- Mora
- Full size hiragana, katakana = 1 mora
- Hiragana/katakana with ya, yu, yo = 1 mora
- Hiragana/katakana with っ = 2 mora
- American speakers tend to unintentionally add stress.
- Speak in a consistent voice.
-
The pitch of the first and second mora of every standalone word are different.
-
If a standalone word drops in pitch, the pitch will never go up again in that word.
-
頭高 (atamadaka) ①
- First mona high, rest + particle low
-
中高 (nakadaka) ② or more (count mora against number)
- First mona low, second mona high, drops somewhere in word, particle low
-
尾高 (odaka) ② or more (count mora against number)
- First mona low, rest high, particle low
-
平板 (heiban)
- First mona low, rest + particle high ⓪
- Initial rise isn't too dramatic despite binary graphics
- あああ trick
- For a certain pitch-accent
- say "あああ" in that pitch-accent
- Hum "a-a-a"
- Say the word
- Heiban can be flat when speaking quickly
- 頭高 word - 世界
- 中高 word - お箸
- 尾高 word - 弟が
- 平板 word - 私が
- Binary is used to show the general pitch-accent
- Subtle drop in pitch
- Very generally, spoken phrases often begin relatively high and end relatively low
- Speakers don't give equal emphasis to every part of a phrase
- Sometimes raises are more like going from low to lower
-
尾高と平板
- If said separately without a following particle, they are pronounced the same
- If said with a following particle, the 尾高 word will rise dramatically
-
Devoicing
- In devoiced words like 記者 that have two different possible pitch accents, the pitch accent is still noticeable
- Difference shrink when talking faster
- Devoicing and pitch in rapid speech
- Devoicing is usually the reason why some words have different pitch accents
- Older people tend to have trouble with devoiced down steps
- One mora 頭高 and 平板
- In isolation, they are pronounced the same with a relatively high pitch
- Only one mora words can only be 頭高 and 平板
- Therefore, they are pronounced the same in isolation
- Pronunciation website
- https://www.gavo.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ojad/eng/phrasing/index
- If using for sentences, tends to make mistakes
- Forvo
- One mora
- Can only be 頭高 or 平板
- ~70% are 頭高, primarily Chinese-origin or dealing with ideas/concepts
- Most common single mora words are 平板
- No goto rule, have to be learned individually
- Eyes, hands, and teeth are 頭高, but stomach is 平板
- 目が痛い
- 手が痛い
- 歯が痛い
- 胃が痛い
- Fire is 頭高, but sun is 平板
- 火が強い
- 日が出る
- Trees are 頭高, but human energy are 平板
- 木が高い
- 気が長い
- Two mora
- Can only be 頭高, 尾高, or 平板
- Two mora object pronouns and location adverbs are 平板
- この
- これ
- その
- それ
- あの
- あれ
- ここ
- そこ
- Recommend memorizing all two moral body parts
- 尾高
- Most two more body parts such as hair, ears, chest, abs, fingers, and legs
- 髪が
- 耳が
- 胸が
- 腹が
- 指が
- 足が
- 平板
- Mouth, nose and neck
- 口が
- 鼻が
- 首が
- 頭高
- Shoulders and throat and some question words
- 肩が
- 喉が
- どこ
- どれ
- どう
- なに
- なぜ
- だれ
- 尾高
- Three mora
- 中高 and 尾高 make up less than 10% of three mora words
- 中高
- 日本
- 卵
- 心
- お箸
- お菓子
- 匂い
- 貴方 (あなた)
- 尾高
- 言葉
- 男
- 女
- 皆 (みんな)
- 頭高
- 午前
- 家族
- 眼鏡
- 景色
- 荷物
- 電気
- 天気
- 元気
- どなたの (what kind with の)
- どんなの (what kind with の)
- どちらの
- 平板 (fallback to when in doubt)
- Four mora
- 平板
-
- Most four mora words are 平板
- Almost all four mora two kanji words are 平板
- Also applicable to na-adjectives
- 学校
- 銀行
- 最低
- 最悪
- 最高
- 平板
- 勉強
- 心配
-
- Exceptions
- 頭高
- 音楽
- 兄弟
- 挨拶
- 迷惑
- 玄関
- 中高 ③
- 先生
- コーヒー
- 弁当
- 残念
- 半分
- 案内
- 中高 ②
- 土曜日
- 火曜日
- 皆さん
- アパート
- 失礼な
- 飲み物
- 尾高
- 妹
- 弟が
- 頭高
- 平板
- Many five mora nouns and almost all relatively long compounds are 中高
- with the accent or downstep occurring in the later element of the compound
-
Downstep Patterns: 頭高, 中高, 尾高
-
Non-Downstep Pattern: 平板
-
だ
- Treat as a particle
-
です/みたい
- For the downstep patterns, both/all mora attach to the word low
- For the non-downstep pattern (平板), first attaches high and rest attaches low
