Romanization

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Minerva; hypercorrecting "r" into "l", while somehow retaining the "b" from Japanese phonemes. Oh, Takara.

Romanization refers to the adaptation of languages or words that do not use Latin letters to the 26-character Latin alphabet used in English (among other, less important languages). Technically, the English-specific term would be "Anglicization".

The proper Romanization of Japanese character names can sometimes be unclear. This wiki notes such ambiguities if they are considered significant.

Japanese (カタカナ、ひらがな、感じ Katakana, Hiragana, Kanji)

Any writing system is (at best) an approximation of the sounds it represents. The Japanese writing system distinguishes between fewer phonemes than most. This does not mean the language lacks those phonemes... English has more than 26 sounds, which is denoted by character-combinations ("ch" makes a sound that is not the combination of the mouth-movements for "c" and "h", but a close cousin), but even those combinations are imperfect; the double-o represents different sounds in "cook" and "spook". Japanese is a bit hard to romanize is because its writing systems, Kana (Katakana (カタカナ) and Hiragana (ひらがな)) and Kanji, have no official romanization. So, many people romanize Japanese based on the sounds they hear.

Kana is a syllable script, this means its not using one sound per symbol like Latin scripts but two sounds per symbol, like ど do, は ha, ぐ gu, and け ke.

Hiragana (left) and Katakana (right) – k s t n h m y r w a あア かカ さサ たタ なナ はハ まマ やヤ らラ わワ i いイ きキ しシ ちチ にニ ひヒ みミ * りリ ゐヰ u うウ くク すス つツ ぬヌ ふフ むム ゆユ るル * e えエ けケ せセ てテ ねネ へヘ めメ * れレ ゑヱ o おオ こコ そソ とト のノ ほホ もモ よヨ ろロ をヲ

んン (n)

There are two small diacritics to modify letter pronunication. Dakuten (゙ ) resembles a quotation mark, and is to modify the consonant sounds k, s, t, and f into g, z, d, and b. Handakuten (゚ ) is a small circle, similar to a degree sign, both placed at the top right corner of a kana character. Handakuten modifies the consonant sound f into p. More on Dakuten.

Kanji (感じ) is Chinese character-like, well, this is hard to explain. Better go to Kanji.

Notably the Japanese script does not distinguish between the sounds "l" and "r", and English-speaking Japanese lack a mechanism for distinguishing the sounds in other languages. Foreign words in Japan frequently acquire creative spellings as a result of being rendered "down" into the Japanese script then re-Romanized; in such situations "Engrish" is a perfectly logical rendering. Accuracy is generally a low priority, as English characters are generally used to look cool, not make sense to Japanese children.

In fairness, we mangled the name of their entire country. And it's happened back-to-front in Transformers, now.

For further information, see: Wikipedia:Romanization of Japanese

Notorious and hilarious Romaji in Transformers

Romaji confusion can either be;

1. Improper Japanese rendering of English names
2. Words whose English spelling is open to interpretation.

• Minelba—Minerva
• Butt—Blot
• Clerken—Kraken
• "Comvoy", used on the packaging for Transformers: Mystery of Convoy
• Variations of "Destron", including "Deathtron" and "Destoron"
• Deszaras
• Rartorata
• Transformers Collection Chear
• A questionable case would be the various Japanese Mirage toys named "Rijie" (Robot Masters, Binaltech)—although the character's name was based on the original toy's vehicle mode, a Ligier racing car, Takara's insistence on using a Romanization of the name that's considerably different from the car manufacturer's name might hint at a willful decision.

Korean (한글 Han-gul)

Although the Korean language has not had much effect in the Transformers universe, Transformers programs are aired in the Korean language. This could be confusing, because, just like Japanese, many names on English Transformers were different on Korean Transformers. The Korean language uses the Hangul writing system created by Dynasty Joseon on 1443. Modern day Hangul use Revisised Romanization of Korean to romanize it.

