Okay, so I decided I needed to figure out how to say “shōwa” properly. Heard it mentioned a few times, you know, relating to Japanese history, and I realized I was probably butchering it. Just saying “show-wah” felt kinda clumsy and likely wrong.
Figuring it Out
First thing I did was just try to sound it out based on the spelling. Shōwa. That little line over the ‘o’ – the macron, I think they call it? – usually means something important, probably a longer sound. So, my first real guess was something like “shooh-wah”. A bit better than “show-wah”, maybe?
But guessing only gets you so far. I needed to actually hear it. So, I spent some time listening. Found some audio clips online, people actually saying the word. Listened quite a few times. It’s amazing how different things sound when you hear a native speaker.
What I noticed was:
- The ‘sh’ sound is pretty much like the English ‘sh’. Easy enough.
- That ‘ō’ sound… yeah, it’s longer. Not like ‘oh’ in ‘go’, but held a bit. Definitely longer than the ‘o’ in ‘shot’. Think like ‘shore’ but maybe hold the ‘o’ part just a touch.
- The ‘wa’ sound is simple, just like it looks. Like ‘wah’.
Practice Time
Alright, hearing it is one thing, saying it is another. So I started practicing. Felt a bit silly at first, sitting here saying “shō… wa… shō… wa” over and over.
I focused on getting that long ‘ō’ right. Tried saying “show” then stretching out the “oh” sound. Shooooow. Then cut it off clean before the ‘wa’. Shoooh… wa. Like that. It was tricky not to blend them too much or make the ‘o’ sound like ‘oo’ in ‘food’. It’s more of an ‘oh’ sound, just longer.
Tried saying it fast, then slow. Listened to the recordings again, then tried to copy the rhythm and the length of that vowel. The key really was holding that ‘ō’ just the right amount. Not too long, not too short. And making sure it was a clean ‘oh’ sound, not diphthongized like we sometimes do in English.
After a bit of repetition, probably sounded like a broken record for a while, it started to feel more natural. Less like I was forcing it. Shōwa. Yeah, that felt closer. Not perfect maybe, but way better than my first attempts.
It’s funny how focusing on one little word can take a bit of effort. But hey, feels good to get it closer to how it’s supposed to sound. Makes you appreciate the nuances in different languages a bit more, I guess. Anyway, that was my little project for the day – getting “shōwa” down.
