Which word is the hardest to pronounce

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Reply #26 - 2010 May 18, 7:16 pm
gyuujuice Member
From: USA Registered: 2008-09-24 Posts: 828

Off topic: I see. I find Mandarin much easier. I just hate how Japanese 漢字 have 30 readings each.

On topic: It's hard to pronounce some 外来語 after saying it the English so long.

Reply #27 - 2010 May 18, 7:37 pm
ta12121 Member
From: Canada Registered: 2009-06-02 Posts: 3190

gyuujuice wrote:

Off topic: I see. I find Mandarin much easier. I just hate how Japanese 漢字 have 30 readings each.

On topic: It's hard to pronounce some 外来語 after saying it the English so long.

haha yea that part of japanese is annoying. One kanji can have soo many readings while some can have only 1 while others just a few.

Reply #28 - 2010 May 18, 7:40 pm
gyuujuice Member
From: USA Registered: 2008-09-24 Posts: 828

I'm looking at you two: 上 and 生! *glares intently*

Last edited by gyuujuice (2010 May 18, 7:41 pm)

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Reply #29 - 2010 May 18, 7:42 pm
lagwagon555 Member
Registered: 2009-04-17 Posts: 164

靴下　often catches me off guard for some reason.

Reply #30 - 2010 May 18, 7:48 pm
gyuujuice Member
From: USA Registered: 2008-09-24 Posts: 828

Well my socks are INSIDE my shoes!
Should be fricking 靴中...

Also, why am I complaining so trivial? English has around 15 being verbs. (Not sure of actual amount.)

Reply #31 - 2010 May 18, 9:10 pm
kazelee Rater Mode
From: ohlrite Registered: 2008-06-18 Posts: 2132 Website

gyuujuice wrote:

Well my socks are INSIDE my shoes!
Should be fricking 靴中...

Also, why am I complaining so trivial? English has around 15 being verbs. (Not sure of actual amount.)

"Satin" and all his little devil free ends with their little "devel" horns got twogether and decided to cree eight the most massive, insane, asinine conglomeration of a language to ever exist. The frutsu of their "leibour" was English.

Reply #32 - 2010 May 18, 9:22 pm
philiphoward123 Member
From: london Registered: 2009-05-06 Posts: 34

For me, so far: 交響曲[こうきょうきょく]. Haha.

Reply #33 - 2010 May 18, 9:28 pm
ta12121 Member
From: Canada Registered: 2009-06-02 Posts: 3190

躑躅-つつじ
(n) azalea; Rhododendron spp.
I found this while following news transcripts

Reply #34 - 2010 May 18, 9:37 pm
slivir Member
From: Japan Registered: 2009-01-26 Posts: 84

Any word with ra,ri,ru,re,ro in it.
:S

Reply #35 - 2010 May 18, 10:46 pm
gyuujuice Member
From: USA Registered: 2008-09-24 Posts: 828

kazelee, Satin isn't evil enough to have created English. English was the result of a people who tried to take everything from all the languages and cram it into their langauge. And then those people started seaking a slang version of that.

I really  have a hard time spelling. That's why I prefer 漢字 over カタカナ. =_=


philiphoward123, Don't even go there! lol

Reply #36 - 2010 May 21, 10:30 am
kusterdu Member
From: USA Registered: 2007-11-12 Posts: 88

Just like some of the others on this thread, I have trouble with 'r/n' combinations.  Not only '連絡', but '訓練', and the the dreaded '観覧車'.  Luckily, I don't have to say that last one very often.

Reply #37 - 2010 May 24, 4:30 pm
domokun1134 Member
From: Staten Island NY Registered: 2009-11-10 Posts: 70

りょうり. I sound like a バカ　every time I try to say it.

Reply #38 - 2010 May 25, 2:03 am
Fishface Member
From: London Registered: 2009-06-10 Posts: 32

竜 (りゅう)
Two sounds not found in English combined and to make it extra fun a long vowel too. Arghh!

