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Japanese Pronounciation Help
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gunblade007



Joined: 13 Jan 2005
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Location: hurrciane,wv
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 2:57 pm    Post subject: Japanese Pronounciation Help Reply with quote Back to top

hello everyone,
i'm Joe. i need some help saying a name. there is this girl who is japanese her name is yayoi. i ask her when i first met her what her name is and she said yayoi. but i can't remember the name and i don't know how you say it. can anyone help me out. you can also e-mail me at [email protected]. i would ask her but i only see her on sundays at chruch.thank you for your time.
-Joe:)
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rivenrock



Joined: 29 Nov 2004
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 6:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

Japanese Pronunciation Guide

Vowels
The pronunciation of short vowels is similar to that of Italian:

a as in f(a)ther (use this sound for the 'ya')
e as in g(e)t
i as in macaron(i) (use this sound for the 'i')
o as in p(o)lo (use this sound for the 'yo')
u as in p(u)t or b(ook)

Copied from this site.

RR
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Xavio



Joined: 05 Sep 2004
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 13, 2005 7:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

I'm not american, so I could do some mistakes :

Ya as in "Ya"hoo
Y as in "Y"ahoo

and then "o" and "i" as in macaroni.

For me, English pronunciation is harder than Japanese pronunciation -_-
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gunblade007



Joined: 13 Jan 2005
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 5:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

thank you rivenrock and Xavio,
so i say it like yeah-get-e right? is that how you say yayoi?
-Joe:)
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dochira



Joined: 13 Oct 2004
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 6:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

More like yeah-YO-ee.
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rivenrock



Joined: 29 Nov 2004
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 7:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

'ya' is defintely not pronouned 'yeah'

Do you pronounce 'yahoo' as 'yeah-hoo'? If so, you should stop doing that. Beat You

You remembered the girl's name. That's enough. Just walk up and say, 'hi, it's Yayoi, right?' If you screw up the pronunciation, she will correct you...no big deal. Repeat it a couple of times right then and there. If she's smart, she'll be pleased that you WANT to remember her name, and not too worried about if you got it right the first time.

RR
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dochira



Joined: 13 Oct 2004
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 8:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

rivenrock wrote:
'ya' is defintely not pronouned 'yeah'

Do you pronounce 'yahoo' as 'yeah-hoo'? If so, you should stop doing that. Beat You



You got me there. Beaten I was correcting his yo and didn't change the ya. I missed that one. Doh!
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KuroiKitsune



Joined: 23 Jan 2005
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Location: USA
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 23, 2005 2:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

Yayoi... what a pretty name.... I believe the best transliteration of it would be: Ya-yo-'E'

Ya- as in "yawn"
Yo- as in "yo! whats up?"
E- the way the letter is read

Hope that helps!
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tjddks



Joined: 27 Jan 2005
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Location: Taipei
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 7:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

�u�퐶�v����ˁB

���̐搶�Ɠ������O���E�E�E

you can hear the pronounciation here

I'm using Microsoft Speech Engine to generate this ^^

(^0^)
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ahochaude



Joined: 01 Oct 2003
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 9:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

KuroiKitsune wrote:
Yayoi... what a pretty name.... I believe the best transliteration of it would be: Ya-yo-'E'

Ya- as in "yawn"
Yo- as in "yo! whats up?"
E- the way the letter is read

Hope that helps!


It IS a nice name. And this chick I knew who had that name was hella NICE too! Bonk Bonk Lovey Eyes
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Juhis



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 12:04 am    Post subject: Yayoi Reply with quote Back to top

ya like ja, yo as yo, i like ii
I'm not sure though. Beat You Bang Head
Nice name I say.
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vega12



Joined: 05 Feb 2005
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 13, 2005 2:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

So this is the pronounciation thread...

I'm aware that in certain instances, vowels are not uttered in speech (e.g. �ł� pronounced de-s, ���� pronounced a-sh-ta, �� pronounced i-ch - dashes used to indicate separate syllables), but what are some guidelines about when to drop vowels? I think it has something to do with vowels being sandwiched between voiceless consonants, but I'm not sure. Also, I only know of this happening to the syllables ��, ��, ��, ��, and I believe a couple other u ones. Anyone have some insight into this matter for me? Thanks! w00t!
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kokuou



Joined: 04 Jun 2004
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 13, 2005 8:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

vega12 wrote:
So this is the pronounciation thread...

I'm aware that in certain instances, vowels are not uttered in speech (e.g. �ł� pronounced de-s, ���� pronounced a-sh-ta, �� pronounced i-ch - dashes used to indicate separate syllables), but what are some guidelines about when to drop vowels? I think it has something to do with vowels being sandwiched between voiceless consonants, but I'm not sure. Also, I only know of this happening to the syllables ��, ��, ��, ��, and I believe a couple other u ones. Anyone have some insight into this matter for me? Thanks! w00t!


Exactly.
They are not really dropped, though. They are called "voiceless vowels." It sounds strange, but this is the phenomenon that happens in Japanese _pronunciation_ (not pronounciation).

