Post by Kelly on Jun 29, 2008 22:59:45 GMT -5
Japanese Pronunciation, Part 2:[/u]
In Lesson 1, we went over Japanese vowel sounds and how to pronounce a Japanese "r" correctly. Some other pronunciation notes:
In Japanese, the letter "g" is pronounced like a hard g in English, as in grape or goal. It is sometimes pronounced as a nasal g, as in singer, in some cases, but it is not necessary to do so. Note that a nasal g will never occur as the first syllable in a word.
The Japanese "f" as it occurs in the syllable "fu" is made by bringing the upper and lower lips together and then puffing air out between them. Unlike English "f," which is the closest English sound, Japanese "f" does not involve the lower teeth in its pronunciation.
A Japanese "n" (sometimes written "n'") represents a syllabic nasal. (Basically, it's a nasal sound that lasts about the amount of time as any other syllable in Japanese.) Some references say that when this "n" precedes a syllable that starts with "p," "b," or "m," it is pronounced more like an English "m." Frankly, I don't think this rule is much to worry about; I've never memorized it. If you're pronouncing the nasal sound correctly, it'll sound right simply because "p," "b," or "m" comes after it.
When an "i" or "u" occurs between any two voiceless consonants (k, s, t, p, and h) or preceded by a voiceless consonant at the end of a word, the vowel is usually "lost." That means that the word such as "desu" are not usually pronounced "deh-soo," as our vowel chart from the last lesson says. It's not incorrect, but it sounds kind of unnatural. Because the "u" in "desu" is lost, it is instead pronounced "dess." Another example of this is the word "deshita," but, in this case, the "i" is lost, making it "desh-tah" (as opposed to "deh-shee-tah").
In English, we have a set way to say each word by stressing certain syllables. Has anyone ever told you, "You're putting the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble."? In Japanese, syllables are never stressed in this way. However, Japanese is characterized by changes in pitch. This is sometimes described as having a downstep in pitch. This is important in distinguishing other words that would otherwise sound the same, such as kami (paper) and kami (god). Some books (very few, though) include markings to indicate pitch changes.
You can (and should) read more about this at the following websites:
Wikipedia: Japanese pitch accent
Wikipedia: Downstep (Phonetics)
Whew. That was a lot. Most of the above things will come a lot more naturally after listening to and mimicking native speakers. I do suggest trying out that "f" a few times, though. Now would be a good time if you haven't done it already. And, just a side note, some of the above information was taken directly from Beginning Japanese, Part 1 (By Eleanor Harz Jorden and Hamako Ito Chaplin.) I just didn't quote it because it was written in the 1960's and needed some rephrasal.
Well, this concludes everything on pronunciation. It's more important that you listen to native speakers than read endless paragraphs of seemingly irrelevant information.
Hiragana, Part II:
Really, no matter what I could try to say about voiced & bilabials, the Easy Kana Workbook would say it better. Before you read it, though, I'd like to point out that "bilabial" means "two lips" (If you take/know Spanish, think los labios). It should be pronounced "bi-LAY-bee-al." Now, on to the book: Pages 14, 15, 94
Formality:
Ah, the dreaded formality. I almost wish I could save this topic for another lesson. Even writing another entire page about pronunciation would be preferable. But, there's really no way to teach any Japanese without explaining this first. (Well, not in my opinion.)
But, before we get to Japanese formality, let's think about English formality. Yes, we do have formality. Try thinking about this: Do you address different people in different ways? How?
One obvious example of this are name prefixes, such as "Mr.," "Mrs.," "Ms.," and "Miss." You probably address your teachers, friends' parents, and other adults you don't know very well using these name prefixes. But, you probably wouldn't address your parents, close relatives (aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.), and friends this way. Another good example is the difference between "thanks" and "thank you." In English, we can also make things more formal by "softening" them. Compare:
Hey, can I borrow this?
Would it be okay if I borrowed this for just a minute?
Could I please borrow this?
In Japanese, there are two basic levels of formality, formal and informal. (Wow, complicated, huh?) If you take/know Spanish, this is similar to the difference between t¡§©÷ and Ud. (I don't know if French or Italian has anything like this, but, if they do, let me know, and I'd be happy to put it here, too.) The difference in formality levels is a lot more obvious and more structured than English formality.
There are no concrete rules about Japanese formality, but here are some general things to remember:
- Speaking formally to someone means that you are showing respect for them (whether you actually do respect them or not is irrelevant).
- Speak formally to someone when you first meet them.
- Speak formally to your "superiors." This can include upperclassmen at school, your boss at work, seniors in the workplace (i.e. a new teacher at the school would speak formally to teachers who had taught at the school for a long time), etc.
- Speak informally to close friends. If you speak formally to close friends that you've known for a long time, it might seem a little "cold." (If you've watched Bleach subbed, there's an episode where Mizuiro starts speaking formally to Keigo. I forget which one...)
- Speak informally to family members.
- There are exceptions to every rule.
