# Lisp in East Asian languages
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisp-in-east-asian-languages/575055
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 17, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisp-in-east-asian-languages/575055 "2011-03-17T19:08:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Anticounterrevolutionary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anticounterrevolutionary)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisp-in-east-asian-languages/575055/1 "2011-03-17T19:08:23Z")
Do any native speakers of East Asian languages lisp? Are there any speech impediments that are unique to that language group?
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### Author:  [@kun11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kun11)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lisp-in-east-asian-languages/575055/2 "2011-03-19T17:21:06Z")
I work with Japanese speakers and I have run into a few who have had lisps (even when speaking Japanese). I’m sure that there are many different kinds of problems but the one I have noticed is the “th” sound for “s”. Something like, “Sou nan desu ka” would sound like, “Tho nan dethu ka”. I find this particularly interesting because “th” is not a natural sound in Japanese and trying to teach someone to use it properly can be a real chore.