Is it normal i don't actually know how to pronounce manga?

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Look, I am in an older generation, I have no kids, my friends' kids are all 40+ (therefore not interested in the medium, hence ignorant like I am), and I am not sure if it's like " Mangiamo - let's eat" in Italian, i.e. soft G=J, or if it's hard like Ga as in Lady Gaga.

Thanks for your help. BTW I have wiki-ed this and the pronunciation as written there didn't explain it either.

BTW if some kind soul could let me know how it is pronounced I will be eternally in your debt!

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  • MissyLeyneous
    11 years ago | pl

    I've always said Mahn-Gah.

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  • Anime7
    11 years ago | pl

    I pronounce it with the 'ang' like mANGa. But people correct me and replace the first a with an o like mONGa. I'll always keep pronouncing it the first way though since I think it sounds better.

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    • VioletTrees
      11 years ago | pl

      It's with a short O sound, not an A sound like in "man". The A sound you're using doesn't exist in Japanese. "Manga" is written phonetically as まんが. The "ま" there is pronounced "ma", like "mama".

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  • 800imawesome
    11 years ago | pl

    I sai it like "Maynga"

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  • 7114garrett
    8 years ago | pl

    It's pronounced "kiddie porn".

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  • Voray
    9 years ago | pl

    I pronounce it as MAN-GUH.

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  • Ijustknowimweird
    10 years ago | pl

    Its like Manggáh

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  • Super_tight
    10 years ago | pl

    Its a long "A" or so I've been told.....

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  • kelili
    11 years ago | pl

    That's so good! Thanks for the laugh! Thanks to all of you guys. Actually I pronounce it mANG - ga and Ga like in GAGA

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  • VioletTrees
    11 years ago | pl

    I actually speak some Japanese. The correct way to say "manga" is with "ma" as in "mama". All A's in Japanese words are pronounced with the short O sound.

    All G's are pronounced with the hard G sound, like in "gamble" or "go". All Japanese words with soft G sounds, like in the English words "rage" and "lodge" are written with a J.

    So, the "mang" part rhymes with "song", then you add "gah".

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago | pl

      No, mama and song do not have the same vowel sound in English, sorry.

      Is it more like mamasan with the end fitting the word manga or more like muh-?

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      • VioletTrees
        11 years ago | pl

        You must have a different accent from mine. The A in "mama" has a slightly different sound from the O in song in my accent, but it's not appreciably different.

        Here, just click the little pronunciation thing on here: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/manga

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        • Anonymous Post Author
          11 years ago | pl

          Mama = ah, song = aw, very noticeably different, I have a typical West Coast U.S. non-accent.

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          • VioletTrees
            11 years ago | pl

            Oh, there's the problem! I'm on the east coast, and we don't say "song" like that at all, here. Use the "mama" "ah" sound then.

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  • SangoNyappy
    11 years ago | pl

    It's pronounced with G like in Lady Gaga but I think it might be difficult to pronounce some Japanese word for foreign people. I'm just lucky that my language has similiar pronounces as Japanese.

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  • Avant-Garde
    11 years ago | pl

    I usually say it like (mag-na) but if you buy a magna from Viz or Shoen Jump (did I spell that right?) they tell you in the back that it's (mANG-ga).

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  • Anonymous Post Author
    11 years ago | pl

    So you're saying "mang ah" and the g is not really pronounced at all, kind of like in Tagalog 'ang' or Vietnamese 'Ng' or even the stereo typical "how's it going maing" among Latinos where the sound is in the back of the throat?

    So neither of my thoughts was even close.

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    • RoyRogers
      8 years ago | pl

      I guess

      Mon-ga or Man-ga

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    • VioletTrees
      10 years ago | pl

      "Maing" is not how it's pronounced. The first part is pronounced "mong".

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    • 1000yrVampireKing
      10 years ago | pl

      I always thought it was Mang a.

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    • VioletTrees
      11 years ago | pl

      No, the G is pronounced.

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    • [Old Memory]
      11 years ago | pl

      I pronounce it manga, ma as in the word may. Ma-n-guh. I think the "proper" way to say it is with the Tagalog "ang" with g pronounced (Mahn-gah) but like Anime7 said I don't like it. I'm use to the first pronunciation. I don't know if it's suppose to end in an "ah" sound but I end it with an "uh" sound. And it doesn't sound like the Tagalog word mga/manga, at least not the way I pronounce it.

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  • Terence_the_viking
    11 years ago | pl

    it's actually pronounced MAYN JER

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      11 years ago | pl

      like in this song: "Hentai in a manga no room for his *head*"

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