 'competition' • :
ba +
re + (ー) +
bo + (ー) +
ru = 'volleyball' • :
so + (ー) +
ru = 'sole (of a shoe, etc.)' Adjacent vowels in loanwords are written separately: • :
ba +
re +
e – 'ballet' • :
mi +
i +
ra – 'mummy' • :
so +
u +
ru – 'soul', '
Seoul'
Variations There are many variations on the Hepburn system for indicating long vowels with a macron. For example, () is properly romanized as
Tōkyō, but can also be written as: • – not indicated at all. Common for Japanese words that have been adopted into English, and the
de facto convention for Hepburn used in signs and other English-language information around Japan. • – indicated with
circumflex accents, as in the alternative
Nihon-shiki and
Kunrei-shiki romanizations. • – indicated with an
h (only applies after
o). This is sometimes known as "passport Hepburn", as the Japanese Foreign Ministry has authorized (but not required) it in passports. • – written using
kana spelling:
ō as
ou or
oo (depending on the kana). This is also known as style, as it reflects how text is entered into a Japanese word processor by using a keyboard with
Roman characters. more accurately represents the way that
ō is written in kana by differentiating between (as in (), in ) and (as in (), in ); however, it fails to differentiate between long vowels and vowels separated by a morpheme boundary. • – written by doubling the long vowels. Some dictionaries such as the
Pocket Kenkyusha Japanese Dictionary and ''Basic English Writers' Japanese-English Wordbook'' follow this style, and it is also used in the
JSL form of romanization.
Particles In
traditional and
modified: • When is used as a particle, it is written . In
traditional Hepburn: • When is used as a particle, Hepburn originally recommended .). • When is used as a particle, it is written . In
modified Hepburn: • When is used as a particle, it is written . • When is used as a particle, it is written .
Syllabic n In
traditional Hepburn: :Syllabic () is written as before consonants, but as before
labial consonants:
b,
m, and
p. It is sometimes written as
n- (with a hyphen) before vowels and
y (to avoid confusion between, for example,
n + a and , and
n + ya and ), but its hyphen usage is not clear. • : – guide • : –
Gunma • : – simple • : – trust In
modified Hepburn: :The rendering
m before labial consonants is not used and is replaced with . It is written
n' (with an apostrophe) before vowels and
y. • : – guide • : – Gunma • : – simple • : – trust
Long consonants Elongated (or "
geminate") consonant sounds are marked by doubling the consonant following a
sokuon, ; for consonants that are digraphs in Hepburn (
sh,
ts), only the first consonant of the set is doubled, except for
ch, which is replaced by
tch. • : – result • : – quickly • : – all the time • : – ticket • : – magazine • : – together • : (not ) – this way • : (not ) –
matcha • : – three == Romanization charts ==