Pronunciation of 'g' sound in Japanese

[SHAD0W]

lol at the video nagoyankee.

This is how i percieved it too.. saying that..

I read　headache as
あたまがいたい　

and toothache as
はがいたい

[chryuop]

That is what I meant...sadly what I hear is:
あたまがいたい ==> あたまんないたい
はがいたい ==> はんないたい

And sadly I hear the same thing also in many words...so if I don't know the word I go look it up in the dictionary with a completely wrong spelling.

[SHAD0W]

Im not alone!!

[Nagoyankee]

Originally Posted by chryuop

That is what I meant...sadly what I hear is:
あたまがいたい ==> あたまんないたい
はがいたい ==> はんないたい

And sadly I hear the same thing also in many words...so if I don't know the word I go look it up in the dictionary with a completely wrong spelling.

Sorry to hear this is happening to you. A lil more perseverance and you will be just fine.

I was amazed by that video because I felt it was clearly made to help those in Western Japan produce the nasal G sound. Those of us in the Eastern half don't need the lesson as we already know how!

[Nyororin]

I`m feeling pretty glad that I learned Japanese in Aichi, as this sort of came naturally.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Nagoyankee

I was amazed by that video because I felt it was clearly made to help those in Western Japan produce the nasal G sound. Those of us in the Eastern half don't need the lesson as we already know how!

Or as my friend from Kansai said "That's interesting, but it's nice being from a place where you don't have to worry about it."

[vivennelauliet]

Originally Posted by MMM

The "G" is always a hard sound, like in egg.

Just to be sure, I spoke to a Japanese friend before posting this, and she said the two が sounds in 学生がふたり走って行きました。would be exactly the same sound. I don't know if it is a regional thing (I lived in Kansai, and she is from Kansai as well) so if that makes a difference, then that explains my confusion.

I had a female Japanese teacher a couple of years ago. She was from Kamakura but living in Canada for nearly 30 years.
There was a girl in our class who's last name was 'Gill' (pronounced the same was as 'gill' as in the fish's gill). The teacher had an accent and she always pronounced 'Gill' as 'Jill' (as in the 'Jack and Jill' kind).

I'm really interested in knowing why she prononced it like that, despite being corrected so many times.
By the way, Gill was an Indian girl - does it have something to do with that?

Also, MMM, could you please ask your friend if that's how someone from Kamakura pronounces it, how would someone from the Kansai region (Hyogo prefecture) pronounce it?
Thanks

[KyleGoetz]

Here's a link in English to supplement those provided above about the difference in "g" sound.Japanese phonology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia You'll need a bit of understanding of linguistics terminology, but it's not too complicated. Just think of the two sounds as those of "give" and the "ng" in "sing." Native English speakers should already be able to hear the difference (because we have the difference in English already!) if they know to listen for it.

What's interesting is that, according to the phonology research, there are actually three "g" sounds in Japanese, represented in the international phonetic alphabet by /g/ (hard), /ŋ/ (soft like in "sing"), and /ɣ/ (we don't have this sound in English, but it exists in Dutch, Greek, Irish, Polish, etc.). To me, it's like making the soft sound, but adding a bit of Spanish's "j" sound a bit. You can hear it at Voiced velar fricative - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

But don't worry about the third sound. It's used by a minority of speakers.

In my opinion, the useful and simple rule (but only beginners should rely on the rule rather than experience) is: hard-g for the beginning of words and soft-g for the particle. This is, of course, nowhere near the actual truth of the matter, but it's a useful start for beginners.

You can also get into the middle of words that are loaned from Chinese, etc., but that comes more easily through experience than memorization of rules.

For a similar phonological issue, read about yotsugana: Yotsugana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. It really shows the variety of Japanese.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by vivennelauliet

Also, MMM, could you please ask your friend if that's how someone from Kamakura pronounces it, how would someone from the Kansai region (Hyogo prefecture) pronounce it?
Thanks

No idea about Kamakura, but she thought a Hyogo person pronounces both "G" sounds the same.

I have been a student of teacher of Japanese for not quite 20 years and I never heard of this distinction before this thread. I would say to beginning or even intermediate or advanced students, don't worry about it. If you overconsciously try and make this sort of adjustment your Japanese is going to sound funny. Unless you plan on being a TV or radio announcer keep it in the back of your mind, but nothing more.

[Wasabista]

Sorry if I "daburu" what others have said.

According to a Japanese linguist named Mizutani, there have been educational fashions on this topic. It used to be that the intervocallic (between vowels) pronunciation "ng" (as in "singer" not "finger") was favored; later, the "g" sound came into educational favor. However, both are correct.

You will notice that the "ng" sound is popular with older people and with enka songs. I personally prefer the intervocallic "ng" pronunciation.