Hey everyone. I was just wondering, for the verb 言う, is 言 supposed to be pronounced い or ゆ? Thanks so much in advance.

That's up to you. It really doesn't matter all that much. It's usually pronounced ゆ though, at least by natives in the Tokyo area. Of course, it depends on in what situation.

While it's almost always pronounced ゆ in 言って, it's always い in 言い方.

Yea it depends, it's not like the English 'e' but also not entirely like 'yu', kinda a mix. I have a couple of Japanese friends that pronounce 言った as ゆった but with a tiny tiny ぃ sound in front: (ぃ)ゆった. But it can also just be いった.
In the sentence どう【言う】意味ですか？it's more clearer that it sounds like ゆう. So it depends on the usage, where the person is from etc. So it can be both.

Ah, thanks a lot Tobberoth and Musashi. I'm sorry if this is a really trivial question, but should I still furigana it as い even if I'm pronouncing it as ゆ? I ask because Genki and Tae Kim always furigana it as い.

ooglyboo Wrote:Ah, thanks a lot Tobberoth and Musashi. I'm sorry if this is a really trivial question, but should I still furigana it as い even if I'm pronouncing it as ゆ? I ask because Genki and Tae Kim always furigana it as い.

Yes. Pronouncing it ゆ is just a form of slang, it's not "official", which is why 言 doesn't have ゆ listed as a reading in kanji dictionaries. It is written ゆ in some manga though, shinchan for example.

Cool, thanks Tobberoth for clearing that up.

ooglyboo Wrote:Ah, thanks a lot Tobberoth and Musashi. I'm sorry if this is a really trivial question, but should I still furigana it as い even if I'm pronouncing it as ゆ? I ask because Genki and Tae Kim always furigana it as い.

Yea(agreeing with Tobberoth), and if you'd type ゆ, the 【言】 kanji wouldn't appear anyways.

Swhy custom dictionaries are a godsend?

ooglyboo Wrote:Hey everyone. I was just wondering, for the verb 言う, is 言 supposed to be pronounced い or ゆ? Thanks so much in advance.

It sounds an awful lot like ゆ if it is said quickly, but if you pay attention in standard Japanese it's usually いう.

In Kansai ben it's quite literally pronounced ゆ, especially in the -て　form. Kansai speakers almost never say いって　in a casual situation; instead it's ゆうて. This seems to be becoming a bit popular outside of Kansai, and as has been mentioned even some people in Tokyo say it.

In the Fukuoka area, it is almost always pronounced ゆ like 晴れはいい天気と言った。would be prounced ゆった。

However, when someone says "What are you saying?!?" 何言ってんだよ！ It's an い sound in my experience. Maybe because it would sound too close to 何やってんだよ！(what are you doing!?!) otherwise? I'm not evey sure if I got the spelling on those right because they're slang, but the first, to me sounds like なにいってんだよ the second なにやってんだよ！

Really informal, usually used among friends but you hear them ALL THE TIME in dramas and in real life.

I've practically never heard it pronounced as anything other than ゆ.
い　う sounds odd.

Hmmm in my experience 言う spoken sounds like いゆ mostly. Only sometimes do I hear it as ゆ. Perhaps my experience is different than everyone elses. For a reference, I spend most of my time around people from Tokyo and Kyushu.