| Yokoso!Welcome to my Japanese Lessons.Have | | | | sounds.They are the Secondary Sounds:ga za da |
| you ever watched an old Japanese samurai | | | | ba pagi ji - bi pigu zu - bu puge ze de be |
| movie on the late show? Chances are you | | | | pego zo do bo poThere are situations where |
| thought that everyone was always angry at | | | | two consonants are together with a vowel.They |
| everyone else and spent a lot of time yelling | | | | produce the following Tertiary Sounds:kya gya |
| in monotonous staccato tones. I felt the same | | | | sha ja cha nya hya pya bya mya ryakyu gyu shu |
| way. It was all unintelligible blabber, not a | | | | ju chu nyu hyu pyu byu myu ryukyo gyo sho jo |
| real language. Well, guess what? It is | | | | cho nyo hyo pyo byo myo ryoNow that you are |
| actually possible to make some sense out of | | | | armed with the correct sounds for the |
| the nonsensical language that you hear on | | | | language, why don't you pull out your |
| Japanese movies, etc. With a little | | | | Japanese Name or Phrase and give the |
| understanding of how the language works, you | | | | pronunciation a try? with a bit of practice |
| will be on your way to sounding just like | | | | you should be able to get the sounds just |
| those yelling, sword-swinging samurai of | | | | right.One last thing to mention that I found |
| yore.What I would like to do is provide you | | | | really helps with getting the pronunciation |
| with a basic understanding of the Japanese | | | | right. Almost all of the sounds can be said |
| language. It is not meant to replace formal | | | | without the use of the lips. Think of |
| study at an institute of higher learning. Not | | | | yourself as a ventriloquist, speaking from a |
| everything can be covered, but I will do my | | | | puppet. Don't move your lips, and keep them |
| best to provide language tips that will help | | | | relaxed. It should help. And practice.Here |
| you develop your Japanese language skills.I | | | | are a few simple sentences that you can use |
| will be working mainly with "conversational" | | | | for pronunciation practice and begin to |
| Japanese in nature; something that you can | | | | memorize for your future use:Practice |
| use right away in certain situations. | | | | Sentences:1. Watashi no namae wa Ken desu. |
| Learning to read and write can take years.Of | | | | (My name is Ken.)2. Kono biiru wa ikura desu |
| course in order to truly become fluent in any | | | | ka? (How much is this beer?)3. Toire wa doko |
| foreign language it is always desirable, if | | | | desuka? (Where is the toilet?)4. Mata ne! |
| at all possible, to immerse oneself in the | | | | (See you later!)5. Ohisashiburi desu ne. |
| language and culture (like what I did - threw | | | | (Long time no see.)6. Ohayou gozaimasu. (Good |
| away a life in biotechnology for a brave new | | | | morning.)7. Konnichi wa. (Hello.)8. Konban |
| world). Coming to Japan will do wonders for | | | | wa. (Good evening.)9. Oyasumi nasai. (Good |
| your language ability if you ever have the | | | | night.)10. Koko wa doko desu ka? (Where am I |
| chance. I understand that this is not | | | | now?)--------------------------- |
| feasible for most people, so I will strive to | | | | |
| do my best to provide you with current | | | | The Culture Pocket: A Brief History of the |
| lessons and examples for study.Pronunciation | | | | Japanese Written LanguageMost scholars |
| in JapaneseMaybe you have recently had a | | | | believe that prior to the introduction of |
| phrase translated for you with the | | | | Kanji from China, there was no formal written |
| corresponding pronunciation written in roman | | | | language. No one is certain when the script |
| characters. Or how about a tattoo in kanji | | | | first came to the islands but some believe |
| (Japanese characters)? That is rather popular | | | | that it could have been around the first |
| these days. But how do you pronounce it so it | | | | century AD. In the early third century, |
| sounds close to natural? Fear not for help is | | | | artifacts have been recovered that depict |
| on the way! In this lesson you will learn a | | | | some form of writing.Kanji was first used as |
