tonto/tanto whats up?

I've honestly never heard that before, its always been tanto. Maybe its regional accent?
 
There is only one way to pronounce Japanese vowels and the way to do so is similar to Spanish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_phonology#Vowels
Those who pronounce the a in "tanto" like the English word "ant" are doing so incorrectly. Given that one is unaware of how an unfamiliar word should be pronounced, one might choose to pronounce it this way because it is easier for an English speaker to do so.
 
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I hear both all the time. I pronounce it "ton-to" but that's just me. Maybe cuz I'm Mexican :D
 
Ive actually never heard it pronounced with a strong a.

And yeah Hiro is correct, the proper pronunciation sounds like "tonto".
 
Tanto with the "ant" is so American hehe. "Tawnto" as said by an American is closer to how it is pronounced in Japan.
 
Pretentious culture slummers.
TontoKnife.jpg
 
Yeah i figured it would have something to do with the way different parts of the pronounce/spell things differently. Thanks guys.
 
T-ahhn-toh
Is how I pronounce it, don't like it? Tuff kitty! :mad:

Why do some people call a soft drink pop, while others call it a soda, and yet others call it a "Coke"?
 
I've heard it both ways. I usually say tan-toe, not ton-toe. I've found that English phonetic spellings of Japanese (and Chinese) words are pretty poor representations anyway. Like for a long time I pronounced Kanetsune kah-net-soo-nay, but when you hear a Japanese person say it, it's more like kah-netsnay, without the "soo" part. It ought to just be spelled Kanetsnay. How about the Chinese name Hsu being pronounced like "shoe" in English? Why don't they just spell it Shu in English phonetic?:grumpy: :D Anyway, you say tahn-tone, I say tan-toe, let's call the whole thing off. ;)
 
Anyone else remember the late night knife sales on HSN?

"With the taaaanto tip". Sword then breaks randomly and stabs host.
 
o4tg said:
Anyone else remember the late night knife sales on HSN?

"With the taaaanto tip". Sword then breaks randomly and stabs host.
Click to expand...

ROFL my brother in-law sent me that video the other day. Gets him right in the ribs lol
 
RevDevil said:
T-ahhn-toh
Is how I pronounce it, don't like it? Tuff kitty! :mad:

Why do some people call a soft drink pop, while others call it a soda, and yet others call it a "Coke"?
Click to expand...

Stranger yet, why do some people get out of the shower to pee?
 
Ok, Asian dude chiming in... It all has to do with how that first Engilsh speaking dude heard it and romanized (ie 'translated' what he heard in Japanese/Chinese as spoken) into English alphabetical representation. He heard 'tawn-to' and wrote it tanto.

English has a funny way of pronouncing words differently depending on where they're from and their regional dialects. Like the word car. If an person heard the pronunciation most of us use it'd be spelt car (like it is). But if first heard by a person with a Boston accent, we just may be writing it 'cahh'.

Happens all the time and most people don't even know it. The one that makes me laugh all the time is karaoke. Japanese pronunciation is more like 'kah-dah-o-kay'. English speakers pronounce it 'carry-oakey'. But it's ok, everyone knows what they ment.
 
As others have said (and I agree)... the correct pronunciation of the Japanese word tanto is with the "a" making the "ahh" sound as in "Nissan" and NOT as in "candle". That said, English speakers are notorious for butchering non-English words so it's forgivable, at least until one becomes aware of the correct pronunciation (which, if you are reading this thread, you are now aware! :D). But once someone does learn the correct way to pronounce it, probably best to do so correctly. Why intentionally mispronounce words if you know better? :)

That said, old habits are hard to break for some folks... and I guess we all know what a person means with they incorrectly pronounce the "a" in tanto as in "candle".
 
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