Hangul seems more like Chinese characters (Hanzi), but it is actually a true alphabet of 24 consonant and vowel letters. However, instead of being written sequentially like the letters of the Latin alphabet, Hangul letters are grouped into blocks, such as 한 han, each of which transcribes a syllable. The syllable 한 han may look like a single character, but it is composed of three letters: ㅎ h, ㅏ a, and ㄴ n.

Hangul letters and digraphs are called jamo (자모; 字母) or natsori (낱소리). There are 24 letters and 27 digraphs (and sometimes trigraphs) formed from these letters in the modern script. Of the letters, fourteen are consonants (ja-eum 자음, 子音 "child sounds") and ten are vowels (mo-eum 모음, 母音 "mother sounds"). Five of the consonants are doubled to form the five "tense" (faucalized) consonants of Korean (see below), while another eleven sequences are formed of two different consonants. The ten vowel letters are combined into eleven sequences for diphthongs.

The following letters and clusters of letters are found in the modern script:
14 consonant letters: ㄱ g, ㄴ n, ㄷ d, ㄹ r on top/l on bottom, ㅁ m, ㅂ b, ㅅ s, ㅇ not read on top/ng on bottom, ㅈ j, ㅊ ch, ㅋ k, ㅌ t, ㅍ p, ㅎ h
5 double ("tense") consonants: ㄲ kk, ㄸ tt, ㅃ pp, ㅆ ss, ㅉ jj
11 consonant clusters: ㄳ gs, ㄵ nj, ㄶ nh, ㄺ rg, ㄻ lm, ㄼ lb, ㄽ ls, ㄾ lt, ㄿ lp, ㅀ lh, ㅄ bs
6 vowel letters: ㅏ a, ㅓ eo, ㅗ o, ㅜ u, ㅡ eu, ㅣ i
4 iotized vowels (with a y): ㅑ ya, ㅕ yeo, ㅛ yo, ㅠ yu
5 (iotized) diphthongs: ㅐ ae, ㅒ yae, ㅔ e, ㅖ ye, ㅢ ui
6 vowels and diphthongs with a w: ㅘ wa, ㅙ wae, ㅚ oe, ㅝ wo, ㅞ we, ㅟ wi

Confusion of romanization of Hangul

Hangul not exactly a what-you-see-is-what-you-must-read alphabet. Some letters are not read when they are on bottom of a glyph (in this case, ㄹ and ㅇ have their own rules when placed on top or bottom). For example, Hangukeo (Korean Language) written as 한국어 and supposed to read as Hangugeo, Hangukeun ne gyejeori tturyeothada (Korea has four distinct seasons) written as 한국은 네 계절이 뚜렷하다 and supposed to read as Hangugeun ne gyeojeoli ttureoshada. This confusion has been corrected in Indonesian Hangul.

Indonesian

The Indonesian language spoken across the Malay archipelago by 206 million peoples of Indonesia, a small number also exist on East Timor, Singapore, United States, Canada, and Australia. Indonesian language has 6 official writing system, they are Roman, Cyrillic, Greek alphabet, Hangeul (known as Hangul), Arabian, and Hebrew. Each of them has already fitted for Indonesian language.

Latin (Latin)

Indonesian Roman alphabet has difference from the basic roman alphabet. It is consist of 24 consonants and 6 vowels, 26 from basic roman alphabet, 4 added with diacritic. Well, beacuse this is roman alphabet, there's no need to romanise.

Indonesian started using Roman alphabet its independence. That time, Indonesia using Van Ophuijsen Spelling system, followed by Republik Spelling System on 1972, and Perfected Spelling System (PSS) on 2000. Now Indonesia uses PSS phase 3 that somehow alot different from PSS phase 1 and 2.

