phonetics

Subtitles for 一寸法師: おばあさま：かみさまの　おかげじゃ　よかったのう・・・ What I listen: かみさまの　おかげじゃに よかったのう・・・ Is it possible to say おかげじゃに instead of おかげじゃ?

おげくさまにご案内申し上げます。 Hi all. I believe the context for the above sentence is a department store public announcement. I'm not sure I've captured all the words correctly, but I think this is what is being spoken. I think the message is something like "Guidance for shoppers." I'm confused on おげくさま...

その前に　実験で使った容器、洗っちゃうね、道具の方をしめといてくれる。 What's the meaning of しめといてくれる ? I don't know which しめる is being used here...

Hello everyone, I would like ask if other mora except に, の, ら, り, る, れ turns into「ん」in spoken modern Japanese. Any information is much appreciated. :) 既にご存知かもしれませんが、 ナ行の「に」「の」、ラ行の「ら」「り」「る」「れ」は「ん」に変わる事があります。 先生になる　→　先生んなる なので　→　なんで わからない　→　わかんない たりない　→　たんない こんな時に現れるな　→　こんな時に現れんな どれだけ　→　どんだけ...

頑張ら「がんばら」Question about mizenkei, 未然形「みぜんけい」(Mod: the original title) My question is really simple. Is it possible to use the mizenkei (未然形) by itself? So, I was watching episode 8 of "The Rising of the Shield Hero". At around 20:48, the character Filo says this: 「フィロも頑張ら」（firo mo ganbara）...

Yo, friends. I know roughly the concept behind なんぞ (etc.), but, reading Naruto, I came across an annoying phrase. 俺と火影の名を取り合ったら、お前エ　負け犬になんぞ！！ I would understand "俺と火影の名を取り合ったら、お前エ　負け犬なんぞになる！！", but what's this に here? Thank you in advance.

I don’t speak Japanese but have been spending time there recently. I ordered gyoza recently and waiter kept asking me if I wanted something that sounded like “patchi” or “pachy”. I said sure and it came with lots of an herb on top that were quite good. Any idea what that could be? Of course...

Da after i-adjectives: hayai da; い-形容詞は後に「だ」を使っている：（早いだ）」 [mod: original thread title] Hello again, fellow Japanese learners and speakers. I have yet another difficult question. So, like my other questions, I understand the basics of Japanese grammar. However, this question has bothered me...

Even though it's rare, why do some people speak with a nasalized "が" and it sounds like "ng" + "a"?

「ファン」は日本人は実際にどう発音しますか？ 「はん」と同じですか？　それとも　「ｈわん」？　「ｆあん」？　「ｆわん」？

公開はアクセントがありますか？ 私はアクセントをチェックするために、ここによく行きますが、ない単語も多いので困ります。 もしこれよりいいものがあったら紹介していただけませんか？

君は忘れたのでしょう Lyrics quoted from the song named Uso, here is the video: [redacted by mod] からくれないにそまるとげつきょう Lyrics quoted from the song named 渡月橋 ～君想ふ～, here is the video: [redacted by mod] The last syllables しょう and きょう are pronounced as shou and kyou, the last alphabet u is the prolonged sound...

Hello everybody. Could anyone explain how 平壤 has become hē jō (its phonological history)? I understand 壤: ɲɨɐŋ > ziau > jau > jō but 平? bieŋ > pieŋ > hieĩ > hiei > hiē? (why has the "i" disappeared?) Mod note: The thread has been branched from here in order to focus on a phonetic phenomenon...

こにちは また私です. Please help me identify this word: きょうとして or ひょうとして? I have heard this word a few times but I am not sure what it's supposed to mean. I believe it's something like とにかく or something to start the sentence. I was looking for it but had no luck so the two versions above are probably...

Minasan konnichiwa! I'd like to ask you if the American pronunciation (the red one) in backcourt and backcountry is similar to the long /k/ one can find in gakkō. The American one seems to be similar (but not identical) to the Italian long /k/, like in pacco, [k̚ k] (while in the British one...

Hi. I noticed that these three sounds are very similar. However, I can't seem to make the Japanese r sound correctly. I know the difference between these three sounds. I can even hear the difference. However, I can't seem to replicate the Japanese r sound. Any tips? Thank you so much! ><

Hello everybody. Excuse me if this question can seem a little trivial. There was an anime that was quite popular in Italy during the last '80 and the beginning of '90, called "occhi di gatto", "cat's eyes". I found that the original title is "キャッツ アイ" that should be the transliteration of the...

I heard it is pronounced as "Soo-yu-ko-to-ka" I wonder about the pronunciation of いう as simply "yu". Shouldn't we pronounce the two hiragana separately as "i-u"? It is not a 拗音, why we pronounce いう like いゅ? Is it just because of a matter of speed? I mean if pronounced slowly, it should be...

Hi. Probably a stupid question, but I'm confused about the pronunciation of /w/ sound in Japanese. Until now, I thought the Japanese /w/ is like a light greek /γ/ sound (not sure about IPA, but it's similar to a light English /wh/ in "what") but lately I heard many natives to pronounce /w/...

Hi everyone! I'm trying to figure out the correct way of pronouncing the hiragana が when it comes in the middle of a word, for example, かぎ (key). The speakers of the course I'm doing read it [kaŋi]. Minna no Nihongo explains that the consonants of the が-row (が ぎ ぐ げ ご) at the beginning of a...

