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I’m only halfway through chapter two, bear with me :)
When pronouncing です how much stress does one put on the S sound. The lovely lady in my Anki deck seems to think it’s pronounced “dess” sometimes and “desss” others. How much should I be stressing the S?
Thanks FuguForum!
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This topic was modified 12 years, 7 months ago by
Ravenlight.
Koichi made a video on how to pronounce it halfway through chapter 6. http://www.textfugu.com/season-1/japanese-grammar-with-yoda/6-4/
Oops, my first post should say “I’m only halfway through season two” I’ve listened to that video a few times at this point. Koichi seems to not draw out the S sound as much.
Maybe I’m reading too far into it. Are “des” “dess” and “desss” all appropriate pronunciations, or is one or more of these going to make me sound weird?
I’ve noticed women sometimes add a slight “oo/u” sound to it but it’s rare.
I reckon “dess” is probably the closest way to write it’s pronounciation. A slight stress on the s.
I’ve also heard “deeeee-SU!” in anime when characters are trying to sound exciting or just cute, but I have no idea if anyone actually talks like that in real life.
I’ve heard it said like that IRL and by some female characters in the Yakuza games. (though I doubt this deserves any more credit than anime)
I’ve also heard “deeeee-SU!” in anime when characters are trying to sound exciting or just cute, but I have no idea if anyone actually talks like that in real life.
Nope no one does.
Okay, so don’t over-stress the S sound and don’t pronounce the U unless you’re a magical princess or something. Got it!
ありがとう みんあさん！
All sorts of people pronounce the U. It’s more commonly just “dess”, but you’ll definitely hear “desu” at some point or other. Same goes for “masu/mass”. When ever I’ve heard it, the speaker doesn’t exclusively use one style or the other, they mix it up; I’m guessing there’s some kind of pattern they’re following or specific situations where it’s more appropriate, but as far as I’m aware, they just choose when to say it or not.
Actually, I’ve heard it fairly frequently when it’s part of 「～ですが・・・」, mostly when the speaker has a nasal pronunciation of が, but maybe that’s just me.
i’ve always felt it’s like you start to form the ‘U’ at the end but don’t put any breath behind it so it just fades into the ‘Des’ sound. so your mouth forms the vowel but doesn’t really make the sound prominently enough to be heard. kind of like a follow through on a baseball or golf swing.
Different people will put different amounts of stress on the “ss” sound in different situations. I’ve heard a mixed bag (yes, from native speakers IRL). I’ve heard people say it with a long “sssss” and then the same person will use a shorter “dess”. Likewise I’ve heard both males and females pronounce the “u” at the end.
And for what it’s worth, I’ve done them all (long s, short s, and a slight u) and not received any weird looks or corrections. It just depends on how you “want” to sound, if that makes sense. Just listen to a lot of native speakers and eventually your “desu” will just kinda flow on its own without you really thinking about it. At least, that’s how it was for me.
Yeah, it’s not a rule that you don’t pronounce the U, it’s just a matter of what’s more natural to say. I pronounce a bit of a U when I’m saying “ですよ” simply because it’s easier to go from S to U to Y than it is to go straight from S to Y.
I agree with Joel. It’s easier to say desu in ですよ. By itself I’d probably still pronounce it dess.
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This topic was modified 12 years, 7 months ago by
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