Okay so language question.

[mcc@mastodon.social]

Okay so language question. When Japanese speakers onomatopoeize "Bang", it sounds to me like they are saying "Pan". Are they saying "Pan" or "Ban", or are they saying "Bang" and it just sounds to me like "Pan" due to my limited familiarity with Japanese phonetics?

[datarama@hachyderm.io]

@mcc It is "pan" in French as well.

[snoopj@hachyderm.io]

@mcc it's ban but the difference between voiced and semi-voiced consonants can be really subtle

Edit: unless it's pan in some cases? I've never heard that myself and it's confusable with bread but… maybe?

[tuban_muzuru@beige.party]

@mcc

パン pan - gunfire
ドン (don) - heavier caliber weapons, artillery, mortars

[jason@logoff.website]

@mcc depending upon position, n, ng, and m are all allophones so it’s probably speakers don’t really differentiate them much

The b/p thing… idk? Maybe it’s just they’re closer in their phonetic inventory?

American English speakers tend to make these bilanials pretty plosive by default and I don’t think that’s as pronounced in Japanese.

[sabrinabonfert@wandering.shop]

@mcc it's ぱん (pan)
The p might sound more similar to b for you because it's unaspirated. As for the n, it can sound a bit like an ng.

[darkling@mstdn.social]

@mcc I don't know, but French guns go "pan! pan!" too.

[catch56@kolektiva.social]

@mcc I can ask a native speaker a bit later, but I think that 'bang bang' is 'pan pan' in a similar way that 'woof woof' is 'wan wan' i.e. it's a different word in Japanese.

[stilescrisis@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@mcc typically "ban"... can you share the source you're listening to?

EDIT: Google tells me both can be used! TIL.

[pikhq@social.treehouse.systems]

@mcc "Ban", more than likely

[raphael@mastodon.sdf.org]

@mcc http://headjockaa.g1.xrea.com/realjp/onomatope.html this site seems to say ban, for explosive sounds (aligns with what I know)

[sibaku@mas.to]

@mcc There are multiple, sound words for bang, both "ban" (バン)(https://jisho.org/word/%E3%83%90%E3%83%B3-3) and "paan" (パーン) exist (https://jisho.org/word/%E3%83%91%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B3-2) and some more. It might be though that they are hard to differentiate if you aren't used to the sound, especially the pauses (ー)

[video_game_king@mastodon.social]

@mcc If they're emulating English, then they're saying Bang. If they're speaking Japanese, they're saying Pan/Ban. Voiced velar nasals aren't common in Japanese, although they're not totally unheard of.

[vl_tone@mastodon.social]

@mcc In Bubble Bobble (arcade version), the bubbles go "pon" when they pop.

[jameswidman@mastodon.social]

@tuban_muzuru @mcc chef Emeril bakes bread in Japan:

パン!!

[greyduck@wellduck.me]

@mcc The resulting thread fascinates me, primarily because I'm that nerd who mains Kafka and her DoTs team in HSR, using the JP voice setting. (Yes... English interface/subtitles, JP voicing, in a Chinese game. Shrug emoji.)

[sibaku@mas.to]

@mcc I just asked a professional manga translator and he said "ban" is subjectively the most common one and applies to all kinds of bang sounds, while (as mentioned in another reply) pan/paan is generally more like with shooting weapons. So depending on where you heard it, this might help with the answer :D

[mcc@mastodon.social]

@sibaku hmm shooting weapons is mostly what i was thinking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bc14DujCOs

[estelle@mstdn.social]

@mcc i didn't know パン was an option but i haven't kept up with modern onomatopoeia

for reference, at the 6 second mark you will find a series of 3 バン:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGL3xU_RiSs

[catch56@kolektiva.social]

@mcc "could be either" for 'ban ban' or 'pan pan'.