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Why do japanese mix up L and R? Obv they can make both sounds

It’s not a situation like a German who doesn’t h...
Cerise psychic
  08/13/25
does their arphabet have characters that sound like R or L?
exciting mad cow disease
  08/13/25
They can't make both sounds generally. In Japanese the ...
exhilarant dark affirmative action rigor
  08/13/25
I don't think they do have both sounds, they have one sound ...
Irate fortuitous meteor
  08/13/25
they don't mix them up, it's only one sound in japanese t...
Racy lodge
  08/13/25
definitely not "just a meme" that they get them co...
Blathering Electric Double Fault Stage
  08/13/25
They don't "get them confused". They're just ...
exhilarant dark affirmative action rigor
  08/13/25
maybe its not as common as what youre talking about but i ab...
Blathering Electric Double Fault Stage
  08/13/25
all in your head
exhilarant dark affirmative action rigor
  08/13/25
not at all. it was mostly older ones. names especially theyd...
Blathering Electric Double Fault Stage
  08/13/25
Was self studying Japanese phonology for a while and this is...
tripping death wish pit
  08/13/25
No, they sometimes really do swap in both directions. I hav...
Cerise psychic
  08/13/25
...
Blathering Electric Double Fault Stage
  08/13/25
It's very confusing for them when they try to play SNES or N...
exhilarant dark affirmative action rigor
  08/13/25
lmao
Crimson supple clown dysfunction
  08/13/25
Both sounds are similar (all languages) in that you make the...
self-centered slimy nibblets
  08/13/25
They do it just to fuck with birdshits
harsh jet nursing home
  08/13/25
saw a jap lawyer with his Arren Edmonds on the wrong feet
rusted thriller market kitty
  08/13/25
Don't you mean "mix up err and all"
Awkward Wild Forum
  08/13/25


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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:10 PM
Author: Cerise psychic

It’s not a situation like a German who doesn’t have the “th” sound in his language and so needs to replace it with a “Z” sound. Where does the L/R mixup come from?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49181612)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:13 PM
Author: exciting mad cow disease

does their arphabet have characters that sound like R or L?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49181618)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:12 PM
Author: exhilarant dark affirmative action rigor

They can't make both sounds generally.

In Japanese the sound denoted by "r" is halfway in between "l" and "r", and there is no separate sound denoted by "l".

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49181616)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:12 PM
Author: Irate fortuitous meteor

I don't think they do have both sounds, they have one sound that sounds 1/2 way between L and R e.g. in the name of the city Sapporo the 'R' sound is just the tongue tapping the roof of the mouth, neither an L nor an R but a little of both

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49181617)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:13 PM
Author: Racy lodge

they don't mix them up, it's only one sound in japanese

the swapping in both directions thing is just a meme

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49181619)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:18 PM
Author: Blathering Electric Double Fault Stage

definitely not "just a meme" that they get them confused when trying to say english words

not just japanese ive heard koreans do it too

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49181641)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:19 PM
Author: exhilarant dark affirmative action rigor

They don't "get them confused".

They're just mapping both the "L" and "R" sounds in English to the same Japanese consonant sound, so they don't distinguish between the two.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49181645)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:21 PM
Author: Blathering Electric Double Fault Stage

maybe its not as common as what youre talking about but i absolutely have heard shit like "lever" being pronounced "revel"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49181647)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 3:48 PM
Author: exhilarant dark affirmative action rigor

all in your head

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49182228)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 4:02 PM
Author: Blathering Electric Double Fault Stage

not at all. it was mostly older ones. names especially theyd try to pronounce with proper english l/r sounds. like the example the other guy said about larry/rally

the oldest memory i have of this was a neighbors japanese grandma who would stay with them for months at a time. she could rarely get "levar burton" right and theyd always be giving her shit about it when reading rainbow or star trek TNG was on tv

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49182251)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:27 PM
Author: tripping death wish pit

Was self studying Japanese phonology for a while and this is the answer

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49181659)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 2:22 PM
Author: Cerise psychic

No, they sometimes really do swap in both directions. I have a Japanese client who pronounces “Larry” as “Rally”.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49182023)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 2:26 PM
Author: Blathering Electric Double Fault Stage



(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49182033)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:13 PM
Author: exhilarant dark affirmative action rigor

It's very confusing for them when they try to play SNES or N64 games.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49181622)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 4:01 PM
Author: Crimson supple clown dysfunction

lmao

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49182247)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:15 PM
Author: self-centered slimy nibblets

Both sounds are similar (all languages) in that you make them by letting air pass over your tongue with little or no friction in any part of your mouth ('liquids' or 'glides' in phonology)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49181629)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:16 PM
Author: harsh jet nursing home

They do it just to fuck with birdshits

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49181630)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:22 PM
Author: rusted thriller market kitty

saw a jap lawyer with his Arren Edmonds on the wrong feet

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49181648)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:23 PM
Author: Awkward Wild Forum

Don't you mean "mix up err and all"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5762013&forum_id=2:#49181652)