100840
In this frame from ３月のライオン, Akari, the eldest of the Kawamoto sisters is being
referred to as おねいちゃん rather than おねえちゃん.
<https://gyazo.com/e039edc3be657a4f1082dd9d152c0ae7>

In this separate scene, it also sounds like she's being called 'おねいちゃん' than
'おねえちゃん' as well
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suKLH_18tPI&t=59s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suKLH_18tPI&t=59s)

Is おねいちゃん commonly used and what would be the difference from おねえちゃん?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-29T22:47:43.190
100837
2023-08-30T19:10:53.113
42007
question
pronunciation japanese-to-english
おねいちゃん vs おねえちゃん
おねいちゃん is just a misspelling of おねえちゃん. This word probably contains lengthened
vowel from _ane_ : _ane_ → _nē_ , so there is no rationale for _ei_ in this
word. (Compare the same process for _ani_ → _nī_.)

A part of Japanese population pronounces _ei_ within single morpheme as [e̞ː]
instead of [e̞i]. There are much more words with originally _ei_ than _ee_ /
_ē_ , so some persons, by analogy, may use _ei_ spelling even in cases where
it is not legitimate.

Regarding words with correct _ei_ spelling, pronunciation as [e̞i] or [e̞ː]
may depend on dialect, and also pronunciation as [e̞i] is more likely in
formal or careful speech.

Words with morpheme boundary in the middle of _ei_ (e.g. 眼{め}医{い}者{しゃ}
"oculist", 姪{めい} "niece" (this _me_ is the same morpheme as in words 女{め},
雌{めす}, 女{め}神{がみ}, 女{め}子{こ}, 娘{むすめ}, 嫁{よめ}, 姫{ひめ} etc.)) should have both
vowels pronounced distinctly: [e̞i].
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-30T04:23:48.383
100838
2023-08-30T19:10:53.113
2023-08-30T19:10:53.113
56758
56758
100837
answer
おねいちゃん is an incorrect or variant spelling/pronunciation of おねえちゃん. There is
no semantic difference.

In my perception, the usage of おねいさん is sometimes found in manga among
children or less educated people who otherwise use standard (Kanto) accent.
The most famous user of おねいさん is [Nohara
Shinnosuke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crayon_Shin-chan) (although he also
uses unusual words like オラ and speaks with a peculiar accent).

This type of "double vowel" confusion is characteristic of [Shitamachi
kotoba](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamanote_and_Shitamachi#Speech) of
Tokyo. However, this spelling isn't necessarily used to strictly represent a
specific dialect. It might simply be used as an (often cute) alternative
spelling to add flavor to a character.

I found an interesting analytical article by a language enthusiast
specifically about this topic:

[「おねいちゃん」という表記は方言に拠るものか](http://wotakokko.jugem.jp/?eid=275)

But there's probably no need to analyze it so strictly for most people. It's
fine to recognize it just as an uncommon alternative of おねえさん.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-08-30T05:22:53.473
100840
2023-08-30T08:51:07.327
2023-08-30T08:51:07.327
5010
5010
100837
answer