'Ga' pronounced 'nya'?

[raeldor]

Hi All,

I'm new to this site, but absolutely loving it. I have been taking Japanese lessons for a couple of months with my local Japan Society here in Northern California, and the JapanesePod101 is a perfect compliment to keep my Japanese fresh and learn new day-to-day vocabulary. The enthusiasm and fun you guy shave in the lessons is contagious; great job!!

So, I have a question. I have heard this a few times now, but in the lessons (eg, meeting the family), it seems some words have the 'ga' syllable pronounced as 'nya', for example in osogashii. Can you explain why this is? Am I hearing this correctly?

Doumo, and keep up the awesome work!
Rael

[Jason]

While it's not really "nya", whenever "ga" appears somewhere that is not the beginning of a word, it's technically supposed to be pronounced more nasally. Sort of a cross between an English g and n.

The nasally "ga" and "nya" are 2 distinct syllables with different sounds.

[jiashen]

I hear it more as a 'nga' than a 'nya' actually, and it differs between speakers too. For example if you listen to the "もう一度お願いします，ゆっくりお願いします" as a reference, you'll notice Sakura-san says it very nasally while Natsuko-san's is pretty much a regular 'ga'.

[raeldor]

I hear it more as a 'nga' than a 'nya' actually, and it differs between speakers too. For example if you listen to the "もう一度お願いします，ゆっくりお願いします" as a reference, you'll notice Sakura-san says it very nasally while Natsuko-san's is pretty much a regular 'ga'.

So, is it a local dialect thing?

Thanks

[jiashen]

No idea, I'm learning just like you. I simply take refuge in the fact that it's acceptable both ways.

[Jason]

No, it's not a dialect thing. It just varies from person to person. My teacher said that a lot of Japanese don't know that it's supposed to be pronounced like that when it's not at the beginning of a word.

[seanolan]

I actually got corrected, by one of the teachers I worked with, when I tried to get that nasal sound in the word "tamago" (egg). I pronounced it as I had heard it many times, as almost ta-ma-ngo, and she corrected me with a HARD g sound - ta-ma-Go. So either my pronunciation was crap (very possible!), or that sound has many different pronunciations regionally (which makes sense, since many regions have different "rules" for pronouncing the "u" sound in a "su", "ku", etc sound.

Sean

[jiashen]

Rar. We need a pro to enlighten us.

[westtima]

I have always heard "tamago" pronounced ta-ma-go. My guess is just try to pronounce it with "ga" and the "nga" will come naturally when needed.

[McCrank]

afaik isnt japanese pronounced as it is spelled?

so ga is is just straight forward ga.

[musician1]

Rar. We need a pro to enlighten us.

I asked a friend who was trained to become a voice actress. She said that the ng-a variation is actually the Tokyo accent for ga and that if one wants to be a TV announcer in Tokyo, they have to pronounce it as nga.

[wolfie]

I thought it was just me!!! I could've sworn, one of the female sensei here pronounces ga as nga, forgot whom though...

[TheProfessorOne]

To me is sounds like the Tagalog "nga" when I hear Japanese speak it quickly.

At other times it is a distinct "ga" especially when stressed.

[jkeyz15]

To the person who was corrected about Tamago. Maybe you pronounced it as Tamango, when you meant to make a nasal g sound