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ArchivesRe: The name Shin'ichi has a bug
in reply to a message by Mike C
Mike is correct about the Japanese syllabification. I would only add that the syllable-final N in Japanese is not, strictly speaking, /n/, although that is how it is romanized. It's a difficult-to-describe sound that changes depending on the following sound.
Before /n, d, t, r, s, z/ it is /n/ (E.g. Kenta sounds the way an English-speaking would expect).
Before /m, b, p/ it is pronounced and often spelled /m/ (E.g. tonbo is pronounced and often written tombo).
Before /k, g/ it is like "ng" in "sing" (E.g. tanka; we have the same phenomenon in English but don't express it in writing).
Before vowels, /y/ and /w/, it could be described as a nasalization of the immediately preceding vowel. Difficult to describe, but if you listen to this audio of a Japanese man saying "Chiba Shin'ichi," (a name), you will hear it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlgFMp0p03Y .
So, to be accurate, in this last case, the apostrophe must be added. Shin'ichi is not Shinichi (shee-nee-chi), kon'ya (tonight) is not ko-nya, and so forth.
Before /n, d, t, r, s, z/ it is /n/ (E.g. Kenta sounds the way an English-speaking would expect).
Before /m, b, p/ it is pronounced and often spelled /m/ (E.g. tonbo is pronounced and often written tombo).
Before /k, g/ it is like "ng" in "sing" (E.g. tanka; we have the same phenomenon in English but don't express it in writing).
Before vowels, /y/ and /w/, it could be described as a nasalization of the immediately preceding vowel. Difficult to describe, but if you listen to this audio of a Japanese man saying "Chiba Shin'ichi," (a name), you will hear it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlgFMp0p03Y .
So, to be accurate, in this last case, the apostrophe must be added. Shin'ichi is not Shinichi (shee-nee-chi), kon'ya (tonight) is not ko-nya, and so forth.
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