The
character pronunciations, in this section, are intended to help
people understand a few of the sometimes difficult-to-comprehend
pronunciation concepts within the Japanese language and the IconKana
program.
The
Japanese language is composed primarily of 5 vowels and 41 syllables.
Examples of the primary vowel and syllable sounds are as follows.
|
あ
|
a
|
as
in
|
father
|
fawn
|
fall
|
|
い
|
i
|
as
in
|
ink
|
meal
|
dream
|
|
う
|
u
|
as
in
|
cool
|
moon
|
raccoon
|
|
え
|
e
|
as
in
|
eight
|
cake
|
egg
|
|
お
|
o
|
as
in
|
home
|
cone
|
only
|
|
か
|
ka
|
as
in
|
karate
|
car
|
kana
|
|
き
|
ki
|
as
in
|
key
|
keep
|
keen
|
|
く
|
ku
|
as
in
|
cool
|
raccoon
|
cuckoo
|
|
け
|
ke
|
as
in
|
cake
|
cape
|
Katy
|
|
こ
|
ko
|
as
in
|
coat
|
coconut
|
cone
|
Exceptions
Exceptions
to the primary vowel and syllable sounds are as follows.
|
ん
|
nnn
|
as
in
|
runnn
|
bannned
|
nnnever
|
Variations
Two
small brush strokes or a small circle may be added to the upper-right
corner of the following kana characters to change their sounds.
― The
bold line that you will see in many katakana words acts to stretch
the preceding vowel sound. Notice how the vowel sounds are stretched
in the following words.
|
ケーキ
|
kee-ki
|
cake
|
|
ゲーム
|
gee-mu
|
game
|
|
ヨーヨー
|
yoo-yoo
|
yoyo
|
|
モーターバイク
|
moo-taa-ba-i-ku
|
motor
bike
|
|
ローストビーフ
|
roo-su-to-bii-fu
|
roast
beef
|
Small
Characters
In
Japanese writing, you will notice small characters within the text.
To many students,
these
small
characters can
seem a little confusing.
As
an example, if every character in the word “fish”
were pronounced with equal emphasis, it would be pronounced,
The
Small Character "tsu"
To
break down the pronunciations in a way that makes a little more sense
to English speaking people, think of the small tsu character in the
middle of the word, the same way that you would think about the
letter " T " in the word catch.
The
letter T, in the word catch is
not specifically pronounced
but acts
to
insert a brief pause in the middle of the word and puts a slight
emphasis on the ch sound that follows.
In
this case, tsu acts the same as the letter T in the word catch.
Notice
the written emphasis in the following words.
|
マッチ
|
ma-tsu-chi
|
ma-cchi
|
match
|
|
ナッツ
|
na-tsu-tsu
|
na-ttsu
|
nuts
|
|
ヘルメット
|
he-ru-me-tsu-to
|
he-ru-me-tto
|
helmet
|
|
ハンドバッグ
|
ha-n-do-ba-tsu-gu
|
ha-n-do-ba-ggu
|
handbag
|
Other
Small Characters
Additionally,
how about the shi - yu?
When
you see a large kana character followed by a small kana character,
(other than tsu), it
indicates a blending of the sounds.
In this case, the blending of shi and yu, takes on the sound, shyu.
Notice the blending of the sounds in the following words.
|
チェリー
|
chi-e-rii
|
che-rii
|
cherry
|
|
ソファー
|
so-fu-aa
|
so-faa
|
sofa
|
|
シャツ
|
shi-ya-tsu
|
shya-tsu
|
shirts
|
|
テディーベア
|
te-de-ii-
be-a
|
te-dii
be-a
|
teddybear
|
|
フィッシュ
|
fu-i-tsu-shi-yu
|
fi-sshyu
|
fish
|
Learn
to recognize the small
characters in Japanese
writing.
Remember, the small tsu often acts as a brief pause and puts a slight
emphasis on the sound that follows. When you see a large character
followed by a small character, (other than tsu), it indicates a
blending of the two sounds.
When
you practice working with the small characters, you will recognize
how they interact with the larger characters. You will also begin to
appreciate how the characters (fu - i - tsu - shi- yu) blend to form
the word fish.
Lastly
Hiragana
is used to write Japanese words whereas Katakana is used for words
that are foreign to the Japanese language. All of the Hiragana
characters in IconKana will refer to a Japanese word with one
exception, wo as in whoa.
Additionally,
all of the Katakana characters will refer to a word that is foreign
to the Japanese language.
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