Basic Rules of Romaji

Now that we have reviewed the basic sounds of the Roman alphabet, let's learn the basic rules of Romaji. Romaji is a way to represent Japanese words using the Roman alphabet, but it's not a one-to-one correspondence. There are some variations that you need to be aware of.

RULE 1  Double consonants 

In Japanese, the double consonant represents a gemination or "small tsu" (っ) which is used to separate two consecutive identical consonant sounds and is not used to indicate a longer duration of the preceding vowel.

For example, the word "Nippon" in Romaji would be written as "にっぽん" in Hiragana, with "っ" separating the two "p" sounds.

RULE 2  Long vowels

In Romaji, long vowels are represented by repeating the vowel.

For example, the long "o" sound is represented by "ō" and the long "u" sound is represented by "ū".

RULE 3  Special characters "fu", "n", and "r"

There are a few special characters in Romaji such as "fu" which is represented by the sound of "hu" or "hoo."

The letter 'n' in Romaji is used to indicate the nasal sound "ん" (n) in Japanese.

The letter 'r' in Romaji represents a sound that is not present in the Japanese language, it is represented by "ら" (ra), "り" (ri), "る" (ru), "れ" (re), "ろ" (ro). However, the sound of 'r' can be approximated by a combination of 'l' and 'r' sound.

SPECIAL SOUNDS

You might have noticed that some letters like 'c', 'f', 'l', 'q', 'r', 'v', and 'x' are missing. That's because these sounds are not used in Japanese. However, when we write Romaji, we still use the letters 'fu', 'r', and 'v' to represent a different sound that is used in Japanese. So, when you read Romaji, just remember to pronounce these letters differently than in English.

These letters are using in Romaji but the pronounce differently:

• The letter 'fu' is pronounced like the sound 'hu' or 'h·oo'
• The letter 'v' is pronounced like the sound 'b'

• The letter 'r' has a special sound that is similar to 'l', or in between 'r' and 'l' sounds.

We will be covering this in more detail in the upcoming lessons.

SPECIAL LETTERS PRONUNCIATION

fu

pronounce 'fu' as /hu/ or /oo/

v

pronounce 'v' as 'b' 

'R' ROMAJI PRONUNCATION

r

To produce this sound, quickly flap the tip of your tongue against your upper gums, just behind your front teeth. Avoid rolling your tongue like the traditional 'r' sound in the Latin alphabet.

RULE 4 Intonation and Syllables

In Japanese, each syllable is represented by one word, unlike in Japanese where one word can be represented by more than one syllable.

For example, the word "konnichiwa" which means "hello" in English, is composed of five syllables: "ko-n-ni-chi-wa", where each syllable is separated by vowels.

Japanese words are pronounced with a more subtle and flat intonation compared to English. Unlike in English, where words often have prominent rises and falls in pitch, Japanese words generally maintain a more consistent and level intonation.

It's important to keep in mind that Romaji is not a perfect representation of the Japanese language, and it's not intended to replace the Japanese script. However, it can be a helpful tool for beginners to learn the basics of Japanese pronunciation and grammar.