-
だろう/でしょう/らしい
- For the downstep patterns, all mora attach to the word low
- For the non-downstep pattern (平板), mora attach high and う/い attaches low
-
らしい (seems like)
- When attached, all nouns became 平板 and the い attaches low
-
Can be grouped into downstep-い adjectives and 平板 adjectives
-
Downstep-い adjectives
- In dictionary form, the downstep occurs on the second to last mora
- If the second to last mora is a "special" sound, sometimes the downstep will shift to the third to last mora
- 多い
- Rarely occurs in downstep-い adjectives
- Conjugations
- ～く
- ～くて
- ～かった
- ～ければ
- ～かったら
- ～さ
- In traditional pronunciations
- When conjugated, the downstep will shift back one mora
- If the downstep is already at the beginning of the word, the downstep stays (e.g. 良い)
- In newer pronunciations
- When conjugated, the downstep stays on the same mora
- For 3 mora downstep-い adjectives, the さ conjugation is almost always said with the traditional pronunciation
- Some may say it with the newer pronunciation, not in the dictionary
- Exceptions
- Study and listen for both pronunciations
- Voiced and unvoiced
- Voiced = Engages your vocal cords
- Unvoiced = Does not engage your vocal cords
- t-sound/d-sound
- Vowels are voiced, consonants are unvoiced
- 濁点 (dakuten) = literally voice mark
- た is the unvoiced version of だ
- "All Japanese sounds will sound the same" is not true
- です is pronounced des because the u is unvoiced
- In Japanese, the high vowels い and う get unvoiced when in-between unvoiced consonants
- Unvoiced consonants are k, s, t, ch, h, p/mora that have dakuten counterpart
- For いくか (ikuka), the u gets unvoiced, say ku without the vowel
- eek - kaa
- い and う often but not always become partially or completely unvoiced when they do not have a following sound/pause
- Preceding sound (consontant) must also be devoiced, s in desu
- Examples
- 人 (HiTO)
- 人々 (HiTOBITO)
- 聴く (KiKU)
- 七味 (SHiCHIMI)
- 色彩 (SHiKiSAI)
- 来てよ (KiTEYO)
- アクセント (AKuSENTO)
- 福岡 (FuKUOKA)
- クタクタだ (KuTAKuTADA)
- スカスカだ (SuKASuKADA)
- 出来た (DEKiTA)
- ~てきた (TEKiTA)
- Devoicing and pitch-accent
- If downstep occurs on devoiced vowel, it's ok to say the vowel
- 尽くす (tsuKUsu)
- Otherwise the vocal
- 靴下 (KuTSuSHiTA)
- Usually pronounced as KuTSUSHiTA
- 3 consecutive devoiced mora usually sounds strange to native speakers
- When there are long strings of sounds that can't be the devoiced, native speakers typically voice every other sound
- 記者 (kisha) _
- Two different pitch accents
- Devoicing the i would make it accent-less
- Other speakers would turn the downstep to a upstep to keep the devoiced
- Two different pitch accents
- Vowels between words with unvoiced consonants also get devoiced if said quickly
- 毎日コンビニに行く (MAINICHiKONBINI NI IKU)
- Devoiced voices often get dropped when speaking quickly
- Default position when about to talk
- Lips
- Little to no rounding or spreading in Japanese speech
- Neutral lips
- Jaw
- Conflicted information
- Lower jaw should be in a higher more closed position
- Helps slightly
- Tongue
- Tongue anchored centrally and lightly to the floor of the mouth
- Tip of tongue is not tapered, rests behind lower front teeth
- Helps but not as much as lips
- https://www.internationalphoneticalphabet.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/IPA-Chart-Kiel-Font-2015.pdf
- Neutral lips, high pitch, and little to no resonance
- あ
- Tongue position is slightly more forward that the vowel found in father
- い
- Same as e in me
- う
- Tongue is in a slightly more forward position than the vowel found in boot
- え
- Similar to e in mess but tongue position is slightly higher and mouth is a bit more closed
- Combine with neutral lips
- お
- Bit higher than the vowel in moss
- "Weakly rounded"
- Different from vowel combinations
- Long vowels are simply extensions of single vowels
