How Do You Pronounce This Word?

[jpdrag0n]

Originally Posted by DivineBled

nope. lol I pronounced it correctly. It also depends on the dialect

depends on the dialect? ive never heard "kawaii" pronounced any other way than just the regular way that MMM pointed out. in okayama and tokyo it was pronounced the same...and these places are very different in terms of dialect...and im japanese so i think i would know.

[Harold]

Make sure you guys don't say "kowaii" which sounds like "kowai." It means scary.

[anrakushi]

Originally Posted by MMM

It is pronounced the same in any dialect...

(With an American accent):

Ka (as in the first syllable of "cotton")

wa (as in the first syllable of "Washington")

ii (as in the first syllable of "east" but extended to twice as long.)

KAWAII has four syllables in Japanese: Ka-Wa-I-I. Each should be spoken for the same length of time.

I have to say, the american accent must be profoundly different in pronunciation of the word cotton to an australian accent. the way you have sounded it out using english words sounds much more like 怖い rather than 可愛い. I know you would pronounce it correctly MMM but we pronounce cotton in australian accent like コットン so very different sound. thought that was interesting.

[MMM]

1) I doesn't rhyme with "Hawaii"

2) I understand that "cotton" is pronounced different ways in different parts of the world. That's why I said "American accent". There are many dialects even in American, but the basic, newscaster dialect pronunciation is correct.

Proving that explaining pronunciation over the internet is very difficult.

[SSJup81]

Still odd that you chose cotton, MMM. For someone unfamiliar with Japanese pronunciations, I'd still use "Hawaii" as an example, and point out that you have to extend the "ii" part of it. Seems that'd be a closer similarity than the "co" in cotton for "ka".

[MMM]

Originally Posted by SSJup81

Still odd that you chose cotton, MMM. For someone unfamiliar with Japanese pronunciations, I'd still use "Hawaii" as an example, and point out that you have to extend the "ii" part of it. Seems that'd be a closer similarity than the "co" in cotton for "ka".

The problem with that is that the emphasis in Hawaii is on the "wa" and it is a 3 syllable word in English.

Depending on who you are talking to, there is no stress in the 4-syllable Kawaii or it's on the last two syllables "ii". If you take "Hawaii" and replace the H with a K you will more than likely sound like you are saying "kowai" which, as mentioned before, means quite the opposite of "kawaii".

[Amnell]

Hawai'i actually has a stop between the two i's, so you're all technically wrong . Well, MMM had the best explantion :P .

/ka wa i i/ (IPA, spaces between syllables)

I'll try to approximate the sounds with the standard alphabet, but remember that I speak western American English.

kah-wah-ee-ee

For OP, just remember that vowels are kept pretty short (kinda clipped, really), so don't spend a lot of time on the 'ah' part of those sounds. Also, there should be no real emphasis on any one syllable--that'll come in by itself.

[kuronekoaus]

Lol maybe the user who created this thread should speak to a Japanese teacher/ student in person. You can't really imitate sounds you can't hear...

[DannysGhostGirl]

Yeah, you've got a point. Only problem is, I don't know any Japanese people/teachers.........

[SSJup81]

Originally Posted by MMM

The problem with that is that the emphasis in Hawaii is on the "wa" and it is a 3 syllable word in English.

Depending on who you are talking to, there is no stress in the 4-syllable Kawaii or it's on the last two syllables "ii". If you take "Hawaii" and replace the H with a K you will more than likely sound like you are saying "kowai" which, as mentioned before, means quite the opposite of "kawaii".

I was actually just referring to "ha" and "ka", for the most part.