The letters are:

Letter	Name	Note
Aa	a	a as in father
Bb	bé	b as in bed
Cc	cé	ch as in check
Dd	dé	d as in day
Ee	e	u as in fur
Ff	éf	f as in fish
Gg	gé	g as in gain
Éé	é	é as in red
Hh	ha	h as in harm
Ii	i	i as in igloo
Jj	jé	j as in jam
Ññ	ñe	Spanish ñ
Kk	ka	unaspirated k as in skate
Ll	él	l as in let
Mm	ém	m as in mall
Nn	én	n as in net
Ng ng	éng	ng as in finger
Oo	o	o as in bot
Pp	pé	unaspirated p as in speak
Qq	qi	q as in the Quran
Rr	ér	Spanish rr as in puerro
Ss	és	s as in sun
Šš	éš	sh as in shake
Tt	té	unaspirated t as in still
Uu	u	oo as in foot
Vv	vé	v as in van
Ww	wé	w as in wet
Þþ	éþ	th as in that
Xx	ékh	Indonesian xušu (English: khusyu)
Yy	yé	y as in yarn
Zz	zét	z as in zebra

In addition of those letter, there are 6 vowels with y addition on front of them. They are:

Letter	Name	Note
Ââ	ya	short ya as in Yaasin
Êê	yé	ye as in yeah
Èè	ye	ye as in lawyer
Îî	yi'	yi as in Yiddish
Ôô	yo	yo as in Yokohama
Ûû	yu	yu as in Yukon

Cyrillic (Сирилик Sirilik)

This is a modified version of Cyrillic alphabet used on Russia. It is consist of 24 consonants and 6 vowels. Added as national writing system on 2012, along with Hebrew, Greek, and Hangul.

The letters are:

Letter	Name	Roman equivalent
Аа	a	Aa
Бб	bé	Bb
Чч	cé	Cc
Дд	dé	Dd
Ээ	e	Ee
Фф	éf	Ff
Гг	gé	Gg
Ее	é	é
Хх	ha	Hh
Ии	i	Ii
Ыы	jé	Jj
Ьь	yak	(This is a glottal stop)
Кк	ka	Kk
Лл	él	Ll
Мм	ém	Mm
Нн	én	Nn
Оо	o	Oo
Пп	pé	Pp
Ҡҡ	qi	Qq
Рр	ér	Rr
Сс	és	Ss
Шш	éš	Šš
Тт	té	Tt
Уу	u	Uu
Вв	vé	Vv
Ұұ	wé	Ww
Цц	éþ	Þþ
Жж	ékh	Xx
Йй	yé	Yy
Зз	zét	Zz

Almost equal with Roman alphabet there are 3 addition vowels with y addition on front of them. They are:

Letter	Name	Note
Яя	ya	Ââ
Ёё	yo	Ôô
Юю	yu	Ûû

Greek (Ψυνανι Yunani)

Also a modified version of Greek alphabet used on Greek. Consist of 29 letters. Added as national writing system on 2012, along with Hebrew, Cyrillic, and Hangul.

The letters are:

Letter	Name	Roman equivalent
Αα	a	Aa
Ββ	bé	Bb
Χχ	cé	Cc
Δδ	dé	Dd
Εε	e	Ee
Φφ	éf	Ff
Γγ	gé	Gg
Ήή	é	Éé
Ηη	ha	Hh
Ιι	i	Ii
Θθ	jé	Jj
Κκ	ka	Kk
Λλ	él	Ll
Μμ	ém	Mm
Νν	én	Nn
Οο	o	Oo
Ππ	pé	Pp
Ωω	qi	Qq
Ρρ	ér	Rr
Σσ	és	Ss
Ύς	éš	Šš
Ττ	té	Tt
Υυ	u	Uu
Φφ	vé	Vv
Ϋϋ	wé	Ww
Ξξ	ékh	Xx
Ψψ	yé	Yy
Ζζ	zét	Zz

In this alphabet, there's no vowel addition as previous, so when Ya is about to written, it'll written as 'ψα.