- No change in quality, intensity, or amplitude; only length
- Resonance
- English vowels are relaxed and relatively long
- Japanese vowels are short and sharp
- Say あ い う え お to help keep tempo
- Non-standard long vowels
- 場合 (ばあい)
- Dip in intensity between ば あ
- Re-articulated rather than extended when belonging to different morphemes (場 and 合)
- Often disappears at particularly fast speech
- 場合 (ばあい)
- い・う
- 吸う
- 楽しい
- Not all speakers treat as independent sounds
- Treat as standard long vowels
- 5:13-5:30
- Any combination of vowels is possible
- When one vowel follows other, they should both be articulated
- 愛 = a + i
- Slurring the vowels make you sound foreign
- えい vs えー
- Pronounced as えい in slower/deliberate speech and えー in fast speech
- Also pronounced えい in karaoke
- 綺麗, きれい and きれー are both accepted
- 学生, がくせい and がくせー are both accepted
- おう vs おー
- おう is pronounced おー
- Both are articulated with dictionary ending verbs and in very limited cases
- 追う (おう)
- But しよう is pronounced しよー
- e
- Faint a like quality
- Between e in mess and a
- あえ
- Do not slur into あい
- 帰る (かえる)
- Reduction and Centralization
- Reduction
- In English, vowels in unstressed syllables are reduced
- animal, First a is ah, i, a is uh
- Reduction does not occur in Japanese
- Some Japanese learners de-emphasize the last ta in しました (shimashita)
- Also first ha in 走った (hashita)
- Articulate all vowels
- In English, vowels in unstressed syllables are reduced
- Centralization
- Japanese vowels can become centralized at speed
- Become slightly closer together in IPA vowel chart
- Better to assume centralization does not occur
- Japanese vowels can become centralized at speed
- Reduction
- Word-final long vowel shortening
- Sometimes occurs
- 本当 (hontou can be come honto)
- 格好 (kakkou can become kakko)
- 学校 (gakkou can become gakko)
- 高校 (koukou can become kouko)
- コンピューター コンピューター
- 先生 (sensei can become sense) (may be rude when used around teachers)
- Sometimes occurs
- えい
- Two instances when should be pronounced as えい
- Certain native Japanese words
- 姪 (mei) (niece)
- 鱝 (ei) (ray)
- 鰈 (karei) (flounder)
- Certain native Japanese words
- Two instances when should be pronounced as えい
- 〜て form of select verbs
- えい will be articulated
- まねく (maneku) (to imitate)
- まねいて NOT まねーて
- 稼ぐ (kasegu) (to earn money)
- かせいで NOT かせーで
- を is the object marker
- Pronounced as お in common and fast speech
- May be pronounced as ぅお in some areas
- k and g are velar stops
- Touches velum/upper back of mouth
- Stops because it temporarily blocks all airflow
- ka/ga
- g is sometimes nasalized but best not to
- ng
- Similar to ぅお origins
- Aspiration, palatalization, and the Voiced velar fricative [ɣ]
- Aspiration
- Refers to how much air we exhale while making a sound
- Say kill and skill in a tissue
- More movement in kill
- Say kill and skill in a tissue
- Japanese k, t, and p are slightly aspirated
- cool and クール
- More movement in cool
- Strong aspiration does occur in emphatic speech
- Refers to how much air we exhale while making a sound
- Palatalization
- in き/ぎ, tongue moves forward from velum to palette
- Say か/き and が/ぎ to feel the difference
- not a big deal for native English speakers
- become aware during active listening
- in き/ぎ, tongue moves forward from velum to palette
- Voiced velar fricative [ɣ]
- In quicker speech, the voice velar stop [g] sometimes becomes a voiced velar fricative [ɣ]
- Fricatives restrict airflow rather than stopping it entirely
- Tongue gets close to velum but does not touch it
- Like lazy or quick way of saying g in fast speech like in kagami
- become aware during active listening
- Aspiration
- Standard s [s] さすせそ
- Unvoiced alveolar fricative
- Unvoiced = vocal cords are not used
- alveolar = tongue touches alveolar ridge/area just behind the upper front teeth
- frictive, because our tongue gets close but does not touch the alveolar ridge
