Life In 19x19 :: Pronunciation of Japanese terms

Native German speakers have an advantage here because the Japanese pronounciation pretty much matches how the word would be pronounced were it a German word.

English is really weird.

Thorough, Through, Bough, Tough, Cough, Thought.

[..] I wrote all the words in Japanese and put them into Google translate [..] "pronunciation" button [..] sharing this link to the Google Translate Page https://goo.gl/g4xKM0 [..] (in the same order, so you know which words are which) [..]

This is AWESOME, thank you!

Krama wrote:

English is really weird.

How do you pronouce the combination "ough"

Thorough, Through, Bough, Tough, Cough, Thought.

Well in my own language easily, since in slavic languages you just read as your write.
It's hard to explain it to native English speakers since English is little bit silly.

Krama wrote:

Well in my own language easily, since in slavic languages you just read as your write.
It's hard to explain it to native English speakers since English is little bit silly.

Well, the problem is that English first printed before it had stopped evolving. So word we fixed in their printed format before their pronunciation became fixed.

That is not true in all other languages, although French can be as much of a nightmare as English. This thread was originally about Japanese (sorry it got hijacked, I had no idea so many people would respond to my paranthetical posting) and it is a language which does no use an alphabet, so it is not really an issue, but even the written character set has been simplified over the years. Russian (a slavic language, you do not say which you speak) had many letters removed from its alphabet around 100 years ago.

Ah, but in Russian you need to know your voiced and voiceless consonants. Враг (transliterated vrag) and врак (transliterated vrak) are pronounced the same, for example. And then there's a word like мозг, transliterated mozg but pronounced mosk since the last two consonants become devoiced.

And let's not get started on vowel reduction. :mad:

I tried an experiment to help you with your question. I wrote all the words in Japanese and put them into Google translate. There is a "pronunciation" button on the bottom when you put something into Google Translate (little speaker icon). The pronunciation is surprisingly good! So, feel free to copy and past the words below into google translate and getting a good pronunciation.

I am also sharing this link to the Google Translate Page https://goo.gl/g4xKM0 that should give you all the words that you asked for (in the same order, so you know which words are which). You can simply delete the words you are not interested in or copy and paste into a new window for pronunciation practice. Just be sure you select Japanese language in case Google thinks you are typing Chinese. The pronunciation will be different in Chinese.

Edit: I thought I would add a couple of pointers too. On some words, you will extend the 'Oh' sound it is like a double 'ooh'. For example, Byo-yomi is actually written, byo-o-yo-mi in Japanese characters. You don't say Byo then oh. You just extend the Oh sound slightly. When you listen to the pronunciation on the google, you should be able to hear it. Other words you get that same issue are Jouseki and Moyou.

Copy of the words in the same order you listed them:
アタリ
手筋
詰碁
ダメ
ハネ
味
先手
後手
秒読み
セキ
定石
見合い
模様
ノビ
手抜き
碁

Author:	Joelnelsonb [ Sat Apr 09, 2016 9:36 am ]
Post subject:	Pronunciation of Japanese terms
I'm wondering how different people pronounce the Japanese jargon. I ask because I've always pronounced them the way I hear native Japanese speakers say them but in a lot of videos such as Nick Sibicky's and such, people say them more accodring to the way they look in English which can be quite different. This is a list of how I pronounce some of the more common terms. Atari: Uh-tari (This would be the only one that I pronounce the American way as the Japs appear to say "Otta-re") Tesuji: Tess-uh-gee (instead of teh-sue-gee) Tsumego: Sue-meh-go Dame: Dah-may Hane: Hon-aye (aye pronounced like a capital A) Aji: Ah-gee Sente: sent-aye Gote: Go-tay Byo-Yomi: Buy-oh-yo-me Seki: Seck-eee (Like capital E) Joseki: Joe-seck-eee Miai: Me-eye Moyo: Moy-oh Nobi: No-bee Tenuki: Ten-ooo-key and of course, the game of Go I pronounce the game of Gah (with a soft O)

Author:	dfan [ Sat Apr 09, 2016 10:15 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
Marcel Grünauer wrote: Native German speakers have an advantage here because the Japanese pronounciation pretty much matches how the word would be pronounced were it a German word. Except for "ei", such as in "keima" or "Go Seigen", which always messes me up.

