Q; pronouncing "Fukushima"

[Joel S. Berson]

Ah -- "fuku" loses its second U, just as "Matsushita" its I
(Matsushta)?  And probably why some hear a stress on the first
syllable (fook).  And probably why the word two of the three times on
this recording escaped my (aging) ears entirely -- it went by too
fast spoken by a fast speaker.

But I understand pronouncing the I (and correspondingly the U) is
acceptable also?

(And I did say "slight" accent on the MAH.  I was once told that
Japanese is virtually accentless.)

Joel

At 3/28/2011 04:41 PM, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:
>Here is a video clip with the Japanese news-lady saying "Fukushima
>Dai-ichi" ("Fukushima #1", I guess) repeatedly (0:01, 0:14, 0:53).
>
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMEV-_X5b_8
>
>I think this sounds pretty standard (but my acquaintance with Japanese
>is minimal). The first through third syllables are voiceless to my ear
>(more-or-less 'whispered', for us laymen).
>
>To me through my Anglophone ear the stress is seemingly on the second
>syllable ("ku") but this may be imaginary.
>
>I myself would say something like /fUkUSima/ with 2nd-syllable stress in
>English. Others would of course do otherwise.
>
>-- Doug Wilson
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org