Thanks for the tips.

I've been reading up on the "Rendaku" rules for Japanese pronunciation (the
rules
concerning when certain consonants are voiced) and found some wonderfully
esoteric
stuff. My favourite concerned the translation of "a lacquered chopstick box":

nurihaseire (a lacquered box for chopsticks)

which is distinguished from,

nuribaseire (a box for lacquered chopsticks).

Trouble is, of course, that although equally in English we can probably find a
way of
making the distinction using intonation, we are much more likely to a
preposition
structure for clarity.

I agree on whole with what you say about the use of "r" in romanji causing
problems for
pronunciation. I think it's less clear cut though for Southern English speakers
and we tend
to have a much softer 'r' sound.
The thing that's messing up my pronunciation of Japanese in that area at the
moment is
related to Spanish! Perhaps other people have experienced this - that when you
learn a
third language your brain classifies it as "other" and tries to use your second
language to
deal with it. So, I keep finding myself using Spanish "r" sounds, and that
sounds very
wrong in Japanese!

All the best,

Alex.


--- In iatefl_pronsig@..., "Chris P. Bluetree" <japaneasynow@...>
wrote:
>
> Hello Alex, (et al) and "Akeh omeh, koto yolo" to you too! For those of you
who dont
know Japanese, they are big-time 'clippers', wherein they will take a phrase and
cut
sections of it out to make a shorter phrase. They do this just as much with
their own
language as with borrowed words, one of the most famous is 'paso-con' which
comes from
'personal computer'...
>
> As for the shima/jima phenomena, that is complex. The rules are complex. Some
words
and pronunciations were fixed (set in place) hundreds or even thousands of years
ago,
and just remain in that way as a matter of tradition. Some defy the 'rules' as
you pointed
out Alex. The biggest thing i have found in regards to pronunciation is that
there is no /r/
sound in Japanese at all, and they have been writing their own words with the
alphabet
using an /r/ for over 100 years. Their 5 sounds that they use and /r/ for could
much more
accurately be pronounced by all foreign people if they used an /l/. It is
flapped; the
tounge touches the alveolar ridge, making it similar to an English /l/, and also
a /d/. But
there is no /r/ sound in Japanese, which confuses them when they try to read and
pronounce English words (or other languages) with and /r/ and they flap it like
and /l/.
Then, when they see English /l/ words, they can either go the other way and try
to
> pronounce it like and /r/, or just leave it as their own language naturally
pronounces
their 5 sounds, as an /l/ and /d/ cross.
>
> If you personally substitute the /l/ in all Japanese words that you have seen
written with
an /r/ (especially with your students and co-workers names!) they will
definitely notice an
improvement in your pronunciation.
>
> Good luck, and have fun!
>
> Chris P. Madden
>
>
>
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