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transliterated [u] in Japanese, both Japanese and Icelandic subjects
tended to chose [s] in order to avoid the [tu] sequence. On the other
hand, when the sound was followed by [a] (Garðar) or [I] (Hafliði,
Gyrðir), the plosive version was preferred ([t], [d]). The reason
why [t] ([d]) should be preferred to [s] ([z]) before [a] and [I] is dif-
ficult to explain, and further study is needed. However, it may be
relevant that, when [z] is followed by [i], it becomes palatalized [ʑ]
in Japanese. [ʑi] may not sound as close to the original pronuncia-
tion [ði] as [zi] in names such as Hafliði, and Gyrðir.
3.8 Vowel insertion for the Icelandic clusters, ‘hr’ / ‘hl’.
The choice of the vowel after ‘h’.
6 tokens: Hlín, Hlynur, Hlíf, Hrönn, Hrannar, Hrafnhildur
5 choices : [ha], [çi], [Φu], [he], [ho] (/ha/, /hi/, /hu/, /he/, /ho/)
When inserting a vowel into a consonant cluster in the process of
transliteration, Japanese tends to use [o] rather than [u] after [t] and
[d], since [tu] and [du] are not originally Japanese sounds, e.g. cup
[ka p pu], but cut [ka t to]. However, the choice of vowels follow-
ing voiceless glottal fricative /h/ can be tricky. Japanese syllabaries
with /h/ are /ha/, /hi,/ /hu/, /he/, /ho/, phonetically, [ha], [çi], [Φu],
[he], [ho], which result in three allophones for the consonant /h/.
Even though /u/ is a common choice for vowel insertion, the pre-
ceding consonant will also change from [h] to [Φ]. Consequently,
it is uncertain whether subjects will consider the sound to be a clos-
er approximation of the original.
The type of consonant that follows /h/ may also affect the
choice of the vowel to be inserted. In /hl/, the tongue is already in
preparation for the subsequent /l/ as /h/ is being pronounced, and is
close to the position required for the vowel /i/, with the front part
of the tongue raised towards the palate. For that reason, /i/ might
be preferred to /u/ or /o/. On the other hand, when /h/ is accompa-
nied by /r/, it could be pronounced with a slight lip-rounding, mak-
ing it easier to pronounce /u/. It may therefore be predicted that
subjects will choose different vowels to insert in the consonant
clusters /hl/ and /hr/. This is one of the most problematic sounds to
transliterate into Japanese. Whichever vowel is inserted, the out-
come sounds quite different from the original pronunciation.
TranSLITEraTIng ICELanDIC naMES InTO JaPanESE …
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