Sub-deck
Pronunciation Rules
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Japanese uses three scripts: Hiragana (native words), Katakana (foreign words), and Kanji (Chinese-origin characters). Hiragana and Katakana each have 46 base characters. Master pronunciation rules before moving on — long vowels, double consonants, and pitch accent are commonly overlooked early.
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Long Vowels
Extend vowel duration. aa, ii, uu, ei/ee, ou/oo. In hiragana: おかあさん (okaasan), おにいさん (oniisan). For 'oo', write おう (e.g., おはよう).
The Sound ん (n)
Pronounced 'm' before b/m/p (e.g., さんぽ = sampo). Pronounced 'ng' before k/g (e.g., まんが = manga). Otherwise 'n'.
Vowel Dropping (Silent u/i)
The 'u' in です (desu) and ます (masu) is often silent. The 'i' in すき (suki) can be devoiced between voiceless consonants.
Pitch Accent vs. Stress Accent
Japanese uses pitch (high/low) rather than stress (loud/soft). はし can mean 'bridge' (LH) or 'chopsticks' (HL) depending on pitch.
Double Consonants (っ)
Small tsu (っ) creates a pause/glottal stop before the next consonant. きって (kitte) = stamp. がっこう (gakkou) = school.
Contracted Sounds (拗音)
Combine i-column kana with small ya/yu/yo: きゃ (kya), しゅ (shu), ちょ (cho). The ya/yu/yo must be written small.
Dakuten (゛) & Handakuten (゜)
Dakuten voices consonants: k→g, s→z, t→d, h→b. Handakuten: h→p. E.g., か→が, さ→ざ, は→ば, は→ぱ.
おか___さん (mother)
あ
が___こう (school)
っ