how come it's not karao-k? why people pronounce karao-ki?
2007-01-12 16:05:36 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
how come it's not tsu-nami? Why su-nami?
2007-01-12 16:11:35 · update #1
People often (if not always) pronounce words of a foreign origin incorrectly if they do not know the language it comes from and how the actual natives pronounce the words. They say it as they see it, how the majority of people around them say it, and how their own language would designate its pronounciation had it been a word from their own language. (Just look at the Japanese's gairaigo!)
Because in English, the majority of people read "ke" as "key", it's said as "karaokee".
For tsunami, there is not really a "tsu" and "su" in English like there is in Japanese. Therefore, people say it as they hear it because the English-speaking ear was never trained to pick up the subtle difference between the two.
2007-01-12 16:25:13 · answer #1 · answered by Belie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tsunami Pronounce
2017-01-14 15:04:47 · answer #2 · answered by huett 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Japanese has only five vowel sounds as compared to 40 in English. What sound like others are dipthongs, eg. "hai" (yes) is "ha" plus "i" spoken quickly.
"a" as in "father"
"i" as in "piece"
"u" as in "vacuum"
"e" is halfway between "get" and "gate"
"o" as in toe
And don't criticize the order of vowels. That's the Japanese order.
The "tsu" in "tsunami" is pronounced like "Mitsubishi", but without the syllable "mi" preceding it. Any who have played a wind instrument find pronouncing "tsu" is quite simple.
You are asking why karaoke isn't spoken phonetically in English. How would you react if someone asked "why isn't light pronounced 'lig-hut'?" At least Japanese is phonetic and easy to write with the Latin alphabet, which is more than can be said of English.
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2007-01-12 19:17:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
karaoke- carry-oh-kee.
tsunami- t (faint t only) su (not chu) nami.
thats just the way they are pronounced. there's no explanation for that.
2007-01-13 01:49:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
the right way to say "karaoke" is "ka-ra-o-k" & "tsunami" is "su-na-mi". that's the thing with foreign languages being adapted to english. some words are pronounced so differently from the way they've been written. eg would be "knob"... you say "nob"... "honour" is pronouced as "o-ner"... "dough" is pronouced as "doh", etc. hey! wait till you do french! it's more complicated!
2007-01-13 04:32:25 · answer #5 · answered by mama leila 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
karaoke must be pronounced as "car a ok"!
"tsu" in tsunami must be pronounced as "ts" as in cats!
2007-01-12 18:11:07 · answer #6 · answered by Black Dog 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
care-ee-oh-key
su-nah-mee
its not kareoak or T-sunami because the words come from Japanese. This is transcription of the language using english letters. like other words whose origins are not english, they don't necessarily follow phonics rules.
2007-01-12 20:05:01 · answer #7 · answered by Jamanian Devil 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are both Japanese words. Translation. Pronunciation is as follows: kari-oke...tsu-nah-me.
2007-01-12 16:12:12 · answer #8 · answered by WB2003 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
in my country we pronounce them as 'car-ra-okay' and 'tsue -num-me' respectively. after reading the other answers, makes me wonder which is the real correct way.
2007-01-12 17:13:52 · answer #9 · answered by Melody 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
care ee o key
soo nom ee
lol. I feel like a lunatic.
2007-01-12 16:08:42 · answer #10 · answered by Krista 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