Japanese phonetics and phonology

From UniLang Wiki

Contents 1 Phonetic inventory 2 Morae 3 Voicing 4 Vowel devoicing 5 Nasalization 5.1 G 5.2 Vowels 6 Glottalization 7 Palatalization 8 Tone 9 Dialectal variation

Phonetic inventory

Morae

Japanese words are broken into morae, or syllablic parts. For example, 世界 (sekai, "world") is broken into three morae, se, ka, and i. However, n can also function as a mora (信号 shingou, "traffic light"), and so can a double consonant (日本 (Nippon) Japan"). These components are the basic units of many phonological processes in Japanese, not to mention the basis of its writing system.

Voicing

Vowel devoicing

Nasalization

G

Vowels

Glottalization

Palatalization

Tone

Dialectal variation