Transcription into Japanese

In contemporary Japanese writing, foreign-language loanwords and foreign names are normally written in the katakana script, which is one component of the Japanese writing system. As far as possible, sounds in the source language are matched to the nearest sounds in the Japanese language, and the result is transcribed using standard katakana characters, each of which represents one syllable (strictly mora). For example, "America" is written アメリカ ("A-me-ri-ka"). To accommodate various foreign-language sounds not present in Japanese, a system of extended katakana has also developed to augment standard katakana.
Katakana, like hiragana, has a one-to-one correspondence between sounds and characters. Therefore, once the "Japanese sound" of a word is established, there is no ambiguity in its katakana spelling (unlike spelling in English, for example).
A much less common form of transcription, not covered in this article, uses kanji characters for their phonetic values. For information on this method see Ateji.
Practicalities of transcription.
Word length.
Because Japanese is written with relatively complex Kanji characters, Japanese text must generally be written larger for legibility. Furthermore, as both Kanji and Kana are traditionally of equal width and height, Japanese characters are generally much larger than Latin characters. As Kanji are logographic and Kana encode entire syllables (or rather, morae), the higher information density of Japanese writing usually evens out with the larger text so that Japanese and English texts take about the same amount of space, but challenges arise with foreign consonant clusters incompatible with Japanese phonotactics and the Kana system. For example, the word remote control becomes the cumbersome リモートコントロール ("ri-mō-to-ko-n-to-rō-ru") in Japanese. Here, additional vowels are added between and , between and , and after at the word's end, and the vowels of "mo" and "ro" have been lengthened to mimic the English pronunciation. These additional sounds not only add to the word's length when spoken, but it also severely bloats the word when written. As such, the word is typically shortened to simply リモコン ("ri-mo-ko-n") in modern Japanese speech and writing.
Syllable structure.
Since Japanese has few closed syllables, syllable-final consonants in the source language are often represented using the "-u" (or sometimes "-o" or "-i") kanas with implicitly silent vowels – though this vowel often is pronounced in Japanese – or the syllable coda is not represented at all. For example, the name "Jim" is written ジム ("Ji-mu"). A similar principle applies to consonant clusters; for example "spring" would be transcribed as スプリング ("su-pu-ri-n-gu"), and "scratch" would be transcribed as スクラッチ ("su-ku-ra-cchi").
Diphthongs.
Japanese has only five native vowel sounds, each a pure vowel (monophthong) with a long and short form, and some degree of approximation is necessary when representing vowels from, for example, English. Diphthongs are represented by sequences of vowels, and pronounced with hiatus, as a sequence of discrete monophthongs, not a diphthong, as in ブラウン "Bu-ra-u-n" "Brown", ナイス "na-i-su" "nice", ディア "di-a" "dear/deer", レア "re-a" "rare". etc. The English spelling <ore> (phonologically /ɔː/ (RP) or /ɔːr/ (GA)) is usually "diphthongized" as "o-a" in Japanese (e.g. コア "ko-a" "core"), possibly because it is also pronounced as a diphthong (/oə/) in some accents of English. The English /eɪ/ is transcribed to either "e-e" (エース "e-e-su" "ace") or "e-i" (スペイン "Su-pe-i-n" "Spain"); similarly, /əʊ/ is transcribed to either "o-o" (ショー "sho-o" "show") or "o-u" (シャドウ "sha-do-u" "shadow").
Phonemes.
Japanese does not have separate "l" and "r" sounds, and "l-" is normally transcribed using the kana that are perceived as representing "r-". For example, "London" becomes ロンドン ("Ro-n-do-n"). Other sounds not present in Japanese may be converted to the nearest Japanese equivalent; for example, the name "Smith" is written スミス ("Su-mi-su"). Foreign sounds can be difficult to express in Japanese, resulting in spellings such as フルシチョフ "Furushichofu" (Khrushchev), アリー・ハーメネイー "Arī Hāmeneī" (Ali Khamenei) and イツハク・パールマン "Itsuhaku Pāruman" or イツァーク・パールマン "Itsāku Pāruman" (Itzhak Perlman).