How to pronounce 繁栄 han'ei? Is there a glottal stop between the two syllables? Is it /haɴʔeː/, /haɴeː/, /haŋʔeː/ or /haŋeː/?

一段動詞の「～たい」形（寝たい、食べたい）はどう発音しますか？ いつも「い」で下がりますが、でも下がらない言葉もあると初めて知りましたが、変な感じがします。 例えば、「居たい」は「い」で下がらないと、「遺体」と同じ読み方がします。 皆さんはどう読みますか。

In "konbanwa", how the second "n" is pronounced? Is it pronounced as m, n or ng sound? Thanks.

There are quite a few words like this and I am just using 委員 as an example. 委員 is いいん in hiragana. What is its proper pronunciation? - いいん in one syllable with a long [i] sound - い and then いん with a very brief stop between the two い's (since there are two distinct kanji) Thanks!

I've heard before that えい　and おう are synonymous with えー　and おー. Is this true? Should せんせい　be pronounced like se, n, se, i or like se, n, seh? Also, are the answers to this question posted on Yahoo Answers correct? http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090822142118AAEAsok I'm under...

Hello everyone. While the use of trill [r] is associated with baddies (or at least anyone who tries to play tough guy) in the movies, I wonder how true this characterization actually is? So basically: -Is the sound really socially stigmatized? -Or perhaps it's regional after all, so are there...

Hey people i got a doubt about this music, i already saw a lot of singers who sing this music but i got a doubt when i saw the singers, the words kara and tobira for example one singer, sing those words with L and the other with R who is correct ??? thank you for the answers. Link of the...

Hi, I am learning Hiragana from the page. I don't understand why the word "loop" has anything to do with "ru" here. Could you explain? Thanks! /ru/ -- Look at my loop! る as in "loop." http://japanese.gatech.edu/WebCTVista/JAPN1001/contents/Lesson02/hiragana/mnemonic-hiragana.html

Hi all, What I want to ask today, is the way native Japanese people speak certain (common) phrases, like ありがとうございます、おはようございます、おつかれさまでした and so on. When I heard native speakers talk with each other, I noticed these phrases tended to be shortened, especially when they talked fast. Just a few...

Do Japanese actually pronounce the "v" sound? They do have a kana character (ヴ) dedicated to transcribing foreign "v" sounds, but do they actually pronounce them like the English phoneme /v/ (using the upper teeth and the lower lip)? Or is it like a "weak" /b/ in Spanish, which is actually /β/...

Konnichiva minasan :) I have a question to native Japanese speakers: is japanese "R"-sound really so different from the same sound in other languages? I mean, surely it sounds a LITTLE different, but does it influence its perception when a foreigner is talking? Maybe some of you know how to...

I have a lot of trouble pronouncing らりるれろ if ん [n] is pronounced beforehand. For instance, I can't pronounce the word べんり properly. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

Salut, I would like to translate the English word "sound" which refers to the individual sound segments found in human language like /b/ /j/ /s/, etc. I checked the dictionary but all I found is "phonème" which means phoneme in English but this is quite different from the "sound" I am...

Is there a simple explanation as to why "ふ" is pronounced both as "fu" and "hu" in japanese?

Hello, I'm reading this book that is telling me that Japanese doesn't use "stress" in words, but rather "pitch" to distinguish same-sounding words. For example, the word "shiro" can mean "white" or "castle", depending on pitch. Both syllables in "shiro" supposedly get equal stress (no "up" or...

皆様 I have problem with accent of Japanese. My book says that japanese have 高低アクセント。　But it seams really hard to handle it. I found it hard to find the exacly accent type of certain words and the accent may change. e.g. The word だ\れ, is high-low accent. But I heard someone say だ/れ in the...

When I listen to Japanese being spoken, sometimes I would hear the letter g pronounced has a hard g, sometimes pronounced sort of like the Engish "ng". I've read somewhere that this pronunciation of g as "ng" is fading. I just wonder if it's OK for me to always pronounce g has a hard g and...

Ciao, Sto guardando uno dei più rocamboleschi cartoni italiani che siano mai esistiti... Spaghetti Family!!! (Si chiama così) ... con il gatto più divertente!! Comunque, nel riassunto di una delle puntate c'è scritto questo... Spaghettong, pleziosissimi spaghetti olientali! Allora, un...

Hello, I was wondering why, when rendered into romaji, 天ぷら becomes tempura, and 新橋 becomes Shimbashi. "M" does not appear in the romaji translations of kana, so why does it appear on these examples? If anyone has any information or ideas, I would be most interested!

Hello folks. Please consider as an example these two nouns: - die Trompete - die Thrombose Is there any difference between the pronunciation of Tro and Thro? And is th pronounced in German the same way it is in English? Thanks, Gustavo

Credo che l'argomento non sia mai stato affrontato in una discussione apposita, anche se fare ricerca di titoli con una lettera è abbastanza difficile. In tutti i casi: la pronuncia standard dell'italiano richiede la pronuncia della S come sonora quando tra due vocali. Ad esempio: musica...

Ciao, Daniele. Io non sono affatto contrario a esporre le infinite possibilità di lettura della lingua italiana ai non madrelingua (ma mi ripeto: anche ai madrelingua può far piacere saperlo, si impara moltissimo in questi forum), quello che ti dicevo è che quando si utilizzano espressioni o...

Hi all. If I'm not wrong Japanese accent normally is on the last sillabe of the word. I'd like to know if you pronounce Karaté or Karàte. Thank you.