Saka as in 酒場{さかば} or zaka as in 居酒屋{いざかや}
Sake as in 酒{さけ}
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I think you mistyped the furigana there in 酒場（さかば） – sazarando Oct 13 '16 at 5:21
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Oops you are right. I have edited it. Thanks. – will Oct 13 '16 at 5:22
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I think you can find a good answer here: japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/2526/… – sazarando Oct 13 '16 at 5:25
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I do understand the need for 連濁 but isn't 連濁 for the beginning of the first consonant of the latter component? – will Oct 13 '16 at 5:31
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1The latter. I have edited the question to make it clearer. Sorry if it was unclear. – will Oct 13 '16 at 5:34
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The difference between さか and ざか is just one of rendaku, which I think is well discussed here: Rules or criteria for 連濁: Voiced or unvoiced syllables in compound words
The reason that 酒{さけ} becomes 酒{さか} in some cases is not really directly related to rendaku（連濁）rather this is called ten'on（転音）.
Just as a short answer, some words, when part of a compound word, will have a change in the vowel sound of the final syllable/mora.
This change seems to sometimes carry the implication of「何々の為の何々」.
え turning into あ:
- 酒{さけ}の場{ば} ⇒ 酒場{さかば}
- 手{て}の綱{つな} ⇒ 手綱{たづな}
- 雨{あめ}の戸{と} ⇒ 雨戸{あまど}
い turning into う
- 神{かみ}の主{ぬし} ⇒ 神主{かむぬし} ⇒ 神主{かんぬし}
- 口{くち}の輪{わ} ⇒ 轡{くつわ}
い turning into お
- 木の陰 木陰
You can see other examples here: http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q12109076097
The best Japanese reference I can find that really concisely outlines what's going on with さけ・ざけ・さか・ざか is this one here: http://www.nihongokyoshi.co.jp/manbow/manbow.php?id=845&TAB=2
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2The historical evidence actually suggests the opposite -- the original form was
/saka/, while/sake/was a later innovation. Some writers (possibly including Shibatani in his The Languages of Japan) suggest that the vowels were fronted (/a/→/e/,/o/or/u/→/i/) through a fusion with the ancient emphatic nominal particle い{i}. I've also read somewhere that Ainu kamuy is possible evidence of this: ancient kamu + i → kamui, then the final -ui becoming -i in modern kami. – Eiríkr Útlendi Oct 13 '16 at 8:16 -
3So too with saka + i → sakai → sake. We see similar monophthongization (where two-vowel sounds become one-vowel sounds) in modern slangy Japanese, such as sugoi becoming sugē, takai becoming takē, etc. – Eiríkr Útlendi Oct 13 '16 at 8:18
