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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...
violet antidepressant drug wrinkle
  08/13/25
does their arphabet have characters that sound like R or L?
Adulterous turdskin
  08/13/25
They can't make both sounds generally. In Japanese the ...
disrespectful menage
  08/13/25
I don't think they do have both sounds, they have one sound ...
Razzle-dazzle heaven sex offender
  08/13/25
they don't mix them up, it's only one sound in japanese t...
Histrionic Lay
  08/13/25
definitely not "just a meme" that they get them co...
thirsty useless brakes
  08/13/25
They don't "get them confused". They're just ...
disrespectful menage
  08/13/25
maybe its not as common as what youre talking about but i ab...
thirsty useless brakes
  08/13/25
all in your head
disrespectful menage
  08/13/25
not at all. it was mostly older ones. names especially theyd...
thirsty useless brakes
  08/13/25
Was self studying Japanese phonology for a while and this is...
judgmental duck-like market mad cow disease
  08/13/25
No, they sometimes really do swap in both directions. I hav...
violet antidepressant drug wrinkle
  08/13/25
...
thirsty useless brakes
  08/13/25
It's very confusing for them when they try to play SNES or N...
disrespectful menage
  08/13/25
lmao
Crawly black woman
  08/13/25
Both sounds are similar (all languages) in that you make the...
Mint Adventurous Personal Credit Line Set
  08/13/25
They do it just to fuck with birdshits
Motley greedy roast beef
  08/13/25
saw a jap lawyer with his Arren Edmonds on the wrong feet
Deep Gas Station
  08/13/25
Don't you mean "mix up err and all"
Fragrant cruise ship ape
  08/13/25


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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:10 PM
Author: violet antidepressant drug wrinkle

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...id.#49181612)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:13 PM
Author: Adulterous turdskin

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

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



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:12 PM
Author: disrespectful menage

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...id.#49181616)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:12 PM
Author: Razzle-dazzle heaven sex offender

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...id.#49181617)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:13 PM
Author: Histrionic Lay

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...id.#49181619)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:18 PM
Author: thirsty useless brakes

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...id.#49181641)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:19 PM
Author: disrespectful menage

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...id.#49181645)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:21 PM
Author: thirsty useless brakes

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...id.#49181647)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 3:48 PM
Author: disrespectful menage

all in your head

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



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Date: August 13th, 2025 4:02 PM
Author: thirsty useless brakes

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...id.#49182251)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:27 PM
Author: judgmental duck-like market mad cow disease

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...id.#49181659)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 2:22 PM
Author: violet antidepressant drug wrinkle

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...id.#49182023)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 2:26 PM
Author: thirsty useless brakes



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



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:13 PM
Author: disrespectful menage

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...id.#49181622)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 4:01 PM
Author: Crawly black woman

lmao

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



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:15 PM
Author: Mint Adventurous Personal Credit Line Set

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...id.#49181629)



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:16 PM
Author: Motley greedy roast beef

They do it just to fuck with birdshits

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



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:22 PM
Author: Deep Gas Station

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

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



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Date: August 13th, 2025 12:23 PM
Author: Fragrant cruise ship ape

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

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