Pronouncing 男の人 and 女の人

[ruminzal]

I understand the reading is おとこのひと (おとこ の ひと) for 男の人 which I’d expect to sound something like oh-toe-ko-no- “he-toe”, just reading the hiragana. But the audio sounds something like

おとこの`しょと, as if it were oh-toe-ko-no- “show-toe”

I noticed something similar with おんなのひと (ending is ひと but sounds like しょと)

Is this just because of 人 following の? I want to know if it’s a common thing with a rule, an exception dealing with politeness, or maybe just when using the possessive with descriptions of people.

Thank you

[Saida]

The はひふへほ sounds in Japanese have a bit of aspiration going on, that sometimes makes it sound closer to sh than h (or in the case of ふ more like f).

As for that ‘o’ sound you’re hearing, that is probably not there, but maybe the sound leaks over from all the other syllables that do have it in these words?

[Leebo]

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