21813


In chapter 199, Gon and Killua's names are written the Latin alphabet on the
blackboard.

![Chapter 199 page 19](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ntoQY.png)

In chapter 45, Killua and Zushi's names are also in the Latin alphabet.

![Chapter 45 page 06](https://i.stack.imgur.com/QJDoj.png)

Most of the writing uses the [Hunter x Hunter
alphabet](http://hunterxhunter.wikia.com/wiki/Hunter_%C3%97_Hunter_Alphabet),
so why are these names written in the Latin alphabet? Is it just another
language that is used in Hunter x Hunter world? If so, is there an anything
that indicates where the Latin alphabet comes from in the world of Hunter x
Hunter?


CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-23T14:12:22.247
21764
2018-03-03T09:35:38.900
2015-05-25T10:27:41.173
13489
13489
question
hunter-x-hunter
Why are some of the names written in the Latin alphabet in Hunter x Hunter?


Most writing in _HUNTER x HUNTER_ is in a
[syllabary](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllabary), rather than an alphabet,
that correlates exactly to the syllabary of the [Japanese written
language](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_writing_system) (hiragana and
katakana). A syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent the
_syllables_ which make up words; a symbol in a syllabary is called a
["syllabogram."](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllabograms) (In contrast, an
[alphabet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabet) is comprised of letters.)

Romaji is the
[application](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Japanese) of the
Latin script to write the Japanese language, not the Latin script itself. In
romaji, 「キルア」 would be written as _Kirua_. Romaji does not include the letter
"L."

Thus, these scans you provide show a language that is most likely **English**
, based on the inclusion of the English word "To." It appears that "Killua" is
the intended English spelling of 「キルア」.

The syllabary is the primary written language of the _HUNTER x HUNTER_ world
and is therefore used on official documents, etc. but it is **not the only
language that exists in that entire world**. Since
[キルキゾルデイック](https://anime.stackexchange.com/users/14634/%E3%82%AD%E3%83%AB%E3%82%AD%E3%82%BE%E3%83%AB%E3%83%87%E3%82%A4%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF)'s
useful answer was unfortunately deleted from this SE, I will also add here
キルキゾルデイック's answer that **Leorio's cell phone, the[Beatle
07](http://hunterxhunter.wikia.com/wiki/Beatle_07)**, boasts a translation
tool that can translate over 200 languages. If a person never or rarely comes
across other languages in the _HUNTER x HUNTER_ world, a translation app would
not be a useful feature that customers would fork out 200,000 Jenny for; that
this is valued as a feature of the phone implies that it can be very normal to
come across written languages other than the syllabary.

Although there is no stated reason for the inclusion of English specifically
in the _HUNTER x HUNTER_ world, the world includes linguistic elements that
are shared with or based on our real world, which make up at least a portion
of the 200+ languages that are stated to exist. Just as if you visit Japan and
see that most documents and signage are printed in the official language
(Japanese), that does not preclude any Japanese person from writing something
in English, or French, or Arabic, if they so desire at any given time; the
person writing does not need to provide a specific rationale for this to be
considered normal behavior. In the same way, the _HUNTER x HUNTER_ syllabary
is what we see most often in that world, but since it is not the only language
which exists in that world, **any character at any given time can opt to write
in another language that exists in that world** , according to his/her
personal preference.

For an example of the _HUNTER x HUNTER_ world unapologetically employing
English and other languages from our world,
[ヨークシンシティ](http://hunterxhunter.wikia.com/wiki/Yorknew_City) ( _Yooku Shin
Shiti_ = York New City)'s name is based on New York City, in a combination of
the Japanese katakana pronunciation of "York"
([ヨーク](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8B%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A8%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AF)),
the native Japanese word for "new" which is
[「新」](http://jisho.org/search/%E6%96%B0%20%23kanji)( _shin_ ), and the
Japanese katakana pronunciation of "city" (シティ).

As another example, the character ハンゾー (Hanzo) is from the 国家 ( _kokka_ =
nation) of
[ジャポン](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/HUNTER%C3%97HUNTER#.E4.B8.96.E7.95.8C.E8.A8.AD.E5.AE.9A)
(Japon), which is clearly based on Japan, since he is the only one who knows
how to make 寿司 (sushi) in the ハンター試験 (Hunter Exam) and he bears a
[ninja](http://hunterxhunter.wikia.com/wiki/Hanzo) motif.
["Japon"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Japan) is an
[exonym](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exonym_and_endonym) for the nation of
Japan. An exonym is the name of an ethnic group and where they live, which is
applied to them by outsiders (in contrast to endonyms, which are the names
used by the group itself, such as 「日本」[ _nihon_ ], 「日本（にっぽん）」[ _nippon_ ],
「大和」[ _yamato_ ], and「和」[ _wa_ ]). The English word
["Japonism"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japonism) comes from this exonym.

As a third example, Gon's primary attack is
[ジャジャン拳](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B4%E3%83%B3%EF%BC%9D%E3%83%95%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9#.E5.BF.B5.E8.83.BD.E5.8A.9B)
(Jajanken), which relies heavily on the Japanese words employed in the
Japanese version of the originally Chinese game
[じゃんけん](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock-paper-scissors) ( _Janken_ , known
as "Rock-Paper-Scissors" in English). The game starts with the phrase
「最初はグー」(" _saisho ha 'guu,'_ " meaning "first comes 'rock'"), which is
necessary for Gon to say aloud in order to power up. He uses the Japanese
words 「グー」( _guu_ , which correlates to 「石」 [ _ishi_ = rock]),「チー」( _chii_ ,
which correlates to 「鋏」[ _choki_ = scissors]), and「パー」( _paa_ , which
correlates to 「紙」 [ _kami_ = paper]) to vary his attack.

As a fourth example, Netero wears a baseball tee with the Japanese or Chinese
word 「心」 ( _kokoro_ ) on it. Some characters, including Netero, have names
with origins in languages from our world (his first name is アイザック [Isaac], the
katakana pronunciation of the English pronunciation of the Hebrew name
[יִצְחָק](http://www.behindthename.com/name/isaac) [Yitzchaq], which means "he
laughs").

Thus, this case is not out-of-place according to the worldbuilding that the
_mangaka_ , Togashi Yoshihirou, crafted. Rather, it **fits with his
precedent** of including spoken and written languages other than the syllabary
in the _HUNTER x HUNTER_ world.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-24T01:16:19.047
21776
2015-05-25T01:21:44.813
2017-04-13T12:54:49.117
-1
8134
21764
answer


There's more than only Hunter language in the world, and romaji (or directly
English) is one of them.

Do you remember Leorio mentioning that the phone Beetle can translate over 100
different languages? Hunter world most likely has the same languages of the
real world, and many more are not shown yet, so far the Hunter language is the
only invented one that we could see in both anime and manga, that's the reason
of why in the manga we could see Togashi using the romaji/English writing.

However, I guess that the image you provided was edited by a fansub, as the
original name of Zushi as for _Official Hunter Databook_ (done by Yoshihiro
Togashi) is written as Zooci (in Japanese ズシ, romaji "Zu-shi") and not Zushi.
In the 1999 version, you see how the name Zushi is written in the score screen
as Zooci. I don't think that Togashi would name Zushi as "Zushi" in some part
of the manga when he intentionally wrote his English name as "Zooci" in his
databook, it's pointless.

There are more cases where English was used instead of Hunter Language
although I don't remember all, but we can assume that Hunter World has two
major languages, and these are Hunter and English.


CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-05-25T01:14:01.460
21813
2018-03-03T09:35:38.900
2018-03-03T09:35:38.900
2516
14634
21764
answer