Post by Lionheart on Aug 13, 2004 19:29:40 GMT -5
Japanese is quite phonetic and when spelled with the English alphabet, pronunciation is not a problem if you look at the word carefully and pronounce all the letters. Some vowels are held longer than others and you should be careful because the meanings of the words change. For example OBASAN means aunt and OBAASAN means grandmother. Also, mostJapanese words have equal emphasis stressed on each syllable. For example, HI-RO-SHI-MA is pronounced with equal emphasis on each of the four syllables; not HI-ro-SHI-ma.
The pronunciation of vowels is as follows:
A......"AH" AS IN FATHER
I......."EE" AS IN MACHINE
U......"OO" AS IN JUNE
E......"EH" AS IN SET
O......"OH" AS IN GO
Now try it with these Basic Japanese words:[/B][/color]
Japanese___________________English
Ohayoo gozaimasu___________Good Morning
Konnichiwa_________________Good Day
Konbanwa_________________ Good Evening
Oyasumi Nasai______________Good Night
Arigato____________________Thank you
Arigato Gozaimasu___________Thank you very much
Hajimemacrape______________ Nice to Meet you
Watashi wa ____ desu---------My name is ____
Namae wa nan desu ka?-------What is your name?
The pronunciation of vowels is as follows:
A......"AH" AS IN FATHER
I......."EE" AS IN MACHINE
U......"OO" AS IN JUNE
E......"EH" AS IN SET
O......"OH" AS IN GO
Now try it with these Basic Japanese words:[/B][/color]
Japanese___________________English
Ohayoo gozaimasu___________Good Morning
Konnichiwa_________________Good Day
Konbanwa_________________ Good Evening
Oyasumi Nasai______________Good Night
Arigato____________________Thank you
Arigato Gozaimasu___________Thank you very much
Hajimemacrape______________ Nice to Meet you
Watashi wa ____ desu---------My name is ____
Namae wa nan desu ka?-------What is your name?
