I see this written in furigana and hiragana as 'あいて / aite'. However, every
source I have looked at also seems to be pronouncing it with an additional
syllable before it making sound as if it were 'ひらいて / hiraite'.

What is going on here? This is the first time I have encountered a word that
wasn't pronounced exactly as written in hiragana.
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2015-08-17T16:00:09.940
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2015-08-17T16:14:07.507
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pronunciation
Pronunciation of 開いて question
開く actually can be one of two words: 開く{あく} and 開く{ひらく}. These are separate
words that have slightly different meanings (but they both typically translate
to 'open'). It seems you were thinking of the former, あく, but you actually
found the latter, ひらく.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-08-17T16:14:07.507
27450
2015-08-17T16:14:07.507
9749
27449
answer