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> This is fantastic. Living in both the English and Japanese-speaking worlds [...] I think consistency is preferable If I'm not mistaken, his suggestion would
by FabHK 7y ago
> This is fantastic. Living in both the English and Japanese-speaking worlds [...] I think consistency is preferable
If I'm not mistaken, his suggestion would make the Japanese convention less consistent with the English convention (while making it more consistent with the Chinese convention).
- zapzupnz 7y agoIt would make the English rendering of Japanese names consistent with … well, themselves. 安倍 (Abe) 晋三 (Shinzo) will be Abe Shinzo, not Shinzo Abe. The Japanese don't reverse Western names, so Steve Jobs is never Jobs Steve.
- FabHK 7y agoAh I see! Yes indeed.
- frosted-flakes 7y ago> The Japanese don't reverse Western names, so Steve Jobs is never Jobs Steve. Do the Japanese write Western names in the latin alphabet ("Steve Jobs"), or do they transform it into their own script based on how it sounds? If it's kept in the latin alphabet, of course they don't reverse it, the same way we wouldn't reverse it if we kept "Shinzo Abe" in Japanese script ("安倍 晋三").
- zapzupnz 7y agoI think you're missing the point. Whether in katakana or in romaji (Latin script), the Japanese don't reverse our names, so there's no reason for us to do that to theirs whatever script is used. As I said to someone else, transliteration doesn't come into it. After all, the writing system doesn't matter when speaking a name when the pronunciation is known but the orthography isn't; it still must be said in the right order.