The English voiceless labialized velar approximant /hw/ (orthographically "wh"), which is a distinct phoneme from /w/ in some varieties of English, can be transcribed as "ho(w)-". For example, "White" is ホワイト "Howaito", "whale" is ホエール "hoēru".
French /w/ is typically transcribed as "u", but the sequence /wa/ is as "o-(w)a" (e.g. ポアロ "Po-a-ro" "Poirot").
The English /ti(ː)/ and /tɪ/ is typically transcribed to チ "chi" (e.g. チーム "chīmu" "team"), but ティ "ti" is also used (ティア "tia" "tear"). The suffix "-tic" can be transcribed to either チック "-chikku" or ティック "-tikku". However, "-ty" is almost always transcribed to ティ(ー) "-ti(i)", not *チ(ー) *"-chi(i)" (e.g. パーティー "pātī" "party", インフィニティ "infiniti" "infinity").
The English schwa /ə/ is variously "transcribed" to "a", "e", "o", depending on the English spelling (this is more of transliteration than it is transcription). For example, デュアル "dyu-a-ru" "dual", デュエル "dyu-e-ru" "duel", テスタメント "Te-su-ta-me-n-to" "Testament", ロンドン "Ro-n-do-n" "London". There are no definite rules when it comes to the schwa, however; e.g. ランダム "ra-n-da-mu" "random", オープン "o-o-pu-n" "open", ザ "za" "the". The British /ə/ which is equivalent to the North American /ɚ/ is transcribed to a(-a); e.g. コンピュータ(ー) ko-n-pyu-u-ta(-a) "computer", モーター "mo-o-ta-a" "motor". On the other hand, the French schwa is transcribed to "u" or "o" (e.g. ソムリエ "so-mu-ri-e" "sommelier", ド "do" "de") similarly to instances where there's a lack of vowels, and the German schwa is almost always transcribed to "e" (e.g. アルベルト "A-ru-be-ru-to" "Albert", ウンディーネ "un-di-i-ne" "undine").
Although the diphthong /au/ across languages is usually transcribed as アウ "a-u", local reading transcriptions of the same sequence from Mandarin, represented in both Wade–Giles and Pinyin as "ao" are represented as アオ "a-o" instead, again in more of a manner of transliteration based on these systems - e.g. マオ・ツォートン "ma-o tso-o-to-n" (Mao Zedong).
The English /æ/ is typically transcribed to "a"; e.g. マン "ma-n" "man", チャネル "cha-ne-ru" "channel". The sequences /kæ/ and /ɡæ/ are sometimes transcribed to "kya" and "gya" respectively; e.g. キャンディ "kyandi" "candy", ギャラクシー "gya-ra-ku-shi-i" "galaxy".
The older English suffix "-age" /-ɪdʒ/ is always transcribed to "-e-e-ji" as if it were pronounced as /eɪdʒ/ as in "age" or "rage"; e.g. メッセージ "me-s-se-e-ji" "message", パッケージ "pa-k-ke-e-ji" "package". The more recent "-age" /-ɑːʒ/ is more "properly" transcribed to "-a-a-ju"; e.g. ミラージュ "mi-ra-a-ju" "mirage". However, "garage" /gəˈrɑːʒ/ is more commonly transcribed to ガレージ "ga-re-e-ji" as it also has /ˈgærɪdʒ/ as an alternative pronunciation in British English.
The phoneme /v/ in various languages is transcribed either to "b" or "v", although it is unknown whether there is such an equivalent phoneme /v/ in Japanese. For example, ベネチア "Benechia" / ヴェネツィア "Ve-ne-tsi-a" "Venezia" (Italian for "Venice"), オーバー "o-o-ba-a" "over", ラブ "ra-bu" / ラヴ "ravu" "love".
The German /v/ (orthographically "w") can be transcribed in several ways. In long-established words, it is generally "w". E.g.: "Walküre" "valkyrie" > ワルキューレ "wa-ru-kyu-u-re". In newer transcriptions, it can also be "v". E.g.: "Schwestern" "sisters" > シュヴェスタン "shu-ve-su-tan".
