The word “transformer” does a lot of transforming in these languages!
We know that Japanese loves to use English words, but it’s not the only language to do so. Korean and Chinese use borrowed English words all the time too, but when you hear these English words spoken aloud, you may not recognize them as originally English at all.
To show just how much some English words can change from language to language, YouTube channel The World of Dave recently invited Japanese, Korean, and Chinese guests to see what certain words sounded like in each one’s native tongue.
Watch the full video here, or scroll down for some highlights:
▼ Dave starts out with something simple
and universally loved: “transformer.”
▼ It turns into “transpomuh” in Korean,
here they seem to have trouble with the “f” sound.
▼ Dave writes out the Japanese pronunciation as “trans-homa,”
though we’d argue it’s closer to “trans-foma.”
▼ But everybody hears the Japanese pronunciation as “homa”
instead of “foma.” To be fair, they are very similar!
▼ Then we get the Chinese pronunciation: “bian xing jin gang.”
▼ Say whaaaaaat?!
To find out why “transformer” is completely different in Chinese, and see a bunch more cool pronunciation comparisons, be sure to check out the rest of the video.
If you want to see more, then check out Dave’s pronunciation comparison videos number one and two, and be sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel for more awesome culture and language videos.
Source: YouTube/The World of Dave via TOYCHAN
Images: YouTube/The World of Dave
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