Tsunami Questions

[David]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

Is the "t" in tsunami silent or enunciated?

It is not silent. It is sounded. I guess I would call the "tsu" in "tsunami" a cross between a fricative consonant & a sibilant.

You can see the "tsu" in the Japanese hiragana alphabet, middle column, 4th from the top.



It is pronounced by putting a small patch on the top of the tongue on the palate directly behind the top front teeth, & forcing air through the "tube" formed by the tongue. The sound is similar to that in Yiddish in the word "tsimis" ("commotion" or "to-do").