alt Hacker NewsThey’re not the same. おう is discernible from おお, and the difference can be important.
That said, this is far from the most important problem in Japanese pronunciation for westerners, and at speed the distinction between them can become very subtle.
Replies
jhanschoo • yesterday at 3:11 AM
Do you have an academic source that describes this difference in pronunciation in native speakers in normal usage?
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rokob • yesterday at 3:15 AM
I’m new to the language and thought these would be the same. But I just listened to some words with the two and the おお definitely has like a bigger o sound. That’s quite subtle.
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Yes, for instance こうり （小売）is completely different from こおり （氷）.
If you're trying to say that when those two denote /o:/ it is a different /o:/, you are laughably wrong.
It is not reliably discernible as a statistical fact you can gather from a population sample of native speakers over many words, if they are asked to speak normally (not using spelling as emphasis, or using the words in a song).