Note: I wrote this up as a new topic before I discovered this thread so I decided to just move it here without edit.
Is there a website where the correct pronunciation of japanese mahjong terms can be found?
After listening to some of jenn and garthes' jongcasts, I find I am saying some incorrectly.
For example;
mangan is not man-gan, but mahn-gahn
pinfu is not pin-fu, but peen-fu
iipeiko is not eye-pea-ko, but ee-pay-ko
haneman is not hane-min, but hun-ee-mahn
Now that I have actually spoken to people who play mahjong, I need to make more of an effort to pronounce terms correctly, something I never really had to think about before. Chances are I won't get all of them exactly right, but every little bit helps.
Toi-Toi and ippatsu are easy but what about tanyao. Is it tahn-yow? or tahn-ee-oh? or tahn-ee-ow?
I found an app where you write the english and a japanese male speaks the word.
It sounded like 3 syllables, the middle choice, I think. I'm finding this to be somewhat helpful.
- phpUlDl3QAM.jpg (6.92 KiB) Viewed 12718 times
- phpqD9Sn8PM.jpg (4.42 KiB) Viewed 12718 times
I have been placing the emphasis on the "ba" in shibari when it should be on the "shi".
Same with yakuman. I was stressing the "ku" instead of the "ya".
The pronunciation section in Barts guide has also helped, (tenpai is spoken as tempai), but as for ryan, It states y is as in "yet" and r is somewhere between an R and an L sound. Not sure on this one.
If you can think of other terms that are commonly mispronounced, I would appreciate some guidelines.
I know it's not easy without a microphone.
(my latest one is that kazoe is kah-zoh-a and not just kah-zoh)
Addendum: I have subsequently watched that 4-part 3-hour excellent you-tube video mentioned above by kyuu.
The oral explanation of the rules and terminology pronunciation was interesting and very informative.
Ryanpeiko sounded like the R was silent (yahn-pay-ko).
Tanyao was only 2 syllables (tahn-yow). Are both of these correct?
I guess it depends somewhat on who's doing the talking, or maybe on how I'm hearing it.
One more thing; referee states above, "Another thing you can't gather from the written text is where to put the stress". For example, kuisagari= koo-ee-SAH-gah-ree, emphasis on SAH, but how would you know that? Probably not a simple answer. Might involve taking a course in Japanese language.