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Based on the pronunciations here, what I hear in Anime, and the way I hear kana pronounced in Japanese class, it seems to me that Austin should start with ア rather than オ, but it is clearly spelled with an オ (reference). Why is this? Am I somehow seriously misunderstanding the way kana are pronounced?

I am assuming that the reason for this has to do with cot/caught merger in English. It seems to me that British people would very likely pronounce words like "Austin" with the オ sound. On the other hand, I pronounce Austin much like this guy.

This issue is particularly important to me because my last name also contains this same sound, and in class, I've been spelling it with an ア.

Earthliŋ
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user7432
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  • Well, there's also the fact that the "cot" vowel is rounded in some dialects of English, hence more likely to be perceived as an オ than an ア. (But I would say "Austin" with the "caught" vowel.) – Zhen Lin Oct 25 '14 at 22:02
  • I may be wrong (I'm not totally familiar with linguistic terms or the unmerged cot and caught), but in languages without cot-caught merger, isn't caught rounded, while cot isn't? Edit: Never mind I was wrong. – user7432 Oct 25 '14 at 22:25
  • After some research, it appears that only Australia uses a rounded vowel in cot. They use an open o, ɔ. Other dialects use a near open ɒ. American English (which I speak) uses the open ɑ. – user7432 Oct 25 '14 at 22:34
  • Wikipedia specifies /ˈɒstɨn/ or /ˈɔːstɨn/ as IPA for Austin (Texas) – 3 to 5 business days Oct 25 '14 at 22:35
  • @3to5businessdays Those pronunciations don't seem correct to me (someone living in Austin). I don't know anyone who pronounces Austin with a rounded vowel. ɐ seems far more appropriate than ɒ to me. – user7432 Oct 25 '14 at 22:48
  • I really can't hear a difference at all in the way I pronounce the vowel in cot and the vowel in Austin. I don't think that is abnormal here. – user7432 Oct 25 '14 at 22:56
  • I guess father-bother merger is what keeps Austin from having a rounded vowel, at least the way my friends and I say it. So, is the answer to this question really just that father/bother merger is responsible for my pronunciation of Austin seeming closer to あ than お? – user7432 Oct 25 '14 at 23:07
  • As an Austinite myself, I definitely pronounce it with [ɑ], but since Japanese is based off of spelling and in whatever idealised American dialect it's based off of 'au' is [ɔ], it comes out as オ. – Sjiveru Oct 26 '14 at 01:13
  • @Sjiveru Good to know I'm not insane about the pronunciation of Austin. Just to make sure my pronunciation of kana is also sane, would you agree that the way you pronounce the au in Austin is closer to ア than オ? – user7432 Oct 26 '14 at 04:20
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    @Sjiveru British accent, not American, I believe. –  Oct 26 '14 at 05:49
  • Though with some notable exceptions, e.g. カレッジ instead of コレッジ or ナンセンス instead of ノンセンス. – Zhen Lin Oct 26 '14 at 08:00
  • I suspect it has lot to do with luck as well. E.g. work is spelled ワーク and walk is spelled ウォーク and it took me years to realise the other way around would have made more sense. The fact the spelling converged this way was prob. merely down to luck. – Enno Shioji Oct 26 '14 at 08:32
  • In Japanese, Australia is オーストラリア, and Auction is オークション. So I'm afraid I feel オースティン is the "natural" katakana spelling even though native people may pronounce it differently. But of course you have the liberty to introduce yourself as アースティン. – naruto Oct 26 '14 at 17:03
  • @EnnoShioji Huh? "work" is not pronounced with a rounded vowel in either GA or RP, while "walk" is pronounced with a rounded vowel (unless the cot–caught merger is in effect). – Zhen Lin Oct 26 '14 at 20:13
  • https://jisho.org/search/austin – Jack Bosma Aug 28 '19 at 21:32

2 Answers2

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The main two factors in transcription from English to Japanese are

  1. (Japanese perception of) pronunciation in English
  2. spelling in English

Transcribing au as オー is the norm (note the lengthening!):

audio オーディオ
auction オークション
Australia オーストラリア
Austria オーストリア
audition オーディション
automatic オートマ (abbr.)
aura オーラ

Earthliŋ
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It takes a long time but I think asking "why" is usually the wrong approach in Japanese. At least I found it that way. Many of these words were adopted ages ago. As such they are Japanese words... they're just based on their foreign equivalents. Memorization & repetition is your friend.

Some others worth mentioning:

Bomb = ボム (I've seen this one done improperly as バム in a gaijin-run restaurant) Paul = ポール Scott = スコット

Tons more. Wait until you have to remember if it's カ vs キャ. Ex: Cat = キャット, Cut = カット, Carrot = キャロット, Carrier = キャリアー

kiss-o-matic
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  • I guess my question really stems from the fact that I have been spelling my last name with an ア even though I pronounce the first vowel in Austin exactly as I do the first vowel in my last name. This made me question my entire understanding of Japanese kana pronunciation and the spelling I chose for my last name. I do agree, though, that memorization is more important than knowing why. – user7432 Oct 26 '14 at 23:22
  • Surprisingly, I think I would naturally spell each of your examples of カ and キャ words exactly as you have shown them to be spelled. Generally, it seems to me that キャ is used for front vowels, while カ is for the back vowels. Notice that cut has an open-mid back unrounded vowel (ʌ), while cat, carrot, and carrier all have a near-open front unrounded vowel (æ) or (in some dialects of English) an open mid front unrounded vowel (ɛ). – user7432 Oct 26 '14 at 23:32
  • Indeed... the latter ones aren't too hard, but a few will sneak up on you if you're not careful. ;) – kiss-o-matic Oct 27 '14 at 07:15
  • @user7432 http://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/13098/1478 –  Oct 27 '14 at 10:58