Author:	Bill Spight [ Sat Apr 09, 2016 11:14 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
See http://senseis.xmp.net/?JapaneseGoPronunciations

Author:	Go_Japan [ Sat Apr 09, 2016 10:42 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
I tried an experiment to help you with your question. I wrote all the words in Japanese and put them into Google translate. There is a "pronunciation" button on the bottom when you put something into Google Translate (little speaker icon). The pronunciation is surprisingly good! So, feel free to copy and past the words below into google translate and getting a good pronunciation. I am also sharing this link to the Google Translate Page https://goo.gl/g4xKM0 that should give you all the words that you asked for (in the same order, so you know which words are which). You can simply delete the words you are not interested in or copy and paste into a new window for pronunciation practice. Just be sure you select Japanese language in case Google thinks you are typing Chinese. The pronunciation will be different in Chinese. Edit: I thought I would add a couple of pointers too. On some words, you will extend the 'Oh' sound it is like a double 'ooh'. For example, Byo-yomi is actually written, byo-o-yo-mi in Japanese characters. You don't say Byo then oh. You just extend the Oh sound slightly. When you listen to the pronunciation on the google, you should be able to hear it. Other words you get that same issue are Jouseki and Moyou. Copy of the words in the same order you listed them: アタリ手筋詰碁ダメハネ味先手後手秒読みセキ定石見合い模様ノビ手抜き碁

Author:	Joelnelsonb [ Sun Apr 10, 2016 6:58 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
Fascinating! Thank you very much! and Thank you for the link, Bill.

Life In 19x19 http://prod.lifein19x19.com/

Pronunciation of Japanese terms http://prod.lifein19x19.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=13056	Page 1 of 2

Author:	Krama [ Sun Apr 10, 2016 7:02 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
I don't get it, in my language you just pronounce it the way it is written and you get it in the first try. I just checked all those words in japanese (google translate can pronounce words) and it's exactly the same as I pronounce it. English is really weird.

Author:	DrStraw [ Sun Apr 10, 2016 8:11 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
Krama wrote: English is really weird. How do you pronouce the combination "ough" Thorough, Through, Bough, Tough, Cough, Thought.

Author:	John Fairbairn [ Sun Apr 10, 2016 9:47 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
Quote: Thorough, Through, Bough, Tough, Cough, Thought. Don't forget Though and Lough!

Author:	Fedya [ Sun Apr 10, 2016 10:05 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
Hiccough.

Author:	joellercoaster [ Sun Apr 10, 2016 12:56 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
Loughborough. "Luffbra"

Author:	Bill Spight [ Sun Apr 10, 2016 1:04 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
Doughnut (DUFF'NUT)

Author:	EdLee [ Sun Apr 10, 2016 2:55 pm ]
Post subject:
Ough

Author:	Bonobo [ Sun Apr 10, 2016 3:15 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
Go_Japan wrote: [..] I wrote all the words in Japanese and put them into Google translate [..] "pronunciation" button [..] sharing this link to the Google Translate Page https://goo.gl/g4xKM0 [..] (in the same order, so you know which words are which) [..] This is AWESOME, thank you! Three hints: If you put periods after each word, the voice will always pause shortly at this point, and the words seem to be spoken “isolated”, like in vocabulary training; without the periods it is way too fast (for me), and it sounds (again: for me) a little bit as if the voice is speaking a sentence. If you click the speaker icon, the voice begins talking. If you click it again, it stops. If you click on the speaker a third time, it will speak again, but this time more slowly If you click on the little star icon, you can add this to your Google Docs phrasebook.

Author:	Go_Japan [ Sun Apr 10, 2016 5:08 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
Bonobo wrote: This is AWESOME, thank you! Glad you like it. I actually got a good giggle out of the girl reading it really fast. I listened over and over again and made my Japanese wife listen too, though sadly, she didn't find it amusing.

