Leon Noel wrote:
Boh-keh ("eh" as in cafe'), as it's pronounced in Japanese of course. "Bow-kay" doesn't do it for me.
"Bow" sounds so English, not the same as "boh". In Japanese an "o" is an "o" (pronouced more like "or"), not meant to be "ow" (as in boat, row, coat, slow etc.).
"o" as in "or" vs. "o" as in "boat" -- that's a pretty subtle distinction to me. Can you give some more examples, please? Also, I am not sure how you are differentiating between "eh" as in "cafe" and the "kay" syllable of "bow-kay".
Just trying to get this right since no one seems to say it out loud.
just google a hiragana chart (hiragana being one of 3 kanas or writing styles they use). Look for an expanded one that has the derivatives. You will see how it should be pronounced. bo is a form of ho (hence the need for a chart with the derivatives) ke is a base hiragana and syllable.
bo as the bo in boat. It will be a short bo sound, not drawn out. ke will be like saying the letter k, just basically hitting the hard k sound but not drawing out the ay part you would normally say as much.
Japanese is hooked on phonics, except for some syllables like fu (which has more of an h sound) and the r sounds (which have an l sound to them) it is pretty straight forward once you get the hang if it. Doesn't have that annoying either as in eye-ther or either as in e--ther difference for example.
James Grimm wrote:
"o" as in "or" vs. "o" as in "boat" -- that's a pretty subtle distinction to me. Can you give some more examples, please? Also, I am not sure how you are differentiating between "eh" as in "cafe" and the "kay" syllable of "bow-kay".
Just trying to get this right since no one seems to say it out loud.
Thanks,
James
Well you see, "oh" is just "oh", that's what the "boh" part should be, but English speakers tend to make it sound like "ow" , like slow, boat, goat, show, and this sounds different. (for "Oh", your mouth is round and stays that way, for "Ow", your mouth starts off round and big, then closes off to a smaller circle, do it and you will see the difference)
And "kay" is different from "keh" if you ask me. How do you pronouce café? Kah-feh or Kah-fay?
