Why is watashi wa _ desu written like わたしは__です when the romaji for "wa" is わ but instead they use "ha" (は)? Is there a reason why romaji does that or are there 2 ways to say は?
は in 私は is read as wa (or wa is written as ha) because it is one of those old Japanese particles that has retained its old pronunciation since the Heian period (794 to 1185). Kamakura period (1185–1333) came and after hundreds of years of this old pronunciation, there was an attempt to "modernize" it but many were against with this move. And so the particle は retained its reading as wa.
Other particles with the same origin are: "へ" as "e" instead of "he", and "を" as "o" instead of "wo" (here, at least を also retained its old writing that's why it's easier to distinguish)...
㯠is pronounced "wa" when used in the particle form. It is basically a connector from the subject to the object, in this case the subject being me (watashi) and the object being my name. When you write, for example, warui (bad), you will use the ã symbol, but when wa is used as the connector, use ã¯.
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は in 私は is read as wa (or wa is written as ha) because it is one of those old Japanese particles that has retained its old pronunciation since the Heian period (794 to 1185). Kamakura period (1185–1333) came and after hundreds of years of this old pronunciation, there was an attempt to "modernize" it but many were against with this move. And so the particle は retained its reading as wa.
Other particles with the same origin are: "へ" as "e" instead of "he", and "を" as "o" instead of "wo" (here, at least を also retained its old writing that's why it's easier to distinguish)...
㯠is pronounced "wa" when used in the particle form. It is basically a connector from the subject to the object, in this case the subject being me (watashi) and the object being my name. When you write, for example, warui (bad), you will use the ã symbol, but when wa is used as the connector, use ã¯.