Shhhhhh

Today in linguistics class, I learned about a difference in the Japanese pronunciation of "sh" and our American pronunciation of "sh".

It's difficult to describe in words, and I can't find good examples online. The Japanese "sh" is tighter, efficient. The American makes "sh" with a less-tense mouth and a lot more air against the teeth. The Japanese version makes your tongue's tip point down as the air becomes strained between the palate and the high-point bump of the folded-down tongue. The American version, the tip of our tongue is higher and kind of rounded, funneling air against and through the teeth.

(I'm using layman's terms above. You don't really want to know the technical terms for these kinds of articulations.)

It's not an important difference, meaning that the meaning with be clear to either Japanese or American if you use the wrong "sh."

When the teacher mentioned this, though, the whole class was kind of astounded. They, like I, had always heard the slight difference, but they'd been unable to pinpoint what made the sh-sounds different. So, for the next five minutes, the teacher continued to speak, but everyone in the class was going "Shhhh, shhhh."