"Wa" is usually written as ワ, although ウァ is sometimes used in transcriptions from Ancient Greek or Latin (e.g. ミネルウァ "Mi-ne-ru-wa" "Minerva").
French vowels are usually phonemically transcribed, but non-phonemic stressed vowels (utterance-final) are sometimes also transcribed as long vowels. Compare the examples of メゾン "me-zo-n" "maison" and カレー "ka-re-e" "Calais", in which the same vowel /ɛ/ is transcribed as "e" and "e-e" depending on whether it is stressed or not. The French schwa is ignored altogether: words are usually transcribed as if there were no schwa at all. For example, the word "le" is transcribed as ル "ru", as is the single sound /l/ in "cheval" > シュヴァル "shuvaru".
Although a syllable-final /n/ is typically transcribed using the moraic ン "n", ン is used in French to transcribe nasalized vowels, so French words with a final /n/ often use ヌ "nu" instead for distinction, e.g. マドレーヌ "Ma-do-re-e-nu" "Madeleine". This is especially the case when the masculine and feminine of a word are distinct in French, e.g. "bon" --> ボン "bo-n", vs. "bonne" --> ボンヌ "bo-n-nu" (the "n" is sometimes doubled, especially when the French orthography use two "n", even if it has no consequence in the French pronunciation).
Plain short consonants may be transcribed as geminated consonants to reflect the laxness of the preceding vowel, although this is not universal and there are plenty of exceptions. For example: English "kick" is キック "ki-k-ku" and "castle" is キャッスル "kya-s-su-ru", but "extra" is エクストラ "e-ku-su-to-ra" and "battle" is バトル "ba-to-ru". This practice expands to almost all English obstruents regardless of their voicing (/k/, /ɡ/, /s/, /z/, /f/, etc.), also to German/Scots /x/, occasionally to /n/ and /m/ (as pseudo-geminated consonant sequences /nn/ or /nm/). For example: English "bag" is バ(ッ)グ "ba-(g)-gu"; English "Anna" is アンナ "A-n-na"; English "gamma" is ガンマ "ga-n-ma"; English "shuffle" is シャッフル "sha-f-fu-ru"; German "Mach" is マッハ "ma-h-ha", "Masoch" is マゾッホ "Ma-zo-h-ho".
German [x] is transcribed roughly as "h-h", accordingly to its preceding vowel, if it's not followed by a vowel (e.g. マッハ "ma-h-ha" "Mach", バッハ "Ba-h-ha" "Bach", マゾッホ "Ma-zo-h-ho" "Masoch"); [ç], its allophone occurring only after high vowels and consonants, are as "h" if not followed by a vowel (e.g. メルヘン "me-ru-hen" "Märchen"), or as "hi" if not (e.g. リヒター "Ri-hi-ta-a" "Richter"). Russian /x/ is transcribed as "fu" if not followed by a vowel (e.g. カザフスタン "Ka-za-fu-su-ta-n" "Kazakhstan"). Mandarin [ç] (in pinyin "x(i)") is transcribed as "sh" (e.g. シャオ "shao" from 小 "xiǎo" "little").
Geminated consonants are typically transcribed consistently and faithfully, as gemination is also featured in Japanese. The only notable exceptions are /rr/ and /ɲɲ/, although /ll/ and /ʎʎ/ are still transcribed. Examples: is アッラーフ "A-r-ra-a-fu"; Italian "Donatello" is ドナテッロ "Do-na-te-r-ro"; Italian "degli" is デッリ "de-r-ri"; but Italian "Verrocchio" is simply ヴェロッキオ "Ve-ro-k-ki-o", not *"Ve-r-ro-k-ki-o". Italian /ɲɲ/ may be transcribed as the lengthened portion of the preceding vowel and a sequence of /nj/. For example, "Sardegna" is サルデーニャ "Sa-ru-de-e-nya".
