Learn to Mark the Change in Japanese Pronunciation with Diacritics
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| Hi everyone! I’m Michelle Yamamoto. |
| Welcome back to The Ultimate Japanese Pronunciation Guide at JapanesePod101.com. |
| You've learned 46 basic kana sounds so far. In this lesson, you'll learn 23 additional sounds. The characters are familiar, but they are marked. And this changes the pronunciation. |
| So, now you can pronounce these hiragana characters, right? |
| か、き、く、け、こ |
| What about these? |
| が、ぎ、ぐ、げ、ご |
| When this little mark is added to the kana, it makes a different sound. |
| が、ぎ、ぐ、げ、ご |
| The formal term for this in Japanese is "dakuten", but it's usually called "tenten", which means "dot dot". |
| The tenten makes a sound voiced – let's look at how this works in practice so you can see what I mean! |
| The first one is... |
| が、ぎ、ぐ、げ、ご |
| These "g" sounds are based on the initial k-group か、き、く、け、こ. |
| When "tenten" is added to each kana, the "k" sound changes to "g". "k" is not voiced, whereas "g" is. Let's hear them again. |
| が、ぎ、ぐ、げ、ご |
| Repeat after me. |
| が |
| ぎ |
| ぐ |
| げ |
| ご |
| Let's hear some words. |
| かぎ, key, か・ぎ、かぎ |
| かがみ, mirror, か・が・み、 かがみ |
| ぎ in かぎ and が in かがみ is a nasal sound. |
| ぎ（nasal "gi") |
| が (nasal "ga") |
| When you have a "g" sound such as が or ぎ in the middle of a word or at the end of a word, it's sometimes pronounced with this nasal sound. |
| Lately, many people, especially young people, don't use this nasal sound anymore. |
| But, you might hear an announcer say かぎ or かがみ on TV. |
| ぎ in かぎ is a nasal sound. |
| ぎ in ぎんこう is not a nasal sound. |
| Okay, here's another example. |
| がむ gum、が・む、がむ |
| かがみ mirror、か・が・み、かがみ |
| が in かがみ is a nasal sound. |
| が in がむ is not nasal. |
| In the past, when you have a "g" sound such as が or ぎ in the middle of a word or at the end of a word, you pronounce it が or ぎ as a nasal sound. |
| This sound is becoming less common, however, especially among young people. Instead, people will pronounce the consonants with a hard "g" sound. |
| But, you might still hear a news reporter or anchor say かぎ or かがみ on TV." |
| Next up is... |
| ざ、じ、ず、ぜ、ぞ |
| "They are based on さ、し、す、せ、そ |
| " |
| "When "tenten" are added, the s-group sounds become a z-group. |
| " |
| ざ、じ、ず、ぜ、ぞ |
| The exception is じ. し becomes "ji", not "zi". |
| Repeat after me. |
| ざ |
| じ |
| ず |
| ぜ |
| ぞ |
| Next up is |
| だ、ぢ、づ、で、ど |
| "These are based on た、ち、つ、て、と |
| " |
| "When "tenten" are added, the "t" sound changes to "d". |
| " |
| だ、ぢ、づ、で、ど |
| The exceptions are ぢ and づ. |
| "ち becomes ぢ (ji), not "di". |
| つ becomes づ (zu), not "du."" |
| Repeat after me. |
| だ |
| ぢ |
| づ |
| で |
| ど |
| Did you notice that we have already had these same sounds, "ji" and "zu" in another row? |
| They appeared in the "z" row that we learned before. |
| "Both pairs of "ji" and "zu" sound exactly the same. |
| But, when it comes to writing, they have different kana, such as..." |
| じかん time, じ・か・ん、じかん |
| はなぢ nose bleed、は・な・ぢ、はなぢ |
| じ in じかん and ぢin はなぢ are the same sound, but different kana. |
| ちず map, ち・ず、ちず |
| きづく notice, き・づ・く、きづく |
| ず in ちず and づ in きづく are the same sound, but different kana. |
| We use ぢ and づ in a few words, but じ and ず are more often used in writing. |
| Next up is... |
| ば、び、ぶ、べ、ぼ |
| "They are based on は、ひ、ふ、へ、ほ |
| " |
| "When "tenten" are added, the "h" sound changes to a "b" sound. |
| " |
| ば、び、ぶ、べ、ぼ |
| Repeat after me. |
| ば |
| び |
| ぶ |
| べ |
| ぼ |
| There is one more set of sounds which is based on は、ひ、ふ、へ、ほ, which is... |
| ぱ、ぴ、ぷ、ぺ、ぽ |
| This little circle mark is added, and the "h" sound changes to "p". |
| ぱ、ぴ、ぷ、ぺ、ぽ |
| The little circle mark is formally called "handakuten", but usually called "maru", meaning "circle." |
| Repeat after me. |
| ぱ |
| ぴ |
| ぷ |
| ぺ |
| ぽ |
| Here's a little pronunciation tip for ばびぷべぼ and ぱびぷぺぽ. |
| In English when you pronounce "b" and "p" sounds, such as "bat" or "put", you breathe out a small puff of air when you pronounce them. "bat" and "put". In standard Japanese pronunciation, however, the air released is significantly less. |
| So, try holding your hand in front of your mouth and pronounce ばびぶべぼ or ぱびぷぺぽ again! Do you feel any breath on your hand? Make sure that you're not making a puff of breath. |
| Repeat after me. |
| ば |
| び |
| ぶ |
| べ |
| ぼ |
| ぱ |
| ぴ |
| ぷ |
| ぺ |
| ぽ |
| You've learned 69 sounds so far! You should be familiar with almost all the Japanese sounds now. |
| In the next lesson, you'll combine sounds using the や、ゆ、よ that you've already learned in lesson 4. Review these sounds before the next lesson. |
| And record yourself to perfect your pronunciation! |
| Have you been practicing in the mirror? Or have you found a better tactic? Share your experience in the comments. |
| See you in the next Ultimate Japanese Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
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