Donmai

When to use hyphens in romanization.

Posted under General

Of the following situations, which should be hyphenated, which should be spaced, and which should run together?

  • personal suffixes
  • group or circle names which end in 屋 (ya) or 堂 (dou):
  • o- and go- prefixes:
    • お弁当 -> obentou/o-bentou
    • ご主人様 -> goshujinsama/goshujin-sama/go-shujin-sama
  • onomatopoeia doublets:
    • どきどき -> dokidoki/doki-doki/doki doki
  • constructions which are tightly bound to a following particle:
    • 一緒に -> isshoni/issho-ni/issho ni
    • こんにちは -> konnichiwa/konnichi-wa/konnichi wa

The howto:romanize wiki doesn't currently address this.

The following is my take on this.

Hyphen
  • personal suffixes
  • group or circle names which end in 屋 (ya) or 堂 (dou)
Run together
  • o- and go- prefixes
Spaced
  • onomatopoeia doublets
  • constructions which are tightly bound to a following particle
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