The sound in all three words you listed is the same
Its a cross between s and sh and is pronounced the same in all those words.
Closer to shi
But I have seen it romanized as “si” sometimes (the pronunciation doesn’t change or anything. It is still pronounced ‘shi’ and there is no ‘si’ sound in Japanese)
I’ve only heard it pronounced as SH but I’m not a Japanese teacher so 🤷♀️
4 comments
Neither. It’s a [sound that doesn’t exist in English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_alveolo-palatal_fricative), except in certain limited positions in some accents. Generally it’s closer to sh/[ʃ] than s, but distinct from both
The sound in all three words you listed is the same
Its a cross between s and sh and is pronounced the same in all those words.
Closer to shi
But I have seen it romanized as “si” sometimes (the pronunciation doesn’t change or anything. It is still pronounced ‘shi’ and there is no ‘si’ sound in Japanese)
I’ve only heard it pronounced as SH but I’m not a Japanese teacher so 🤷♀️