Difference between revisions of "Help:Manual of Style"

Revision as of 22:13, 20 April 2010

This is a rough guide about various stylistic issues that should be followed when adding/editing text in the Mie Guidebook.

Though minor infractions will be ignored, in general if these rules aren't followed please don't be too surprised if you find the Guidebook admin has come and "applied" these rules after-the-fact to your added/edited text.

General

As most of us get paid to teach English, it would be wise to show at least a decent amount of respect to the language's grammar and spelling rules.

Tone

In general, a light tone is best. Be clear in your writing and avoid heavy sarcasm which doesn't translate well written media, however this isn't Wikipedia and there's no need to write in a stuffy encyclopedic style.

Citations

Again, this isn't Wikipedia. Citations are not required. It is impossible to cite all the great information you've gleaned through conversations with Japanese people or other ex-pats living in your area. Original research - things you've figured out yourself and things you've heard from others - is encouraged here.

If there are claims which can be checked online, then by all means do so, however there will not be any citation police chasing anybody down.

Specifics

Many of these guidelines are inspired by those on Wikipedia.

Japanese text

Japanese text should be included for proper names wherever possible around the guidebook. Please include the English name first, with the Japanese in parentheses immediately following. If the actual pronunciation of the Japanese differs at all from the English name (meaning the English name is partly or wholly translated), then it is necessary to include the reading as well (rōmaji) in the same set of parantheses. When writing out the reading, mark sure to italicize the text and carefully follow the rules for romanization and diacritic symbols that are outlined below.

Romanization

Japanese should be romanized (put into the alphabet) in accordance with the Hepburn System (the standard system) and never based on the old "Kunrei-shiki" system.

Almost anybody who has learned Japanese has learned the Hepburn system, however the older Kunrei system still pops up from time to time either on signs, students' papers, and other places in Japan where the author has a poor grasp of rōma-ji (the alphabet) and/or is too used to shorter Kunrei-shiki computer input shortcuts.

While the two systems match up for much of the kana syllabary, there are a few key differences. The Hepburn system strives to romanize each kana syllable "as it sounds" in English whereas Kunrei romanizes only according to the syllabary grid and ignores any unique pronunciations. For kana like 「し」, the two differ - Hepburn romanizes it as "shi" and Kunrei romanizes it as "si".

While the Hepburn system does not accomplish its "like it sounds" mission perfectly, it is far more accurate than the Kunrei system. Also, Hepburn is a widely adopted and national standard found all over the country.

As you can see from this table, the Kunrei system does not accurately represent (in the alphabet) how these words are pronounced.

The only exception in which Kunrei can be used is when the signboard in front of a notable location or institution is written out in Kunrei-shiki rōmaji (example, Kazi, the okonomiyaki restaurant in front of Iseshi Station). In this case, write it out as the sign says however be sure to indicate in parentheses the hepburn romanization (aka, how it is pronounced).

Diacritic symbols

As per the Hepburn system, macrons (a line above the letter) should be used over Japanese vowels that are held for two syllables. While it is customary in English to ignore these long vowels it is important for the sake of distinction that they be included. For example, the word "ōdai" (大台) is a town in Mie Prefecture, but the word "odai" (お代) (without the diacritic mark) is shorthand for "daikin" (代金) meaning payment.

It is common among English speakers to leave out these distinctions when writing Japanese text but it is best to include them especially when writing out the reading of Japanese text because a guidebook user needs to know exactly how the Japanese is pronounced in case they need to ask somebody.

It is not uncommon to see the long vowels indicated by spelling them out, ie "yuuki (ゆうき) shrine" or "kou (こう) beach" - also with the long "o" you sometimes see it as "koh (こう) beach". These methods suffice, however the ideal method is to use the macron diacritic symbols because it is the "cleanest" way of writing the word (avoiding extra letters) and is also the official standard according to the Hepburn system. Although they are generally difficult to input into a computer, they are very easily accessed when editing this guidebook - there is a box of "special characters" at the bottom of the edit screen, underneath the "Save page" button. Simply clicking one of the letters in that box will automatically insert it into the text.

Leaving the reference of the long vowels out of words when they are casually mentioned is permissible, however it is required when giving the romanized pronunciation of Japanese text as well as in article titles.

Japanese municipality names

The English words 'City', 'Town', and 'Village' should never be applied as suffixes to municipal names unless the municipality meets one of the rules listed below. While in Japanese, it is common for shi (市), chō (町), and mura (村) to be added to the end of municipal names, this is a difference between the two languages. Applying these suffixes after names in English is unnatural and should be avoided.

Rules for natural English should be used in the Mie Guidebook:

• 'City', 'Town', and 'Village' are applied to municipalities for which that is an official part of the place name.

  Example: Carson City, Youngstown, Westlake Village (a city)

• 'City' is added when the name of the city is the same as the prefecture/state/province/etc.

  Example: New York City, Oklahoma City, Shizuoka City

  Note: Many Japanese prefectures must consider this point as it's common for the capital to be the same as the prefecture, however Mie is not one of them.

• When referring to the city/town/village government or as an official body, "City/Town/Village of ~~" is used.

  Example: City of Los Angeles, City of Ise, Town of Mihama

• When absolutely necessary to distinguish the type of municipality, it is preferable in this guidebook to use the Japanese suffix as they are, and not translate them.

  Example: What is now the town of Ōdai was produced by a merger of old Ōdai-cho and Miyagawa-mura

Japanese addresses

When listing the address of a notable location, please give the address in both Japanese and English whenever possible. Giving the address in Japanese makes it easier to search the internet for further information about the location.

Japanese addresses are written "big to small", and English addresses are written "small to big", so when translating a Japanese address please switch it to small-to-big order. It is best to include the city/town/village/prefecture suffixes not translated like "-shi", "-ken", etc. Also, there is no need to include the words "chōme" (丁目), "ōaza" (大字), and "koaza" (小字) - they are to be eliminated from both copies of the address as they are not necessary in the eyes of either Japan Post or Google maps. For "chōme", simply write the chōme as the first in a set of dashed numbers.

Examples:

• Yokkaichi JAF
  • 〒510-0064　三重県四日市市新正5-2-29
  • 5-2-29 Shinshō, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie-ken, 510-0064
• License Center
  • 〒514-0821　三重県津市垂水2566
  • 2566 Tarumi, Tsu-shi, Mie-ken, 514-0821

Capitalization

As many people have no doubt noticed, Japanese names and signs enjoy taking liberties with the rules of English capitalization. The rules of English capitalization should be followed for names. Ie, if an article were created for the band EXILE, though they may insist the capital letters are important, the title would be written "Exile". Only acronyms should be in all caps. Only the most notable exceptions to this rule, such as AEON, will be permitted.