Romanizing doubled-up kango


I am reading some old prewar books that smush two kango together to create a
complex noun, for example 伝説伝統 for "legends and traditions".

An academic citation, by an author who I am finding a bit dubious, gives
Romanizations for such doubled-up kango with a _ya_ in the middle, for
example, _densetsu ya dentō_.

Is this a legitimate way to transcribe the literary reading of doubled-up
kango, or is _densetsu dentō_ the correct pronunciation?

edit in reply to naruto: The exact document in question is a Meiji period
current events magazine from 1899, but I'm wondering about this general
pattern of writing which I've seen over the period 1890-1945




I'm a naitive Japanese speaker. Just let you know my answer is based on my
experience, not based on linguistic evidences.

> Romanizations for such doubled-up kango with a ya in the middle, for
> example, densetsu ya dentō.

From my perspective, this statement is questionable. It is true that you can
itemize with "ya"(や) (both in written and spoken Japanese), but in such cases
we would always spell it out explicitly, that is 伝説や伝統.

However, the "doubled-up kango" itself is not wrong. Sometimes (but not often)
we itemize things without using "と" or "や" and its pronunciation is simply,
"densetsu dentō." In normal sentences, spelling with ”、” or "・" between (i.e.
伝説・伝統) would be preferable for readability. (Also, it might be my personal
articulation style, but I put a short pause between densetsu and dentō.)

I hope this helps.




I'm a naitive Japanese speaker. Just let you know my answer is based on my
experience, not based on linguistic evidences.

> Romanizations for such doubled-up kango with a ya in the middle, for
> example, densetsu ya dentō.

From my perspective, this statement is questionable. It is true that you can
itemize with "ya"(や) (both in written and spoken Japanese), but in such cases
we would always spell it out explicitly, that is 伝説や伝統.

However, the "doubled-up kango" itself is not wrong. Sometimes (but not often)
we itemize things without using "と" or "や" and its pronunciation is simply,
"densetsu dentō." In normal sentences, spelling with ”、” or "・" between (i.e.
伝説・伝統) would be preferable for readability. (Also, it might be my personal
articulation style, but I put a short pause between densetsu and dentō.)

I hope this helps.

