Comment on Anon reads Don Quixote
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 1 day agoAs a linguaphile, I’ve always tried to pronounce words from other languages as correctly as possible. People tend to think that makes me weird.
Xenophobes think I’m being a snob, and “inclusive” people think I’m mocking the language or making some offensive joke or something. Literally the only people who don’t get upset about it are the ones who speak whatever language it is.
Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 1 day ago
It depends on the exact word and context, like if you go to Japan and say Hay mmmburrrgurrrr をいただきたいです, it sounds so bad.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 1 day ago
I’m trying to figure out what that’s even supposed to say. “Mmmburrrgurrrr” doesn’t sound like any japanese words I know.
“Hay” I’m guessing is supposed to be “Hai,” although if you pronounce it like “hay” then you’re going to stand out as an ignorant foreigner.
As for 「おいただきたいです」、well that’s just phrased awkwardly. It sounds too formal and almost mocking. The issue isn’t pronouncing it correctly. It’s like saying 「申しわけありません」 when 「ごめんなさい」 would do.
My point wasn’t about phrasing things weird or being too formal, it was about pronunciation. Like saying 「ありがとうございます」 instead of “uhragado guhzaimasoo”
Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 1 day ago
It’s over-emphasizing the non-japanese sounds in “hamburger”; the point is that there are rules for loan words in any language and it sounds awkward if you break them.
wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 23 hours ago
Oh, I thought we were talking about anglophones pronouncing non-english words, not the other way around.
Japanese gets a pass on its loanwords because the language doesn’t have the letters to pronounce a lot of words from other languages. It does the best it can. I don’t know many English speakers who pronounce Llewellyn the Welsh way…
But if you’re ordering a hamburger in Japan, there’s probably already something wrong with you anyway. Unless it’s at Gasto. In that case, enjoy your ハンバーグ.