How do you pronounce kawaii?

Question

I know it means cute in japanese, but how do you pronounce it?

Answer 1

Hah! pronounce it wrong, and it means "scared"....be sure to stress the "ee"sound at the end to get "cute"

Answer 2

This is such a simple question, but there are so many strange/complicated answers!

I think this should be easier for you to understand:

Kawaii is pronounced: Kah-wah-ee

(Japanese vowels are pronounced the same as Spanish vowels , and you must pronounce each vowel, so make sure that both i's are pronounced!)

Answer 3

Romanizations (our Latin alphabet) of Japanese are phonetic, so every letter is sounded. There are only five vowels in Japanese:

"a" as in "father"
"i" as in "piece"
"u" as in "tune"
"e" is between "get" and "gate"
"o" as in "open" (except before an "n", then as in "gone")

Also, dipthongs (vowel combinations) change the sound. "A" followed by "i" takes on an English long "i" sound (similar to our pronunciation of "Taiwan"). (The "ei" combination is the same as in the English word "eight".)

Finally, double vowels are not pronounced separately; rather, the second lengthens the first instead of altering it (eg. "biru" for building, and "biiru" for beer).


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Answer 4

I thought it was KAH-Way

Answer 5

I imagine it's just like Hawaii, but with a k.

Answer 6

Kauai is the spelling and it doesn't mean cute. It is native Hawaiin not Japanese. There is some dispute as to the actual meaning, myself I believe it to be the name of one of Maui's children.

Pronounced Ka-why

Answer 7

ca (like cat) wa (as in ****) e (as you would pronounce the letter 'e')

Answer 8

ka (soft a } why

Answer 9

i think it's like Hawaii, but with a "K"