- English s is also unvoiced alveolar fricative
- Pronounce standard Japanese s as standard English s
- Use proper vowel placement, sharp and tight
- Unvoiced alveolar fricative
- し
- oversimplified as English sh
- Lip activity
- In sh, lips are rounded and protruded forward like she
- In Japanese, lips are neutral and sometimes spread to the side a little bit
- Tongue position
- English sh
- Blade, not tip, of tongue creates small gap that air travels through
- Place of articulation is not alveolar ridge but post-alveolar area/bit further back roof of the mouth
- Japanese
- Raise body of tongue such that it's hugging the roof of the mouth
- Moves point of articulation from post-alveolar area to pre-alveolar ridge further back along roof of the mouth
- Tricks to move tongue into correct position
- Get ready to say the sound and then inhale sharply
- Feel coolness along roof of mouth indicating where tongue is
- Standard [s] - very forward on along alveolar ridge
- English sh - bit further back in post-alveolar area
- Japanese - Starts in similar place but goes further back
- Feel coolness along roof of mouth indicating where tongue is
- Lower tip of tongue to back of lower front teeth
- Get ready to say the sound and then inhale sharply
- Start with lips if overwhelmed
- English sh
- ざ
- Not stopping any air, just restricting it
- じ
- Affricate = brief stop followed by fricative
- Like saying jeep
- Like shi but tongue starts touching pre-palettal area then move tounge back to the shi position
- Actually has two correct pronunciations
- dz
- Affricate in the beginning of words
- z
- Often becomes a fricative after vowels
- じむ
- むじ
- じかん
- かじ
- dz
- When follows a vowel, it often becomes a fricative
- Apply to じゃ, じょ, じゅ
- Cannot become a fricative after consonants ん and っ
- ざ
- Same rules as じ
- ぞんび
- ちず
- ぜひ
- かぜ
- Natives don't notice these rules but stick to them
- Standard t [t] たてと
- English t
- Tongue is curled slightly back, tip is touching alveolar ridge
- Japanese t
- Tongue is flat, blade of tongue touches alveolar ridge, tip touches back of upper front teeth
- Aspiration
- Weakly aspirated
- English t
- ち and つ
- Affricates
- つ [ts]
- Stop (t part) is the same as the standard t
- S part is same as standard s
- If having difficulty, say slowly and backwards; s then t, stopping at t
- ち
- ch (English form)
- Post-alveolar affricate
- Touching tongue against post-alveolar area then move it back down
- End up making sh sound
- Post-alveolar affricate
- Japanese form [tɕi]
- [t-si-i]
- Start by touching tongue against pre-alveolar area, then move back down to shi position
- じ pronounced the same
- ち [tɕ] is unvoiced
- じ [dʑ] is voiced
- ch (English form)
- sokuon doesn't delay but spreads stops and affricates across two mora
- 切った
- Say ki then move tongue to stop position of Japanese t
- Already saying the t sound
- Third mora: Only finishing the t sound by releasing the air
- こっち
- stop and release
- Sokuon can partially devoice voiced stops in quick speech
- バッグ can become バック but goes into k/g position at the ッ
- Typically doesn't happen in careful pronunciation
- 切った
- Fricatives
- Before fricatives, sokuon is pronounced as said fricative held for one mora
- あっさり っ is held in s position for one mora
- Always turns z into a two mora affricate
- グッズ
- Before fricatives, sokuon is pronounced as said fricative held for one mora
- sokuon is often used at the end of words to add emphasis, pronounced as a glottal stop [ʔ]
- Partially clips final sound
- Abruptly stop air flow in throat
- aaaʔ
- iiiʔ
- なにっ
- えっ？
- Can also replace sounds entirely in volitional speech and i-adjectives
- 行こう can become 行こっ
- たべよう can become たべよっ
- 暑い can become 暑っ
- 怖い can become 怖っ
- 苦い can become not going to say that
- Standard d [d] だでど
- Apply voices to standard t
- ぢづ
- Pronounced the same as standard d
- Used when れんだく (連濁) or repeated in order
