Page 40 - Basic Japanese

Instead of a macron, some people use a circumflex accent (

^ —like a small inverted V).
It is extremely important to master the difference

between the short (simple) vowels and the long (double)
ones early in your study of Japanese. So many words are

distinguished by vowel length alone that, unless you are
careful with these distinctions, your Japanese will be like a
faulty telephone connection, likely to break down at any

moment. English vowels are neither long nor short, by
Japanese standards, but they often SOUND long, because of

the off-glides. Remember to make your SHORT vowels
SHORTER and your LONG vowels LONGER than the

equivalent English vowels. Here are some examples of long
and short vowels:

[cue 01-10]

ta field sā [sa- well
a]

e picture ē [e-e] yes

ki tree ii [i-i] is good

ho sail hō [ho- law
o]

fu metropolitan fū [fu-u] seal
prefecture

In ordinary conversation, most Japanese do not
distinguish the vowel sequence ei from ee (=ē). In some

parts of Japan, however, the distinction is still maintained.