We understand that when spoken/heard that the sound of the letters "r" & "l" are not easy for the Japanese ear to distinguish. But do they really look that much alike when written too?!
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| From Engrish |
Saturday, March 22, 2008
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3 comments:
Well...it isn't that the Japanese can't distinguish the difference, it's that the letter "L", and its sound, do not exist in Japanese. "Hokulea" restaurant in our building is written "Hokurea" in the elevator as it's spelled phonetically. Cut 'em a break - I figure when my Japanese is half as good as their broken English, I can tease. (but I guess that's just coming from a mother who speaks 6 languages and English is NOT the first.)
I like things like "Thank you for your copulation." instead of "cooperation" for my Engrish funnies!
Oh - and my name is "Abiba" here because the "v" doesn't exist either.
Well done on your 6 masteries thus far! Aren't languages humbling? I once had dreams of making Japanese my 4th but I've since given up. It shall forever remain on the shelf of "I have studied it & only achieved the very basic level of pronunciation & pleasantries" or "I can only impress those that no none whatsoever" (it joins Swahili, Latin, German, French & Portuguese, so far).
By the by, our Japanese tutor would beg to differ with you on the "no L sound in Japanese". She actually teaches it the other way around. The Japanese have only the L sound & no R. Of course, she's comparing the back of the throat R that 1st-language English speakers, not to a front of the mouth R that is closer to a light D (like Spanish).
That nitpick aside, I'm quite proud of my Japanese pronunciation, although I do readily admit its quite simple & English really is not. It's not surprise at mispronunciation, but assuming that English is spelled phonetically. As a connoisseur of 5 other languages, you are probably well aware of how ridiculous English spelling consistency & rules (or lack thereof) are. Why would someone just hear an English word & think they know how to spell it?
I understand & accept that Romaji (printing Japanese words in Roman letters) contains no "L" but only "R". However, romaji is not used to print English words, but Japanese words. The Japanese word for the azalea flower (using romaji) is TSUTSUJI. So I'm going to have to insist that only AZALEA & TSUTSUJI would be immune to the very fitting label of "Engrish" on this jacket. This is really an example of the most quintessential (although not really funny, I agree) form of Engrish, the improper use of R instead of L.
aha!!! I didn't notice you found a funny jacket secretly!!!
This is hillarious.
Oh I 'll see you soon guys .Bring your pillows!!
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