The nature of this difference may be illustrated by the T series of Japanese syllables, which are ta tʃi tsu te to. Since tʃi and tsu take the place of ti and tu in the Japanese phonemic system, they can naturally be Romanized as ti and tu in a system of Japanese orthography with no danger of confusion between the syllables they represent and the syllables normally represented by ti and tu in most other languages. However, in a transcription system designed for foreigners, especially for those unfamiliar with the phonetic structure of Japanese, these two syllables cannot be Romanized as ti and tu without causing serious confusion. Therefore, the Old Romanization, in accordance with its own principles, naturally represents them as chi and tsu.
Whatever may be the objectives of the many groups supporting the various Romanization systems, there can be no doubt that these systems differ radically in character and are designed, whether consciously or not, for two very different purposes. On the one hand, the Old Romanization has proved to be a very practical transcription. Although it may seem to rest on rather arbitrary standards of letter values, it has the great weight of decades of almost universal acceptance on its side, and the simple rule, “the vowels as in Italian, the consonants as in English,” has been singularly successful in a geographic area where English is the undisputed international language. On the other hand, Kokutei Rōmazi is vastly superior to the Old Romanization as a Japanese Latin orthography. However, for this purpose, Nipponsiki is better than Kokutei in that it preserves a few important differences in kana spelling lost in Kokutei.[1]
If the Old Romanization is a good broad phonetic transcription and the other two systems are good phonemic orthographies, the question naturally arises as to which is really wanted, a broad phonetic transcription for foreigners or an orthography for Japanese. From the point of view of foreigners, there can be no doubt but that the former is desired. Mr. Carr states that Kokutei has practical advantages for the student of Japanese, but there
- ↑ Another change for the worse in Kokutei is the substitution of the hyphen for ’ between the final n of one syllable and an initial vowel in the next syllable within a single word. The hyphen is best reserved for use in words which should be hyphenated on other than phonetic grounds.
literation whereas the Nihonshiki (i. e., Nipponsiki) is by its very nature a national orthography; in short, each system fulfils the purpose for which it was primarily intended.”