- ずづ
- Some academics believe the tongue should be just a bit back from the standard t
- Standard n なぬねの
- NOT ん
- English n
- Blade of tongue touches alveolar ridge
- Japanese n
- Tip of tongue against upper front teeth, blade against alveolar ridge
- Equal to standard t
- Nasal sound
- に
- In roughly same spot as ち
- Menu
- Point of articulation is not the alveolar ridge but pre-palatal area
- の
- Use standard n, NOT に position
- Can sound like "nyo" if in に position
- Use standard n, NOT に position
- Standard h はへほ
- Arguably the same as English h
- Tongue starts flat on bottom of mouth
- Unvoiced by itself, but often becomes voiced when between vowels
- Native speakers in quick speech may not articulate the h in this case
- Often said with more friction than English h
- Actively adding friction can be too much/rude
- ひ
- Similar to shi but slightly higher and further back
- Said with more force than other h sounds
- So similar some native speakers may pronounce them the same
- Tends to be devoiced more than other e sounds
- ふ
- Relatively neutral
- Not pronounced like English "fu"
- Upper front teeth never come in contact with lower lip
- Neutral blowing lip position then softly exhale into u vowel
- English speakers tend to accidentally use English "fu" sound with loan words
- ファースト
- フェリー
- フェイク
- Standard b ばぶべぼ
- Voiced bilabial stop
- bilabial - uses both upper and lower lips
- Starts in closed neutral position
- Voiced bilabial stop
- び
- Tongue raised towards pre-palatal area
- Similar in position of b in beauty
- Weakening
- In quicker speech and in-between voiced, b sound often becomes a voiced bilabial fricative β
- Lips don't completely stop all of the air
- 暴れる aβareru
- Happens with び as well
- 響き hiβiki
- In quicker speech and in-between voiced, b sound often becomes a voiced bilabial fricative β
- Standard p
- Voiceless version of standard b
- ぱぷけぽ
- Same with ぴ
- Aspiration
- Weakly aspirated
- Amount of air exhaled is less than English p
- If having trouble, use tissue exercise
- p never becomes voiceless bilabial fricative
- Never slur your p's
- Least frequent consonant in Japanese
- Voiceless version of standard b
- Standard m まむめも
- Voiced bilabial nasal
- bilabial - uses both upper and lower lips
- nasal - nasal passage is open during pronunciation
- Tongue starts in neutral position
- Japanese m is identical to English m
- Voiced bilabial nasal
- み
- Like び
- Tongue gets palatalized
- Like in music
- Good pronunciation review in YouTube link
- Standard r らるれろ
- Voiced alveolar tap
- alveolar - Point of articulation is the alveolar ridge
- tap - Quickly touch and release the point of articulation
- Should be said very fast
- Voiced alveolar tap
- り
- Body of the tongue is raised
- んら
- Start with tip of tongue touching alveolar ridge then say ら
- Said continuously
- Trilled r 巻き舌
- Very aggressive, best not
- Alveolar l [l]
- Same position as standard r but briefly hold in contact position while engaging vocal cords
- Typical found in young women's speech and music when r sound is extended
- Alveolar d [d]
- Word-initial r is usually articulated from contact position
- Most speakers already have tongue in contact position
- 楽 (raku)
- Can sound like a d
- Word-initial r is usually articulated from contact position
- Do not wind up your tongue
- Move the tip of the tongue directly to the alveolar ridge and flick it down from there
- Approximants
- Sounds where articulaters approach each other but not close enough to create audible turbulent airflow
- Inbetween fricatives and vowels
- "glides"/"semivowels"
- やゆよ
- Begin with tongue in i position and immediately articulate the following vowel
- Also works when followed by え (e) and occurs in casual male speech
- はやえ
- わ
- Begin with lip and tongue in u position then quickly articulate a
- Say with neutral lip position unlike English w
