Basic Japanese. Eriko Sato
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Название: Basic Japanese
Автор: Eriko Sato
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Книги о Путешествиях
isbn: 9781462919284
isbn:
1.6. Vowels in sequence
In Japanese, any vowel may be followed by any other vowel. Each is pronounced in a short, clear, evenly stressed fashion. Here are some examples of vowel sequences:
|
|
| [cue 01-8] |
| はい hai | yes | |
| 家 ie | house | |
| 上 ue | top | |
| 甥 oi | nephew | |
| 青い aoi | is blue |
Note that there is a syllable, an even space of time, for each vowel: ha-i, i-e, u-e, o-i, a-o-i.
Now, in English we do not have vowels in sequence. Each vowel is followed either by a consonant or by one of those three off-glides mentioned in 1.5: the y-glide in key, bay, by, and boy; the w-glide in now, know, and new; the h-glide in ah, yeah, law, and huh. When we Americans hear a Japanese vowel sequence, we are apt to reinterpret this as one of our combinations of vowel + glide. We hear Japanese hai like English high and Japanese mae like English my. The difficulty is that English high and my rhyme, but Japanese hai and mae do not. The following chart will give you an idea of the difference in pronunciation between the two English words on the one hand and each of the Japanese words on the other:
Note that there are some Tokyo speakers who do sound their ai’s much like their ae’s. Such speakers rhyme the words kaeru ‘return’ and hairu ‘enter.’ Speakers of Standard Japanese, however, try to keep these sequences distinct.
Just as we hear Japanese ai and ae alike, we tend to hear Japanese au and ao the same. Listen carefully to the difference between these pairs:
|
|
| [cue 01-9] |
| 買う kau | buys |
| 会う au | meets |
| 顔 kao | face |
| 青 ao | blue |
Do kau and au seem to sound like English cow? Do kao and ao seem to sound like English ow? The following chart will give you an idea of the difference in pronunciation. As you can see, this chart is a mirror image of the one above.
Since any vowel can follow any other vowel in Japanese, it is natural that a vowel can follow itself. These double vowels are sometimes called LONG VOWELS because, being two syllables, they take twice as long to pronounce as the short ones. In the Hepburn Romanization of Japanese, which this book uses, the double vowels are usually written with a macron (-) over the simple vowel, except in the case where there is a morphological boundary, as in oishi-i ‘delicious.’ Instead of a macron, some people use a circumflex accent ( ^ —like a small inverted V).
It is extremely important to master the difference between the short (simple) vowels and the long (double) ones early in your study of Japanese. So many words are distinguished by vowel length alone that, unless you are careful with these distinctions, your Japanese will be like a faulty telephone connection, likely to break down at any moment. English vowels are neither long nor short, by Japanese standards, but they often SOUND long, because of the off-glides. Remember to make your SHORT vowels SHORTER and your LONG vowels LONGER than the equivalent English vowels. Here are some examples of long and short vowels:
|
|
| [cue 01-10] |
| 田 ta | field | さあ sā [sa-a] | well |
| 絵 e | picture | ええ ē [e-e] | yes |
| 木 ki | tree | いい ii [i-i] | is good |
| 帆 ho | sail | 法 hō [ho-o] | law |
| 府 fu | metropolitan prefecture | 封 fū [fu-u] | seal |
In ordinary conversation, most Japanese do not distinguish the vowel sequence ei from ee (=ē). In some parts of Japan, however, the distinction is still maintained. To an American ear, both sequences sound about like the vowel in bay. You should practice making the ē sound clear and long without the off-glide of the equivalent English sound. Examples:
|
|
| [cue 01-11] |
| 丁寧 | teinei | polite |
| 経営 | keiei | management |
| おねえさん | onēsan | older sister |
| テーブル | tēburu | table |
1.7. Consonants
In the structural system of every language, a given sound is made in somewhat different ways, depending on what sounds precede and follow it. If you hold your hand very close to your mouth and say the word pan clearly and naturally, you will feel a slight puff of breath; on the other hand, if you say span or ban, you will not feel the puff of breath. A more effective demonstration is to light a match and hold it close. Those consonants with a puff of breath will put the match out; those without will merely make it flicker. This puff of breath is called ASPIRATION; consonants accompanied by it are said to be ASPIRATED. English p, t, ch, and k (often spelled with the letter c as in cat) are aspirated in initial position, but not after the consonant s. Compare the two words in each of the following pairs:
pin and spin
tick and stick
charge and discharge
key and ski
In final position, English p, t, and k may be either aspirated or unaspirated, or not released at all.
Now in Japanese, the consonants p, t, ch, and СКАЧАТЬ