the joy of communicating in a foreign language. We hope you’ll discover how fun and easy speaking Japanese can be.
Taeko Kamiya
Pronunciation
VOWELS
The Japanese language has five vowels: a, i, u, e, and o. The vowels are pronounced as follows:
a as in father
i as in eat
u as in rule
e as in met
o as in solo
In spoken Japanese, the i and u vowel sounds are often weak. This occurs in words like shika (deer), which may sound like shka, or desu, which may sound like dess.
Long vowels are pronounced twice as long as regular vowels and are marked ā, ū, ē and ō. In this book the double ii is used instead of a macron.
CONSONANTS
Most Japanese consonants are pronounced like English consonants. One exception is the Japanese r, which sounds like a combination of the English r and l.
As shown in the following table, each consonant is followed by a vowel, by a y and a vowel, or by an h and a vowel. Each syllable is clearly pronounced; thus haru (spring) is ha-ru; kyaku (customer) is kya-ku; and shumi (hobby) is shu-mi.
When n is followed by a vowel within a word, an apostrophe is used to show the break between syllables. Examples of this include kin’en (nonsmoking) and man’in (no vacancy).
Double consonants (kk, pp, ss, tt) are pronounced as follows: Nikko (a famous tourist spot) like the k sound in “book-keeper”; rippa (fine) like the p sound in “top part”; issō (more) like the s sound in “less sleep”; kitte (stamp) like the t sound in “hot tub”.
Here is a table of all the sounds in Japanese. It is recommended that you practice the sounds aloud at least two or three times.
| TABLE OF SOUNDS IN JAPANESE | ||||
| a | i | u | e | o |
| ka | ki | ku | ke | ko |
| ga | gi | gu | ge | go |
| sa | shi | su | se | so |
| za | ji | zu | ze | zo |
| ta | chi | tsu | te | to |
| tsa* | ti* | tu* | tse* | tso* |
| da | di* | du*/dyu* | de | do |
| na | ni | nu | ne | no |
| ha | hi | fu | he | ho |
| ba | bi | bu | be | bo |
| pa | pi | pu | pe | po |
| fa* | fi* | — | fe* | fo* |
| ma | mi | mu | me | mo |
| ya | — | yu | — | yo |
| ra | ri | ru | re | ro |
| wa | — | — | — | — |
| n | — | — | — | — |
| kya | — | kyu | — | kyo |
| gya | — | gyu | — | gyo |
| sha | — | shu | she* | sho |
| ja | — | ju | je* | jo |
| cha | — | chu | che* | cho |
| nya | — | nyu | — | nyo |
| hya | — | hyu/fyu* | — | hyo |
| bya | — | byu | — | byo |
| pya | — | pyu | — | pyo |
| mya | — | myu | — | myo |
| rya | — | ryu | — | ryo |
* These sounds are used only in loanwords, that is, words derived from other languages.
PITCH
Japanese pronunciation is not very difficult once you get used to putting a vowel after every consonant, except “n.” What might puzzle learners is the difference between its high and low pitches. For example, when you say, hashi, pronouncing ha with a high pitch and shi with a low pitch, it means “chopsticks” (hashi), whereas if the pitches are the other way round, it means a “bridge” or an “edge” (hashi). Listen to the audio recordings, and follow the native speakers’ pitch as closely as you can.
For e.g.
Good morning.
Ohayō gozaimahss.
おはようございます｡
A few Words About Japanese Grammar
It is not the purpose of this book to explain Japanese grammar. However, it is probably worthwhile to point out a few basic differences between Japanese and English to help you have a better idea of how the sentences are formed.
1. Japanese verbs come at the end of a sentence.
e.g., Watashi wa biiru o nomimahss. (I drink beer or literally, “I beer drink”.)
2. Japanese nouns generally do not have plural forms. The noun kodomo, for example, can mean either “child” or “children.”
3. Articles and some common English adjectives are not used in Japanese. There are no Japanese equivalents for words like “a,” “the,” “some,” and “any.”
4. The subject of a sentence, especially watashi (I) and anata (you), is often dropped.
5. The same verb form is used for both the present and future tenses.
e.g., Watashi wa ikimahss. (I go./I will go.)
6. Three important Japanese particles have no equivalents in English.
Wa follows the topic or subject of a sentence.
e.g., Watashi wa Honda dess. (I am Honda.)
Ga follows the subject of a sentence.
e.g., Hoteru ga arimahss. (There is a hotel.)
Wo follows the direct object of a verb.
e.g., Biiru wo nomimahss. (I drink beer.)
7. Adding the word ka to the end of a sentence makes it a question.
e.g., Kore wa hoteru dess ka? (Is this a hotel?)
CHAPTER 1
Basic Expressions
You’ll use these basic expressions again and again during your stay in Japan. If you can, practice them aloud. It’ll take you only a few moments to learn them, and when you do, you’ll have taken the first and most important step to speaking Japanese.
WORDS & EXPRESSIONS
Good morning.
Ohayō gozaimahss.
おはようございます｡
Hello./Good afternoon.
Konnichiwa.
こんにちは｡
Good evening.
Konbanwa.
こんばんは｡
Good night.
Oyasumi-nasai.
おやすみなさい｡
Goodbye.
Sayōnara.
さようなら｡
See you later.
Dewa mata.
では、また｡
Congratulations.
Omedetō gozaimahss.
おめでとうございます｡