- w sound sometimes gets weakened or deleted in quick casual speech
- 回る
- わかんない
- Also works when followed by え (e) and occurs in casual male speech
- 怖え
- ウィ and ウイ
- Both pronunciation are fine but stick with single pronunciation for a word
- ウインデー
- General rule
- When hatsuon comes at end of word, it is pronounced [ɴ] voiced uvular nasal
- uvular - Point of articulation is the uvula, very back part of mouth
- nasal - nasal passage is open during pronunciation
- さん・にほん
- When hatsuon comes in the middle of the word, it is said with the same point of articulation as the next sound in the word but with the passage of the naval cavity open
- English n behaves in similar way
- Say neck a few times
- Say sink a few times
- n changes point of articulation to match following sound
- k/g
- Said at velum with nasal cavity open
- さんか
- おんがく
- p/b/m
- Said at the lips with nasal cavity open
- Said as an m sound
- かんぱい
- がんばる
- さんま
- t/d/n
- Articulated with the tip of the tongue touching the back of upper front teeth and the blade of tongue touching the alveolar ridge with the nasal cavity open
- Said as standard Japanese n
- tip of tongue touches the alveolar ridge
- はんたい
- ほんだ
- そんな
- r/z
- voiced alveolar nasal
- r - said at same location as standard r but with nasal cavity open
- z - always articulated as affricate when following hatsuon
- はんらん
- はんざい
- chi/ji
- Articulated at pre-palatal area with nasal cavity open
- さんちょう
- かんじょう
- hatsuon gets palatalized before palatalized versions of aforementioned sounds
- English n behaves in similar way
- When hatsuon comes at end of word, it is pronounced [ɴ] voiced uvular nasal
- Nasalized vowel
- Occurs whenever hatsuon comes before sound that doesn't completely block the outgoing air
- vowels, fricatives, and approximants
- Tongue never touches any part of the mouth and exhales through both mouth and nose
- げんいん
- しんや
- Occurs whenever hatsuon comes before sound that doesn't completely block the outgoing air
- Nasalized vowel
- Occurs whenever hatsuon comes before sound that doesn't completely block the outgoing air
- vowels, fricatives, and approximants
- Tongue never touches any part of the mouth and exhales through both mouth and nose
- Occurs whenever hatsuon comes before sound that doesn't completely block the outgoing air
- Tongue position
- Not important
- Does not make an 'n' sound
- Think of 'n' as a vowel
- Try writing the romaji version of the word but with the 'n' replaced with an vowel
- げんいん - geiin
- せんねん - seeen
- こんやく - koiyaku
- ya starts in i position
- Then say the new words
- Then nasalize the vowel
- Then nasalize the preceding vowel almost immediately
- Block the nose to prove you're nasalizing
- Don't touch the mouth with your tongue
- In rapid casual speech
- 〜ていく becomes 〜てく
- のっていく becomes のってく
- あるいていく becomes あるいてく
- 〜ておく becomes 〜とく
- かっておくよ becomes かっとくよ
- やっておこうか becomes やっとこうか
- 〜ては because 〜ちゃ (very casual/can be rude)
- たべては becomes たべちゃ
- れば becomes れちゃ (very casual/can be rude)
- すれば becomes すりゃ
- 〜ていく becomes 〜てく
- Less systematic rules, listen in native speech
- End-vowel deletion
- Standard n vowels drop their vowels in rapid speech
- おれのうち、くる？ becomes おれんち、くる？
- きれいになった becomes きれいんなった
- Long n
- Standard n vowels drop their vowels in rapid speech
- r-to-n trick
- わからない becomes わかんない
- ならない becomes なんない
- それで becomes そんで
- Makes negative form of non-heiban verbs that contain r sounds easier to say
- Downstep occurs on n
- Can be rough or rude even when softened
- は often has vowel deleted (same rule in 53)
- ぼくは becomes ぼくあ
- ことは becomes ことあ
- In very rapid speech in certain words
- vowel preceding は often deleted
- ぼくはね becomes ぼかあね
- ことは becomes こたあ
- vowel preceding は often deleted
- Wild vowel deletion
- ここから can become こっから
- どこか can become どっか
- No rule for this
- End-vowel deletion
- の can turn non-heiban words to heiban
- にほんの