Hangul (한굴 Han-gul)

This alphabet is Indonesian version of Korean Hangeul with addition to the letters. Added as national writing system on 2012, along with Hebrew, Greek, and Cyrillic.

The letters are:

Letter	Name	Roman equivalent
ㅂ	bé	B
ㅈ	jé	J
ㄷ	dé	D
ㄱ	gé	G
ㅅ	és	S
ㅃ	fé	F
ㅉ	zét	Z
ㄸ	ddé	Dd
ㄲ	qi	Q
ㅆ	éš	Š
ㅁ	ém	M
ㄴ	én	N
ㅇ	eng	not read on top, Ng on bottom
ㄹ	rél	R on top, L on botton. If there's R on bottom, use ㄽ
ㅎ	ha	H
ㅋ	ka	K
ㅌ	té	T
ㅊ	cé	C
ㅍ	pé	P
ㅏ	an	A
ㅓ	én	É
ㅡ	en	E
ㅣ	in	I
ㅜ	un	U
ㅗ	on	O
ㅑ	ya	Â
ㅕ	yé	Ê
ㅠ	yu	Û
ㅛ	yo	Ô
ㅔ	é tipis	E on bottom position on English words, like shape
ㅐ	éng	not read
ㅖ	è tipis	Ue on bottom position on English words, like unique
ㅒ	êng	Y

Vowel addition for this alphabet is inserted into basic alphabet. However, for particle starting with w, here's the clue:

Letter	Name	Roman equivalent
ㅘ	wa	wa
ㅟ	wi	wi
ㅝ	wé	wé
ㅙ	w	w
ㅞ	we	we
ㅢ	ui	ui
ㅚ	oi or oy	oy

Unlike the Korean Hangeul alpabet, this fixes the letter problem on Korean Hangeul when placed on bottom, yet this is the what-you-see-is-what-you-must-read version of it.

Arabian (اَرَب Arab) and Hebrew (אִבּרַנִ Ibrani)

Arabian and Hebrew are an abjad, means there're no letter functioning as vowel in it. But they use vowel sign on top or bottom of the letter. Arabic, known previously as Pegon was the first writing system to write the Malay language (Indonesian and Malaysian). Hebrew added as national writing system on 2012, along with Cyrillic, Greek, and Hangul.

The letters are:

Arabian	Hebrew	Name	Roman equivalent
ا	א	alf	not read in front (except if it has a vowel sign), glottal stop in middle and back (vowel on middle and back uses ayn letter)
ع	ע	ayn	unallowed in front, hard glottal stop in middle and back if without vowel sign, vowel sound if with vowel sign
ب	בּ	ba	B
چ	זּ	ca	C
د	ד	da	D
ف	פּ	fa	F
گ	ג	ga	G
ح	ה	ha	H
ج	גּ	ja	J
ڽ		ña	Ñ
ك	כך	ka	K (ך uppercase K, כ lowercase k)
ل	ל	la	L
م	מם	ma	M (ם uppercase M, מ lowercase m)
ن	נן	na	N (ן uppercase N, נ lowercsae n)
ڠ		nga	Ng
ڤ	פף	pa	P (ף uppercase P, פ lowercase p)
ق	ק	qa	Q
ر	ר	ra	R
س	ס	sa	S
ش	ש	ša	Š
ت	ת	ta	T
ؤ	ב	va	V
و	ו	wa	W
ث	צץ	þa	Þ (ץ uppercase Þ, צ lowercase þ)
خ	כּ	xa	X
ي	י	ya	Y
ز	ז	za	Z

Vowel sign:

Arabian	Hebrew	Name	Roman equivalent
َ	ַ	a	A
ِ	ִ	i	I
ي ِ	ֵ	é	É
ى َ	ֶ	e	E
ُ	ֻ	u	U
و َ	ָ	o	O

Like many Semitic abjad, these sets of letter written from right to left, but Hebrew usually written left to right because of its shape and letter ruleless. Arabian is written different from Hebrew. More info at Arabian and Hebrew