| bit about the history of the language and how | | | | a system of writing sometime in the late 5th |
| the language sounds. So sit back, take out | | | | century or early 6th century. It is difficult |
| your notebook and enjoy the first lesson | | | | to set an exact date because of the writings |
| Japanese Lesson series.Let's get down to | | | | being based on the Chinese calendar which is |
| business.In Japanese there is no clear stress | | | | difficult to interpret. More than likely, |
| on syllables in words as there is in English. | | | | Chinese or Koreans who came to the islands to |
| A non-Japanese speaker would pronounce the | | | | live began using the characters.In the |
| city of Yokohama as "Yoko-HAA-ma" and the | | | | beginning kanji was more than likely used to |
| family name Yoshida as "Yo-SHEE-da". In | | | | represent sounds (phonetics) for loan words |
| English, stress tends to be placed on the | | | | from other cultures. Also, the introduction |
| second last syllable of longer words. Not so | | | | of Buddhism into China and eventually Japan |
| in Japanese. All syllables are spoken with | | | | prompted translations of the scripts using |
| equal strength and length. A Japanese speaker | | | | the script. Buddhism probably had the |
| would say "Yo-ko-ha-ma" and "Yo-shi-da" | | | | greatest influence on the development of the |
| without stressing any parts.Try saying the | | | | language due to the huge influx of people |
| following words without putting any extra | | | | from the mainland to build temples, translate |
| strength or stress on any of the syllables:1. | | | | documents, make statues, tiles, copy sutras, |
| Yokohama 2. Kawasaki 3. Nagasaki 4. Hiroshima | | | | etc.Around the seventh century it seems that |
| 5. Amerika6. Osutoraria 7. koohii 8. Nippon | | | | the Japanese people began mastering the |
| 9. beesubooru 10. koppuSome texts say that | | | | language themselves and started to do some |
| there are long and short syllables in the | | | | work of their own. The language began to make |
| Japanese language. I disagree. In most cases | | | | some changes as it took on more than just a |
| the longer sound of a syllable is due simply | | | | phonetic reproduction of foreign words (KUN |
| to an extra vowel placed after the previous | | | | reading). Eventually it began to be used to |
| syllable. For example Tokyo is actually | | | | represent ideas and concepts.Chinese and |
| pronounced like To-u-kyo-u and Kyoto is | | | | Japanese are completely different. In terms |
| Kyo-u-to (note here that the final to in | | | | of structure, Chinese is actually closer to |
| Kyoto sounds shorter than the middle to but | | | | English than it is to Japanese. And yet, the |
| it is just because it lacks the additional u | | | | Japanese, in their amazing ability to adapt |
| which makes the sound appear to be longer. | | | | things to their own ideas, were able to take |
| Pronounced carefully, the "long" syllable | | | | the Chinese and add marks so that it would |
| takes twice as long to pronounce as the | | | | conform to the Japanese word order. Then the |
| "short" syllable.Practice these sounds:1. | | | | kanji began to take on a second reading, |
| biiru 2. biru 3. konpyuuta 4. konpyuutaa 5. | | | | known as the ON reading, as mentioned above. |
| koka koora6. Toukyou 7. Kyouto 8. suteeki 9. | | | | It may be that the Korean language had |
| ginkou 10. waapuroThere are five vowels in | | | | influenced the development of the Japanese |
| the Japanese language: A, I, U, E, O. These | | | | language as both have similar word orders and |
| vowels have one sound apiece. Unlike the | | | | also use honorific auxiliaries.In the Nara |
| English "a" which can have the sounds found | | | | period (710-784) there was an explosion of |
| in cat, crawl, cape, the Japanese A sounds | | | | Japanese literature. It seems that much of |
| like the vowel found in the word cup. And as | | | | the oral tradition of passing on history was |
| a matter of fact, all of the syllables in | | | | translated into script for the future |
| Japanese are very short and clipped (Suzuki | | | | generations. The language began to become |
