I know that sh, ch, and j are pronounced differently in Chinese than in English, but what about Japanese? I have read that し, ち, じ are pronounced slightly differently than they would be in English (she, chea[p], gee), however I'm never told how. If they (し, ち, じ) are pronounced differently than they would be generally pronounced in English, how?
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1I don't understand the question. If you wrote what sound you wished to describe in Kana, I think the question would be clearer. "sh and ch" are sounds written in the roman alphabet, that do not appear to have a relationship to standard romanization systems such as Hepburn romanization, Kunrei-shiki Rōmaji (ISO 3602), and Nihon-shiki Rōmaji .– yadokariCommented Feb 3, 2013 at 5:04
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@yadokari I mean the Japanese sh and ch sound in generally, but I see where you're coming from. I suppose I'll edit in an example.– crayondrawCommented Feb 3, 2013 at 5:06
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4Until someone posts a more suitable answer to this question, my answer to another question contains links to the descriptions of how the consonant of し in Japanese and the consonant “sh” in English are pronounced. The pronunciations of ち in Japanese and “ch” in English are analogous.– Tsuyoshi ItoCommented Feb 3, 2013 at 5:19
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1"How is し, ち, and じ pronounced differently than in English?" し, ち, じ are Japanese kana. Needless to say, they are not used in English. Spelling and pronunciation--even in Japanese--are very different things. If you wish to discuss pronunciation, please read up on IPA. You will need a basic knowledge of phonetics. Some phonology would help as well. Then the question becomes about realization of Japanese /si, ti, zi/. Though I assume that this is surely well documented in Wikipedia.– DonoCommented Feb 3, 2013 at 16:48
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3@Koasamitsu Regarding the consonants, /si/ is a voiceless alveolo-palatal sibilant, /ti/ is a voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate, and /zi/ is a voiced alveolo-palatal affricate.– DonoCommented Feb 3, 2013 at 17:09
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3 Answers
With the English sounds sh, j and ch, the friction occurs between the alveolar ridge (where the flat part of the mouth located behind the teeth sharply moves up to the palate) and the tip of the tongue. Sometimes, the tongue is a bit further back or curled, and the back part of the tip of the tongue is involved (ie. it is retroflex).
In Japanese, the tip of the tongue is not used for these sounds; instead, a more posterior and wider part of the tongue is used at the point of friction, the tip of the tongue being more or less at the intersection of the bottom teeth and the gum, but without pressing against them.
hiragana - romanization - IPA - Polish - another language
し - shi - [ɕi] - si [śi] 'sikorka' tit - Chinase: Xi (like in '西安' Xi’an) (sh - German, like in 'ich' I)
ち - chi - [t͡ɕi] - ci [ći] (cisza silence - - (ch - chinase: j as in 豬 pig)
じ - ji - [dʑi] - dzi [dźi] 'dziwny' strange - Chinase: ji (like in 日 sun)
Exemples:
し - 四国 shikoku Shikoku
ち - ちび chibi little
じ - 自転車 jitensha bicycle
Are you talking about xi- and qi-? They would be read shi- and chi- by an English speaker. The corresponding kana in Japanese would be si- and ti-. There is no "see" or "tee" sound in original Japanese. Instead they are prounounced shi and chi
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1The question is about the subtle difference between the consonant of し (resp. ち) in Japanese and the consonant “sh” (resp. “ch”) in English. Therefore, I do not think that your explanation that し and ち are pronounced “shi” and “chi” answers the question. Commented Feb 3, 2013 at 14:55
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1In theory し and ち should be pronounced the same as pinyin <xi> and <qi>.– Zhen LinCommented Feb 3, 2013 at 23:44