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"London"

Japanese translation: ロンドン、倫敦

15:34 Jun 4, 2004
English to Japanese translations [Non-PRO]
Geography
English term or phrase: "London"
City of London
Capital of England
Bjorn Studt
Japanese translation:ロンドン、倫敦
Explanation:
Both are Japanese for "London".
As you see it is expressed in two different writing systems -- the former is katakana, the latter Kanji. The katakana is used far more often than the Kanji, but both are OK.
Selected response from:

humbird
Grading comment
2 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +2ロンドン、倫敦
humbird
5ロンドン(市）　イギリスの首都
Kurt Hammond
5ロンドン
Minoru Kuwahara


  

Answers


11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
ロンドン、倫敦


Explanation:
Both are Japanese for "London".
As you see it is expressed in two different writing systems -- the former is katakana, the latter Kanji. The katakana is used far more often than the Kanji, but both are OK.

humbird
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Yuriko Daikoku: No choice other than ロンドン. 倫敦 will not be used unless it is an old literature. I vote for Susan as she has pointed out the old Kanji signage but do not use it, unless you have a reason to use the Kanji signage.
19 hrs
agree  Rajiv Arora
30 days
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11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
ロンドン(市）　イギリスの首都


Explanation:
ロンドン(市）　イギリスの首都

If you are asking for both "London" and "capital of England", this is the answer.

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Note added at 2004-06-05 10:35:59 (GMT)
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or, combine the two, イギリスの首都ロンドン

Kurt Hammond
United States
Local time: 10:34
Native speaker of: English
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15 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
London
ロンドン


Explanation:
In Japanese, the name of London is pronounced very close to the original English, while everyone knows the general Japanese speakers are more or less struggling with the pronunciation of the "l" sound.

If you specifically would like to stress "City of London", you would add the translation of "City", which is 市 in Japanese, to the back of the translation of "London", which is ロンドン.


"Capital of London" may be close to "首都ロンドン", which is a combination of "capital" and "London". You would say that way in Japanese, with no problem.

If London should be put in kanji (which is very rare), 倫敦 would be used. (I picked it up from a website relating to Soseki Natsume. You may imagine the chronology.)
http://www3.airnet.ne.jp/admhiro/soseki-museum/j-menu.html

BTW I know there is another London in Ontario, Canada. Why's that?

HTH

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Note added at 16 mins (2004-06-04 15:51:24 GMT)
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Correction in the second paragraph above:
ロンドン → ロンドン市


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Note added at 1 day 12 hrs 7 mins (2004-06-06 03:42:17 GMT)
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FYI：In most cases, you would say just ロンドン in Japanese to refer to City of London, anyway. My other pick-ups are minor variations if considering the popularity, leaving 倫敦 almost as an archaic way of noting the name. An archaic way of writing is same as パリ as 巴里, サンフランシスコ as 桑港, ベルリン as 伯林, etc. My guess is that these systems are mostly used in public, historical or even literary documents or works in early ages just after Japan firstly contacted the western world including North America. (I don¥'t know when it first appeared, though.) I soon think of one possible exception to that, which is the movie title ¥"The Spirit Of St.Louis¥" featuring Charles Lindbergh¥'s first flight across the Atlantic ocean from Long Island to Paris, which is ¥"翼よ！あれが巴里の灯だ¥" starring James Stewart. There the name of Paris appears as 巴里, the writing of which must be widely recognized among Japanese movie fans.
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/wilder/blvd/spirit.htm


    Reference: http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/lane/abh98/
    Reference: http://www.dbj.go.jp/london/report/037.html
Minoru Kuwahara
Japan
Local time: 02:34
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Japanese
PRO pts in category: 7
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