It is 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.
Linda Performing Karaoke in Japan During a Company Retreat (before karaoke machines)
Please enjoy your festive singing this holiday season. May you be safe, healthy and happy.
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OK, so now I can pronounce it – I’m still never going to do it! Thanks for the proper pronunciation!
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!
Allright… KARA-OKE then! That was easy!
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!
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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.
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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 =)
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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.
Is it better to enunciate all four syllables, or slur it down to three syllables? ka•ra•oh’•kay or ka•row’•kay ?
Tracy, Thanks for asking!
Japanese language is flat so there no emphasis any syllable. There is no slurring.
Thanks so much to Marsha, Erin, Zipporah, CeCe and Carol for your comments!
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!!
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
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.
Boy, the “r” in Japanese is more of a soft T or D sound, huh? KAH-da-OH-KEH.
Yes, the Japanese R is indeed softer than the English R especially, if you compare the sound of R in the middle of a word. For an R at the beginning of a word, it is slightly harder but not as hard as English. For instance “raishu” for “next week” is still relatively soft compared to English. Remember there are no “L’s” in Japanese, they are converted “R’s”. So my name is pronounced “Rinda”.
Stumbled a crossed this in a google search, greatly appriciated!
An impressive share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on this.
And he in fact ordered me lunch because I
found it for him… lol. So allow me to reword this….
Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending some time to discuss this issue here on your web site.