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Author:	Krama [ Mon Apr 11, 2016 3:54 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
DrStraw wrote: Krama wrote: English is really weird. How do you pronouce the combination "ough" Thorough, Through, Bough, Tough, Cough, Thought. Do you mean in English or? Well in my own language easily, since in slavic languages you just read as your write. It's hard to explain it to native English speakers since English is little bit silly.

Author:	DrStraw [ Mon Apr 11, 2016 5:06 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
Krama wrote: Well in my own language easily, since in slavic languages you just read as your write. It's hard to explain it to native English speakers since English is little bit silly. Well, the problem is that English first printed before it had stopped evolving. So word we fixed in their printed format before their pronunciation became fixed. That is not true in all other languages, although French can be as much of a nightmare as English. This thread was originally about Japanese (sorry it got hijacked, I had no idea so many people would respond to my paranthetical posting) and it is a language which does no use an alphabet, so it is not really an issue, but even the written character set has been simplified over the years. Russian (a slavic language, you do not say which you speak) had many letters removed from its alphabet around 100 years ago.

Author:	Krama [ Mon Apr 11, 2016 8:21 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
DrStraw wrote: Krama wrote: Well in my own language easily, since in slavic languages you just read as your write. It's hard to explain it to native English speakers since English is little bit silly. Well, the problem is that English first printed before it had stopped evolving. So word we fixed in their printed format before their pronunciation became fixed. That is not true in all other languages, although French can be as much of a nightmare as English. This thread was originally about Japanese (sorry it got hijacked, I had no idea so many people would respond to my paranthetical posting) and it is a language which does no use an alphabet, so it is not really an issue, but even the written character set has been simplified over the years. Russian (a slavic language, you do not say which you speak) had many letters removed from its alphabet around 100 years ago. Hmm, this is strange because you actually do. It is not written in latin but in cryllic however direct translation from cryllic to latin and I am able to pronounce russian words exactly how they are spoken. (Tested with google translate and other sites that pronounce russian words)

Author:	Fedya [ Mon Apr 11, 2016 12:35 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
Ah, but in Russian you need to know your voiced and voiceless consonants. Враг (transliterated vrag) and врак (transliterated vrak) are pronounced the same, for example. And then there's a word like мозг, transliterated mozg but pronounced mosk since the last two consonants become devoiced. And let's not get started on vowel reduction.

Author:	DrStraw [ Mon Apr 11, 2016 12:58 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
Fedya wrote: Ah, but in Russian you need to know your voiced and voiceless consonants. Враг (transliterated vrag) and врак (transliterated vrak) are pronounced the same, for example. And then there's a word like мозг, transliterated mozg but pronounced mosk since the last two consonants become devoiced. And let's not get started on vowel reduction. Same in Japanese to some extent.

Author:	emdio [ Sat Aug 05, 2017 12:15 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Pronunciation of Japanese terms
Go_Japan wrote: I tried an experiment to help you with your question. I wrote all the words in Japanese and put them into Google translate. There is a "pronunciation" button on the bottom when you put something into Google Translate (little speaker icon). The pronunciation is surprisingly good! So, feel free to copy and past the words below into google translate and getting a good pronunciation. I am also sharing this link to the Google Translate Page https://goo.gl/g4xKM0 that should give you all the words that you asked for (in the same order, so you know which words are which). You can simply delete the words you are not interested in or copy and paste into a new window for pronunciation practice. Just be sure you select Japanese language in case Google thinks you are typing Chinese. The pronunciation will be different in Chinese. Edit: I thought I would add a couple of pointers too. On some words, you will extend the 'Oh' sound it is like a double 'ooh'. For example, Byo-yomi is actually written, byo-o-yo-mi in Japanese characters. You don't say Byo then oh. You just extend the Oh sound slightly. When you listen to the pronunciation on the google, you should be able to hear it. Other words you get that same issue are Jouseki and Moyou. Copy of the words in the same order you listed them: アタリ手筋詰碁ダメハネ味先手後手秒読みセキ定石見合い模様ノビ手抜き碁 This is really good. It can be improved by adding a period after each word.