I've come across so far です and ます at the end of a sentence often pronounced as "dess" and "mass" respectively, saying instead "desu" and "masu" I've been told are considered effeminate which (1) I would like to ask if it is true.
I understand short vowels of 'i' and 'u' are dropped in daily conversations when they're either located between voiceless consonants or at the end of a word preceded by a voiceless consonant. (2)Is such practice always true or optional except in circumstances where the speaker wants to emphasise the word for some reason? For instance, (3) am I correct that ひ in 人 is always devoiced? (4)Is failure of dropping such vowels considered acceptable in standard Japanese? I've also been told that no two such vowels could be devoiced in a row. For example 尽くした has the first and the third vowels devoiced only. (5)Am I right?
Some textbooks set out the unvoiced consonants to be k, s, t, h and p only. One of other sources I've come across on the Internet even includes ch, f, sh, p as well. (6)Could I have the unvoiced consonants clearly defined? I had presumed all above are voiceless consonants.
I also stumbled on some exceptions such as 素晴らしい and すごい where the first vowel of both are dropped though they don't fit in with the rules. (7)I wonder how they come about? (8)Are such pronunciations for these words standard and universal? I guess what I'm asking is whether such practice prevalent and failure of dropping the first vowel of these words is considered unacceptable.
Thanks for your kind attention and perusal.
I understand short vowels of 'i' and 'u' are dropped in daily conversations when they're either located between voiceless consonants or at the end of a word preceded by a voiceless consonant. (2)Is such practice always true or optional except in circumstances where the speaker wants to emphasise the word for some reason? For instance, (3) am I correct that ひ in 人 is always devoiced? (4)Is failure of dropping such vowels considered acceptable in standard Japanese? I've also been told that no two such vowels could be devoiced in a row. For example 尽くした has the first and the third vowels devoiced only. (5)Am I right?
Some textbooks set out the unvoiced consonants to be k, s, t, h and p only. One of other sources I've come across on the Internet even includes ch, f, sh, p as well. (6)Could I have the unvoiced consonants clearly defined? I had presumed all above are voiceless consonants.
I also stumbled on some exceptions such as 素晴らしい and すごい where the first vowel of both are dropped though they don't fit in with the rules. (7)I wonder how they come about? (8)Are such pronunciations for these words standard and universal? I guess what I'm asking is whether such practice prevalent and failure of dropping the first vowel of these words is considered unacceptable.
Thanks for your kind attention and perusal.