oh-u, ohhh ???? context!?

Mcjon01 wrote:

Pretty sure there isn't one.  They're both a long 「お」 sound.

I'll just stick by that one, and blame you if there's any problem

There is a slight hook on the end of 'ou' where there is none on 'oo.' They do sound very similar, but I assure you that they are not the same. It's very similar to english in this way, but not quite as severe.

The beginning of おおかみ sounds different from the end of こくおう.

ohh-kommy vs. koe-koo-oh-uh, but that last bit on こくおう shouldn't be emphasized quite the same amount as the rest of the word. It's a subtle thing.

It's not really worth thinking about.

The long o sound is almost identical in words like 王子 (ouji , prince) and 狼 (ookami , wolf).

おお is used so seldomly that you can simply learn all words which use it and use おう in all other situations.

Last edited by Tobberoth (2008 September 06, 8:11 am)

Of course there is difference! And a big one! Of course is worth thinking about!

But it is simple to learn, just pay more attention.
It is not like pitch accent wich doesn't show up in the hiragana.

To make somewhat of a comparison, this question is like asking a native English speaker if there is a difference between the vowel sounds of words like "boar", "lore", and "your"?  Almost everybody would agree that these words rhyme, but you will get at least a few people who will claim that there is a subtle difference in the vowel pronunciations.  For example, some English speakers may actually prounounce a slight dip in the word "your" to enunciate the shift from "o" to "u".  This is usually done by the same people who got "A's" on spelling quizzes when growing up. The difference is very subtle but it can exist, in an arguably purely optional way.  Many people really don't distinguish the differences at all, but ironically, "your" is often said closer to "yer" in informal speech which probably has more to with laziness than any kind of spelling "interpretation". 

Therefore, even though I haven't used Japanese examples, I don't think there is an absolute answer to this question because everyone has different ideas on what is proper in pronunciation.

Last edited by Dragg (2008 September 07, 11:01 am)

mentat_kgs wrote:

Of course there is difference! And a big one! Of course is worth thinking about!

Nonsense.  As QuackingShoe pointed out.  The only time -oう is pronounced differently from  -oお is across morphemic boundaries.