Silent "U"

[MFoogle]

Ok, it seems to me that there are a lot of silent u's in Japanese. (please tell me if I am wrong) but isnt "desu" pronounced "dess" and "wakarimasu" pronounced "wakarimas"? how will i know when a u is silent or not?

[hamsterfreak4evr]

the "real" pronounciation of those words is with the u, but in spoken japanese, the u can be devoiced.

just like you might say "prolly" instead of "probably"

or "ya" instead of "yes.":)

[AJBryant]

By getting used to it.

At what point did you stop saying "want. to. go" and start saying "wanna go"?

That's really the only way. HEar it, see it, use it....


Tony

[MFoogle]

huh..interesting. i got a quick "learn japanese in 10 days" cd to listen to and they never pronounced the u.

[Shibakoen]

I seem to remember most cases of the devoiced 'u' are sentence final. As an example, I know that Shinjuku is often pronounced "Shinjuk." However, if you add desu, the 'u' comes back but then gets dropped off of des. "Shinjuku Des."

[hamsterfreak4evr]

MFoogle wrote:
huh..interesting. i got a quick "learn japanese in 10 days" cd to listen to and they never pronounced the u.

good luck learning that way.

[Harisenbon]

I know that Shinjuku is often pronounced "Shinjuk."

Really? I/My wife had never heard that. Is that a Tokyo thing?

[Shibakoen]

I guess so. I swear I heard it all the time.

[nikonikoniko]

The devoicing varies a bit throughout different regions. For instance, take the word 'sushi'. In some parts of Japan, I've heard it pronounced exactly as a foreigner would expect, but in others I've heard this:

"Sushi nanka dou?" (from there, click the audio link for a short sound clip)

[PandanoTake]

When you're talking you just say it faster so the "u" is lost. Therefore, the "dess" and "wakarimass" pronunciation is more common.

[two_heads_talking]

from my experience and it is indeed limited, i found that the desu and masu forms were fully said in formal or very polite situations and more occassions than not, it was females doing so..

des, mas etc was mainly utilized by males in these same situations.. (for the most part of my time in japan, I was in Tohoku roken, so it might be a situation used mainly by those in that area.. nothing like tohokuben to shake things up..

ndabecha..