Is the T silent in tsunami?
Some English speakers – not all – simplify the word ‘tsunami‘ by not pronouncing the initial ‘t‘, so that it fits in with the phonological rules of English. Often silent letters in English are actually diacritic letters. This means that rather than being pronounced, they change the pronunciation of another syllable.
Is the T pronounced in tsunami?
The T in tsunami is pronounced. It’s most likely that you have not heard it pronounced in Japanese but it’s the same sound as zz in Pizza or the ts in hiTS. In English, the sound occurs when t is followed by s but the sound doesn’t occur natively at the beginning of a word.
How does Japanese pronounce tsunami?
Even when native English speakers say the word of Japanese origin, tsunami, they seem to be saying sunami. When speaking in Japanese, the difference in meaning between words that start with su, and words that start with tsu is enormous. In other words, mispronouncing tsu for su could wreak havoc.
What does tsunami mean in Japan?
Tsunami (soo-NAH-mee) is a Japanese word meaning harbour wave. A tsunami is a series of waves with a long wavelength and period (time between crests).