‘Tis the season of karaoke parties, including TechKaraoke, giving me plenty of opportunity to hear the word “karaoke†mispronounced and even misspelled to fit the mispronunciation. Tonight, it was Ryan Owens on “ABC World News with Charles Gibson†that put me over the top.
Karaoke originated in Japan and it is a Japanese word meaning empty orchestra.
“Kara” comes from “karappo” meaning empty, and “oke” is the abbreviation of “okesutura,” or orchestra. I arrived in Japan in 1981, in plenty of time to participate in many hours of obligatory karaoke business entertainment during my twenty years working there.
Since karaoke is a Japanese tradition that we now enjoy here in the USA, it would be nice if we could pronounce it.
Japanese words are actually straightforward and simple to pronounce. If you know some Spanish, then you are familiar with the vowels and you should be able to sound out any Japanese word that you see written in roman letters. You should also be able to spell any Japanese name that you hear without having to have it spelled for you.
There are many things that make Japanese a difficult language but pronunciation is not one of them.
Please enjoy your festive singing this holiday season. May you be safe, healthy and happy.
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Articles linking to this post:
http://www.soundchoicestore.com/you-dont-have-to-know-how-to-spell-karaoke-to-sing-along-pg-54.html
13 responses so far ↓
1 Marsha Collier // Dec 23, 2008 at 11:38 pm
OK, so now I can pronounce it – I’m still never going to do it! Thanks for the proper pronunciation!
2 vanessa // Dec 24, 2008 at 3:18 am
I’m with Marsha, I don’t think I’ll be singing anytime soon. I’m happy to play piano for anyone who wants to give it a go though!
3 Jesús // Dec 29, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Allright… KARA-OKE then! That was easy!
4 Erin // Dec 30, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Linda! I have often wondered about the correct pronunciation. Now I know and I can correct all my friends
Also, thanks so much for reading my blog last week. I actually celebrated my birthday at Tokyo Delves, a fun sushi bar in North Hollywood.
Have a Happy New Year!
Erin’s last blog post..Magnetized by the Mic While I Kick My Juice
5 Zipporah Sandler // Jan 9, 2009 at 7:01 am
Funny how there are certain words that have become a part of the American vernacular that we struggle with. Thank-you. Yes, I can now pronounce it, but no I won ‘t be DOING it any time soon, and YES you should be thanking me for that.
Zipporah Sandler’s last blog post..Finding The Mansion
6 Csalomonlee // Jan 9, 2009 at 9:59 am
Thanks Linda! I learned how to say this when I studied/worked in Taiwan, which has a strong Karaoke culture as well. Now I can show this to my hubby and he won’t tease me on how I say it =)
Csalomonlee’s last blog post..Why Meetings Still Matter
7 Carol // Feb 13, 2009 at 12:03 pm
On Point on NPR had a story about karaoke:
http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2009/01/karaoke/
They gave major points to the expat calling in from Japan for her pronunciation. I still believe if you don’t speak Japanese or live in Japan, it’s just going to sound jarring in an English sentence.
8 tracy // Mar 19, 2009 at 9:50 am
Is it better to enunciate all four syllables, or slur it down to three syllables? ka•ra•oh’•kay or ka•row’•kay ?
9 LindaSherman // Mar 19, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Tracy, Thanks for asking!
Japanese language is flat so there no emphasis any syllable. There is no slurring.
10 LindaSherman // Mar 19, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Thanks so much to Marsha, Erin, Zipporah, CeCe and Carol for your comments!
11 Nancy // Dec 27, 2009 at 8:10 am
For all those non believers that have pronounced Karaoke WRONG for years, here ya go. I wasn’t wrong, the rest of you were. My friend Ecko, (Tina in America.), told me how it was pronounced! Thanks sweetie!!
12 Jim // Jan 1, 2010 at 12:10 am
My 20 year old son is stationed on Okinawa Japan as a Marine MP – he just told me Karaoke bars and clubs are every where – he even belts out a few now and then (still waiting for the video). Thanks Jim
13 LindaSherman // Jan 10, 2010 at 11:44 pm
Thank you Nancy and thank you Ecko – we’re improving American pronunciation one person at a time.
Jim – seeing as how he is an MP, the applause should be very polite.
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