48786
In various dictionaries, the word "市立" has "しりつ" listed as the main reading.
However, they then go on to list the reading "いちりつ", with a note saying "when
spoken to avoid confusion with 私立【しりつ】". This makes sense, as having the same
pronunciation for two words that are completely opposite to each other would
be... confusing, to say the least.

But in that case, when is しりつ actually used for 市立? If people pronounce it
いちりつ "when spoken", is there at _all_ a case where しりつ is used? And why is it
listed as the main reading in dictionaries?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-26T07:22:54.320
48755
2017-06-27T10:59:03.017
11751
question
readings multiple-readings homonyms
When is the "しりつ" reading of "市立" used?
しりつ is the "proper" reading, but because there is ample opportunity for
misunderstanding, say, 市立大学, "municipal university" as 私立大学, "private
university", people often say いちりつ for the sake of clarity. In the same way,
because situations often arise in which かがく could be either 科学, "science" or
化学, "chemistry", people often pronounce 化学 as ばけがく. A similar case in Englsh
is "oral" and "aural". People often pronounce "aural" as "ow-ral" (first
syllable rhyming with "cow") for the sake of clarity. I think all native-
speakers are aware that いちりつ has a limited special purpose, and if reading a
written text, either to themselves or out loud, would use しりつ.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-26T08:32:19.117
48759
2017-06-26T08:36:16.690
2017-06-26T08:36:16.690
20069
20069
48755
answer
When 市立（中学校｛ちゅうがっこう｝）and 私立（中学校）are well known in the same degree among the
members of the conversation, abruptly to say しりつ（中学校） may cause confusion. In
order to say which 中学校 you want to tell without confusion, you should say
市立｛いちりつ｝ or 私立｛わたくしりつ｝ instead of しりつ.

~~I think you know the term " **the universe of discourse** ", whose simple
definition is: _All things under consideration during a discussion,
examination, or study_.~~

~~いちりつ or わたくしりつ is **only used** when 市立｛しりつ｝ and 私立｛しりつ｝ are in "the
universe of discourse" **and also** the speaker thinks to say しりつ may cause
confusion.~~
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-26T11:21:29.110
48761
2017-06-27T10:59:03.017
2017-06-27T10:59:03.017
20624
20624
48755
answer
If I encounter unprefixed 市立大学, I would probably read it as いちりつだいがく to avoid
any confusion. But when I read 市立 as part of a longer proper noun including
the city name, I would use しりつ.

>   * 横浜市立大学 よこはま **し** りつだいがく
>   * 川崎市立川崎高等学校 かわさき **し** りつかわさきこうとうがっこう
>

Private schools never have the word 私立 as part of their proper school names.
So whenever you hear Xしりつ, it should mean X市立, and you don't have to use いちりつ.
(Reading it as いちりつ is not wrong, though)

By the way, in conversation, if you hear a mother say うちの子供をシリツの学校に行かせたい, it
usually means 私立の学校に行かせたい. The opposing idea of 私立 is 公立 (government-run
schools) in general, and people usually don't say something as specific as
子供を市立の学校に行かせたい.

The same is basically true for 科学/化学, etc. While it's common to read 化学 as
ばけがく, longer compounds like 化学反応式 are almost never read as ばけがくはんのうしき or such.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-27T05:57:13.447
48786
2017-06-27T06:05:55.750
2017-06-27T06:05:55.750
5010
5010
48755
answer