Japanese words and names sound African (2022)
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Japanese words and names sound African (2022)
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Re: Japanese words and names sound African (2022)
#2Because the Bantu languages (most prominently: Swahili) and Japanese have similar sound systems. Finnish is also oddly similar-sounding, or Hawaiian. None of them are actually related.
It's because the syllable is restricted in the number of possible forms, in a similar way. (And they all have approximately five vowels. And a pitch accent.) In Hawaiian, nothing but consonant + vowel syllables are possible. Swahili and Japanese allow an optional final n sound. Finnish is a little more flexible, and syllables can end with an n, r, l or t. No consonant clusters, in any of the languages. No syllables ending with consonants outside the restricted set (if any), in any of the languages.
This results in a lot of syllables of the form: i, a, ne, na, ka, ta, po, to... "Pokatokaino". I just made that up and it's probably not a Swahili, Finnish, Hawaiian, or Japanese word -- but it could be.
This basic pattern (consonant + vowel + maybe limited option for final consonant) is very common; it's the most common arrangement among the worlds languages. Far more common than languages like English which allow monstrosities like "strengths" (which is 6 consonants and one vowel).
Re: Japanese words and names sound African (2022)
#3Because the Bantu languages (most prominently: Swahili) and Japanese have similar sound systems. Finnish is also oddly similar-sounding, or Hawaiian. None of them are actually related. It's because the syllable is restricted in the number of possible forms, in a similar way. (And they all have approximately five vowels. And a pitch accent.) In Hawaiian, nothing but consonant + vowel syllables are possible. Swahili an…
> Pokatokaino
According to Google Translate, that would be "shortcuts" in Maori. (Reverse, "Pokatata".) Nice!
Re: Japanese words and names sound African (2022)
#4btw, there was once a consular official who worked at the Japanese embassy in Kenya, whose name was Mr. Kuma Moto. Every time he was introduced, it was hard for folks to suppress their laughter as the name literally meant "hot vagina" (in Kiswahili the noun goes first)
Re: Japanese words and names sound African (2022)
#5Because the Bantu languages (most prominently: Swahili) and Japanese have similar sound systems. Finnish is also oddly similar-sounding, or Hawaiian. None of them are actually related. It's because the syllable is restricted in the number of possible forms, in a similar way. (And they all have approximately five vowels. And a pitch accent.) In Hawaiian, nothing but consonant + vowel syllables are possible. Swahili an…
> Pokatokaino According to Google Translate, that would be "shortcuts" in Maori. (Reverse, "Pokatata".) Nice!
Maori is also another language that has the same vowel sounds as Japanese.
Google is being generous in interpreting a nonsense word there though, Pokatata (as you saw when reversing the translation) is the correct spelling.
Re: Japanese words and names sound African (2022)
#6Because the Bantu languages (most prominently: Swahili) and Japanese have similar sound systems. Finnish is also oddly similar-sounding, or Hawaiian. None of them are actually related. It's because the syllable is restricted in the number of possible forms, in a similar way. (And they all have approximately five vowels. And a pitch accent.) In Hawaiian, nothing but consonant + vowel syllables are possible. Swahili an…
Something amusing about Japanese vs Xhosa (a Bantu language) is that their words for yes and no are reversed:
Japanese Hai = yes, Xhosa - Hai is a no
Japanese eeye = no, Xhosa - ewe is yes
Re: Japanese words and names sound African (2022)
#7When viewing my resume, my name, Ayo Ijidakinro (Nigerian), is often mistaken for Japanese.
Especially because I had on my resume that I speak some Japanese.
When I show up for the interview there is surprise.
The syllables are identical.
A-yo I-ji-da-kin-ro
ア-ヨ イ-ジ-ダ-キ-ン-ロ
Have always found it interesting.
Re: Japanese words and names sound African (2022)
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Pokatokaino According to Google Translate, that would be "shortcuts" in Maori. (Reverse, "Pokatata".) Nice!
Maori is also another language that has the same vowel sounds as Japanese. Google is being generous in interpreting a nonsense word there though, Pokatata (as you saw when reversing the translation) is the correct spelling.
> Google is being generous in interpreting a nonsense word
My prudential 'would' (not to mention the safety reverse check) saved me again... ;)
Re: Japanese words and names sound African (2022)
#9I want a historical fantasy explanation for this.
Just seems like it would be a fun world to explore.
Re: Japanese words and names sound African (2022)
#10Because the Bantu languages (most prominently: Swahili) and Japanese have similar sound systems. Finnish is also oddly similar-sounding, or Hawaiian. None of them are actually related. It's because the syllable is restricted in the number of possible forms, in a similar way. (And they all have approximately five vowels. And a pitch accent.) In Hawaiian, nothing but consonant + vowel syllables are possible. Swahili an…
Something amusing about Japanese vs Xhosa (a Bantu language) is that their words for yes and no are reversed: Japanese Hai = yes, Xhosa - Hai is a no Japanese eeye = no, Xhosa - ewe is yes
Amusing as long as you don't agree to something stupid I guess ..
Are they pronounced very similar?