Home Forums The Japanese Language Kana:ず じ vs づ ぢ

This topic contains 5 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by  Joel 9 years, 4 months ago.

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  • #48172

    Alejandro
    Member

    so I was using realkana to review hiragana and Katakana, it says that づ is “zu” and ぢ is “ji”. However TextFugu says that づ is “dzu” and that ぢ is “dzi”

    which is the correct pronunciation?

    • This topic was modified 9 years, 4 months ago by  Alejandro.
    • This topic was modified 9 years, 4 months ago by  Alejandro.
    • This topic was modified 9 years, 4 months ago by  Alejandro.
    #48174

    Joel
    Member

    They’re near enough to the same as makes no difference. “Dzi” and “dzu” are old-style romanisations (which still appear in some Japanese loanwords found in English like “kudzu” or “adzuki”).

    #48177

    Alejandro
    Member

    Hey I rephrased my question to simplify it. To add to my question. Does it matter which one I use?

    #48179

    Joel
    Member

    Lemme rephrase my answer, then: “zu” and “ji” are essentially how they’re pronounced. “Dzu” and “dzi” was how they used to be written in Latin characters, but note that how characters are romanised doesn’t change their correct pronunciation (only how they appear to foreginers).

    As a case in point, the word “Peking” (as in “Peking Duck”) is pronounced “Beijing”, same as the city. It’s written in an old-style romanisation called Wade-Giles, and to be pronounced “pee-king” as most foreigners do, it’d have to be written “P’i-k’ing”. Yeah, I know that’s counterintuitive – that’s why we don’t use Wade-Giles any more. Same with “dzu” and “dzi”.

    #48183

    Alejandro
    Member

    So basically, “zu” and “ji” is how they are really pronunced, okay thank you so much Joel

    #48186

    Joel
    Member

    Basically. You won’t encounter them terribly often, so don’t fret too much, and noone’s going to jump down your throat if you quite get it perfect.

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