Question

[Javizy]

I think I know what he means with the Y-row thing. The the first time I heard うらやましい I thought it was something like うらいあましい. It's hard to distinguish for the untrained ear.

As for the じょう thing, it's probably because it's pronounced more like dyou than a hard-edged joe style English version.

I don't think any Japanese sound is like its romaji equivalent, so you really need to pay attention to how they are pronounced, and try to mimic it yourself.

[ZeRinku]

So the i and the y sound in that situation sound a little similar, right? I just to make sure I am hearing it right. I know it isn't there but it is similar, right?

And about the jo thing. It is pronounced jo maybe not a hard sound but it is a jo. But in words like daijoubu it changed to the dyou sound, as you mentioned, right? I want to know if there is a rule to when to say it like this...like the jou in both 大丈夫 and 冗談 sound a little bit different. I was watching something today and joudan IS pronounced as jo and not a dyou sound. It isn't as hard as english with the name "joe" but the beginning 'j' sound is the same or at least similar. Then after hearing daijou(dyou)bu a lot in this episode I head someone say the word very crisply because of the situation and this time it was dai-jou-bu. I really think that when saying it fast you almost naturally blend the i and the jou to make that dyou sound. I mean try saying dai-jou-bu with the jou sound from joudan...it is a bit annoying to say, don't you think? I don't know though. Thoughts?

[Javizy]

It's always dyou. Your tongue should touch a little closer to your teeth than if you were saying Joe, or at least more firmly.

Sounds never blend together either, except in cases like ねぇ. I have heard 大丈夫 a thousand times, and I don't know what you're saying. 大丈夫 and 冗談 have the same dyou sound just like every other word that uses じょう.

If you just listen and repeat enough, it'll become second nature before long. Trying to induce your own exceptions isn't really a good idea. I'm sure somebody would have thought to write about these things before if they existed.

[ZeRinku]

I'm not...it's just they sound different to me... I think I don't really understand what you mean by "dyou" I guess. Like...can you explain it? I keep listening to jouzu and the "j" part is a "j" sound...like if you were to say "ka, ki, ku, ke, ko" the same pattern would go for "ja, ji, ju, jo" right? Are those all the same "j" sounds in the beginning? Because if they are then I have the pronunciation correct and I think I am just hearing it wrong. I mean when I go back and listen to 大丈夫 some more I think I hear it right but still...I don't know.

Now I found the same exact sound I have been hearing with 大丈夫 in 以上 and they both have the ijou thing. Doesn't anyone hear this?

EDIT: Please someone just go listen to 上手,大丈夫,and 以上 in the dictionary with audio section on this site I really don't understand why nobody can hear it. This is now getting me stressed out...

[QuackingShoe]

I think something you have to understand is that we develop false expectations about sounds over our lifetimes. For instance, I've heard before that almost anyone would expect the 'ky' part of 'sky' and the word 'guy' to be different, but they are apparently actually the same sound. We hear it differently because we think about it differently. I believe that's all you're doing here. You have it in your head that it SHOULD be different, for some reason, and so you can't get over that it actually isn't. On the other hand, maybe it is slightly different - but as always, it doesn't matter if you're consciously aware of all the sounds. You just need to mimic people.
(Also, the Japanese 'j' sound is never the English 'j' of the word 'joe'. It's just a different sound. That's what I believe Javizy was trying to get across with the 'dyou' thing - that, and the fact that the 'j' sound comes from the vocalized form of both 's' and 't', the 's' usually getting vocalized as 'z' while the 't' is usually vocalized as 'd''. Ie,　し and ち become じ and ぢ, which are both 'ji'')
End of the day: Gotta stop obsessing about it.
(Footnote Edit: I'm not subscribed to this site, so I can't do a direct comparison of the sound files on this particular website.)

[ZeRinku]

I think something you have to understand is that we develop false expectations about sounds over our lifetimes. For instance, I've heard before that almost anyone would expect the 'ky' part of 'sky' and the word 'guy' to be different, but they are apparently actually the same sound. We hear it differently because we think about it differently. I believe that's all you're doing here. You have it in your head that it SHOULD be different, for some reason, and so you can't get over that it actually isn't. On the other hand, maybe it is slightly different - but as always, it doesn't matter if you're consciously aware of all the sounds. You just need to mimic people.
(Also, the Japanese 'j' sound is never the English 'j' of the word 'joe'. It's just a different sound. That's what I believe Javizy was trying to get across with the 'dyou' thing - that, and the fact that the 'j' sound comes from the vocalized form of both 's' and 't', the 's' usually getting vocalized as 'z' while the 't' is usually vocalized as 'd''. Ie,　し and ち become じ and ぢ, which are both 'ji'')
End of the day: Gotta stop obsessing about it.
(Footnote Edit: I'm not subscribed to this site, so I can't do a direct comparison of the sound files on this particular website.)

Yeah you are right. Lately I have been stressing over everything in Japanese. Now that I really listen to it and I WANT to hear the jou(dyou) sound I do hear it. It is slight, not exact, but I think it's a start. I won't lie though I still think there is a SLIGHT difference but maybe that will fade with time. I think I am over working myself and because of that I start to doubt myself. I mean judging by how much questions about pronunciation I asked you would think I am a beginner but I am far from it (Ah, that sounded cocky...didn't mean for it to sound that way ). Thanks!

Just to clarify though, the "jo" has the same "j" sound as "ja,ju,and ji" right?