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Many of you probably know about the so called 四{よ}つ仮名{がな}, じ ぢ ず づ, and that in standard Japanese only two different pronunciations for them exist, that is じ=ぢ=/=ず=づ. However, they used to represent four distinct sounds, something that has been preserved in some regions, especially on Kyushu. See this map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yotsugana

Now to my question, my own Japanese is from a 二つ仮名 region so I never had the opportunity of actually learning the other sounds. Therefore I was wondering if any of you know of any recordings, preferably videos, that clearly highlights the different pronunciations.

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  • www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld They are trained to pronounce Japanese in the very regular modern Japanese.
    – user20428
    Commented Apr 1, 2017 at 4:34

1 Answer 1

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+50

A dialect that has difference between ず and づ. That between じ and ぢ seems lost, though.

http://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/ikonishi/narada/narada_tu&du.html

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  • Perfect, thank you! So it really does sound like a "d"-sound (just like the romaji of づ implies).
    – a20
    Commented Apr 14, 2017 at 16:12

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