Japanese Ejectives175

Japanese has three ejective consonants, which are typically transcribed as /kʼ/, /tʼ/, and /pʼ/. These sounds are produced by creating a glottal closure and then releasing it, which causes a burst of air to be expelled from the mouth. Ejectives are found in many languages around the world, but they are relatively uncommon in Indo-European languages. In Japanese, ejectives are used to mark certain types of words, such as onomatopoeia and loanwords from Ainu.

The three Japanese ejectives are pronounced as follows:
/kʼ/ is pronounced like the "k" in "kick", but with a burst of air released from the back of the throat.
/tʼ/ is pronounced like the "t" in "top", but with a burst of air released from the front of the throat.
/pʼ/ is pronounced like the "p" in "pop", but with a burst of air released from the lips.

Ejectives can be used in any position in a word, but they are most commonly found at the beginning or end of a word. When an ejective is used at the beginning of a word, it is often preceded by a glottal stop. For example, the word "kick" would be pronounced as /kʼikku/ in Japanese.

Ejectives can also be used to create onomatopoeia. For example, the word "bang" would be pronounced as /paŋŋŋ/ in Japanese. In addition, ejectives are sometimes used in loanwords from Ainu. For example, the Ainu word for "bear" is pronounced as /kamuikʼ/ in Japanese.

Ejectives are an important part of the Japanese sound system. They add a unique and distinctive flavor to the language. However, ejectives can be difficult for non-native speakers to pronounce. If you are learning Japanese, it is important to practice pronouncing ejectives correctly. With a little practice, you will be able to master these unique sounds.

Examples of Japanese words with ejectives
kick: /kʼikku/
top: /tʼoppu/
pop: /pʼoppu/
bang: /paŋŋŋ/
bear: /kamuikʼ/

2025-01-31

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