Reply #39 - 2010 May 25, 3:29 am
kazelee Rater Mode
From: ohlrite Registered: 2008-06-18 Posts: 2132 Website

連絡

Reply #40 - 2010 May 25, 3:42 am
nest0r Member
Registered: 2007-10-19 Posts: 5236 Website

kazelee wrote:

連絡

YOU CAN'T! I POSTED THIS ALREADY

http://forum.koohii.com/viewtopic.php?p … 83#p104683

Last edited by nest0r (2010 May 25, 3:42 am)

Reply #41 - 2010 May 25, 3:47 am
bizarrojosh Member
From: Shiga Registered: 2009-08-22 Posts: 219

slivir wrote:

Any word with ra,ri,ru,re,ro in it.
:S

and any word with りゃ、りゅ、りょ　りょう、りゅう

Reply #42 - 2010 May 25, 4:12 am
gagge_tah Member
From: Tokyo Registered: 2009-02-26 Posts: 17

Hmm.. is it only me that has a problem with the likes of つづく
My tongue often tumbles on that middle "dzu"-sound.
I often end up saying a "du"- or or "su"-sound.

Reply #43 - 2010 May 25, 4:16 am
JimmySeal Member
From: Kyoto Registered: 2006-03-28 Posts: 2279

gagge_tah wrote:

Hmm.. is it only me that has a problem with the likes of つづく
My tongue often tumbles on that middle "dzu"-sound.
I often end up saying a "du"- or or "su"-sound.

It's pronounced /zu/, not /dzu/.  Maybe that's the cause of your trouble.

Reply #44 - 2010 May 25, 4:26 am
Jarvik7 Member
From: 名古屋 Registered: 2007-03-05 Posts: 3946

JimmySeal wrote:

gagge_tah wrote:

Hmm.. is it only me that has a problem with the likes of つづく
My tongue often tumbles on that middle "dzu"-sound.
I often end up saying a "du"- or or "su"-sound.

It's pronounced /zu/, not /dzu/.  Maybe that's the cause of your trouble.

Not true, it depends on the person. Very many Japanese people pronounce づ differently from ず. It's not even a dialectical thing.

じ and ぢ on the other hand...

Last edited by Jarvik7 (2010 May 25, 4:28 am)

Reply #45 - 2010 May 25, 4:29 am
gagge_tah Member
From: Tokyo Registered: 2009-02-26 Posts: 17

I find native Japanese speakers use a more "round" zu than I mostly do. Maybe it's only my ears...

Reply #46 - 2010 May 25, 4:29 am
saritza Member
From: USA Registered: 2008-10-23 Posts: 23

女性専用車両

And あたたかかった、I always forget how many かs and たs there are.

Reply #47 - 2010 May 25, 6:55 am
Womacks23 Member
From: 恵比寿 Registered: 2008-01-10 Posts: 596

あたたかかった and あらわす get me every time

Reply #48 - 2010 May 25, 7:08 am
Raschaverak Member
From: Hungary Registered: 2008-12-30 Posts: 362

Aww, come on! Nobody's up for my personal favourite, Jijitsu (fact)? Surely I can't be the only one having a hard time pronouncing it right, specially paired with the plain be verb....Or maybe I just have some speaking deficit or something.....

Last edited by Raschaverak (2010 May 25, 7:10 am)

Reply #49 - 2010 May 25, 7:34 am
Mcjon01 Member
From: 大阪 Registered: 2007-04-09 Posts: 551

Raschaverak wrote:

Aww, come on! Nobody's up for my personal favourite, Jijitsu (fact)? Surely I can't be the only one having a hard time pronouncing it right, specially paired with the plain be verb....Or maybe I just have some speaking deficit or something.....

You're not alone.  I hate jijitsu so much.  It never fails to trip me up.  I'm serious, too.

Every.
Single.
Time.

Reply #50 - 2010 May 25, 7:56 am
thurd Member
From: Poland Registered: 2009-04-07 Posts: 756

There are words like あたたかかった that are hard to pronounce but its not because of their sounds but rather their structure. I'm sure natives also make mistakes in them.

In Polish we have sounds covering most "normal" languages and then we add some more, enhanced by ridiculous number of combinations it makes us quite proficient in saying just about anything and that makes Japanese pronunciation quite easy. I'm not saying I've proper pronunciation now but I already have the tools to make it perfect in the future.