Japanese sound system

Introduction step 3
part1

 

The key point is that

each syllable which is described in the chart at step 2

has the same length of the sound.

If a unit which is called Mora in English or Haku in Japanese

is counted as 1 mora or 1 haku, long vowels are counted 2 mora or 2 haku.

(1 haku is not pronounced like "ichihaku". 1 haku becomes 1 ppaku (ippaku) when it is pronounced, which is caused by a rule of Japanese counters).

 

 

short vowels

a

i

u

e

o

 

 

length:

mouth:

lips:

ah 

 

Shorten

narrow

eat

 

shorten

soon

 

shorten

 

less

lip-rounding

 

get

 

 

narrow

go

 

 

remove [u]

less

lip-rounding

long

vowels

aa

ii

uu

ee

oo

length:

 

 

double

pronounce them as a continuous sound, not as Staccato.

 

There are two types of transcription for long vowels.
The selection of which type is used in the textbook depnds on publisher's or writer's concept.

aa/ā, ii/ī, uu/ū, ee/ē, oo/ō

       Have you visit Japan? The place name, “Kobe” should be transcript
       “Koobe”, “Kōbe, or “Koube”

      

 

                               Let’s have a break! (Yasumimashoo!) 






part 2

Before reading the bellow, please install Japanese fonts in your computer, so that you can understand this part easily. The knowledge of Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji will be necessary soon or later, since your Kanji knowledge will not only enrich your vocabulary, but also will make rapid progress of your Japanese leaning.


Special Haku(or Mora)

There are 3 types of special Haku in Japanese.

                                       examples the number of Haku
 1. prolonged
    sound
    ( Chouon)

Look at these minimum pairs. The right file is the prolonged sound.

obasan(おばさん, aunt)      obaasan/obāsan(おばあさん, grandmather)


ojisan(おじさん, uncle)      ojiisan/ojīsan(おじいさん, grandfather)                                                                                                             

yuki(ゆき, snow)                yuuki(ゆうき, courage)

e(え、picture)                    ee(ええ、yes)

heya(へや, room)               heiya/heeya/hēya)(へいや, plain)

koko(ここ,  here)                koukou/kookoo/kōkō(こうこう,high school)

 "baa" is counted as 
1 syllable
2 haku
 2. syllabic nasal
    (Hatsuon)
                     

The sound of ん is not always the same sound. The mouth is
closed and pronounce is like the "ng" in "king".

before m,p,b ->pronounced "m"       ex.) Shinbun->shimbun
before n,t,d,z ->pronounced "n"       ex.) shintai->shintai
before k,g,ng, and the end of a word->pronunced "ng"
                                                          ex.) janken->jangkeng
The change is happened only in it's pronunciation and the
writing in Romaji or Hiragana and Katakana is never changed.
Just be careful in the case of "before m,p,b"

*shinbun(newspaper)

*shintai(body)

*janken(the game of scissors-paper-rock" to select a winner)

 "shin" is
counted as
1 syllable  2 haku   
 3. geminated
    consonant
    (Sokuon)
 		The sound small that is represented by small tsu(っ ）is written with double consonants in Romaji.

ex.) kippu( きっぷ, ticket )
       kitto(きっと, surely)
       massugu（まっすぐ, straight )
       kakko(かっこ, paretheses ) 		"kip" is
counted as
1 syllable
2 haku

"kippu" is
counted
2 syllable
3 haku

   (sound

   with ya,yu,yo)         

 

ex.) kya, kyu, kyo, sha,shu,sho...etc.
"kya" is
counted as
1 syllable
1 haku

Note: 
1. Compared with 3 types of special sound, each Hiragana( あ～ん), and also Katakana( ア～

    ン）is counted 1 letter 1 syllable, and 1 haku (1 haku is not correct. "ippaku" is correct
    counters usage. As for japanese counters, let's study later.
 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
2. "obasan" and "ojisan" refer to your/his/her/theiraunt/uncle or a general middle-aged
    woman and man. My aunt is "oba" and my uncle is "oji".

 

    Also, "obaasan"and "ojiisan"refer to your/his/her/their grandmather or grandmather.
    My grandmather is "sobo" and my grandfather is "sofu"


                                           Let’s have a break! (Yasumimashoo!)