Top: Introduction and Contents >> 8. Pronunciation

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8.1. What are the differences between kana writing and real pronunciation?

Historical kana usage

(see also 4.1.2. Is there a kana symbol for ye or yi? for more about this spelling system)

For example, ikimashou was written as ikimaseu, the sokuon character (the small tsu indicating an extended consonant) was written as a large tsu, the verb iru was written as wiru, and so forth. People didn't speak like that: they spoke as they do now, but they wrote like that.

In the period of spelling reform, most of this old stuff was swept away and replaced with the modern system, which is more phonetic. For example the kana for we (ゑ) and wi (ゐ) are no longer used in modern Japanese because these sounds have disappeared. This meant for instance that several old kana writings were mapped onto one new one. For example both kuwa and ka were mapped onto ka. So, it's relatively easy to make a set of rules for making new spellings from the old ones, but one cannot work out the old spelling from the current one. You can find a complete list of the different types of old spelling, and which new sound they are mapped onto, in one of the appendices of the Koujien dictionary. You'll also find the old-style spelling in this book, and in almost any other Japanese dictionary.

Modern kana usage

1. The particles pronounced as on the left are written in kana as on the right.
   1. o = wo
   2. e = he
   3. wa = ha
2. Syllables (also known as moras) that begin with t but are nigoried (have the `` marks on them) are pronounced `zu' and `ji', exactly the same as `su''' and `shi'''. Most of the old spellings which used `tu"', (which we'll call du), and `ti"' (which we'll call di), turned into su'' (which we'll call `zu') and shi'' which we'll call `zi'. Hepburn and Kunrei romanization (see 4.3.5. What are the systems of romanization of Japanese? ) map both the sounds tu'' and su'' and ti'' and si'' onto the same romanized letters, because they are the same sound, but it makes converting back to kana difficult. Here I use nihon-shiki romanization (see 4.3.5. What are the systems of romanization of Japanese? ).

   For instance itadura, `mischief', became itazura, which is pronounced the same way. What did not change, were the words which clearly originated from a compound where the "tsu" or "chi" of one of the compound words had been nigoried in the process of compounding. For instance, kanadukai. meaning `kana usage' from kana and tsukai, did not change its spelling. Again, a list of the words which did and did not change their spelling in this way can be found in the Koujien dictionary.

3. In the chouon (lengthened vowels) of Chinese-derived words such as koushin (renewal), the "u" is actually pronounced as a continuation of the "ko", so in fact it's an "o". Note however that this does not apply to all words: the "u" of omou is not pronounced as an "o", it's a "u".
4. There are four different pronunciations of the kana "n" depending on the sound that comes after it.
   1. N is pronounced as M (as in Mark) if one of the sounds [p] [b] or [m] comes after it. For example, kimpatsu (blond), kembutsu (sightseeing), amma (massage). This is reflected in the romanization of the word. See 4.3.5. What are the systems of romanization of Japanese? .
   2. N is pronounced with an N as in snow if the sounds [t], [d], [r], [z], [dZ] (the"j" sound) or [n] follow it. For example, hantai (opposite), shindai (bed), shinrai (trust), kinniku (muscle)
   3. N is pronounced as in `think' if the sounds [k] or [g] follow it. For example, tenki (weather), bungaku (literature). This is also the N sound when it is in the final position. For example, hon (book).
   4. N is pronounced slightly differently when it occurs in the medial position succeeded by a vowel [a,i,u,e,o] or consonants [s], [w], [j], [h], [S] (the "sh" sound) and [F] (voiceless bilabial fricative). With the other n sounds, the air flow is completely through the nose. What sets this one off is that air flow is largely (and this varies from speaker to speaker a bit) through the mouth, although nasal air flow is also important.
5. There are two different pronunciations of the consonant "g" (ga/gi/gu/ge/go):
   1. The `G' sound you might hear in the English word 'go'. If the "g" comes at the beginning of a word, the g in ga/gi/gu/ge/go is pronounced this way. Also, all gairaigo words (words imported from foreign languages) except for some very old portuguese derived ones such as igirisu and porutugaru have the "g" pronounced in this way.
   2. A more nasal 'g' sound approximately like the `ng' sound in `sing' in English, "GN". Where the "g" comes anywhere but at the beginning of the word, it is supposed to be pronounced GN. The "ga" particle is also pronounced in this way. To make the GN sound you raise your tounge to the same position as G, and the velum (the fleshy thing in back of your throat) is lowered so that the air is forced through the mouth.
   Note that this is hyoujungo (標準語) (standard pronunciation), and many native speakers will differ from this set example.
6. Kana does not show the pitch accent of the words.
7. The verb "iu" is often pronounced "yuu".

Copyright (c) 1994-2006 Ben Bullock

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