Ah take pity my friends - how do I pronounce "j" ?

[Andromeda]

I don't really know how to say it properly in Japanese! Could someone be kind enough to help me? I know i'm being perhaps a little vague so could you... give me what "ju" sounds like in English or something along those lines? Please
Yours
xxx

[Spaztick]

http://www.thejapanesepage.com/readarti ... ticle_id=2

Click the い sound file, I think that might give you an idea. Bascially its like saying a long 'e' in english (as in when you're counting the alphabet).

[Gaijinian]

Ju sounds like Jew.
Ja= Jog (with more of an A sound)
Ji= G
Ju=Jew
Je=Never really happens, but J
Jo=Joe

[Andromeda]

Thankyou, thankyou I wasn't quite sure thankyou xxxxx

[Gakusha]

Gaijinian, don't confuse anyone with your Wisconsin accent. Jog is pronounced "jahg" there, but most places it's pronounced "jawg."

[Gaijinian]

Gakusha, fyi I don't have an accent!:o:(
Well, if I do, it's slight...B)

(Plus a put: JOG w/ an A-ish sound, right?)

[CviCvraeVtMoriar]

I think Gakusha thinks that you, Gaijinian, were referring to a short 'a'. I believe, Gakusha, that Gaijinian meant a long 'a' sound when he said, "Jog (with more of an a sound)".

Short a:

ack (as in "ack! This tastes like prunes!" )
apple
grapple
lasso
fat
asymptote


Long a:

Top
Mock
Frock
Sock
Dock
Jaw
Draw
Saw

[Daichi]

CviCvraeVtMoriar wrote:
I think Gakusha thinks that you, Gaijinian, were referring to a short 'a'. I believe, Gakusha, that Gaijinian meant a long 'a' sound when he said, "Jog (with more of an a sound)".

Trying to demonstrate Japanese sounds with English words can be very confusing for a lot of people, as English has many different pronunciations in different regions. I'm from the North of England, so 'jog' doesn't have any sort of 'A' sound, it is in fact a very short 'O' sound which wouldn't help the above query.

The only sure way to pronounce the Japanese correctly is to hear the Japanese and remember it, rather than linking it to an English word.

[Gakusha]

What I meant was that Gaijinian pronounced "jog" as "jahg." Living in Ohio, I hear this accent a lot and it sticks out because my accent is more like Pennsylvania's. The 'a' sound Gaijinian is using is 'ah.' Short 'a' is like apple, long 'a' is like ape. I really don't know what an 'ah' sound is described as, but that is the correct vowel in Japanese.

[CviCvraeVtMoriar]

What I meant was that Gaijinian pronounced "jog" as "jahg."

I knew what you had meant; and I knew what Gaijinian had meant. I don't think that you two knew what the other was trying to say.

English's long 'a' is as the 'a' in 'ape'; however, long 'a' is more universally thought of as 'aah' (as in sock). If you will notice, many of my examples didn't actually have any 'a's in them; this was because I was referring to the more encompassing classification of vowels that linguists use.

[kempokatt]

Gakusha wrote:
What I meant was that Gaijinian pronounced "jog" as "jahg." Living in Ohio, I hear this accent a lot and it sticks out because my accent is more like Pennsylvania's. The 'a' sound Gaijinian is using is 'ah.' Short 'a' is like apple, long 'a' is like ape. I really don't know what an 'ah' sound is described as, but that is the correct vowel in Japanese.

Wait, what?!

I'm from Pennsylvania and "jog" is "jahg"....not JAWG...at least where I'm from in PA...Jawg sounds more like a NY or NJ accent to me.

But I digress...

There are so many places that you can go on the internet to listen to actual native speakers pronounce sounds/words in Japanese that it's mind boggling.

If you can't find any of the hundreds (probably thousands) of places to listen to these sound files here are some American English words that have the same (or at least similar) sound as "JA" in Japanese...

Job - Johnny
(pun intended)

The "j" sounds the same....and you add an "ah" sound...not hard at all.

[netarou]

I tried recording my voice. blush

http://proxy.f2.ymdb.yahoofs.jp/users/5 ... DBpuWq9NPn

It says;
じゃ Ja　じ Ji　じゅ Ju　じぇ Je　じょ Jo
砂利道 Jari-michi
自動車 Jidou-sha
需要 Juyou
ジェネレーション Jenereeshon
冗談 Joudan

hope this helps a bit.