| sounds more like S'z'ki). Remember that | | | | more and more complex.Hiragana began to be |
| whenever you see a vowel in a Japanese word | | | | developed around the Nara period as well. It |
| it will always have the following | | | | has its roots in the simplification of a |
| sound:Vowel: a i u e o | | | | cursive-style of writing kanji. This cursive |
| | | | style was mainly used privately among |
| Sound: up heat soup left slopeMost | | | | individuals to make notes, letters and other |
| consonants sound as they do in English with a | | | | personal documents. For about 1400 years the |
| few exceptions worth noting: K, G, S, Z, D, | | | | hiragana had a very large set of letters. In |
| T, P, B do not have the puff of air that is | | | | 1900 it was standardized in brushwritten and |
| associated with same consonants in English. | | | | woodblock-printed forms, mainly for artistic |
| The N is also a very unusual sound as it can | | | | purposes. Because of this, hiragana tends to |
| actually take on four different sounds, | | | | have a roundish, flowing style and |
| depending on where it is found in the word.If | | | | shape.Officials and scholars continued to use |
| it precedes a vowel (as in no) it has the | | | | classical Chinese for their work for many |
| normal N sound found in English. Before t, | | | | hundred years. As the language developed, it |
| ts, d, n, ch, j it also posses the normal n | | | | became necessary to add notes next to the |
| sound.If it is found before p, b, m it takes | | | | text to aid in the reading of the texts. This |
| on an m sound.If it is found before k and g | | | | began in the Heian period (794-1192). Because |
| it sounds like ng as in finger.If it is found | | | | space was limited, scholars began using a |
| at the end of a word, or before all other | | | | shorthand version of the kanji used for |
| sounds, it has a nasal sound, similar to the | | | | pronunciation. This was the beginning of |
| French n as in pain (bread).There is one | | | | Katakana. In the beginning it was not |
| other sound that we need to discuss. It is | | | | entirely different from hiragana but over |
| the most difficult sound for foreigners to | | | | time developed a more square appearance, more |
| pronounce correctly. It is the R sound. This | | | | scholarly. Eventually the katakana script |
| sound is not found in the English language. | | | | evolved such that it began to be used solely |
| It is a somewhere between the English L, D, R | | | | for writing foreign loan words, or concepts |
| and is a rather short, chopped sound. In this | | | | that did not exist in the native Japanese |
| case the tongue quickly flicks the roof of | | | | language.Reference: Japanese Correspondence |
| the mouth just in front of the soft upper | | | | Course for JET Participants, 1993- Cameron |
| pallette. This sound takes a lot of practice | | | | Switzer, Fukui, JapanCameron Switzer has |
| to get right and in order to pronounce it | | | | lived and worked in Japan for over 15 years. |
| correctly you need to hear it to be able to | | | | He is fluent in the language, the culture and |
| reproduce it.The following chart shows all | | | | business.To visit his personal site, please |
| the possible combinations of consonants and | | | | go to where you can learn a lot about life |
| vowels in the Japanese Language. Note that in | | | | in Japan and have a great time while doing |
| almost every case (except for n by itself) | | | | it!If you would like to continue studying the |
| all consonants are followed by a vowel. This | | | | Free! Japanese Lessons, please visit: |
| makes the language very easy to pronounce.a | | | | |
| ka sa ta na ha ma ya ra wa wo ni ki shi chi | | | | today.For assistance regarding business |
| ni hi mi - ri - - -u ku su tsu nu fu mu yu ru | | | | related to Japan, please visit Cameron's |
| - -e ke se te ne he me - re - - -o ko so to | | | | business site, Intrmarket Solutions, at: |
| no ho mo yo ro - - -There are some other | | | | |
| sounds which are not quite as common, but are | | | | today. |
| actually a slight variation of the main | | | | |