How do you pronounce..?

[Public Pervert]

Has there ever been a time you were reading the manga or something and all the sudden you stoped and went " Woah! Wait, how do you say that?!" And thus, try to pronounce it, making a total fool of yourself?

That's what this thread is for!

Post a question here on asking about pronouncing things, and I'll try to help you out! Speaking of which, I have no clue how to pronounce Akatsuki. Don't be scared to ask! biggrin  

[The Tao of Maple Syrup]

I guess I'll ask the age old question. How do you pronounce Naruto? I've heard it pronounced many ways, like:

Narrr-u-toe
Nah-ru-toe
Na-roo-toe

Another one, Kankuro. I'm not quite sure how to pronounce the first "a" in his name.  

[churrlo]

>< This is hard to explain in writing.

Akatsuki = A (short vowel) - ka (short vowel) - tsu (long vowel) - kee

Naruto = Na (short vowel) - ru (this would sound like... a VERY short rolling of the tongue... not rrru) - to (short vowel)  

[Missing00]

Here's how to say akatsuki "ah-kah-soo-key".  

[Reticence]

Ah-kah-tsoo-kee.

That ones easy, but I even
say Naruto wrong sometimes.
For its not so much the sound
as it is the syllable stressing.


o:  

[churrlo]

I can say Naruto correctly... it's just not easy to explain. If you took a Japanese class they explain how to do the R's.... so that's why I can do it ^^ But I could do it before since the R's are similar to spanish R's razz -  

[SamuraiArren]

.[CrimsonLightning].

I guess I'll ask the age old question. How do you pronounce Naruto? I've heard it pronounced many ways, like:

Narrr-u-toe
Nah-ru-toe
Na-roo-toe

Another one, Kankuro. I'm not quite sure how to pronounce the first "a" in his name.

I pronounce his name Kahn-ku-roh. I've heard it pronounced like Can-ku-roh, but I'm almost certain that pronounciation is incorrect, because in Japanese, "a" sounds like "ah". Hopefully that was helpful sweatdrop  

[churrlo]

Your pronunciation is correct smile  

[Syndactyly]

Japanese vowels sound as such:

(a) AH
(i) EE
(u) OO
(e) EH
(o) OH

All other sounds follow a similar pattern...

(Ta) TAH, (Tsu) TSU[nami], (tu) TOO, (te) TEH, (to) TOH/TOE <--Same sound, different spelling
(Na) NAH, (Ni) NEE, (Nu) NOO, (Ne) NEH, (No) NOH/NOE
(Sa) SAH, (Si) SEE, (Su) SOO, (Se) SEH, (So) SOH/SOE
(Za) ZAH, (Zi) ZEE, (Zu) ZOO, (Ze) ZEH, (Zo) ZOH/ZOE, (Tzu) Tzu[nami]
(Ma) MAH, (Mi) MEE, (Mu) MOO, (Me) MEH, (Mo) MOH/MOE
(Da) DAH, (Di) DEE, (Du) DOO, (De) DEH, (Do) DOH/DOE
(Ba) BAH, (Bi) BEE, (Bu) BOO, (Be) BEH, (Bo) BOH/BOE (BoBoBo-BoBo-BoBo)

Of course there's many more...

Pronounced closer to Spanish than English, I've noticed...

For example... Dattebayo, spelled, "だってばよ" is pronouced, "DAH-TEH-BA-YOH"

Now for the words in question.

Akatsuki [あかつき]: AH-KAH-TSU-KEE (Tsu as in, "tsunami")
Naruto [ナルト]: NAH-ROO-TOH (Note: Naruto is commonly pronounced with a strong a, such as, "Naa-roo-toe." The r has a slight role, as in, "Naa-rdu-toe." Japanese is like this with... just about all r's.)
Kankurou [かんくろう]: KAH-N-KOO-ROE (It is CAHN, not CAN. Pronounced with a, "dull" a. Kaaah. Not CAAAY. xD)

I'm not saying all this to correct people; the Japanese merely helps us understand the words easier.  

[churrlo]

Lol that sounds correct to me ^^ It's what I was trying to say... but I didn't know how sweatdrop Also, I'd like to say it's TA, CHI, TSU, TE, TO ^^ there is no TU in japanese, it's tsu blaugh  

[Syndactyly]

churrlo

Lol that sounds correct to me ^^ It's what I was trying to say... but I didn't know how sweatdrop Also, I'd like to say it's TA, CHI, TSU, TE, TO ^^ there is no TU in japanese, it's tsu blaugh

It says TU/TSU in my notebook... and unless I'm studying a false text... :/ Chi, on my chart, falls under it's own catagory. Besides, if I was giving the ALPHABET, would I have not given it in ORDER?

Tsu in certain cases can be pronounced as, "tu" or it can even be silent.  

[Purple dragon lady]

How in several dozen underworlds do you pronounce "Jiraiya"? Help me please, 'cause I have no idea!  

[churrlo]

Well in my book the Hiragana / Katakana chart have Ta, Chi, Tsu, Te, To. >< My teacher told me there wasn't a TU in japanese.  

[pinoyidol2006]

Purple dragon lady

How in several dozen underworlds do you pronounce "Jiraiya"? Help me please, 'cause I have no idea!

GEE-RAY-YAH

The 'A' in "RAI" is a short vowel

P.S.
Don't use the speech function in your computer if you have one.  

[Syndactyly]

Purple dragon lady

How in several dozen underworlds do you pronounce "Jiraiya"? Help me please, 'cause I have no idea!

JEE-RAI-YUH
Ji-Rai-yah
The last part really depends on your dialect. xD; Your accent. The second is more accurate.

@ Churrlo: Teachers also say there isn't a "vu." But there is. :/