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Japanese Tongue Twisters (早口言葉)

zoomingjapan

Japan Travel Expert
Joined
18 Jun 2012
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I love Japanese tongue twisters. They're so much fun.
My favorite ones are:

庭には二羽鶏がいる。
(niwa ni wa niwa niwatori ga iru)
There are two hens in the garden.

この布は名の無い布なの。
(kono nuno wa nano nai nuno na no)
This cloth is one that has no name.

隣の客はよく柿食う客だ
(tonari no kyaku wa yoku kaki kuu kyaku da.)
The customer next to me is one that eats kaki fruit often.

There are extended versions of the ones above, too, so you can try to challenge yourself! *g*

There are very cute ones that are more for really young kids such as:
ママのマカロニマママカロニ、パパのパパイヤパパパイ ヤ
(mama no macaroni = mamamacaroni; papa no papaya = papapaya)

There's so much more! What's your favorite one?
If you want to find more just google for "早口言葉" (hayakuchi kotoba). (^__^)b
 
The most difficult one to pronounce, I believe, is 東京特許許可局(Tōkyō tokkyo kyokakyoku) and バスガス爆発(Basu gasu bakuhatsu).
 
Again the extended version is even worse, e.g.:
東京特許許可局長今日急遽休暇許可拒否
(とうきょうとっきょきょかきょくちょうきょうきゅうきょきゅうかきょかきょひ)

I don't know why, but for me "バスガス爆発" is not a tongue twister at all. It's so easy to pronounce. (') ....
 
アンナさんかあなたが温かかっただか is one a friend showed me, and I have troubles saying it fast.
 
The most difficult one to pronounce, I believe, is 東京特許許可局(Tōkyō tokkyo kyokakyoku) and バスガス爆発(Basu gasu bakuhatsu).

This was the first one I tried to learn.

But to be honest I think saying post office in Japanese is hard as well... lol
 
I also find 東京特許許可局(とうきょうとっきょきょかきょく) hard to pronounce correctly,
I tend to say とうきょうとっきょきょきゃきょく

Likewise;

隣の竹藪に竹立て掛けた(となりのたけやぶにたけたてかけた
→ たけたけかけた?

赤巻紙青巻紙黄巻紙(あかまきがみあおまきがみきまきがみ
→ きまきまぎ

They look rather simple but the last parts always cause problems.
 
隣の竹藪に竹立て掛けた(となりのたけやぶにたけたてかけた
→ たけたけかけた?

Personally I find this one really hard to pronounce! A real tongue twister for me! ^-^;
 
Another one I can't pronounce well is お綾や親にお謝り(おあややおやにおあやまり).
 
An original, and which more than being a tongue twister is meant to help beginning learners realize the importance of elongated vowels and glottal stops in Japanese (a couple of points English speakers tend to gloss over):

一昨日夫の弟のオトトの嘔吐の音を聞いた。 (おとといおっとのおとうとのおととのおうとのおとをきいた)
 
東京特許許可局長今日急遽休暇許可拒否

Whoa. I didn't realize there was more to that one.

一昨日夫の弟のオトトの嘔吐の音を聞いた。

Is オトト 魚津弁 for 父親? Or is it something else? It's a bit strange semantically in that case, since the father of one's husband's younger brother would usually be the father of the husband as well, but it's a clever invention at any rate.
 
Japanese Tongue Twisters (早口言葉)

I believe it is a childish word for "fish".
 
I see. Somehow I feel like we've had this conversation before...
 
Japanese Tongue Twisters (早口言葉)

We're both at the age where we start repeating ourselves. Just be glad you still have enough of your brain left to notice it.
 
Yes, well... Great. I have been trying to avoid it, though. I guess as long as I can keep the occurrences down below... 10 a year I'll be OK (I just pulled that number out of thin air).
 
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