d47
Journeyman Douchebag
RPG of Choice: Metagaming Melee
Posts: 194
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Post by d47 on Jan 9, 2018 22:08:16 GMT -8
Regarding Japanese pronunciation, my advice is also to focus on the vowels.
Also, if you have a double consonant, end one syllable with the first and start the second with the next one. So "Kakka" would be kak-ka not ka-ka.
I find the r/l sound to vary a lot between people, but the short trilled Spanish r is closer than the English r for most.
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Post by Zaszamonde on Jan 11, 2018 9:03:05 GMT -8
I saw this thread and wanted to see if I could make a quick pronunciation guide that could fit on a 3x5 card. It doesn't cover everything and it isn't perfect, but it should help out with things like consonants, vowels, and double letters. Let me know what you think! drive.google.com/open?id=19k66ZwxQSBqSadi0v9AUIbIM3snrAcrG
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Post by chronovore on Jan 11, 2018 17:10:45 GMT -8
I saw this thread and wanted to see if I could make a quick pronunciation guide that could fit on a 3x5 card. It doesn't cover everything and it isn't perfect, but it should help out with things like consonants, vowels, and double letters. Let me know what you think! drive.google.com/open?id=19k66ZwxQSBqSadi0v9AUIbIM3snrAcrGThere are a couple inaccuracies: - Japanese "R" is between "L" and "D" and has no relation to a soft, US/UK English "R"
- "H" is not the same when a "U" follows it — this is the only case where "F" comes into play, and your advice there is good
- Lately "S" is sometimes Romanized without an "H" when followed by an "I" and should be pronounced as non-sibbilant (Shh…)
- I'm a bonehead, and I couldn't read "Owe" out of context — maybe change to "oh" for boneheads like me?
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Post by Zaszamonde on Jan 11, 2018 19:11:35 GMT -8
R is a real bastard of a letter in Japanese. You approach it like an English R, move to an L and brush by a D at the end. I've heard the letter compared between any two of those letters in the past.
I took the "O" translation from Wikipedia's page on pronunciation, but I agree on that one.
For the last two, H and S, Romanji is usually smart enough to swap the letters appropriately, same with T going to Chi or Tsu.
I'll update my document with your suggestions, thanks for taking the time to review it!
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Post by Stu Venable on Jan 11, 2018 22:10:51 GMT -8
Is it a “turned” R, as in Spanish? In Spanish, a singular R is turned and two Rs are rolled.
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Post by Zaszamonde on Jan 12, 2018 11:09:57 GMT -8
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Post by chronovore on Jan 12, 2018 19:13:08 GMT -8
Ooh, I'd never thought about your ladder/butter examples. FANTASTIC.
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d47
Journeyman Douchebag
RPG of Choice: Metagaming Melee
Posts: 194
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Post by d47 on Jan 14, 2018 13:23:52 GMT -8
Nicely done! I don't get the R explanation, but if it works for new learners great. Although double consonants are "held" for another beat, I think it is also helpful to understand them as having pronunciation in the adjacent syllables, ending the first and starting the second. Hence Nip-pon, not Nipp-on or Ni-ppon.
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Post by chronovore on Jan 24, 2018 21:10:03 GMT -8
I thought to add one more item on pronunciation: Nothing helped me more than learning the phonetic syllabary to the language. Recognizing these as specific sounds with equal length rhythmic beats is reinforced constantly when they're represented in kana. So start with hiragana and later move to katakana. Just being able to read them as intended goes a long way.
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d47
Journeyman Douchebag
RPG of Choice: Metagaming Melee
Posts: 194
|
Post by d47 on Feb 14, 2018 0:34:22 GMT -8
I noticed at one point someone made a point of specifying the gender of someone the characters were going to meet. I don't know about Rokuganese, but in Japanese gender is not usually specified (but most names are clearly gendered).
Not specifying who is the subject of a sentence is also pretty normal and can occasionally lead to serious misunderstanding. MOST of the time it is clear from context. If you want to mimic this in English, use the passive tense. "Oh great daimyo, we regret to inform you that mistakes were made…" "My loyal servants, the mistakes will be rectified or great suffering will occur…"
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Post by Zaszamonde on Feb 14, 2018 15:51:39 GMT -8
I noticed at one point someone made a point of specifying the gender of someone the characters were going to meet. I don't know about Rokuganese, but in Japanese gender is not usually specified (but most names are clearly gendered). Yes, Japanese doesn't use gendered words other than "that woman" or "than man" with specificity. That's pretty Proto-Indo-European (which includes nearly all of Europe).
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