INTRODUCTION

I. Japanese Pronunciation
1. Kana and Mora
Japanese can be written phonetically in kana as shownbelow.
A mora is a unit of sound equivalent in length to one Japanese kana(or two of the
contracted sounds called yo-on, which are written with small kana).
The Japanese language is based on fivevowel sounds: b(a), ), i(u), &(e)and b (o),
which are used alone or attached to either a consonant (e.g. k + a= t) or to a consonant
plus the semi-vowel y (e.g. k tyta=*r)(the only exception being a special mora, k,
which is not followed by a vowel). Allof these sounds are or more or less equal in length
when spoken. e.g., hiragana
6-columnl -columnT-colunn column b-column -katakana
-row a
I
romaji
e

-rowN
k ka ki ku ke ko kya kyu kyo
L t
S shi SU se SO sha shu sho
1--tow
ta chi tsu te to cha chu cho
t-row +
na ni nu ne no nya nyu nyo
|i-row 7 t|
h ha hi fu he ho hya hyu hyo 3
-row
ma mi mu me mo mya myu myo
-row t (( 4) (} L)
ya yu (e) yo
b -roW ) )
ra r ru re ro rya ryu ryo
-row ( 4) (3 ’) (À L)
W wa (i) (u) (e)
n

h-row
ga gu ge go gya gyu gyo
rOw t 1

ji ZU ze ZO ja jo
t -roW
da Zu de do
II-row
ba bi bu be bo bya byu byo
1f-row pyo
pa p pu pe po Pya Pyu

The katakana letters in the square on 7 I We

the right are not in the above table. YI she
+I che
They are used to write sounds which }L tse
are not original Japanese sounds but are
7r fa 74 fi 7I fe 7t fo
needed for use in loanwords.
Fo du
Ta dyu
2. Long vowels
sounds mentioned earlier ( , , , Àand ) constitute short
The fiveinvowel
vowels Japanese. butthey can be doubled in length (to two moras) to form long

meaning of a word changes according to the length of its vowel(s).

vowels. The
s¯ILaunt): 5IIh h(grandmother)
e.g. uncle) : 5U(grandfather)
b (snow) : j (courage)
à (picture) : | (yes)
YB (take) : 3pass)
(here): ) ) (high school)
n (room): (plain)
h-F(card) 7 - (taxi) Z-- (supermarket)
IZH-9- (escalator) / - (notebook)
[Note)
1) How to write long vowels in hiragana:
addil
To lengthen the vowels of the -column, -column and ) -column,
[Jor[ Jrespectively.
To lengthen the vowels of the à -column, add J
(exceptions : } } yes, ta ÀIsay, 5a à h elder sister, and others).
To lengthen the vowels of the -column, add J
(exceptions : big, Ó many, b far, and others).
2) How to write long vowels in katakana:
To lengthen any vowel in katakana, add the symbol -J.

3. Pronunciation of
make it
Jis one mora long and never appears at the beginning of a word. To
after it.
easier to say, it is pronounced /n/, /m or /y/ according to the sound that comes
O Before sounds from the [ -rowJ [ti-rowJ. h-rowland [-rowJ.
it ispronounced /n/,
e.g. 1it (opposite) hei (sport) thZ (track)
4hleveryone).
Before sounds from the Ií-row), [ie-rowJ and Tt -rowJ, it is pronounced/m,
e.g Lh)' (newspaper) Un(pencil) s (destiny).
(3) Before sounds from the [ -row l and -row). it is pronounced .
e.g. (weather) th< (study visit).
4. Pronunciation of T
[oJis one mora long and appears before sounds from theft-rowJ. f*-rowJ. [1:
-rowJand [1f-rowJ. When used in writing loanwords, it is alsoused before sounds in
the t -rowJ, f -row J, etc.
e.g. i (subordinate) t (commodity price)
h (fire) : (applause)
$ (sound) : t (husband)
I5* (diary) L(magazine)7 (stanp)
llf (full) y 7(glass) ~y F(bed)

5. Contracted Sound

The sound represented by using one of thesmall hiragana letters frJ fojand [ J
in combination with a full-sized hiragana letter is called a yo-on (contracted sound).
Although written with two letters, these sounds are only one mora long.
e.g. ( (jump): U ( (hundred)
Croi (freedom) : =ni (ten)
vtih(beauty salon) : UI ) (hospital)
7+ (shirt) (tea) n i n i(milk) 1)(today)
StI) (department head) ) I(travel) 5

6. Pronunciation of i-row
The consonants of the -row pronounced [g] when they fall at the beginning of a
word, and [o] when they fall elsewhere. However, some people these days make no
distinction between these two sounds and pronounce them [g] wherever they fall.

7. Devoicing of vowels
The vowels [il and [u] tend to be devoiced and become silent when they fall between
voicelessconsonants (e.g t* like). The final vowel (u] of f~TJand [^~it)
also tends to be silent (e.g. LtT want to do, 3 t listen).
8. Accent

The Japanese language has pitch accent; that is, some moras in a word are
pronounced high and others low. There are four types of accent, and the meaning of a
word changes according to how it is accented.
The standard Japanese accent is characterised by the fact that the first and second
moras have different pitches, and that the pitch never rises again once it has fallen.
 Types of accent
OFlat (the pitch does not drop)
(garden) (nose) a (name)
e.g.
I12 Japanese language)
thefirst mora)
2 Beginning high(the pitch dropsafter
i (book) (weather) L (next month)
e.g.
3 Middle high (the pitch drops after the second
mora)
eg. E(egg) t(teacher)
) (aeroplane) th
) Ending high (the pitch drops after the last mora)
e.g. <l(shoes) 1|(flower) (holiday)
bEyounger brother)
t (nose) in D and lt(a(lower) in sound similar, but if the particle 4is addod
after these they are accented differently, and ( is pronouncedl h while a is
pronounced l i r .Here are some other examples of words whose meaning differs
according to the type of accent:
1|(bridge) : L(chopsticks) B(one) : 6(position)
There are also local differences in accent. For example, the accent in the Osaka area
isquite different from the standard accent. Here are some examples:
e.g. Tokyo accent Osaka accent
(standard Japanese accent)
(flower)
(apple)
Bh<:s < (music)
9. Intonation

There are three patterns of intonation in Japanese: D flat (2 rising, and 3 falling
Questions are pronounced with a rising intonation. Other sentences are usualy
pronounced fiat, but sometimes with a falling intonation. A falling intonation can
express feelings such as agreement, disappointment, etc.

e.g. Ä :

7 - : . ( falling]
Sato: with some
T'm going to see the cherry blossoms tomorrow
friends.
Would you like to come with us, Mr. Miller?
Miller: That sounds good.
 II. Classroom Language
Let's begin.
2. #$}) # L i. Let's finish.
3. td Lii, Let's take a break.
4. h)# Do youunderstand?
-..Yes, Ido.
No, Idon't.
Once more (please].
6. Tt That's fine.
7. #. No, that's wrong.
8. & name

9. test, homework
10. . $ ,9 question, answer, example

il!. Everyday Greetings and Expressions

1. SI1k *#t. Good morning.
2. I:LIi, Hello.

3. KIÈhIt, Good evening.

4. * o Good night.
Goodbye.
Thank you.
7. tA# ttho
Excuse me./Sorry.
8. MÁIL#. Please.