4. The consonant n (ん) (when not attached to a vowel). This syllable only appears:
(a) at the end of a word: hon (book)
(b) in the middle of a word:
(i) when followed by a consonant: konnichi wa (hello)
(ii) when followed by a vowel or y:
| kin-en | きんえん | no smoking | un-yu | うんゆ | transportation |
Failure to pronounce the sounds exactly as marked by the hyphen may change the meaning of the word.
| kin-en | きんえん | no smoking | ki-nen | きねん | commemoration |
| shin-in | しんいん | new member(s) | shi-nin | しにん | dead persons |
In some older books, the consonant n is written m in romaji before the sounds b, m, and p. However, we shall continue to write it as n in this book.
| sanbyaku | さんびゃく | three hundred |
| sanman | さんまん | thirty thousand |
| sanpo | さんぽ | walk |
5. A combination of sounds: a consonant + the consonant y (or h) + a vowel:
| kya | きゃ | kyu | きゅ | kyo | きょ |
| sha | しゃ | shu | しゅ | sho | しょ |
| cha | ちゃ | chu | ちゅ | cho | ちょ |
| nya | にゃ | nyu | にゅ | nyo | にょ |
| hya | ひゃ | hyu | ひゅ | hyo | ひょ |
| mya | みゃ | myu | みゅ | myo | みょ |
| rya | りゃ | ryu | りゅ | ryo | りょ |
| gya | ぎゃ | gyu | ぎゅ | gyo | ぎょ |
| bya | びゃ | byu | びゅ | byo | びょ |
| pya | ぴゃ | pyu | ぴゅ | pyo | ぴょ |
6. The first consonant (only the first) of certain double consonants: kk, ss, ssh, tt, tch, tts, pp. Failure to give a full beat to this syllable may change the meaning of the word.
| shitte | しって | knowing | shite | して | doing |
| kitte | きって | a stamp | kite | きて | coming |
| issho | いっしょ | together | isho | いしょ | last will |
| hikkaku | ひっかく | to scratch | hikaku | ひかく | comparison |
| matchi | マッチ | a match | machi | まち | town |
| itta | いった | went | ita | いた | board, plank |
Pronunciation of consonants
1. The Japanese r seems to give the most trouble to speakers of other languages. If you pronounce ra, ri, ru, re, and ro with exactly the same r as in English, you will not produce the correct Japanese sound. The Japanese r resembles a combination of the English r and l. So, relax your tongue and first practice saying la, li, lu, le and lo. Next, close the lips more, hold them fairly steady, and pronounce the same sounds without rolling your tongue. You will be able to produce the correct Japanese ra, ri, ru, re and ro that way.
2. The Japanese f as in Fuji-san, “Mt Fuji,” is very different from the English f in which you touch the lower lip with the upper teeth to get the sound. In Japanese, this is not done. The Japanese f is pronounced more like the English h.
3. The Japanese final n in such words as hon, “book,” and Nihon or Nippon, “Japan,” is a little different from the English final n in which the tongue touches the palate just behind the upper teeth, as in “one” and “ten.” The Japanese final n is nasalized and more relaxed; the tongue does not touch the upper palate.
4. All other consonants should be pronounced as they are in English.
Pronunciation of syllables
You must learn to pronounce each syllable clearly and with the same amount of stress. Each syllable must be equal in length. Note the number of syllables in the examples below. Remember, each syllable gets one beat, so a long vowel gets counted as two syllables. Give one beat to the consonant n and to the first consonant of the double consonant.
| Ohayō. | おはよう。 | o-ha-yo-o (4) | Good morning. |
| Ohayō gozaimasu. | おはよう ございます。 | o-ha-yo-o- go-za-i-ma-su (9) | Good morning. |
| Konnichi wa. | こんにちは。 | ko-n-ni-chi-wa (5) | Hello. |
| Konban wa. | こんばんは。 | ko-n-ba-n-wa (5) | Good evening. |
| hikkaku | ひっかく | hi-k-ka-ku (4) | to scratch |
Don’t put a heavy stress on any syllable. Particularly avoid the “potato” accent (a heavy stress on the second syllable of a three-syllable word) and the “macaroni” accent (a heavy stress on the third syllable of a four-syllable word). Practice the following proper names.
| Matsui | まつい | Hashimoto | はしもと |
| Nakao | なかお | Matsumoto | まつもと |
| Tanaka | たなか | Takahashi | たかはし |
| Yamada | やまだ | Yamanaka | やまなか |
