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Particle WO/O

Fehrant

後輩
10 Feb 2006
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I'm confused. I thought the particle を (wo) and the particle "o" were two different things, then I started to noticed を was translated as "o", or maybe I mistook something? I'm extremely confused.

The particle "o" indicates the direct object, the target of the action, and the particle を indicates the direct object as well, although I'm not sure about the target of the action.

Gah. :mad:

Comments, please?
 
they are one and the same. Since the w is not pronounced, some people romanize it as "o," much like how some people write the particle は as "wa."

there is no "お" particle, there is only を. To ease the confusion, don't bother using romaji, and just stick to kana ;)
 
The Other O!

nice gaijin said:
there is no "お" particle, there is only を.
Are you sure? How about the honorific prefix 御 / お, like in お金, お箸, お茶 ...
お茶をどうぞ。 uses both "o"s. However, if you write it in romaji, you might get:
o-cha o douzo​
That's why romaji often uses "wo" to tell を and お apart, although the pronunciation is the same. This romanization is a bit easier to understand:
o-cha wo douzo​
 
Here's what Koujien says about を:

平安中期までは「う」に近い半母音〔w〕に母音〔o〕を添えた〔wo〕だったが、現代では「お」〔o〕と同じに発音する。

Until the mid-Heian period, pronounced as /wo/ (formed by attaching the semivowel /w/ to the vowel /o/, but currently pronounced the same as お/o/.


That's not to say it's never pronounced as /wo/. It certainly is pronounced that way often in music, probably moreso than in everyday speech.
 
Yeah, I've heard it pronounced "wo" in many songs. But when it's spoken, it's always pronounced the same as お by most people. So in those rare instances when doinkies uses romaji I usually romanize を as o.
 
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