Describes the physical properties of a language's sounds
9
votes
1answer
106 views
「はは」(母) and ハ行転呼
It occurred to me the other day that if ハ行転呼 had affected all applicable environments without exception, 母 /haha/ (or I guess properly it was /ɸaɸa/, right?)should have become /hawa/.
The Japanese ...
11
votes
5answers
338 views
Except for pitch, what are the differences in pronunciation between Kansaiben and Tokyoben?
I have tried to ask people this type of question on many occasions and the answer is always the same, but people are notoriously bad at evaluating their own language, so I ask here:
Apart for pitch, ...
6
votes
1answer
246 views
What Japanese lullabys are available to provide early Japanese exposure to children?
I'd like to expose my young children to the sounds of Japanese at night as they go to sleep.
Specifically, I'd like to play Japanese lullabies or other soothing music with vocals. Where do I find such ...
6
votes
2answers
185 views
How does ウァ differ from ワ and ヴァ?
I know Wine is written as ワイン. I've also seen Whiskey as ウィスキー. In both english words, the 'w' sound are relatively similar (although slightly different).
I'm assuming ウァ would be somewhat like ワ.
But ...
11
votes
2answers
311 views
“y”-sound insertion after intervocalic ん
The pronunciation of intervocalic ん is a topic by itself, with the surrounding vowels tending to become nasalized, and ん itself maybe being pronounced as a nasal vowel. But that's not what I'm asking ...
6
votes
2answers
332 views
Why does the g tends to sound more like a m or n?
I have heard words such as shigoto, sugata, sugu (ni) and they end up sounding like shimoto, sunata, and sunu ni. Even in sentence such as Haru ga kimasu. I've heard sound like: Haru na kimasu.
So ...
8
votes
3answers
267 views
Repeating the vowel sound of the mora that precedes gemination in songs
I noticed in songs, the vowel sounds of the morae that come before geminations are sometimes repeated.
For example, the first lyric line of “マジカルちょーだいっ” is sung as しらんぷりをしたあって where the line is ...
10
votes
4answers
451 views
Pronunciation of す in です and the end of ます verbs
I've always been curious about the pronunciation of the す in です and at the end of 〜ます verbs. Most commonly the "u" sound is inaudible, but sometimes by some people it's more pronounced, and some ...
12
votes
3answers
648 views
Actual phonetic realization of “devoiced” vowels
Descriptions of Japanese phonology (such as Wikipedia's) usually describe high vowels between voiceless consonants (or word-finally) as "devoiced". For example, the pronunciation of ⟨圧⟩ 'pressure' and ...
6
votes
2answers
251 views
Utterance initial [ɾ]
According to The sounds of Japanese (Vance 2008):
When /ɾ/ is the first phoneme in an utterance, the tip of the tongue is already resting lightly on the alveolar ridge, and /ɾ/ is produced by ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
バカヤロウ to バゲロ [mature content]
Note: This question may contain wordings that may be considered rude to some, so proceed with open mind and caution.
One of the legacies of Japanese colonization in my country during WW2 is a rude ...
8
votes
2answers
160 views
“Arigatō” and “gozaimasu” combined into a single word?
In Japan for three years, and I've noticed that the locals often sound like they're combining the two words "arigatō" and "gozaimasu" into a single word, "arigatōzaimasu".
Am I hearing things ...
14
votes
3answers
720 views
Why the “H” is pronounced Sh in some cases.
I came from Stack Overflow and new to Japanese language. Happy I found out about this great place.
My first question is about the rules of pronunciation of the letter "H".
Like "Hijutsu" or "Hiyori".
...
