Page 59 - Basic Japanese
P. 59

[cue 01-24]


                          3. a long (syllabic) ng

                                 genki [ge-ng-ki]                            good health

                                 sankaku [sa-ng-ka-ku]                       triangle

                                    inki [i-ng-ki]                           ink

                                 kongetsu [ko-ng-nge-tsu]                    this month

                                 kingyo [ki-ng-ngyo]                         goldfish

                                 bungaku [bu-ng-nga-ku]                      literature

                                    ringo [ri-ng-ngo]                        apple






















                     The fourth pronunciation you will probably find the most
                difficult.  The  basic  part  of  this  sound  is  just  nasalization—

                such as the French put on some of their vowels in words like
                garçon,  Lyons,  or  chanson.  Some  Americans  use  simple

                nasalization  in  place  of  the  nt  in  words  like  plenty,  twenty
                [ple’y, twe’y]. If you like, you may think of this as an n with

                the  tongue  not  quite  touching  the  top  of  the  mouth
                anywhere. This sound is heard most distinctly at the end of

                a word:
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