How words and characters in Japanese sound when spoken aloud.
6
votes
2answers
317 views
Rules for emphasizing by lengthening sounds
Sometimes, sounds are lengthened for emphasis. For example, see "とっても versus とても".
What are the rules governing this process?
Are there restrictions on where lengthening can be inserted?
とっても or ...
5
votes
4answers
149 views
Kanji 行 with なみ, なめ, みち and アン pronunciations
I have only found 行 being pronounced as いく, ゆく and おこなう for kun'yomi and as コウ and ギョウ for on'yomi, but my dictionary software also lists down なみ, なめ, みち and アン as the other pronunciations of this ...
5
votes
2answers
180 views
Why is 「この人」 sometimes pronounced like 「このしと」? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why the “H” is pronounced Sh in some cases.
I notice native speakers frequently sound as if they are reading 「この人」 as 「このしと」. I am aware of instances where ...
5
votes
1answer
129 views
Is む sometimes pronounced more like ん?
I'm curious what the relationship is between む and ん. I have the feeling that sometimes, む is pronounced more like ん:
むむむ: is this really /mumumu/? Or does it become /mmm/?
うむむ: is this really ...
5
votes
1answer
102 views
クラウド上で - pronunciation?
I've seen 上で quite a few times recently, in contexts like:
In the cloud
クラウド上で
and：
On the computer
コンピュータ上
In this case, is it pronounced うえ, as in クラウドうえで, or じょう?
Silly ...
5
votes
1answer
159 views
How do Japanese pronounce microseconds (μ秒)?
From this sentence I read:
これらの手法はクリティカルセクションが（例えば100μ秒以内などの）一定時間以内に終わるよう精密にプログラミングすることを要求する。
How am I supposed to pronounce μ秒 ? Should I pronounce it as "mu byou"? or "micro byou"? I also ...
4
votes
4answers
455 views
How do you pronounce を after a subject?
For example :日本語を勉強します.
Do you pronounce ni hon go wo or ni hon go---
4
votes
2answers
252 views
How is アェ pronounced?
A video game I've been playing has the following word in it:
アェウクス
I'm not familiar with アェ. Does it represent a specific sound? If so, what sound?
If it makes sense to do so, please include ...
4
votes
3answers
185 views
Is 門 read as かど or もん?
Is it more common to read 門 as かど or もん?
e.g. how would we pronounce the 門 in 彼らは門が開くのを待っていた。
4
votes
1answer
217 views
Pronunciation of 家
In this sentence:
ゆうむら家の３人は、半年前にこの家を購入し、転居してきた。
この家を is pronounced as "kono yo" as opposed to "kono ie o".
And this phrase
あんたは一人でこの家から学校に通っている。
この家 is pronounced as "kono ye" as opposed ...
4
votes
2answers
191 views
Should I use On reading or Kun reading for numbers?
I've just started to learn Japanese, and I've been looking at the Joyo Kanji. Most of the words have On reading and Kun reading. I was wondering, which one is most popular and when should I use one ...
4
votes
1answer
159 views
Pronunciation of 日 in compound words
I learnt from my teacher that the days of the month from 1 to 10 use kun and irregular pronunciations:
一日: ついたち (irregular)
二日: ふつか (kun)
三日: みっか (kun)
...
十日: とおか (kun)
But for words like 一日目, 二日間 ...
4
votes
1answer
267 views
What are the pronunciation differences between speaking and singing Japanese? [closed]
I've noticed that some pronunciation is different in singing than in speaking. For example, I often hear を pronounced as /wo/ rather than /o/.
What other pronunciation differences are there?
4
votes
1answer
143 views
Pronunciation of ううん
The pitch contour of the interjection ううん has been described as high, low, middle. Alternatively, it has been described as a falling-rising tone. In either case, this appears to be unique in ...
4
votes
0answers
137 views
Which readings are used for 漢文？
If I am reading a Chinese text to a Japanese audience, how can I know which reading to use for each character? Of the 音読み, there can be 呉音, 漢音, and 唐音 to choose from.
Also for pronunciation, would ...
3
votes
4answers
613 views
Why do Japanese speakers have difficulty pronouncing “L”?
Why is it that native speakers of Japanese have a hard time pronouncing "l"? Whenever a western word contains "L" I see that they pronounce it "ru", "ra", "ro", "ri", or "re".
3
votes
4answers
366 views
How do we tell whether two hiragana should fit in one mora or two?
How do we tell whether 2 hiragana should fit in 1 "mora" or 2?
For example, why is it that 四季 and 士気 are pronounced as "Shiki" 1 mora, whereas 式 and 指揮 are pronounced as "Shi Ki" 2 morae? N.B. Links ...
