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This article deals with the Phonology (i.e. the sound system) of the Japanese Language . CONSONANTS
Note that this table does not cover all the consonantal variation in the Japanese language. Please refer below for the details of pronunciation. VOWELS Japanese has 5 vowels: Japanese vowels are pronounced as Monophthong s, unlike in English; they are similar to their Spanish or Italian counterparts. However, the High Back Vowel is somewhat Centralized as well as " Compression Rounded ", rather than protrusion rounded as , or unrounded as . More precisely, is pronounced with the lips compressed toward each other but not spread to the sides. The IPA transcriptions on the right side of the diagram at right are suggested by Okada (1999). Note, however, that there is no IPA symbol for lip compression, so no transcription will be complete. is transliterated as ''u''. The ''a'' is a higher pitch than English ''ah'' {Link without Title} , somewhere between the English ''a'' in "father" and the English ''a'' in "dad." The Japanese ''o'' is a "flat" ''o'', unlike the English one, which is a Diphthong . Try to keep your tongue lowered while pronouncing the Japanese ''o''. The ''i'' is like English ''ee'' in "feet." The ''e'' sounds to English speakers like a mix between short ''e'' in as in "bed," and long ''e'' as in "lay," though it is closer to the former than the latter. Vowels have a phonemic Length distinction (i.e., short vs. long). Cf. contrasting pairs of words like ''ojisan'' "uncle" vs. ''ojiisan'' "grandfather", or ''tsuki'' "moon" vs. ''tsūki'' "airflow". In most Phonological analyses, all vowels are treated as occurring with the time frame of one Mora . Phonetically long vowels, then, are treated as a sequence of two identical vowels, i.e. ''ojiisan'' is not . In some analyses, Japanese has no Diphthong s. However, going from the definition of a diphthong as "two vowels pronounced as one syllable," Japanese does have diphthongs. However, unlike English, in which diphthongs are perceived as single vowels, Japanese diphthongs are perceived as sequences of two different vowels. These vowel sequences are phonetically different from the diphthongs that occur in languages like English. In English, a diphthong such as the one in ''eye'' is pronounced as a vowel with a following off-glide: or ; while in Japanese the sequence in ''ai'' 愛 'love' is pronounced as (as in ''naïve'') where each vowel segment is of equal length. A glide plus a vowel is analyzed as a sequence of consonant and vowel. Within words and phrase, Japanese allows long sequences of phonetic vowels without intervening consonants, although the pitch accent and slight rhythm breaks help track the timing when the vowels are identical. PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES Japanese contains a number of phonological processes which greatly alter the phonetic realization of consonants and vowels. A few are listed below. Consonant processes weakening Non- Coronal Voiced Stops between vowels may be weakened to Fricative s, especially in fast and/or casual speech: However, is further complicated by its variant realization as a Velar Nasal . Standard Japanese speakers can be categorized into 3 groups (A, B, C), which will be explained below. If a speaker pronounces a given word consistently with the Allophone (i.e. a B-speaker), that speaker will never have as an allophone in that same word. If a speaker varies between and (i.e. an A-speaker) or is generally consistent in using , then the velar fricative is always another possible allophone in fast speech. may be weakened to nasal when it occurs within words — this includes not only between vowels but also between a vowel and a consonant. There is a fair amount of variation between speakers, however. Some, such as Vance (1987), have suggested that the variation follows social class; others, such as Akamatsu (1997), suggest that the variation follows age and geographic location. The generalized situation is as follows. =At the beginning of words
=In the middle of simple words (i.e. non- Compounds )
In the middle of compound words Morpheme -initially:
So, for some speakers the following two words are a Minimal Pair while for others they are homophonous:
To summarize using the example of ''hage'' はげ 'baldness':
palatalization & affrication The palatals and palatalize the consonants they follow: The Coronal s and Glottal are affected as follows: Of the allophones of , the Affricate is most common, especially at the beginning of utterances and after (or , depending on the analysis), while Fricative may occur between vowels. Both sounds, however, are in Free Variation . The (laminodorso-)alveolopalatal allophone differs from a palatalized apico-dental , a palatalized apico-alveolar nasal, or a Palatal Nasal . Similarly, while the symbols and may be encountered, they are not strictly correct, as they represent palatal stops, whereas the Japanese sounds are articulated more forward as alveolopalatal. Since there are no IPA symbols for alveolopalatal stops, and are reasonable compromises, if properly explained. In the case of the , , and , when followed by , historically, the consonants were palatalized with merging into a single pronunciation. In modern Japanese, these have become separate phonemes: The vowel also affects consonants that it follows: moraic nasal Some analyses of Japanese treat the moraic nasal as the Archiphoneme . However, other, less abstract approaches treat a syllable-final nasal as a regular Coronal . In either case, it always follows vowels (never consonants) and undergoes a variety of Assimilatory processes. Within words, it is variously:
