Chi or Chii?

[neko*chan]

Hey there! Can any CLAMP fans who have read the Chobits manga in Japanese answer a question that's always bugged me?

Is it Chi or Chii?

The English translation always writes it as Chi but most fans seem to use Chii. There's no real reason I want to know, I'm just curious!

[RoastedTwinkies]

I know Japanese and I can tell you that her name is "ちい" or in Romanji, "Chii". Technically, the official english translation "Chi" is wrong.

[Aya Reiko]

I know Japanese and I can tell you that her name is "ちい" or in Romanji, "Chii". Technically, the official english translation "Chi" is wrong.

Actually, you're wrong. The sole purpose of the added I is for pronunciation, not intended spelling.

[Mercurius Twin]

I know Japanese and I can tell you that her name is "ちい" or in Romanji, "Chii". Technically, the official english translation "Chi" is wrong.

Actually, you're wrong. The sole purpose of the added I is for pronunciation, not intended spelling.

Sorry to add more fuel to this little fire, but I have to say...

Japanese doesn't have "intended spellings" for the purpose of putting things in English. In theory, romanizations should not really exist at all. The Japanese usually couldn't care less about how things from their language are represented in another. If you've ever seen a T-shirt from Japan with an English slogan on it, you'll know what I mean.

Because of this, little nuances in romanizations are usually a matter of personal preference. (Like Sailormoon, for instance. Some people write it with the space, making it two words; some don't. The Japanese do this too.) Thus, both spellings should be acceptable.

[AnimeGuru0]

Aya - That was quite rude of you to just go flat out with "You're wrong". Do you speak Japanese? Unless you're fluent you really don't have a leg to stand on with such a blunt statement. Try and have a little more tact next time you disagree with a statement.

The first hiragana that RT posted means "Chi". The second one means "i". Thus, it'd be "Chii". If they intended it to be just "Chi", they wouldn't have put the extra "i" at the end. The vowel sound of the "i" is supposed to be held out, thus making it "Chii" and not "Chi", IMO. Kind of like how it's Arigatou and not Arigato. Or like Nichiyoubi and not Nichiyobi. If these extra elongated sounds weren't that important I would have gotten much better scores on some of my early Japanese tests.

Also, romanization isn't as flexible as everyone might suggest. Taking a few Japanese classes will teach you this quite clearly. Of course your Ls and Rs and Vs and Bs might be interchangeable, but usually there's only 1 intended spelling and pronunciation of that word, it just takes a bit of research sometimes to figure it out (Lemures instead of Remliss, anyone?). But at the same time, with katakana words you can either romanicize them literally (kurisutaru) or intended (crystal), but those are the only two romanizations I can see out of that word, or any other word for that matter. Ice cream is (isu kurimu) or (ice cream)...never (isi kereeme).

But this isn't a katakana word, it's a hiragana word. Thus, the literal romanization and the intended should be the same. Chii. Is Chi wrong? Yes. Does it really matter for all intents and purposes? Not really. Is it Ami or Amy? It's Ami. Does it really matter that it's Amy? Not really. Is it Rei or Raye? It's Rei. Does it really matter that it's Raye? Not really.

That's my two cents anyways.

[ParaKiss_Groupie]

However, the "i" is there to draw out the sound in Japanese. In English, we would pronounce "chi" with a drawn out sound because it's how we treat end vowels in the language. That's not the case in Japanese. Their sounds are very short while ours are not. Were we to say "Chii" it would sound awkwardly long.

So, in the end, it just depends on what you want. An accurate prononciation in English? Chi works just fine. An accurate romanization? Chii is what you're going for.

[AnimeGuru0]

So, in the end, it just depends on what you want. An accurate prononciation in English? Chi works just fine. An accurate romanization? Chii is what you're going for.

Indeed.

Also, while listening to my kill bill Vol. 1 soundtrack today, I came across the song "Ode to O-ren Ishii". Notice, two "I"s at the end. It's still pronounced "Ishi" to us, but they spell it Ishii. Had they spelt (spelled?) it Ishi, I really wouldn't have cared, but from a romanization standpoint Ishii might've been more correct with that name.

[Sailorasteroid]

There's no hard and fast rules to pronounciation that are always followed. Listening to Chobits I heard Hideki say a pretty staccato "chi" but Chii herself keeps the i-sound for at least a full beat. Generally, holding the vowels longer is something cute little girls do. Desu ("to be") is pronounced "dess" by most people and "des-u" by some and "des-oooo" by kawaii characters like Star from Magical Drop and Chisa from Comic Party.

So as far as writing goes, I'll stick with Chii for a direct romanization of the hiragana, but for pronounciation I'll say it as Chi.

[RoastedTwinkies]

Actually, you're wrong. The sole purpose of the added I is for pronunciation, not intended spelling.

I don't intend to cause any drama here, and I'm going to say this as nicely as I can. Aya, I really take offence to the way you conducted yourself here. I've been studying Japanese for 4 years now (three years in high school, one by myself). During my senior year in high school, I was at the top of my Japanese class, graduating with a final grade of 88% in Japanese. I had worked my ass off to achieve that grade, studying my Japanese notes every time the opportunity presented itself. I too, got the extra marks like Bob when I was very specific when it came to my spelling in both English and Japanese on my tests. To basically be told that I don't know what I'm talking about when I did in fact do my homework feels like a slap in the face.

I try not to take things people say to me seriously, but I can't help it sometimes. This isn't the first time I've seen you be this rude to someone. Please, please be considerate to other people's feelings when you disagree with someone.

Aya - That was quite rude of you to just go flat out with "You're wrong". Do you speak Japanese? Unless you're fluent you really don't have a leg to stand on with such a blunt statement. Try and have a little more tact next time you disagree with a statement.

The first hiragana that RT posted means "Chi". The second one means "i". Thus, it'd be "Chii". If they intended it to be just "Chi", they wouldn't have put the extra "i" at the end. The vowel sound of the "i" is supposed to be held out, thus making it "Chii" and not "Chi", IMO. Kind of like how it's Arigatou and not Arigato. Or like Nichiyoubi and not Nichiyobi. If these extra elongated sounds weren't that important I would have gotten much better scores on some of my early Japanese tests.

Also, romanization isn't as flexible as everyone might suggest. Taking a few Japanese classes will teach you this quite clearly. Of course your Ls and Rs and Vs and Bs might be interchangeable, but usually there's only 1 intended spelling and pronunciation of that word, it just takes a bit of research sometimes to figure it out (Lemures instead of Remliss, anyone?). But at the same time, with katakana words you can either romanicize them literally (kurisutaru) or intended (crystal), but those are the only two romanizations I can see out of that word, or any other word for that matter. Ice cream is (isu kurimu) or (ice cream)...never (isi kereeme).

But this isn't a katakana word, it's a hiragana word. Thus, the literal romanization and the intended should be the same. Chii. Is Chi wrong? Yes. Does it really matter for all intents and purposes? Not really. Is it Ami or Amy? It's Ami. Does it really matter that it's Amy? Not really. Is it Rei or Raye? It's Rei. Does it really matter that it's Raye? Not really.

That's my two cents anyways.

Thank you Bob, and everyone who replied. You explained where I was coming from better than I could explain.