I’m really confused about how to pronounce elongated vowels. I have a few examples to make my question make more sense: (Also I think this question has multiple parts)
Well first, I want to confirm that ああ is pronounced the same as アー because it katakana you just use the line to double/elongate the sound.
Second, I’m sure you might know Domo-kun, the fluffy brown monster that is the mascot for NHK. On Wikipedia, the name is shown as どーもくん. Is it supposed to be pronounced like どおもくん?
Another thing (sorta related to the one above): in the word アイスクリーム, the “アイ” sounds like how it does in “Ice” cream. So, アイ and アー have a significant difference when you say/hear it. If in アイスクリーム you are using two different kana (ア and イ) that sound different than two of the same, what is the difference of どお and どう? Because with Domo-kun, even though the “do” is elongated, it sounds the same as if you were saying どうぞ.
(Sorry if this doesn’t make any sense, it’s really hard for me to explain)
Thanks to anyone who understands my question and can help me!
Elongated vowels, as complicated as they seem, are not all that hard to master. It's mostly just hanging on the previous sound a little longer. ー is used usually with katakana as an indicator to lengthen the vowel, so どーも may be pronounced as どおも, that would be my guess. Maybe try to find audio of someone saying it, sometimes that is really the only way to learn the pronunciation of elongated vowels, because some are said differently than they are spelt.
As for the difference between どお and どう, I really don't know, I don't think there is a difference, someone else may have a better answer.
He concludes that in normal speech, they are pronounced the same.
While in slow/formal speech, you can add a slight pause in the middle of e.g. さとおや, but not in さとうや:
The exact quote: "Although such sequences are generally realized in an identical way in normal speech, a phonetic difference between the two members of each pair may appear in slow or formal speech, that is, it is possible to have a hiatus, materialized in the form of a pause or a light glottal stop between the first and the second element of a double vowel, but not between the two parts of an intrinsically long vowel".
Another difference is that a double vowel can carry an accent (e.g. 湖 - みずうみ, 遠ければ - とおければ), while long vowels cannot.
Here's what the katakana long vowels are equivalent to for ka,ki,ku,ke,ko.
カー = かあ
キー = きい
クー = くう
ケー = けえ or けい (sound the same)
コー = こお or こう (sound the same) (other letters ending with the vowels a,i,u,e,o are extended the same way e.g. フー = ふう)
I’d like to question the similarity between けえ and けい. The first, I would assume, sounds as if you elongated the “e” sound in “kept”, while the latter sounds like the “ay” in “okay”. (Not to say that you are wrong, I am thinking from a beginner perspective)
Japanese vowels are pretty simple, but they can be challenging for those of us that speak English as a first language, simply because English vowels are so complicated. As English speakers, we have neither the vocabulary nor the concepts to think about long vowels straightforwardly. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) can be helpful here, but is usually not used in Japanese, because it’s easier for both the students and the teachers to use kana.
For example, アイ sounds like leading vowel in ice-cream, the sound that most of us learned to call “long I.” It’s actually two vowels working together, in what some people might call a diphthong (I’m not sure whether this is technically considered a diphthong or not. If you care, consult a linguist). The easiest way to see this is to draw out the length of the sound. Can you say “aaaaaaaai” or “aiiiiiiiiii”?
Other long vowels are similar.
おお and おう used to be pronounced differently, but now they are the same. English “oh” and “ou” have followed a similar trajectory, except English “ou” is now also often pronounced /u:/, confusing the issue even further. If you say “oh” you’ll get something like おう, and that’s the sound you should use for both おお and おう.
ええ is now pronounced like えい, but you should pronounce it like English “ate,” not “eat.”
I hope this is helpful. I’m concerned I may have just made things more confusing.
Here's what the katakana long vowels are equivalent to for ka,ki,ku,ke,ko.
カー = かあ
キー = きい
クー = くう
ケー = けえ or けい (sound the same)
コー = こお or こう (sound the same) (other letters ending with the vowels a,i,u,e,o are extended the same way e.g. フー = ふう)
I’d like to question the similarity between けえ and けい. The first, I would assume, sounds as if you elongated the “e” sound in “kept”, while the latter sounds like the “ay” in “okay”. (Not to say that you are wrong, I am thinking from a beginner perspective)
Disclaimer, I am not a linguist, nor am I an expert in Japanese in any way, shape or form. So, I could be completely wrong.
ページ is sometimes written in hiragana as ぺえじ e.g. in the word ぺえじづけ for pagination
ケータイ is sometimes written in hiragana as けいたい for cell phone
Renshuu has sound files for ページ and ケータイ if you'd like to compare the sound. To me, they both have the "ay" sound.
えい / ええ / えー and おう / おお / おー are undifferentiated in pronunciation. All are long versions of the initial vowel. Note that these are the only exceptions; all other vowel + different vowel pairs (like ア + イ in アイスクリーム) are pronounced distinctly.
The logic behind long vowels is that each kana (or kana + small kana pair, or っ, or ー) represents an equal unit of time in speech, called a mora. In most other languages (including English), the time it takes to say something is determined by syllable stress, but in Japanese every mora takes approximately the same amount of time to say. Therefore, an extended vowel (like ドー or どう) will take twice as long to say as the mora without the extra vowel, and this is an important part of the pronunciation of the word. You can imagine a metronome, and pronouncing each character along with it. Of course, in natural speech, the metronome goes very fast!
For example, アイ sounds like leading vowel in ice-cream, the sound that most of us learned to call “long I.” It’s actually two vowels working together, in what some people might call a diphthong (I’m not sure whether this is technically considered a diphthong or not. If you care, consult a linguist).
This is just a curiosity and not super related, but indeed the "long I" in English is a diphthong (usually /aɪ/, or /ʌɪ/ in Canada), because two vowels combine in a single syllable. However, because Japanese is structured around mora and not syllables, アイ is technically not a diphthong, because the /a/ and /i/ are pronounced distinctly.
