faq-1.wav
A-o-i (three beats)
Blue
1. Me dijiste que el sonido en Japones
son silabas, pero a veces no oigo vocales como en u
en "desu."
Buena pregunta! Por alguna razon
(tal vez para facilitar la pronunciación?), "cuando "i" y "u"
estan enmedio de dos sonidos no de vocal (p, t, ts, ch, k, s, sh, h, or
f) tienden a ser susurrados." (Japanese for everyone,
1990, p. 11, Gakken)
Tal vez, pasaste un mal rato oendo vocales (marcadas con rojo) en
las siguientes palabras;
Watakushi, sukiyaki,
moshikashite,
doushite, y mas.
2. In lesson 16, Precea said
"saa, hayaku irasshai." How should I pronounce it?
First, let me explain "saa"
part.
Since one vowel can be one syllable, you may encounter several vowels
successively. In that case, please pronounce each vowel with same length.
However, when same vowels come together as in "saa"
just prolong the sound. As I explained before, when you see "e+i"
and "o+u,"
pronounce them "ee"
and "oo"
respectively. Here is some example.
faq-1.wav
A-o-i (three
beats)
Blue
faq-2.wav
Ii-e (three beats, holding "i"
sound for two beats)
No
faq-3.wav
I-e (two beats)
House or home
faq-4.wav
O-ba-sa-n (four beats)
Aunt
faq-5.wav
O-ba-a-sa-n (five beats)
Grand mother
Sometimes, consonants appear as syllables as
in "irasshai"
and spelled using two consonents, such as "ss" "kk"
"pp" "gg" and so on. For example:
Kakko (as
in Kakko-ii) = appearance vs. Kako
(past)
Matta = waited,
or wait (ordering) vs. Mata
= again
When you see these double consonents, try to pronounce those words
by holding your breath before you pronounce double consonents.
Please listen to me and hear the difference, and practice.
faq-6.wav
Kakko, kako, matta, mata
Other than double consonents, "rassha" includes "y + a" part, which is spelled as "sha," to make the pronunciation even more difficult. I will list all the consonant + y + vowel sounds here. Pay attention to the spelling.
| K + | Y + | Vowel: | Kya | Kyu | Kyo |
| Sh + | Y + | Vowel: | Sha | Shu | Sho |
| Ch + | Y + | Vowel: | Cha | Chu | Cho |
| N + | Y + | Vowel: | Nya | Nyu | Nyo |
| H + | Y + | Vowel: | Hya | Hyu | Hyo |
| M + | Y + | Vowel: | Mya | Myu | Myo |
| R + | Y + | Vowel: | Rya | Ryu | Ryo |
| G + | Y + | Vowel: | Gya | Gyu | Gyo |
| J + | Y + | Vowel: | Ja | Ju | Jo |
| B + | Y + | Vowel: | Bya | Byu | Byo |
| P + | Y + | Vowel: | Pya | Pyu | Pyo |
Omake (for more accurate pronunciation)
F as
in ha hi fu he ho (f is used before u):
Japanese "f" is slightly different from English "f"
sound. Try not to touch your lower lips with your upper teeth when you
pronounce it. Use only your upper and lower lips to cause only a slight
friction between them, like when you blow out a candle (voiced though).
N:
When n appear alone and has
one beat, its pronunciation is determined by the sound that follows it.
It is a nasal sound.
n is pronounced as "m"
before p, b, m, as in e-n-pi-tsu (pencil)
n is pronounced as "n"
before t, ts,ch, s, d, j, z, n, r, as in ko-n-do (next time)
n is pronounced as "ng"
before k, g, as in ni-ho-n-go (Japanese language)
W:
Try to pronounce it without
rounding your lips as in "want."
