| VOWEL LENGTHENING |
Examples |
| To indicate the long aa sound:
1. In most foreign words, length is shown by adding a length
marker .
2. In other cases (e.g., katakana renditions of words
usually written in characters or hiragana), the symbol a is
added to an a-row syllable (rare).
|
paa 'par
(in golf)"
etc.
aa
|
| To indicate the long ii sound:
1. In most foreign words, length is shown by adding a length
marker .
2. In other cases (e.g., katakana renditions of words
usually written in characters or hiragana), the symbol i is
added to a syllable ending in i. |
supiido 'speed'
etc.
ii
etc. |
| To indicate the long uu sound:
1. In most foreign words, length is shown by adding a length marker .
2. In other cases (e.g., katakana renditions of words usually
written in characters or hiragana), the symbol u is
added to a syllable ending in u. |
kyuu 'cue
(in billiards)'
kyuu (e.g., 'urgent')
etc.
|
| To indicate the long ee sound:
1. In most foreign words, length is shown by adding a length marker .
However, it is also very common to see the symbol i added
to a syllable ending in e (as shown
in no. 2).
2. In other cases (e.g., katakana renditions of words usually
written in characters or hiragana), the symbol i is
added to a syllable ending in e.
(Note: Although indicated with an i, ei is
actually pronounced as a lengthened e sound.)
|
teema 'theme'
apurikeeshon 'application'
But teiku-auto 'take-out,
takeaway'
sei
tei
hei
gei
etc.
|
To indicate the long oo sound:
1. In most foreign words, length is shown by adding a length marker .
2. In other cases (e.g., katakana renditions of words usually
written in characters or hiragana), the symbol u is
added to a syllable ending in o. There
are a few exceptional words where the long oo sound
is indicated with an o rather
than an u.
(Note: This site romanises long o as oo.
This runs counter to the recent trend to use ou.
The reason for using oo is: (1) there
is a distinction between long oo and
the true ou sound that needs to be
preserved and (2) there is no distinction in pronunciation between
the long oo sound indicated with and
that indicated with .)
|
shoo 'show'
Note:
Joozu 'Jaws'
but ( ) joozu 'skilful'
koo
soo
goo
joo
byoo
etc.
Long oo using :
tooi 'far'
toori 'road'
ookii 'big,
large'
koori 'ice'
etc.
|
| CONSONANT DOUBLING |
|
Doubling of stop consonants is indicated
with a small tsu .
In Japanese words, normally only t, k, p, and s are
doubled in this way. In foreign words, d b, g, j, h, f,
and even v or r can
also be doubled. |
battari 'with
a thud, suddenly, unexpectedly'
baggu 'bag'
baddo 'bad'
bahha 'Bach' |
Doubling of nasal consonants is indicated
with an n. |
hanmaa 'hammer'. |