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Areas of difficulty Japanese pronunciation.

Table 1 - The 46 Syllables of the Japanese Syllabary (romanized)

a ka sa ta na ha ma ya ra wa n
i ki shi chi ni hi mi ri
u ku su tsu nu fu mu yu ru
e ke se te ne he me re
o ko so to no ho mo yo ro wo

Table 2 - The 46 Syllables of the Japanese Syllabary called the Gojuon or 50 sounds (Hiragana)

あ か さ た な は ま や ら わ ん
い き し ち に ひ み り
う く す つ ぬ ふ む ゆ る
え け せ て ね へ め れ
お こ そ と の ほ も よ ろ を

Table 2 - the 46 syllables written in Katakana

ア カ サ タ ハ ナ マ ヤ ラ ワ ン

イ キ シ チ ヒ ニ ミ リ

ウ ク ス ツ フ ヌ ム ユ ル

エ ケ セ テ ヘ ネ メ レ

オ コ ソ ト ホ ノ モ ヨ ロ ヲ

When the tsu つ syllable is added before the syllables beginning with k, p, and t (i.e. the
consonants sounds of k, p, or t), a hardened double consonant sound is produced. You
literally spit out the sounds or, as I like to put it, smack the consonants. To better
understand where I am coming from; imagine two billiard balls sitting on a pool table.
One of the balls is a word that contains a single consonant sound like k; the other ball is
the syllable tsu. Now shoot the k ball with your cue ball and when they hit upon impact
kk sound. This doubled consonant phenomenon can be likened to the English word
bookkeeper. In bookkeeper the sound of the consonant k is doubled, adding the syllable
tsu to ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, ta chi, tsu, te, to or, pa,pi,pu,pe,or po doubles the consonant
sound of the consonant sound of the syllable immediately following it.

Japanese pronunciation rule #1 - A small つ (tsu) doubles the consonant


sound that immediately follows it.

Examples:
makka –まっか deep red, completely red
Jikken – じっけん experiment or test
Shuppan –しゅっぱん publish, shuppatsu – departure
Zettai – ぜったい absoluteness
Tokkyo – とっきょ (patent -not the city toukyou which has the elongated o.)
Happi – ハッピー happy written in katakana
Gakkou – がっこう school
Chotto – ちょっと (a little bit, a dink)
Appuru – アップル (apple)

When n is not connected to a vowel (i.e. usage of the last syllable of the Japanese
syllabary or ん (n), it is like a syllable unto itself. It receives a full count if language
were a music it would receive the same amount of time that a 2 lettered syllable
receives., and is denoted by the apostrophe ‘. For example:
1. Kin’en this is Japanese for no smoking, not kinen or the word for anniversary.
Kin’en has four syllables and the word for anniversary has 3.
2. Tan’in – credit as in for a college course, having 4 syllables ta-n-i n.

To get a better feel of how the Japanese say words that begin with ra, ri, ru, re, or
ro, do this: First, say to yourself in English the word Eddy, then, make sure the tip of
your tongue is touching delicately behind the upper front teeth and say it again.
Pronouncing it with just the right amount of lightness of tongue and a flicking
forward of the tongue can bring you to a an approximate yet acceptable pronunciation
of the Japanese word for eri or collar.

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