Some speakers produce before , while others produce a nasalized vowel before (see Akamatsu 1997). moraic obstruent In some analyses of Japanese, the Archiphoneme is posited. However, not all scholars agree that this is the best analysis. In those approaches that incorporate the moraic obstruent, it is said to completely assimilate to the following obstruent, resulting in an Geminate (that is, double) consonant. The assimilated remains unreleased and thus the geminates are phonetically long consonants. does not occur before vowels or nasal consonants. This archiphoneme has a wide variety of phonetic realizations, for example: Another analysis of Japanese dispenses with /Q/ and other archiphonemes entirely. In this approach, the words above are phonemicized as shown below: neutralization
Vowel processes devoicing Japanese vowels, especially and , tend to be devoiced when between Unvoiced consonants except when they are in accented moras. Additionally, and are optionally devoiced following a voiceless consonant and at the end of an utterance. To a lesser extent (and even rarer ) may be devoiced with the further requirement that there be two or more adjacent moras containing . Devoicing is common in even normal slow speech and is not restricted to only fast speech. The common sentence-ending Copula ''desu'' is pronounced . Gender roles also play a part: it is regarded as effeminate to pronounce devoiced vowels, particularly the terminal "u" as in "arimasu". Basilect ic varieties of Japanese can sometimes be recognized by their hyper-devoicing, while in some Western dialects and some registers of formal speech, every vowel is pronounced. nasalization Japanese vowels are slightly Nasalized when adjacent to nasals . Before the moraic nasal , vowels are heavily nasalized: glottal stop insertion At the beginning and end of utterances, Japanese vowels may be preceded and followed by a Glottal Stop , respectively. This is demonstrated below with the following words (as pronounced in isolation): When an utterance-final word is uttered with emphasis, this glottal stop is plainly audible, and is often indicated in the writing system with a small letter ''tsu'' っ called a Sokuon . MORAS AND PHONOTACTICS If considered as a system of s defines possible moraic consonants as any voiceless obstruent, or a nasal, in the syllable coda position. Scholars disagree over whether the coda nasal is limited to or can also include ). A vowel may be preceded by an optional (non-moraic) consonant, with or without a palatal glide .
Consonantal morae are restricted from occurring word initially, though utterances starting with are possible. Vowels may be long, and consonants may be geminate (doubled). Geminate consonants are limited to a sequence of plus a Voiceless Obstruent , though some words are written with geminate voiced obstruents. In the analysis without archiphonemes, geminate clusters are simply two identical consonants, one after the other. In the writing system, each Kana corresponds to a mora. The moraic (i.e., the first half of a geminate cluster) is indicated by a small "tsu" symbol called a Sokuon (subscript ッ in katakana, or っ in hiragana). Long vowels are usually indicated in ''katakana'' by a long dash following the first vowel, as in ''sābisu'' サービス 'service'. The direction of this dash follows the Direction Of Writing . In English , Stress ed Syllable s in a Word are pronounced louder, longer, and with higher pitch, while unstressed syllables are relatively shorter in duration. In Japanese, all Morae are pronounced with equal length and loudness. Japanese is therefore said to be a Mora-timed language. On the other hand, since all syllables have equal stress in Japanese, some unstressed syllables in European Languages tend to be inaudible to the Japanese ear, leading to confusion. (Compare to the syllable system of Finnish and Italian .) PROSODY In Japanese, an accented mora is pronounced with higher Pitch than the following mora. This is part of the Japanese Intonation pattern. See also Japanese Pitch Accent . Japanese does have a distinct intonation pattern. This pattern can be heard not only in individual words, but also in whole Sentence s. Intonation is produced by a rise and fall in pitch over certain syllables. In the case of questions, the Japanese intonation patterns bear little resemblance to the English ones. This is a large source of confusion for many non-native speakers. The Japanese intonation pattern varies with regional Dialect . NOTES # Akamatsu (1997) speculates that only 10% of population are consistent users. # Note that the symbol ゜is used by Japanese academia to distinguish between and . BIBLIOGRAPHY
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