Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-02-23
The UnpronounceabIe war Names

The CnpronOunceabIe War Names
BY no means the smallest task
confronting the average reader of
war news il TO pronounce the names
IF Japanese. Chinese, Korean and
Russian cities. Port Arthur is easy of
pronunciation because il is English
in its origin. Hajime Ota, japanese
worlds fair commissioner. has come
to the rescue of the suffer ng with a
statement Calculating the pronuncia-
ton Of names appearing in the war
news These names. he says. as a
rule are pronounced by the japanese
with little accent. The vowe!s are
spoken broadly" as AN" ''e' as
long "e." - as short e. 20" gener-
ally a4 co. but sometimes as Jaw.
and ~ a. 90" Quoting MIR. Ota.
the -. Louis Post-Dispatch says:
There j. little slurring of syllables:
the divisions are distinct. and a. "A
rule both the final letter of syllable
and the first letter of the following
enc retain their distinct pronuncia-
ton.
This leads Americans frequently TO
suppose that another sound has been
introduced between the syllables.
Take the name Toxic 1t is pro-
nounced Tokyo" the 20" in the first
syllable and the X in the second be-
ing given such individual pronuncia-
tion that when spoken rapidly it
sounds to the mnaccustomed ear much
like the ''ToakyOh."
49, i not spoken distinctly when it
begins the first syllable and is follow
ed by u a. in FukuokO. This word
is pronounced "FoO-kxoo-o-kah.'' the
sound being much as though il were
"fKwoC-o-kah.'
Here are some of the japanese
names most frequently met with in
the war news:
Tokio-Toa-kyoh.
-Nah-gah-sah-kee.
e-Hah-kU-dah-teh.
Kagoshima - Kah-go-shemah. Il
slight accent on the last syllable.
Shimono>eki-She-
acknowledgements
Sasebo-Sah-say-bo
Hiroshima - sHe-rO-she-nEIh (The
afiiX. "shima,' frequently found in
japanese names. signifies island"
Thus. sHEe-ro-island."
Tokushima - To-koo-she-Inah. TO"
"a TOW" i'm ''towhoat."
Takaoka -Tah-kah-oh-ka.
Na1Iao-Nah-nah-o
Tsurugo-T soo-roo-gah.
NHgata- Nzsh-zsh-gah-tah the dou-
BILE II. taking the sound of ''zhe-zhe."
The word has slight accent ON the
third syllable.
Fukuyama-F kyah-mah; slight ac-.
cent ON the first syllable.
Sakata Hah-kah-tah.
Ishikari-Eesh-ek ah-reY (bayl.
Osaka -Oh-sah-kah.
Shikoku- She-ko-hoo.
kiuShu ~ Kyu-shua. the first u
given its full sound.
I'm many respects Korean and
Chinese names are pronounced after
the same rules as Japanese. although
many have a decided accent on the
final syllable. Among them are:
Nalu-Iah-loo. river dividing Korea
and Manchuria.
Chemuipo - Chee-mweel-po. accent
on second syllable.
Masampa -Mah-sahm-pD, accent on
second syllable.
Mokpo-Mok-po. accent on first
syllable. the *" being sounded much
like the ''ch' in the German "ach."
Chefu-Chee-foo. accent on last syl-
liable. a. in the following instances:
Wiiu-Wee-zhoo.
Iongampo-I ong-ahm-po. the 'ng'
being sounded a. il is in French.
ii-Whah-eh-Zhce. the first two
syllables being practically only one.
Seoul-SoOl.
Fusan-Foo-sahn
-Wohn-Sohn.
Sungchin-SOhn-chee
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
GangGang-Na hng-yahng.
Kos eing-Ro-Seng
Samchok-Sa hm-chalk.
Chungju -Chwang-zhu. 'iu' signify
ing vile" as ''Chung-ville.'
Tient
n-Tah-leeR-wahn.
to-Sheen-wahn-tau.
i-Wee-high-way.
Kiaochau-Kwaw-ch
Pechili-Pee-chee-lee
IOWA REPUBLICAN ROW d
IS TAKEN INTO COURT