1

The following pilot's name appears on page 12 of the book

── いつまでも、いつまでも お元気で ──

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-4794216205

安原 正文

24歳【さい】

大尉【だいい】

There are apparently many possible readings of the captain's name; as a matter of principle, how does a native speaker reader decide how to pronounce a name if it is not possible to ask the person's relatives or friends and if that historical person is not well-known?

There are nice answers to this question here

Is it always necessary to ask how someone's name is pronounced if you encounter it first in writing?

but I am not sure whether the same rules apply for a person who was born in 1921, as the captain was.

Ned Reif
  • 1,718
  • 5
  • 10
  • 「大尉」←「だいい」でなく「たいい」では？ – Chocolate Feb 24 '22 at 08:05
  • 1
    大尉 【たいい(P); だいい】 (n) {mil} (だいい used by Imperial Japanese Navy) – Ned Reif Feb 24 '22 at 08:21
  • 4
    @Chocolate だいいで時代背景的には読み方合ってます。参考: [NHK放送文化研究所:「大尉」「大佐」の読みは？](https://www.nhk.or.jp/bunken/research/kotoba/20160201_2.html) ただこのページにもある通り正式な読み方ではない事も一応... As for the question, I would read that as "Yasuhara/Yasubara Masahumi". – Skye-AT Feb 24 '22 at 09:06
  • 2
    Perhaps the same way a native alphabet user would decide how to pronounce Reif - an educated guess based on their experience? – dungarian Feb 24 '22 at 11:16
  • Names are always tricky. I was traveling up the Pacific coast of northern Japan by rail, and stopped off at a tiny picturesque fishing hamlet, named on signage as 小本. I asked a Japanese person on the street how to pronounce the name (speaking in Japanese), and he apologized, explaining that he wasn't local either and had no idea himself -- it might have been _Omoto_, or _Komoto_, or possibly _Kohon_ or even _Shōhon_ (although less likely, since all-_on'yomi_ names aren't used as often for small towns in that area). As @dungarian mentions, pronunciations can be a puzzle in English too. – Eiríkr Útlendi Feb 24 '22 at 23:38

1 Answers1

1

You can try to find other sources that describe the person and hopefully include furigana, but that's about it. I think it's more common to encounter a name written with furigana in Japanese language documents than the IPA (international phonetic alphabet) transcription of a name written in English-language documents. Usually the best bet is trying to find something archived/published by the person's alma mater, like 卒業文集.

Yusuke Matsubara
  • 3,329
  • 8
  • 10