Page 34 - Basic Japanese

often unvoiced when followed by the same syllable: kakanai
‘does not write,’ koko ‘here.’ And ha and ho are often
unvoiced when followed by a voiceless consonant and the

same vowel: haka ‘grave,’ hokori ‘dust,’ and hosoi ‘slender.’

1.5. Vowels

There is a striking difference between the way a Japanese
person pronounces his vowels and the way an American

pronounces his. Japanese vowels seem to stand still. English
vowels often slide off from their starting points in one of

three directions: with the tongue moving front and up (as in
key, bay, shy, and toy); with the tongue moving back and up

and the lips rounding (as in now, know, and who); with the
tongue relaxing toward a central position (as in yeah, ah,
law, uh, and huh; with many speakers also in bad, bed, bid,

and bud; with some Southern and Western speakers also in
bat, bet, bit, and butt).

A vowel takes its characteristic color from the way the
tongue, mouth, and lips are held. Vowels are often described

in terms of the tongue’s position in three top-to-bottom
levels (HIGH, MID, LOW) and three front-to-back positions

(FRONT, CENTRAL, BACK). If we ignore the off-glides
mentioned above, and think only about the points of

departure, we can illustrate these positions for American
vowels with such words as these:

Note: Some speakers do not distinguish caught from cot.