Originally Posted by jetboy

as a japanese speaker: I was joking with the "its pronounced like it sounds" but that is pretty much the case for 99% of japanese words. its broken into 3 component sounds, but unlike english they are always (as with all always statements.. it comes with rare exceptions), pronounced the same way and with equal or very very slight variation in emphasis. so its : me-ya-ta. each one short, so saying its mee-yah-tah for example, gives the wrong impression even if it gets the vowel sounds correct as it suggests an elongation to create the sound. an english speaker needs to make the ee sound, but keep it half as long : just e.


to english speakers it can sound like the last syllable is emphasizesd even when it is not, as we ( I am native english) tend to de-emphasize and soften the end of words. the japanese do not and to our ears it stands out.