Re: Another note on Japanese "diphthongs"

From: Srin Tuar (SrinTuar_at_example.net)
Date: 06/30/04 

Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 00:33:15 GMT

> I'm not at all convinced that $B$((B and $B$*(B are that close to the Spanish
> pronunciations. My comments are based on my understanding of the
> Japanese, not a relationship to the Spanish.

Having studied and listened to them both, I would say they are at least
an order of magnitude more similar to each other in vowel usage than
they are to English.

>>>"Recipe"? "Rest"? "Robot"? Or am I mis-hearing $B$((B ?
>
> No, I hear an 'o' which you said is not compatible with the English 'r'.
>

Based upon the English speakers I have heard, the English long 'o' is
more like a "o+u" dipthong. "robot", in English, is something like
"rowbaht". (the ah sound is also different than "$B$"(B")

>>You can always spot the gaijin/gringos by
>>their e's and sometimes their o's.
>
> May I assume you exclude yourself?

Tones. Its hard for a native English speaker to associate them with meaning,
myself included.

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