80066
When translating [named entities](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Named_entity)
(for example, a person name), phonetical translation (known as
[transliteration](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transliteration)) is used to
make Katakana characters sound like its roman characters equivalent. This
allows Japanese speakers who cannot read roman characters, to pronounce
correctly named entities.

What is the best way to deal with acronyms? For example:

[O.J. Simpson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson):

Version 1 (leave acronym in roman characters): O.J. シンプソン

Version 2 (transliterate everything): オジェ・シンプソン
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-10T17:31:51.527
80065
2020-08-10T20:15:34.777
39957
question
translation katakana phonetics
Which character set are typically used to transliterate "roman abbreviations" in named entity?
You mention acronyms but give examples of abbreviations in names. My answer
assumes you mean abbreviations.

It's standard to use romaji for the initials in people's names
(abbreviations). For example,

  * OJ Simpson = [O・J・シンプソン](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/O%E3%83%BBJ%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B7%E3%83%B3%E3%83%97%E3%82%BD%E3%83%B3)
  * T.S Eliot = [T・S・エリオット](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%E3%83%BBS%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A8%E3%83%AA%E3%82%AA%E3%83%83%E3%83%88)
  * George W Bush = [ジョージ・W・ブッシュ](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A7%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8%E3%83%BBW%E3%83%BB%E3%83%96%E3%83%83%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A5)

As for acronyms, it seems to be a mixture. Well-known acronyms can be used in
phonetic forms, but very often they have a more official Japanese version
since Japanese people might not understand the meaning of the letters in many
English acronyms. Here are some well known English acronyms and their Japanese
counterparts:

  * CDC アメリカ疾病予防管理センター
  * NATO 北大西洋条約機構 or ネイトー
  * WHO 世界保健機関
  * UN 国際連合
  * NHK エヌエイチケイ or 日本放送協会

Of course, there are also acronym loanwords which retained the phonetic
rendering, such as UFO (ユーフォー), DVD (ディーブイディー), etc.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-10T17:47:42.693
80066
2020-08-10T20:15:34.777
2020-08-10T20:15:34.777
25875
25875
80065
answer