# 音訳
## Japanese

Kanji in this term :
| 音 | 訳 |
| おん Grade: 1 | やく Grade: 6 |
| on'yomi ||
* Alternative spelling
* 音譯 (kyūjitai)

### Etymology

Possibly coined by Japanese scientist Udagawa Yōan in 1837 in his book 舎密開宗 (Seimi Kaisō, “Introduction to Chemistry”), from Middle Chinese-derived elements as a compound of 音 (on, “sound”) +‎ 訳 (yaku, “translation”).
First cited to Udagawa's book, dated 1837.

### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) おんやく [òń'yákú] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [õ̞ɰ̃ja̠kɯ̟]

### Noun

音(おん)訳(やく) • (on'yaku)
* [from circa 1837] transcription, transcribing: spelling out foreign words in native script; historically, often using kanji for their phonetic values
    Synonyms: 音写 (onsha), 転写 (tensha), 音声表記 (onsei hyōki)
* [from circa 1837] a word spelled out this way
    Synonym: 借字 (shakuji, literally “borrowed character”)
* [from ???] text-to-speech, reading text aloud, speech synthesis: the act of turning text into sound
    Synonyms: 音声訳 (onseiyaku), 音声化 (onseika), 音声合成 (onsei gōsei)

### Verb

音(おん)訳(やく)する • (on'yaku suru) transitive suru (stem 音(おん)訳(やく)し (on'yaku shi), past 音(おん)訳(やく)した (on'yaku shita))
* [from circa 1837] to transcribe: to spell out foreign words in native script; historically, often using kanji for their phonetic values
    Synonyms: 音写 (onsha), 転写 (tensha), 音声表記 (onsei hyōki)
* [from ???] to read text aloud, to synthesize speech: to turn text into sound
    Synonyms: 音声訳 (onseiyaku), 音声化 (onseika), 音声合成 (onsei gōsei)

#### Usage notes

The Japanese term 音訳 (on'yaku) is often loosely translated as transliteration. Strictly speaking, transliteration is the act of replacing letters in one script with letters in another, whereas 音訳 (on'yaku, “transcription”) is the act of rendering the sounds of the source term in the characters of the target language. Examples:
* Transliteration:
       Greek Ελληνική Δημοκρατία (Ellinikí Dimokratía) → Ellēnikḗ Dēmokratía
       (possibly) English cocoa → Japanese ココア (kokoa)
       This is a letter-per-letter transformation based on written forms.
* Transcription:
       Ελληνική Δημοκρατία (Ellinikí Dimokratía) → [elinikí ðimokratía]
       Portuguese filhós → Japanese 飛竜頭 (hiryūzu, “deep-fried glutinous rice balls, or fried tofu balls with mixed vegetables”, as spelled, literally “flying dragon heads”)
       This is a sound-by-sound transformation based on spoken forms.

#### Conjugation

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms") :
| Mizenkei ("imperfective") | 音訳し | おんやくし | on'yaku shi |
| Ren’yōkei ("continuative") | 音訳し | おんやくし | on'yaku shi |
| Shūshikei ("terminal") | 音訳する | おんやくする | on'yaku suru |
| Rentaikei ("attributive") | 音訳する | おんやくする | on'yaku suru |
| Kateikei ("hypothetical") | 音訳すれ | おんやくすれ | on'yaku sure |
| Meireikei ("imperative") | 音訳せよ¹ 音訳しろ² | おんやくせよ¹ おんやくしろ² | on'yaku seyo¹ on'yaku shiro² |
| Key constructions ||||
| Passive | 音訳される | おんやくされる | on'yaku sareru |
| Causative | 音訳させる 音訳さす | おんやくさせる おんやくさす | on'yaku saseru on'yaku sasu |
| Potential | 音訳できる | おんやくできる | on'yaku dekiru |
| Volitional | 音訳しよう | おんやくしよう | on'yaku shiyō |
| Negative | 音訳しない | おんやくしない | on'yaku shinai |
| Negative continuative | 音訳せず | おんやくせず | on'yaku sezu |
| Formal | 音訳します | おんやくします | on'yaku shimasu |
| Perfective | 音訳した | おんやくした | on'yaku shita |
| Conjunctive | 音訳して | おんやくして | on'yaku shite |
| Hypothetical conditional | 音訳すれば | おんやくすれば | on'yaku sureba |
| ¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ||||

#### See also

* 翻字 (honji, “transliteration”)

### References

* ↑ 1837, Shizuo Fujiwara and Yūko Okamoto, 舎密開宗における現代化学用語 (Seimi Kaisō ni okeru Gendai Kagaku Yōgo)
* ↑ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* ↑ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

### Further reading

* Transliteration#Difference_from_transcription on Wikipedia