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Originally Posted by Sashimister
This is true. If OP is learning the standard Japanese, which he should be, there is absolutely no difference in pronunciation between ず and づ. The same rule applies to Tokyo dialect (as OP appears to live in Tokyo.)
Since over 95% of us live in the yellow and green areas on that map, this fact about the pronunciation should not be taken lightly. If you pronounce ず and づ differently, you will sound strange to most Japanese. In fact, I, as a native speaker, don't even know how to pronounce those two syllables differently.
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I actually used to pronounce them differently until I found out otherwise.
If OP is wondering, it's also useful to learn about が, which also has varying pronunciations depending on whom you are talking to.
Ka (kana) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Originally Posted by Wikipedia
The phonetic value of the modified character is [ɡa] in initial positions, and varying between [ŋa] and [ɣa] in the middle of words.
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Here's a bit more about it:
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Originally Posted by Wikipedia
However, /ɡ/ is further complicated by its variant realization as a velar nasal [ŋ]. Standard Japanese speakers can be categorized into 3 groups (A, B, C), which will be explained below. If a speaker pronounces a given word consistently with the allophone [ŋ] (i.e. a B-speaker), that speaker will never have [ɣ] as an allophone in that same word. If a speaker varies between [ŋ] and [ɡ] (i.e. an A-speaker) or is generally consistent in using [ɡ], then the velar fricative [ɣ] is always another possible allophone in fast speech.
/ɡ/ may be weakened to nasal [ŋ] when it occurs within words — this includes not only between vowels but also between a vowel and a consonant. There is a fair amount of variation between speakers, however. Some, such as Vance (1987), have suggested that the variation follows social class; others, such as Akamatsu (1997), suggest that the variation follows age and geographic location. The generalized situation is as follows.
At the beginning of words:
all present-day standard Japanese speakers generally use the stop [ɡ] at the beginning of words: /ɡaijuu/ → [ɡaiju͍u͍] gaiyū 外遊 'overseas trip' (but not *[ŋaiju͍u͍])
In the middle of simple words (i.e. non-compounds):
A. majority of speakers uses either [ŋ] or [ɡ] in free variation: /kaɡu/ → [kaŋu͍] or [kaɡu͍] kagu 家具 'furniture'
B. minority of speakers consistently uses [ŋ]: /kaɡu/ → [kaŋu͍] (but not *[kaɡu͍])
C. smaller minority of speakers in Kantō consistently uses [ɡ]:[2] /kaɡu/ → [kaɡu͍] (but not *[kaŋu͍])
In the middle of compound words morpheme-initially:
B-speakers mentioned directly above consistently use [ɡ].
So, for some speakers the following two words are a minimal pair while for others they are homophonous:
sengo 1,005 (せんご) 'one thousand five' = [seŋɡo] for B-speakers
sengo 戦後 (せんこ゜) 'postwar' = [seŋŋo] for B-speakers[3]
To summarize using the example of hage はげ 'baldness':
A-speakers: /haɡe/ → [haŋe] or [haɡe] or [haɣe]
B-speakers: /haɡe/ → [haŋe]
C-speakers: /haɡe/ → [haɡe] or [haɣe]
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I am an A-speaker, but am close to being a B-speaker—there are only a handful of words in which I use /ŋ/ɣ/ and /g/ in free variation. I asked my professor about this once, and she talked to me a bit about "news anchor Japanese" and such.
What she revealed to me is that she's a C-speaker—she actually has difficulty mimicking the news anchor /ŋ/ sound.
