> In article >, MB >
> wrote:
>
>> Konbu (kelp)-Japanese official Romanised
>> transcription, spelling/kombu
>
> I'll swear- It literally depends on which brand you buy as to how it's
> spelled! I've seen pkgs side-by-side in stores with one pkg spelled
> with an 'm' and one with an 'n'.
> Do you soppose one tastes better than the other?
>
> monroe(not nomroe)

When something new is introduced in a country where no translation
available, the original name of the item would be simply used as loan-word.
But when the original name is not in the same script system, it would be
simply transcribed to the language of the country where it is introduced,
from Japanese word "$B$3$s$V(B" to "Konbu" according to the official Japanese
Romanised letter system.
But in the course of the years, the article could be transcribed differently
according to the way people pronounce the word. In this case in the U.S.
"Kombu" is used.
The speech sounds of the word are presented by phonetic symbols, in this
case in Alphabet.
"Kombu" has become a proper noun, not a transcript any more.
Maybe the car brand "Mazda" is the good example. It is actually "Matsuda",
surname of a person who found the company.$B!!(B

MB