Cyrillization of the Japanese language is the process of transliterating or transcribing Japanese into Cyrillic, either to indicate the names or terms of the Japanese language in Cyrillic (and different languages based on the Cyrillic alphabet), or as an aid in learning Japanese in these languages. This can be done in a special way (for example, when “sushi” is transliterated as “sushi” in Russian Cyrillic or “sushi” in Ukrainian Cyrillic) or using one of several systems. The Polivanov and Hepburn systems were created for the same purpose - a convenient translation of Japanese sounds into the western style of speech and hearing.
Cyrillization of the Japanese language
There are a number of concepts of cyrillization used by various cyrillic-based lacunae. Some types are presented below:
- The standard and most widely used method of cyrillization into Russian Cyrillic is known as the Polivanov system, named after the Russian and Soviet linguist Evgeny Polivanov.
- The standard and most widely used method of cyrillization in Ukrainian Cyrillic, known as the Bondarenko system (2014, updated version), named after the Ukrainian linguist Ivan Bondarenko.
The history of the most famous doctrine
The Polivanov system was developed by Evgeny Polivanov in 1917. Please note that it has its own spelling conventions and does not necessarily represent a direct phonetic transcription of pronunciation from the point of view of standard Russian use of the Cyrillic alphabet.
In English texts, Japanese names are written using the Hepburn system. Attempts may be made to rewrite them as if they were English, rather than following a special Japanese cyrillization scheme. No matter how complicated Japanese is, the Polivanov system copes well with the transfer of its specific phonetics in the Russian manner.
Nevertheless, this doctrine has its drawbacks. A common example of such shortcomings is an attempt to rewrite the shi sound (in the Polivanov system it is si) as shi and ji (ji) as ji. This is not practical for use in Russian, because shi is actually pronounced as shy in Russian, and ji as ji, thereby making the vowel (/ ɨ /) closer to Japanese / and / or Japanese / i /. Whereas “shi” will have the correct vowel sound, but will be expressed as Japanese sshi.
Sound pronunciation features
Equally often, people sign cha, chi, chu, cho as cha, chi, chu, cho. This is phonetically correct, but does not correspond to the Polyanov scheme (tya, ty, tyu, those), which is closer to the Kunrei-siki runanization (tya, ti, tyu, tyo) for these specific characters.
Sometimes e, not e, is used for e, despite the fact that e is pronounced in Russian (although not in other languages). This is usually not done in the starting position, even though old romanizations like Yedo do it. In any case, it does not correspond to the Polivanov scheme, although it is considered more acceptable for words that are commonly used (for example, kamikaze> kamikaze instead of kamikaze). Replacing e (yo) with u (y) is incorrect, as it will change the Japanese word too much.
The sound yo (in the Polivanov system: e), when in the initial position or after the vowel, is often written as yo (yo), which has the same pronunciation: Ekosuka -> Yokosuka (Yokosuka), Toyota -> Toyota (Toyota). Although the spelling “yo” is not common in Russian words, they are more common for Japanese names than transliteration using “e”.
Some personal names starting with “Yo” (or used after a vowel) are written using “Yo” instead of “E” (for example, Yoko for Yoko Ono, but Eco for Yoko Kanno and all other Yokos). The letter "E" is not often used in the Japanese Cyrillic alphabet because of its optional use in Russian (and the possible replacement with the letter "E", which will affect the pronunciation), but professional translators use the "e" necessarily.
History of Japanese in Russia
The start of Japanese language training in Russia formally dates back to December 1701 or January 1702, when Dembei, a shipwrecked Japanese merchant, was brought to Moscow and began teaching the language of the country of the Rising Sun at court.
A survey conducted by the Japan Foundation in 2006 showed 451 teachers teaching this language and 9,644 students in 143 institutions. The number of students has grown by 4.8% since last year.
In addition to one Russian school in which Japanese is studied (the Japanese school in Moscow, founded in 1965), almost all Japanese language training in Russia throughout history has been directed exclusively to native speakers.
Russian interest in Japan dates back to the beginning of the 17th century, when the descriptions of the Flemish cartographer Gerard Mercator about Japan were translated into Russian. Then the Russian ambassador to China Nikolai Spatari also tried to collect information about Japan.
However, the first real knowledge of the Japanese language was obtained from Dembei, a shipwrecked native of Japan who ended up on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Despite repeated protests and a expressed desire to return to Japan, Dembei was taken to Moscow in December 1701 or in January 1702, after which the Japanese received an order from Peter the Great to teach a small group of young Russian men their language. It is believed that he finally began to teach in 1705.
Japanese studies in Russia continued throughout the eighteenth century, and Japanese fishermen acted as teachers, who, like Denbei, drifted ashore in the Russian Far East and, thanks to the Togugawa Shogunate sakoku policy, were unable to return to Japan.
Nevertheless, Japanese studies were not included in the official programs of Russian universities until the creation of the Department of Japanese Philology at St. Petersburg University in 1898.
Soon after, Serge Eliseev will be the first Russian to graduate in Japan, graduating from Imperial University in Tokyo in 1912. However, he did not return to Russia, but remained abroad, taking up a post at the Sorbonne in 1917.
Soviet time
Japanese language training failed during the Great Purge. Famous scholars killed during this period were Yevgeny Polivanov, the designer of the official scheme for the Cyrillization of the Japanese language and the hero of this article, as well as Nikolai Nevsky, who specialized in the study of Okinawa.
Later, in the era of Nikita Khrushchev, an increasing number of Russians returned to Japan as foreign students, but few returned to the USSR. Despite this, the Polivanov system is still considered an outstanding achievement of the Soviet era.