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I am a beginner to Japanese and playing Pokémon has got me interested. I am
learning Katakana and wondering why in Pikachu it is «ピカチュウ» instead of
«ピカチュ». Do you have any explanations or links to offer?
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2018-03-29T22:52:42.820
57609
2018-04-08T09:46:34.673
29351
question
katakana
Katakana - チュウ vs. チュ
チュウ is similar to チュ but pronounced with [a long vowel](https://www.learn-
japanese-adventure.com/what-are-sokuon-and-long-vowels.html). Some English
speakers seem to have difficulty distinguishing them, but they are very
different at least to the ears of native Japanese speakers.

Do you already understand [the long vowel
marker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%8Donpu)? Then ピカチュウ is pronounced
the same way as ピカチュー. Etymologically, this
[チュウ](http://jisho.org/word/%E3%81%A1%E3%82%85%E3%81%86) is the Japanese
version of "squeak", the sound of mice/rat.
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2018-03-30T01:10:00.560
57610
2018-03-30T01:10:00.560
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answer
Pikachu, the famous Pokémon, derives its name from a combination of words. As
you've noted, in English, we write his name with one U at the end. However, in
Katakana, you would write ピカチュウ (pikachū) instead. There are two main reasons
why this is.

The first and more important reason, which explains the Katakana, is that
ピカチュウ is a made-up word of the combination of the onomatopoeic words ピカ and
チュー.

> ピカ = The sound a spark makes
>
> チュー = The squeak of a mouse

ピカ coincidentally also happens to be the name of a mouse-like animal in real
life and actually served as the original inspiration for the design of the
Pokémon ピカチュウ. Functionally speaking, チュウ and チュー are pronounced the same, and
it's easy to see the correlation.

The second reason explains why in English it is Pikachu with only one U.
Spoken Japanese has a generally short vowel duration, and it is common to see
words that have foreign origins such as English have their vowels extended
because the sound of vowels in English is thought to be longer than the sound
of vowels in Japanese, that is, if it is a two-vowel length sound in Japanese,
it can easily be read as a single-vowel sound in English, and vice-versa.
Therefore, チュウ and "chu" (in English) have about the same pronunciation
length.
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2018-03-30T01:14:21.073
57611
2018-04-03T16:36:47.313
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
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answer
ピカチュウ is the long vowel of ピカチュ. In the beginning, you might not see the
difference, but with continuous practice, you'll see that the difference in
pronunciation is clear. Also, it can be pronounced ピカチュ for the sake of speed
talk, but most likely it's going to be pronounced ピカチュー. (It can be written
with － or ッ(small tsu).)

Edit: Here's a video explaining it in more detail: [Katakana long vowels
(YouTube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6qSdlynjww)
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2018-04-03T20:39:53.767
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2018-04-08T09:46:34.673
2018-04-08T09:46:34.673
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