silent U's and I's

Y

YamaArashi

後輩

16 Jun 2008

7

0

• 16 Jun 2008

• #1

I am sorry for asking such a basic question, but I just starting learning Japanese, and was wondering, when are U and I silent?
I have heard 'masu' and 'desu' and 'arashi' pronounced 'mas' and 'des' and 'arash' but never 'haiku' pronounced 'haik' and stuff like that. I have a Japanese language book that says that the u's and i's are sometimes not clearly pronounced, but it fails to say when, and another Japanese book says nothing about the silence of u's and i's. Can anyone clarify this for me?

 

T

the mighty quinn

先輩

14 Jun 2008

53

1

• 16 Jun 2008

• #2

When to pronounce the 'u'?

Hey everyone, I'm having some issues with knowing when to pronounce the 'u' when it appears at the end of a word (as I'm sure many people have).

Are there any rules that apply to this?

For example:

desu (silent)
Ohayou gozaimasu (silent)
Doozo yiroshiku (spoken)

AHA is it after an 's' that it's silent any chance?? lol

And how about these in particular:

daigaku
eikoku
gurafikku (as in gurafikku dezain (graphic design in English))
suru

?

Many thanks to anyone who can shed some light on this!!

 

nice gaijin

Resident Realist

Moderator

Donor

Twenty-year veteran

8 Aug 2005

7,316

3,727

• 16 Jun 2008

• #3

Interesting that there are two threads in the same day asking essentially the same question. I'll just copy my response to you both I guess.

This topic has actually been covered at great length by myself and others before, here are a few links you might find enlightening (or even more confusing).

...su...ending question? | Japan Forum
This thread contains a very detailed explanation of the phonetics behind this phenomenon. The entire discussion may prove useful.

pronuntiation, ending -su | Japan Forum
An older thread that asks the question of when do normally unvoiced vowels get voiced.

Devoiced sounds | Japan Forum
another older thread about this question.

 

Y

YamaArashi

後輩

16 Jun 2008

7

0

• 16 Jun 2008

• Thread starter
• #4

Thanks a lot, I'll look into them.

 

T

the mighty quinn

先輩

14 Jun 2008

53

1

• 18 Jun 2008

• #5

Thanks for those!

Going by 'rules' of pronunciation in the first thread -

daigaku - 'u' is not pronounced

eikoku - 'u' is not pronounced

gurafikku - 'u' is not pronounced

suru - 'u' is pronounced

... is this right?

 

nice gaijin

Resident Realist

Moderator

Donor

Twenty-year veteran

8 Aug 2005

7,316

3,727

• 18 Jun 2008

• #6

As I said in the first thread linked, it is a bit more complicated than just a few parameters, and it depends on the situation. An important thing to note is that "devoiced" does not mean "isn't pronounced," It means that your vocal cords do not vibrate.