Re: [wEr\ Ar\ ju: fr6m] ? Am I right??

>--- Herman Miller <hmiller@...> wrote:
>
>  > >On Sat, 10 Nov 2001, SuomenkieliMaa wrote:
>>  >> Now I live in
>  > >> Ward: Suginami [sugi:nami]
>
>  > I'd guess the Japanese version would be [sMginami]
>>  or [sMNinami]. Is this
>>  one of those words that pronounces -g- as [N]?
>
>No, -g- is definitely like -g- of _geiser_ and not
>[N].  I'm having trouble distinguishing between [u]
>and [M], but from what I guess, [u] is like Spanish
>-u- whereas [M] is a bit less refined, sort of like
>one is trying to swallow it.  If that is so, you're
>right.
There are dialects (and I thought they were in the Tokyo area) where
intervocalic "g" is pronounced /N/, so I would think that /sMNinami/
is a viable option. As I understand it, [M] is [u] without the
rounding, and that's what we were taught is the Japanese "u". Using
[u] is understandable but makes you sound way gaijin.

Kou

Kou