Pronunciation of 憂鬱

[thegooseking]

みなさん、こんにちは、

I've been wondering about this word 憂鬱.

I'd always learned that syllables in Japanese can consist of one or two morae, but never three. You can have a double vowel, but not a triple vowel. But here we seem to have a triple vowel in 'yuuutsu'. I can see what's happening, of course. The 憂 is read 'yuu' and the 鬱 is read 'utsu', so the apparent triple vowel crosses a kanji boundary.

So would I be right in thinking that 憂鬱 is actually a three-syllable word? And if so, what does a new syllable sound like when it's the same vowel as the previous one? That's difficult for me to imagine.

My guess would be something like 'yuuwutsu', but with the 'w' being almost-but-not-quite silent. Is that the right idea?

よろしくおねがいします、
小狼

[mmmason8967]

みなさん、こんにちは、

小狼さん、久しぶり。

So would I be right in thinking that 憂鬱 is actually a three-syllable word?

I've always thought that "syllable" is equivalent to one character, which would make it the same as "mora", I suppose. So on that basis I think that ゆううつ is a four-syllable word.

...what does a new syllable sound like when it's the same vowel as the previous one? ... My guess would be something like 'yuuwutsu', but with the 'w' being almost-but-not-quite silent.

I've never heard it said, but I'd expect a long 'u' sound, one where you can't see the join (if you know what I mean) and that sounds exactly like the way it's written: yu-u-u-tsu. Maybe there's a pitch change: with no evidence, I imagine it's likely to be LLHH in which case you would hear the third 'u' somewhat separately.

マイケル

[jim.schuler]

So would I be right in thinking that 憂鬱 is actually a three-syllable word? And if so, what does a new syllable sound like when it's the same vowel as the previous one? That's difficult for me to imagine.

My guess would be something like 'yuuwutsu', but with the 'w' being almost-but-not-quite silent. Is that the right idea?

JapanesePod101's dictionary has an audio pronunciation for 憂鬱, and it is just one long, unbroken uuuuu sound right up till the つ.

[community.japanese]

小狼さん、マイケルさん、jim.schuler san
こんにちは。
As マイケルさんsaidゆううつ is a four-syllable word.
The pitch is LHHL.

Yuki 由紀
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