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I’m going through a pronunciation revision exercise and the word りんご is included. To my ear it sounds like dingo not ringo. Is that my rubbish ‘ear’ for sounds? I know the R is one of the hardest letters but sometimes it sounds like r or l or b and now d! Or do you just learn the whole word and pronounce it how you hear it, in this case for me dingo?
I have to admit, I’ve never heard a “d” sound, though perhaps it’s just some kind of personal difference (rather like the fun with the black-blue/white-gold dress we had a while back). This kinda ties into the fact that the sound just doesn’t exist in English, so your brain just leaps for the nearest equivalent it can think of. Koichi also describes it as part “d” – he says “part R (I’d say around 75%), part L (I’d say about 20%) and strangely enough, part D (I’d give this about 5%).”
For me, I kinda pronounce it with my tongue in the L position, but with the edges touching the roof of my mouth rather than the tip. Which, come to think of it, is probably halfway between the L position and the D position.
With Koichi I defiantly hear the D at times. If you want to blow a bunch of time on YouTube its seems the range with natives is pretty vast. Defiantly heavily R/L mix but on sometimes that D creeps in on some words.
I basically put my tongue right in front of the L position and then try to make an R sound. Comes out some kind of L/R mix. I can’t get a D sound unless I just say dingo…which is exactly how it sounds to me when Koichi says that word. Others he leans more L/R.
I figure there’s no precise rule and listing to dozens of words with リin it varies so much especially when it’s in the middle of a word. I wish my ability to listen was better! My wife who is a classically trained singer can just hear stuff I can’t. It took me a day and half to get close to pronouncing じゃありません correctly and she did it first time.
I wish my ability to listen was better!
I hear that. I’ve been at it for six years, and my listening ability still sucks…
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