If you have any questions, recommendations, comments, or problems downloading anything, please post below.
In Lesson 1, we went over Japanese vowel sounds and how to pronounce a Japanese "r" correctly. Some other pronunciation notes:
In Japanese, the letter "g" is pronounced like a hard g in English, as in grape or goal. It is sometimes pronounced as a nasal g, as in singer, in some cases, but it is not necessary to do so. Note that a nasal g will never occur as the first syllable in a word.
The Japanese "f" as it occurs in the syllable "fu" is made by bringing the upper and lower lips together and then puffing air out between them. Unlike English "f," which is the closest English sound, Japanese "f" does not involve the lower teeth in its pronunciation.
A Japanese "n" (sometimes written "n'") represents a syllabic nasal. (Basically, it's a nasal sound that lasts about the amount of time as any other syllable in Japanese.) Some references say that when this "n" precedes a syllable that starts with "p," "b," or "m," it is pronounced more like an English "m." Frankly, I don't think this rule is much to worry about; I've never memorized it. If you're pronouncing the nasal sound correctly, it'll sound right simply because "p," "b," or "m" comes after it.
When an "i" or "u" occurs between any two voiceless consonants (k, s, t, p, and h) or preceded by a voiceless consonant at the end of a word, the vowel is usually "lost." That means that the word such as "desu" are not usually pronounced "deh-soo," as our vowel chart from the last lesson says. It's not incorrect, but it sounds kind of unnatural. Because the "u" in "desu" is lost, it is instead pronounced "dess." Another example of this is the word "deshita," but, in this case, the "i" is lost, making it "desh-tah" (as opposed to "deh-shee-tah").
In English, we have a set way to say each word by stressing certain syllables. Has anyone ever told you, "You're putting the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble."? In Japanese, syllables are never stressed in this way. However, Japanese is characterized by changes in pitch. This is sometimes described as having a downstep in pitch. This is important in distinguishing other words that would otherwise sound the same, such as kami (paper) and kami (god). Some books (very few, though) include markings to indicate pitch changes.
You can (and should) read more about this at the following websites:
Wikipedia: Japanese pitch accent
Wikipedia: Downstep (Phonetics)
Whew. That was a lot. Most of the above things will come a lot more naturally after listening to and mimicking native speakers. I do suggest trying out that "f" a few times, though. Now would be a good time if you haven't done it already. And, just a side note, some of the above information was taken directly from Beginning Japanese, Part 1 (By Eleanor Harz Jorden and Hamako Ito Chaplin.) I just didn't quote it because it was written in the 1960's and needed some rephrasal.
Well, this concludes everything on pronunciation. It's more important that you listen to native speakers than read endless paragraphs of seemingly irrelevant information.
Hiragana, Part II:
Really, no matter what I could try to say about voiced & bilabials, the Easy Kana Workbook would say it better. Before you read it, though, I'd like to point out that "bilabial" means "two lips" (If you take/know Spanish, think los labios). It should be pronounced "bi-LAY-bee-al." Now, on to the book: Pages 14, 15, 94
Formality:
Ah, the dreaded formality. I almost wish I could save this topic for another lesson. Even writing another entire page about pronunciation would be preferable. But, there's really no way to teach any Japanese without explaining this first. (Well, not in my opinion.)
But, before we get to Japanese formality, let's think about English formality. Yes, we do have formality. Try thinking about this: Do you address different people in different ways? How?
One obvious example of this are name prefixes, such as "Mr.," "Mrs.," "Ms.," and "Miss." You probably address your teachers, friends' parents, and other adults you don't know very well using these name prefixes. But, you probably wouldn't address your parents, close relatives (aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.), and friends this way. Another good example is the difference between "thanks" and "thank you." In English, we can also make things more formal by "softening" them. Compare:
Hey, can I borrow this?
Would it be okay if I borrowed this for just a minute?
Could I please borrow this?
In Japanese, there are two basic levels of formality, formal and informal. (Wow, complicated, huh?) If you take/know Spanish, this is similar to the difference between t¡§©÷ and Ud. (I don't know if French or Italian has anything like this, but, if they do, let me know, and I'd be happy to put it here, too.) The difference in formality levels is a lot more obvious and more structured than English formality.
There are no concrete rules about Japanese formality, but here are some general things to remember:
- Speaking formally to someone means that you are showing respect for them (whether you actually do respect them or not is irrelevant).
- Speak formally to someone when you first meet them.
- Speak formally to your "superiors." This can include upperclassmen at school, your boss at work, seniors in the workplace (i.e. a new teacher at the school would speak formally to teachers who had taught at the school for a long time), etc.
- Speak informally to close friends. If you speak formally to close friends that you've known for a long time, it might seem a little "cold." (If you've watched Bleach subbed, there's an episode where Mizuiro starts speaking formally to Keigo. I forget which one...)
- Speak informally to family members.
- There are exceptions to every rule.
If you have any questions, recommendations, comments, or problems downloading anything, please post below.