Tokuga...huh?

[Ian Christie]

This is really rather unimportant, but it's wedged itself in my mind, and has been bothering me as of late.

For the longest time I pronounced Tokugawa, toe-ku-GOU-wa, then I was told (and the humorous thing is I don't even remember by whom) that it was pronounced toe-ku-guh-wuh. Which is it? Is it determined by region?

Any other general information is appreciated.

Thanks for your time,

[Shimura]

I would figure from my base knowledge of the Japanese language that if you break it down into its phonetic components, in this case To ku ga and wa, then it would br pronounced as Tou ku gah wah. Just my thoughts, perhaps off the mark. Any other Japanese speakers have anything to add.

[Ian Christie]

I have some very limited language study, and that's what I woudl have thought too. However, Tokugawa was a name, therefore it is kanji. Would that affect it at all?

[Shimura]

Anyone wish to break down the phonetics of the kanji?

[P Goldsbury]

Originally posted by Shimura
Anyone wish to break down the phonetics of the kanji?

As well as being the illustrious name of the shogun family, in this part of the country it is the name of a chain of okonomiyaki restaurants. The kanji is $BFA(B$B@n(B $B$H(B$B$/(B$B$,(B$B$o(B = to-ku-ga-wa.
$B!!(B
All the syllables are short and are not pronounced like diphthongs (i.e., as in TOE, which in Japanese would be $B$H(B$B$&(B, $B$H(B$B$((B, or $B$H(B$B$&(B$B$((B, as in the family name $B0f(B$B>e(B ($B$$(B$B$N(B$B$&(B$B$((B i-no-u-e).

Best regards,