(557) Important part of Japanese grammar

  Katsura Sunshine is a Rakugo comic story teller. He is Canadian. He has lived in Japan for about 20 years. A few years ago, he did his performance in Tront Canada. He did his comic story in English. It's about Japanese language. It goes like this.

  There is important part in Japanese grammar. It is called NOBASU. It is lengthening the vowel. It is almost imperceptible1) for Anglophone2) ear. If you lengthen the vowel you can really run yourself into trouble.

  I will give you some pairs of words that are troublesome.

Tori --- bird,
Toori --- road.

Now, if you mistake a bird for a road or a road for a bird, are given that much trouble.

These get worse.
Obasan --- madam,
Obaasan --- old lady.

Shujin --- husband,
Shuujin --- prisoner.

Komon --- supervisor,
Koomon --- ass hole.

His short story finished here.

--------------------------------------------------
1) imperceptible: not capable of being distinguished
2) Anglophone: a person who speaks English, especially in countries where English is not the only language that is spoken
--------------------------------------------------

I found "tori and toori" in a book, TONGUE TRIPPERS.

タング・トリッパー

• 出版社/メーカー: アルク
• 発売日: 2022/03/30
• メディア: 単行本

The book I have here is a one published in 1996, though.

The pair of obasan and obaasan is also mentioned in this book.

Even if you pronounce obasan properly, there is another thing to be careful. What you should be careful about is whether to address a middle-aged woman who is not your aunt as obasan or oneesan (used for younger women). This book advises like this. In cases where you're not sure which one to use, play it safe by using oneesan.  
*