Similar to the way speakers of English say Italian words, Japanese does not usually transcribe the Italian glide /j/ to reflect its true nature, but as /i/, perhaps for consistency and convenience. For example, "Venezia" is ヴェネツィア "Ve-ne-tsi-a", "Sicilia" is シチリア "Shi-chi-ri-a". Contemporary transcriptions of palatalized consonants from Slavic languages, however, are made using yōon, e.g.: Russian ピャチゴルスク "Pya-chi-go-ru-su-ku" (Pyatigorsk), Polish ビェルスコ＝ビャワ "Bye-ru-su-ko=bya-wa" (Bielsko-Biała).
Modern English compounds are usually transcribed in a way that reflects the independent pronunciations of the individual components. That is to say, there is no phonetic linking between components. For example, "overall" is transcribed as オーバーオール "o-o-ba-a-o-o-ru", not *"o-o-ba-a-ro-o-ru" as it is pronounced in English. However, there are a few exceptions, such as "pineapple", which is transcribed as パイナップル "pa-i-na-p-pu-ru", or "double-u", as ダブリュー "da-bu-ryu-u".
Long vowels.
Long vowels are generally written with ー to indicate lengthening, as in コーラ "kōra" (cola), rather than writing a distinct vowel ×コウラ *"koura." There are two irregularities of note here. Firstly, lengthening of the final vowel may be ambiguous, and vary over time or between users. For example, in present Japan, "computer" is generally represented as コンピューター "konpyūtā" (long final), but in some cases, such as the computer industry, following Japanese Industrial Standards, it is represented as コンピュータ "konpyūta" (short final). Secondly, in modern Chinese loanwords, notably food names, in careful transcription diphthongs are represented by separate vowels, even if in Japanese they would appear to be a long vowel; this is particularly common with "òu," especially in 豆 "dòu" "(soy) bean", usually rendered as トウ. Further, long vowels in the Japanese transcription need not reflect Chinese pronunciation. For example, the dish 東坡肉 "Dongpo pork", in pinyin "dōngpōròu" ("dōng·pō·ròu"), is represented in Japanese as ドンポーロウ "donpōrou," or more commonly トンポーロウ "tonpōrou." Note that in Chinese pinyin "ō" represents a high tone, while in Japanese "ō" represents a long vowel, and /d/ is pronounced differently (Chinese /d/ is similar to Japanese or English /t/). This distinction is not always followed, and varies by term: the spelling トンポーロー "tonpōrō" is also common; and in terms such as 回鍋肉 twice cooked pork, the spelling ホイコーロー is more common, despite representing diphthongs.
Extended katakana.
In modern times, an extended katakana system has developed to cater for foreign sounds not present in Japanese. Most of these novel katakana forms are digraphs, composed of standard katakana characters, but in digraph combinations not found in native words. For example, the word "photo" is transcribed as フォト ("fo-to"), where the novel digraph フォ ("fo") is made up from フ (normally "fu") plus a novel small combining form of オ (normally "o"). In other cases novel diacritics may be applied to create new sounds, such as ヴ for "vu", which consists of ウ ("u") combined with a dakuten to indicate a voiced pronunciation.
Interpunct.
Japanese is written without spaces between words, and, to aid understanding, foreign phrases and names are sometimes transliterated with an interpunct separating the words, called a ; for example, (Bill Gates). When it is assumed that the reader knows the separate "gairaigo" words in the phrase, the middle dot is omitted, especially for wasei eigo. For example, the phrase "konpyūtā gēmu" ("computer game") contains two well-known gairaigo, and therefore is not written with a middle dot; the same principle is applied for "panti sutokkingu" ("pantyhose", lit. "panty stocking"), Japanese coinage.
Katakana tables.
The following tables give the Hepburn romanization and an approximate IPA transcription for katakana as used in contemporary Japanese. Their use in transcription is, of course, in the inverse direction.
Extended katakana.
The following katakana have been developed or proposed specifically for the purposes of transcribing foreign words. Examples such as トゥ(tu) in カートゥーン(cartoon), ティ(ti) in パーティ(party), ツァ (tsa) in モーツァルト(Mozart) are found mostly in foreign words.