I’ve heard it pronounced both ways so I assume it’s a matter of preference
I’ve only ever heard dess-ka, never dessoo-ka.
I’ve had the impression people sometimes emphasize the す to be more formal, especially on the telephone. I remember my host mom would typically speak with more of a “des” ending, but whenever she took a phone call it sounded more like “desuu” with extra sauce on the す sound.
Depends on how fast I’m saying things. If I’m speaking slowly it’s de su ka. If I’m speaking normally it’s deska
8:35 for desu in particular but the whole video is well worth a watch.
/u/ becomes voiceless between two voiceless consonants and often at the end of a word. We don’t have anything similar in English so it’s hard to perceive and produce. But yes it is there but very quiet and in fast speech as every phoneme is shortened it becomes nearly imperceptible.
the u sound in su is very small, like all japanese characters, you say it fast and subtle. The u sound is only noticeable when there’s an extra u character after it.
in short, it’s more closer to des ka
I’m no expert, but it sounds like most characters that have an U vowel often drop the vowel part, or at least barely touch it.
deska
[deleted]
Yes, but not strong enough.
My Japanese friend would only pronounce the “u” if he were speaking to a police man.
There are a few ways, all of them seem to be technically correct. Des-ka, desuka, and somewhere in-between. I don’t think anyone would care, but it does sound strange saying “Desooka”
My Japanese Teacher, (From Japan) said “Girls say with ‘U’ sound It makes them sound girly, you’re a boy so say ‘des’”
🤷
In a linguistics class I heard it described as a “/u/ colored /s/“
it’s almost always “deska” but ですが is pronounced “desu(n)ga”
Soft desska if I’m just speaking
Hard su if I’m getting impatient with the listener
It goes back and forth, like I typically don’t but sometimes when I say like “ないです” I’ll pronounce the す but I don’t really have a rhyme or reason for it
I’m not sure but I think pronouncing the す is for more formal interactions
“I know when at the end of a sentence it’s simply “Des” and not Desu.”
Oh, not necessarily. I remember being relocated to Kansai and being thrown off by that.
Technically it’s always supposed to be “su”, I just say “su” and “s” where it feels more natural for me. Never thought about that. Note that I’m still a beginner so take it with a grain of salt
Either is fine
ですか -> Usually it is read as “Des ka” But SOMETIMES, in a more “formal” way you can hear “Desu ka” But also in that case the “u” is not so strong.
Same for “ですね” or “ですよ” You can hear lightly the “u”
It also depends on the dialect, some prefecture have a different accent and different pronunciation for “Desu”
23 comments
I’ve heard it pronounced both ways so I assume it’s a matter of preference
I’ve only ever heard dess-ka, never dessoo-ka.
I’ve had the impression people sometimes emphasize the す to be more formal, especially on the telephone. I remember my host mom would typically speak with more of a “des” ending, but whenever she took a phone call it sounded more like “desuu” with extra sauce on the す sound.
Depends on how fast I’m saying things. If I’m speaking slowly it’s de su ka. If I’m speaking normally it’s deska
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYQM7BhJJns
8:35 for desu in particular but the whole video is well worth a watch.
/u/ becomes voiceless between two voiceless consonants and often at the end of a word. We don’t have anything similar in English so it’s hard to perceive and produce. But yes it is there but very quiet and in fast speech as every phoneme is shortened it becomes nearly imperceptible.
the u sound in su is very small, like all japanese characters, you say it fast and subtle. The u sound is only noticeable when there’s an extra u character after it.
in short, it’s more closer to des ka
I’m no expert, but it sounds like most characters that have an U vowel often drop the vowel part, or at least barely touch it.
deska
[deleted]
Yes, but not strong enough.
My Japanese friend would only pronounce the “u” if he were speaking to a police man.
There are a few ways, all of them seem to be technically correct. Des-ka, desuka, and somewhere in-between. I don’t think anyone would care, but it does sound strange saying “Desooka”
My Japanese Teacher, (From Japan) said “Girls say with ‘U’ sound It makes them sound girly, you’re a boy so say ‘des’”
🤷
In a linguistics class I heard it described as a “/u/ colored /s/“
it’s almost always “deska” but ですが is pronounced “desu(n)ga”
Soft desska if I’m just speaking
Hard su if I’m getting impatient with the listener
It goes back and forth, like I typically don’t but sometimes when I say like “ないです” I’ll pronounce the す but I don’t really have a rhyme or reason for it
I’m not sure but I think pronouncing the す is for more formal interactions
“I know when at the end of a sentence it’s simply “Des” and not Desu.”
Oh, not necessarily. I remember being relocated to Kansai and being thrown off by that.
Technically it’s always supposed to be “su”, I just say “su” and “s” where it feels more natural for me. Never thought about that. Note that I’m still a beginner so take it with a grain of salt
Either is fine
ですか -> Usually it is read as “Des ka”
But SOMETIMES, in a more “formal” way you can hear “Desu ka”
But also in that case the “u” is not so strong.
Same for “ですね” or “ですよ”
You can hear lightly the “u”
It also depends on the dialect, some prefecture have a different accent and different pronunciation for “Desu”