3
votes
2answers
122 views
What is the difference between the wave dash 〜 and long vowel marker ー when marking long vowels?
I know that the wave dash 〜 can be used in place of the long vowel marker ー sometimes, but I'm not exactly sure what the differences are.
Is there any difference in pronunciation? I read once that ...
3
votes
2answers
136 views
Insertion of “y” sound between vowels
I was watching some anime today, and I heard "y" sounds in places I didn't expect.
Here's a sound clip (MP3) and my transcription:
私の世界へようこそ。
今やこの世界をコントロールできる唯一の人間だ。
There are two "y" ...
3
votes
1answer
60 views
1カ所: いっかしょ or いちかしょ?
What is the correct pronunciation for 1カ所 ?
It means: 1 place
Context:
ユーティリティ関数として定義されているわりには1カ所からしか呼ばれていない。
It is defined as a utility function, but only called in one place.
3
votes
1answer
153 views
pronounciation of じょ and よ
Spanish is my mother tongue and I almost can't differentiate じょ and よ sounds.
Maybe the same thing happens to english native speakers. How do you solve that problem in english... are there a common ...
3
votes
1answer
113 views
How is the name “河内” pronounced, コーチ or コウチ?
How is the name 河内 pronounced, is it コーチ like 講師 = コーシ, or コウチ, like 子牛 = コウシ? I have checked this word in the 三省堂明解アクセント辞典 but cannot find it.
3
votes
0answers
84 views
Why is “there” pronounced あそこ and not just あこ? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Irregularity of あ-series in demonstratives
Maybe this is a little hard to answer, but I'm curious why the typical これ/それ/あれ pattern doesn't apply to ここ/そこ/あそこ. Is anyone ...
3
votes
0answers
175 views
Is the pitch data correct in this pdf file intended for learners? [closed]
(If the question is inappropriate here, please direct me to an appropriate site or forum)
In an effort to simplify the acquisition of pitch in L2 learners (ie. myself), I created a pdf document that ...
2
votes
2answers
225 views
Can genki be pronounced as henki?
I've watched a few anime and keep coming across a word that sounds like "henki". In the subtitles, the sentences are like "Are you ok?", "How are you feeling?". With those translations, I'd expect the ...
2
votes
1answer
165 views
How is 3.11 pronounced?
When referring to the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear incident, is "3.11" pronounced "San gatsu ju ichi nichi", or is there a shortened version, like "nine one one" or "September eleven" for the ...
2
votes
1answer
126 views
Does all kana in the う line rhyme?
I've heard many people pronounce す, つ, く, and る as if く and る rhyme, す and つ rhyme, but not any other pair. It seems as if す is sometimes pronounced [sɨ] and く is pronounced [ku]. This doesn't seem to ...
1
vote
1answer
233 views
“Mari” or “wari” ? Is this a consonant sound that changes with inflection?
In my audio learning, I hear the beginning consonant sound of the same word spoken by two different speakers to be as a "w", as in "wari", or to be an "m", as in "mari". While it seems clear that the ...
1
vote
1answer
128 views
Why is 仕事 pronounced as こと [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why are some lyrics words written in kanji whose usual reading is not how it is sang?
So, we were reading Hunter X Hunter manga in Japanese (page 16 if you're ...
1
vote
2answers
153 views
What's the pronunciation of 1点差?
Intuitively, I would guess it's 「いってんさ」, but I could image 「いちてんさ」just as well.
For bonus points: is there any reference or dictionary that explains the pronunciation of numbers with counters ...
1
vote
2answers
95 views
一ヵ条: いちっかじょう? いちかじょう? いっかじょう?
This recent question brought to mind a question of my own.
The Japanese name for the Twenty-One Demands made by Japan in 1915 to the Republic of China is romanised on the wikipedia page as 対華二十一ヵ条要求 ...
1
vote
1answer
291 views
things that look like long vowels but aren't
Are there words written with "ei" or "ou" that are pronounced with both vowels instead of as a long vowel? I think this is true in cases like 拾う and している, but are there cases of it happening where ...
1
vote
1answer
71 views
Open /o/ and closed /e/ - what are these allophones?
Some speakers, mainly middle-aged and older males, sometimes pronounce ねえ as [ne:], i.e. with a more closed variant of the usual /e/-sound, let's call it [ɛ]. There are also speakers for the same ...
0
votes
2answers
208 views
How are し, ち, and じ pronounced differently than in English?
I know that sh, ch, and j are pronounced differently in Chinese than in English, but what about Japanese? I have read that し, ち, じ are pronounced slightly differently than they would be in English ...
