Syllables

Japanese syllables are constructed in the following four ways.

• a vowel (a, i, u, e, o)
  a like blah
  i like gee
  u like glue
  e like episode
  o like oh
  

• a consonant + a vowel (62 combinations)
  tsu like tsunami
  hu like hoop
  “r” in “ra ri ru re ro” is produced somewhat similar to “d.”

• a consonant alone (n, t, s, k, p)
• a consonant + y + a vowel (33 combinations)

The chart below shows all the syllables in Japanese.

Japanese Sound System (1) 0:0:34
(From Getting to Know Japanese Language & Culture)
Japanese Sound System (2) 0:0:41
(From Getting to Know Japanese Language & Culture)

Note the following special cases marked with emphasis in the chart:

/s+i/ is pronounced /shi/ : shi like ship

/z+i/ is pronounced /ji/

/t+i/ is pronounced /chi/: chi like chicken

/t+u/ is pronounced /tsu/  :tsu like tsunami, cats

/d+i/ is pronounced /ji/

/d+u/ is pronounced /zu/

Shi and Si

Tsu and Su

Japanese R sounds

These videos can introduce Japanese “R” sound in common phrases.

R and L

Since “ra ri ru re ro” sounds are between R and L in the spoken Japanese, there are no contrast between R and L.  (This is the reason why many native speakers of Japanese confuse with other languages that have the contrast between R and L.)

Rya/ Ryu/ Ryo

Long Vowels

There are five long vowels in Japanese: /aa/, /ii/, /uu/, /ee/, and /oo/. They are “long” in terms of spoken duration. In the writing system, the long versions of /a/, /i/, and /u/ are recognized as the same sound: /aa/, /ii/, /uu/. But the long version of /o/ (with certain exceptions) is represented by /ou/ and the long version of /e/ (with certain exceptions) is written as /ei/.

Long or Double Consonants

The consonants /t/, /s/, /k/, and /p/ can be long. When these consonants constitute an entire syllable without a vowel, they are not pronounced but take a full syllable length.

• 6 syllables: i-t-te ki-ma-su‘I’m leaving.’
• 3 syllables: I-p-pon‘one long thing’
• 3 syllables: I-k-ko‘one round thing’
• 3 syllables: i-s-sho‘together’

The consonant /n/ can take up an entire syllable by itself, as in konnichiwa’ hello’ (5 syllables: ko-n-ni-chi-wa).

Pronunciation Practice:

Pitch Accent

As you listen to Japanese, you will notice rises and falls in pitch. Pitch can change from syllable to syllable in order to distinguish meaning. For example, there is a fall in pitch in hai ‘yes’, while there is a rise in hai ‘ash’. The difference in pitch pattern distinguishes these two words. This is called pitch accent.

HAi ‘yes’

haI ‘ash’ (The high pitch is indicated by the capital and emphasis.)

On the other hand, in English a difference in loudness serves this function. This is called stress accent. Compare the following.

INsult (noun)

inSULT (verb)(The loud syllable is indicated by the capital and emphasis.)

All Japanese words have one of the following pitch patterns:

Fall: JAa ‘well then’

DOumo ‘thanks’

DOuzo ‘go ahead’

Rise: iIE ‘no’

saYONARA ‘good bye’

taDAIMA ‘I’m home’

oHAYOU ‘good morning’

yoROSHIKU ‘Nice to meet you’

Rise and Fall:

aRIgatou ‘thanks’

shiTSUrei-shimasu ‘Excuse me’ suMIMASEn ‘Sorry’

If a word has only one syllable, a fall or a rise occurs with the following word.

HA desu. ‘It’s a tooth.’ ha DEsu. ‘It’s a leaf.’

Special Sounds from Loan Words

Since there are many sounds that are not existed in Japanese language when new loans words are introduced, new innovative sounds were created even though these innovative sounds are not so closed to the actual original sounds.

Example:
ye as Yale
wi; we; wo as wii, wet, Walmart
kye; gye; as Kjeld (name),  Gerdahverfi (city in Iceland)
kwa; kwi; kwe; kwo as quartet, queen, Kuwait, quarter
she; je; as chef, jelly
che as check
tsa; tse; tso as Tsar, Zeppelin, maritozzo
ti; tu as party, today
di; du as Disney, duet
hye as Dechantskirchen
fa; fyu; fe; fo as family, fusion, face, fork
va; vi; vu; ve; vo as violin, venus, eve, Beethoven, Vogue

Yookoso Textbook provides Yookoso!  Online Learning Center website
You can listen to the all the dialogues and vocabulary list from the sites.