Konnichiha?

[JDubG]

I am using software I purchased, and in romanji, I input 'hello', and it is read as Konnichiha. It says: Konnichiha. (Hello, daytime greeting.) Is that even a word? Or is it an error? Thanks in advance.

 

[PaulTB]

I am using software I purchased, and in romanji,

There is no romanji.

I input 'hello',

Although 'hello' may technically be in romaji I think 99.9% of the native English speakers on this board would just call it English.

and it is read as Konnichiha. It says: Konnichiha. (Hello, daytime greeting.) Is that even a word? Or is it an error? Thanks in advance.

It's a Japanese word approximately meaning 'hello' it's a daytime greeting and it's written in romaji.

I can only assume you're confused by the 'ha'. So I'll just point out that there are two major romaji styles and umpteen variations. In half of them 'ha' is used to write the particle that sounds like 'wa' but is written like 'ha'.

 

[JDubG]

I was just curious, because I always thought it was 'wa.'

 

[okaeri_man]

it is wa. but it is ha on the computer.

 

[Scrivener]

This is the "topic marker" written with the character は (usually pronounced "ha"). In this one case, when it is representing the topic marker, it is pronounced "wa". In proper romaji you spell it "ha" even though it is pronounced "wa". But sometimes people write "wa" even so.

It's the same as "watashi ha amerika-jin desu".

今日: today (kon-nichi)
は: topic marker (wa)

It's short for "have a nice day today" or something I guess.

 

[John Lemon]

In proper romaji you spell it "ha" even though it is pronounced "wa". But sometimes people write "wa" even so.

Hmm. I was taught that according to the Hebon-shiki method は is always romanized as "wa" in the cases where it is pronounced "wa", and Hepburn's romanization method is one of the major romanization methods that are considered "proper", isn't it?

The only other Romanization method I know is the kunrei-shiki method that is "recommended by the Japanese government". Here, は is always written ha.
What other methods are there, and what's the method you consider "proper" called?

 

[Cryptnotic]

Hmm. I was taught that according to the Hebon-shiki method は is always romanized as "wa" in the cases where it is pronounced "wa", and Hepburn's romanization method is one of the major romanization methods that are considered "proper", isn't it?

So his software sucks. I'm not surprised. When you input Japanese into a computer, you always enter "ha" for は whether it is read "wa" or "ha" in that context. Computers are not good at getting human languages right all the time and it is annoying if they get it wrong. It is better for the computer not to need to guess whether "wa" means わ or は.

My advice for JDubG: If you're serious about learning Japanese, learn the hiragana and katakana. It'll take you about two weeks and you'll be way ahead of everyone when you start Japanese 1. You'll also be able to read manga for kids (with hiragana over all the kanji), though you won't know what the words mean.