# Forum Other Languages All other languages Japanese  Everything you want to know about Japanese phonetics.
_I'd like to give a brief review of the Japanese phonetic system here.
This does not pretend to be any kind of a user guide._ 
The Japanese phonetics is organized as a syllabic system. The Japanese syllables are mainly constructed according to *CV* scheme (C is any consonant, V is any vowel here). Particularly, it means that:
1) no Japanese word ends in a consonant (unlike English _cat, west, bird_ etc.);
2) consonant combinations are impossible in Japanese (unlike English _admire, club, street_ etc.).
When Japanese people pronounce European names with consonant clusters, they dilute them with vowels, e.g. _Smith_ would be pronounced as _Su-mi-su_, _France_ - as _Fu-ran-su_, _Scott_ - as _Su-ko-tto_ etc. 
Here is the Japanese syllabic system (using standard romanization and standard cyrillic transliteration): 
a.....i.....u.....e......o
а.....и....у.....э......о 
ka...ki....ku..ke....ko...................kya...ky  u...kyo
ка...ки...ку..кэ....ко..................  .кя.....кю....кё 
ga...gi....gu..ge...go....................gya...gy  u...gyo
га....ги...гу...гэ....го................  ....гя.....гю.....гё 
sa...shi...su...se...so....................sha...s  hu...sho
са...си...су..сэ.....со.................  ...ся.....сю....сё 
za....ji....zu...ze...zo....................ja....  ..ju.....jo
дза.дзи.дзу.дзэ.дзо................  ..дзя...дзю..дзё 
ta...chi...tsu...te....to...................cha...  chu...cho
та...ти....цу..тэ....то.................  ...тя.....тю.....тё 
da...ji.....zu...de...do...................ja.....  ju......jo
да..дзи..дзу..дэ..до..................  .дзя...дзю..дзё 
na...ni....nu...ne...no...................nya...ny  u...nyu
на...ни...ну...нэ...но..................  .ня.....ню....нё 
ha...hi....fu....he...ho...................hya...h  yu...hyo
ха...хи...фу...хэ...хо..................  .хя.....хю....хё 
ba...bi....bu...be...bo...................bya...by  u...byo
ба...би...бу...бэ...бо..................  .бя....бю.....бё 
pa...pi....pu...pe...po...................pya...py  u...pyo
па...пи...пу...пэ...по..................  .пя.....пю....пё 
ma..mi...mu..me..mo..................mya..myu..myo
ма...ми...му...мэ...мо..................  .мя.....мю....мё 
ya..........yu.........yo
я............ю..........ё 
ra....ri.....ru...re...ro....................rya..  .ryu...ryo
ра....ри...ру..рэ...ро..................  ..ря....рю....рё 
wa......................(wo)
ва.......................о......_/There's no w sound in the last syllable, indeed. It sounds the same as o syllable./_ 
All the Japanese words are constructed of those syllables. They may be monosyllabic (*ki ки* _tree_, *me мэ* _eye_, *o о* _tail_), bisyllabic (*neko нэко* _cat_, *inu ину* _dog_, *tori тори* _bird_) and polysyllabic (*kuruma курума* _car_, *hataraku хатараку* _to work_, *watakushi ватакуси* _I_).  
The Japanese people have "syllabic thinking". If you ask an American to read the word _cinema_ contrariwise, he would read it like '_amenic_'. But if you ask a Japanese to pronounce *watakushi* the same way, he would say _shikutawa_! 
Notes.
1. All the Japanese consonants are *palatalized when followed by 'i' vowel*.
2. The column at the right-hand side of the screen shows syllables with *palatalized consonants + 'a', 'o', 'u'*. There's no separate 'y' sound in them indeed, they are more similar to Russian soft consonants before 'я', 'ю', 'ё' letters. Those syllables (a palatalized consonant + 'a', 'o', 'u') mainly occur in words of *Chinese origin*.
3. The Japanese consonants are *never palatalized before 'e' vowel*.
4. 
- The first sound in *SHI, SHA, SHU, SHO* is really a soft *s* with a slight shade of *sh* sound;
- The first sound in *CHI, CHA, CHU, CHO* is really a soft *t* with a slight shade of *ch* sound;
- The first sound in *JI, JA, JU, JO* is really a soft *d* with a slight shade of *j* sound.
5. The Japanese *R* is a sound between *R* and *L*. Japanese people do not distinguish between R and L. Compare: *raita:* is a word of English origin meaning either _writer_ or _lighter_. 
However, those notes do not pretend to be a phonetic guide.  *Additional features of Japanese syllables.* 
Japanese has a set of *diphthongs* like *AI, II, EI, OI, UI* (in cyrillic: АЙ, ИЙ, ЭЙ, ОЙ, УЙ). *II* and *OI* may occur in words of *Japanese origin*, *AI, EI, UI* mostly occur in words of *Chinese origin*. Examples: *gaikoku гайкоку* _abroad_, *suiei суйэй* _swimming_, *hiroi хирой* _wide_ etc. 
Japanese has specific *nasal diphthongs* transcribed as *AN, IN, EN, ON, UN* (in cyrillic: АН, ИН, ЭН, ОН, УН). They mostly occur in words of *Chinese origin*. Examples: *sensei сэнсэй* _teacher_, *hon хон* _book_, *kin кин* _gold_ etc. 
Japanese also has *long vowels* A:, I:, E:, O:, U: contradistinguished with regular (short) ones. *A:, I:, E:* rarely occur in words of *Japanese and foreign origin*, *O:* and *U:* quite often occur in words of *Chinese origin*. Examples: *sho:bai сё:бай* _business_, *ku:ko: ку:ко:* _airport_, *ro:jin ро:дзин* _old man_ etc.  *Double consonants* may happen *between two vowels* in Japanese words. Only voiceless consonants (namely, *K, S (SH), T (TS, CH) and P*) may be doubled in Japanese. They may occur in words of different origin. Examples: *gakko: гакко:* _school_, *zasshi дзасси* _magazine_, *otto отто* _husband_ etc.  *Word stress in Japanese.* 
Unlike Chinese, there are no syllable tones in Japanese. However, the word stress, as it is in English or in Russian, does not exist in Japanese, too. Instead of that, Japanese words have *tonic pitch accent*. The accented syllable is marked by either rising or falling the tone pitch. There are several common pitch patterns of Japanese words. In many words the first syllable is rising, and the last one is falling. But other patterns are possible, too.

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## Zuku

Thank you! The Cyrillic transliteration helps, as well. I have begun studying Russian within the past 3 months.  ::

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