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I am a beginner of Japanese. Currently I've been studying for 1 month already and I am still n5. I try to watch Japanese TV as much as possible even though I don't understand what most of them say just so I can distinguish which words I do understand. I've also been doing some advance reading on certain topics like "+tara" form out of curiosity since I've been hearing that word a lot.

From what I researched, when you use the tara form, you change the verb into plain past form, like aru becomes attara. I guess my question is, why do people in TV say iu tara (as in 言う). Shouldn't it be ittara or itte itara? This question has been bothering me quite a lot like an itch I need to scratch. Any feedback is much appreciated! Thank you very much.

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  • On a side note, I also noticed that many people in Tokyo (don't know about other dialects) read 言ったら as いうったら rather than いったら. I mean, despite making the pause corresponding to the small っ, the previous うsound is mildly audible as well.
    – jarmanso7
    Commented May 5, 2019 at 11:39
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    ^ 「いうったら」じゃなくて 「ゆったら」って言ってるんじゃないですかね・・
    – chocolate ♦
    Commented May 5, 2019 at 13:01

1 Answer 1

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「言う」+「たら」

In Standard Japanese, the only correct combined form is:

「言ったら」

In Kansai dialects, however,

「言うたら」

is also used on a daily basis. It is a regionally correct form.

Currently, many popular TV personalities in Japan are indeed from Kansai (including a number of most successful ones). Thus, it is only natural that you frequently hear 「言うたら」 on TV.

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  • Thank you so much!!! I've been trying to figure that one but I couldn't find any answers on google.
    – Jp Arcilla
    Commented May 5, 2019 at 11:14

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