It only occurs with U and I, though. And just like you said, between voiceless consonants. It happens with all (as far as I know) �� and �� sounds.

Eg:
������
�Ђ�
�K���N�^

HTH,

������
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dochira



Joined: 13 Oct 2004
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 1:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

While I am not a linguist, it seems the �� and �� sounds are dropped if the consonant that precedes it, in some ways, makes the vowel sound implicitly. Thus to say the vowel would cause it to become elongated.

But it is difficult to explain. After you hear native speakers say the sounds, you'll just get a feel on when to drop (not emphasize) the vowels.
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kokuou



Joined: 04 Jun 2004
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 5:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

dochira wrote:
While I am not a linguist, it seems the �� and �� sounds are dropped if the consonant that precedes it, in some ways, makes the vowel sound implicitly. Thus to say the vowel would cause it to become elongated.

But it is difficult to explain. After you hear native speakers say the sounds, you'll just get a feel on when to drop (not emphasize) the vowels.


Hey Dochira! Smile

I'm not trying to sound all high and mighty when I say this and no offense is meant so I hope you don't get mad Sweat

I actually am a linguist (still in uni Beaten, but we've gone over this phenomenon), and it's actually called "devoicing." I am a fluent speaker of Japanese as well, so I can tell you that even though we have all these rules, it still depends on the actual person saying the words, because there are exceptions to every rule (ie. everybody pronounces things different). It also happens in word final position after voiceless consonants (if there is no word following).

However, as you probably already know, this rule can be broken when someone wants to emphasize things, or if the speaker is trying to speak clearly. Kind of the same thing happens with the following English sentence:

I have got to go.

Someone who is speaking (Canadian West Coast English) casually would say:

[ajv gah te gow] (<- for lack of proper IPA symbols = I've gotta go).

But someone who is annunciating and trying to be clear would pronounce each sound, making it sound odd compared to everyday speech, but easily understandable.

Now I'm not saying the above example and Japanese voiceless vowel rules are alike in any way, shape, or form. I'm just saying that even though there are rules that govern how we speak, these rules are simply that: rules. They are broken all the time and should only be used as a basis on which you form your language skills.

Final Verdict:

It would be great if you can get this down to memory so that you don't have to think about it when you speak, but don't worry too much if you can't. It will come naturally eventually.

HTH,

������
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dochira



Joined: 13 Oct 2004
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 5:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

kokuou wrote:


Hey Dochira! Smile

I'm not trying to sound all high and mighty when I say this and no offense is meant so I hope you don't get mad Sweat


Seriously, no offense is taken. I didn't know you were a linguist as well. I knew you are one of the resident Japanese experts. Big Grin

kokuou wrote:

I actually am a linguist (still in uni Beaten, but we've gone over this phenomenon), and it's actually called "devoicing."

...

Now I'm not saying the above example and Japanese voiceless vowel rules are alike in any way, shape, or form. I'm just saying that even though there are rules that govern how we speak, these rules are simply that: rules. They are broken all the time and should only be used as a basis on which you form your language skills.

Hmm, let me see if I understand this correctly. Even in Japanese the word desu (�ł�) is supposed to be pronounced "de-su", and not "des" However subconsciously (or consciously) the (���j sound is dropped since its absence does not detract from the original word.

Did I mangle that explanation? Beaten Sweat
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kokuou



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PostPosted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 11:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

dochira wrote:

Hmm, let me see if I understand this correctly. Even in Japanese the word desu (�ł�) is supposed to be pronounced "de-su", and not "des" However subconsciously (or consciously) the (���j sound is dropped since its absence does not detract from the original word.

Did I mangle that explanation? Beaten Sweat


Whew Sweat

Hehe... well, it's not because it doesn't detract from the word.
It's just a phenomenon that happens in Japanese.
There may be some psycholiguistic theory behind it, but I am not aware of it if there is.

I know that doesn't help, but it's the best I got Beaten

������
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vega12



Joined: 05 Feb 2005
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 10:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

Thanks for the insight into this! I just thought that there was a few select characters that had the vowels dropped and that there might be a few rules to determine when. For instance, would you drop the vowel(s) in ���� so that it is pronounced chich, chch, or something like that? Or, again, is it not easily quantifiable? I just suspected that it might be something like you can only drop the vowel when it wouldn't make the word ambiguous, or something like that... Crazy
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neoshi



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 10:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote Back to top

mm i duno how else to describe it other than when you begin to speak japanese more fluently and quickly, sounds just kind of vanish in a natural way. i wouldn't eliminate the 'i' from chichi though bc then it would sound like your imitating the cocking of a gun. if anything it would be more like chchi than chch or chich.
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arglborps



Joined: 15 Apr 2005
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 08, 2005 12:19 am    Post subject: I could be sarcastic Reply with quote Back to top

Well, as a German, I could be sarcastic and say just read it as you write it... ���[�}���ʂ�, but that won't help you.

Ya is surely not as in yawn, because in yawn the a is pronounced more towards an "o".

Ya = as in "yahoo", "young", "yard" (short)
yoi = as in "boy", "toy"
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