[Reeka]

Main Entry: kar·a·o·ke
Pronunciation: "kar-E-'O-kE, k&-'rO-kE, "kä-rä-'O-(")kA
Function: noun
Etymology: Japanese, from kara empty + Oke, short for Okesutora orchestra
Date: 1981
: a device that plays instrumental accompaniments for a selection of songs to which the user sings along and that records the user's singing with the music

OK, when you borrow "foreign" words and try to incorporate them into English you run into problems, particularly when you try to "anglicize" a word that does not have an alphabet as we know it. So, you try to replicate a spellaing of a Japanese word from the original Japanese "kan-ji" (or is iit Kan-gi). Then you have to pronounce the word as close to how it is pronounced in the original language.

My understanding is that spelling is only an approximation of the spoken word and that the spoken word takes precidence.

I hope that Bardan will correct me if I am wrong on this.