Klarinet Archive - Posting 000445.txt from 2000/02

From: Shouryu Nohe <jnohe@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Sure u / shouryu
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 00:28:16 -0500

On Thu, 10 Feb 2000, Rien Stein wrote:

> Tonight I suddenly started to wonder: U sign as "Professor of SCSM102", and
> I understand SCSM means as much as Sarcasm. What does the 102 mean?

Ah, it strikes again! It's just a joke, to make it seem like I teach
sarcasm as a course. Universities in the US have numeral desigations
after the department heading. For instance, applied clarinet for freshmen
and sophomores is MUS 230, for juniors MUS 330, for seniors MUS 430, and
graduates MUS 530. Applied Pedagogy and Methods is MUS 386, Applied
Pedagogy and Literature Study is MUS 486. '102' just makes the
designation into an actual CLASS. So instead of simply commanding the
subject, I actually teach the class.

*grin*

> and are
> you sure your name should not be read as "Sure you"?
>
> I really don't want to make fun about your name, but just wondered.

Not at all. This is quite understandable; mainly due to the use of
several different systems of ROMANJI, which is romanized Japanese.

The name is Sho-ryu. Typically, in full syllabics, it would be pronounced

SHO-O-RIH-YUH.

The reason for this is because the syllable 'sho' is actually not quite
spelled right. Instead of a typical 'o' sound, there is an extension in
the 'o' sound, meaning that you would hold out the 'o' vowel a little
longer than if you just said the word 'show.' Depending on the system of
Romanization you use, this can be notated either by drawing a dash OVER
the o, to show that you hold it a little longer, or by adding a u on the
back end. The 'u' (or the dash) does not change the 'o' sound from short
to long, it simply notates that the length of TIME in which you say that
particular vowel sound is lengthenend. You can also use an accent over
the lengthened vowel, although that is less commonly seen: Sho'ryu.

Also keep in mind that in Japanese, the SH syllable isn't as forceful as
the English SH. It is actually halfway inbetween the English SH and the
English hard S. However, the Japanese also have a hard S, as the English
do, and to differenciate, Romanization typically uses SH, and speakers
know not to make the SH as forceful.

Oddly enough, when I spoke short phrases and wrote stuff in Japanese in
high school, I preferred using the system with the dash to the one where
you add the u for length. But since I got my name before that, the
spelling is with the system I don't use. Or didn't rather; I don't speak
much Japanese these days - it has pretty much left me since high school.
Short phrases and exclamations in Japanese are habitual though, but I
can't translate or hold conversation, other than "Good morning, how are
you?"

In daily pronounciation, SHO-O-RIH-YUH, when said quickly, or by a really
white person (people who pronounce tamale 'tuhmollee'), turns into
Shore-you. The lengthened 'o' sort of vanishes and the 'u' becomes a bit
longer. I have no probably with this. ^_^ The lengthened 'o' is usually
pronounced correctly again when people shorten the name: Shour.
(Pronounced 'shore,' but held a little longer.)

Hey, everyone gets curious, right?

J. Shouryu Nohe
http://web.nmsu.edu/~jnohe
Professor of SCSM102, New Mexico State Univ.
"If I wanted a 'job,' I'd have gone music ED, thank you very much!"

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