Phonetics

Japanese Consonants

The ‘r’ sound

Unlike the rolled ‘r’ found in some languages (like Spanish or Russian), the Japanese ‘r’ is non-vibrating, “single-tap”, representing a cross between the English ‘r’, ‘l’, and ‘d’. For some Japanese speakers, it sounds similar to a light ‘d’.

The Japanese ‘r’ is produced by lightly tapping the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth, similar to the ‘t’ in the American pronunciation of “water” or “better”. The touch should be very quick and light.

Due to the absence of the ‘l’ sound in Japanese, the ‘r’ sound is used to represent ‘l’ in borrowed words:

London - Rondon; Libya — Ribia.

Examples:

ra, ru, re, ro; Aru, Uru, Iru, Oru, aRE, iRO, iRERU.

The consonant ‘w’

- is bilabial. It fully corresponds to the English w in the word “why”. It is found only in the syllable wa.

For example:

WA, waRAI, waRAU, WAru, waRU, WAre, waRERU, iWAu, oWARU.

The consonant ‘h’

- occurs in the syllables ha, he, ho.

It is a glottal sound. It is similar to the English ‘h’, but pronounced lightly, with a breathy sound, resembling the gentle exhalation we make when breathing on a glass to fog it up.

For example:

ha, he, ho, ho:; haRAi, haRAu, haREru, HA, HAi, haRA, HAha, HOoru, HOo.

The soft consonant ‘h’’

occurs in the syllable hi.

It resembles the ‘h’ in the English words “huge” or “human”. In some words with hi, the vowel i is reduced, so hi is pronounced almost like a voiceless palatal fricative.

In the transcription, we will indicate reduction in blue.

In the Japanese text, a vertical bar - | will be placed to the right of such a sound.

For example: hito (hto).

Examples:

HI, HITO, hiMA, hiKU, hiKAru, koOHIi, hiRU, hiRUMA, hiROBA, aNOhito.

The consonant ‘k’

- occurs in the syllables ka, ku, ke, ko and corresponds to the English ‘k’ (but typically without aspiration).

The soft consonant ‘k’’

- occurs in the syllable ki and corresponds to the palatalized ‘k’ in English, like in “cute”. The vowel i in the syllable ki is also frequently reduced.

For example:

ka, ki, ku, ke, ko; kaO, kaU, KAku, Aka, Aku, aKU, aKI, Eki, iKE, iKERU, Ikura, iKU, KU, KUru, kiKU, KOi, KOe, koKO.

The consonant ‘t’

- occurs in the syllables: ta, te, to and is pronounced like the English ‘t’ (unaspirated).

In the syllable chi, it is pronounced as something between the English ‘t’ and ‘ch’.

For example:

ta, te, to, too, teKI, toKI, TOru, oTOKO, haTA, koTAE, HOteru.

The consonant ‘ch’

- occurs only in the syllable chi. It is similar to the English ‘ch’ in “cheese” but softer.

For example:

uCHI, chiCHI, koCHI, kaTACHI.

The consonant ‘ts’

- occurs only in the syllable tsu and perfectly corresponds to the ‘ts’ in “cats”.

For example:

tsu, tsuu; Utsu, Itsu, TSUku, tsuKEU, chiKATETSU.

The consonant ‘d’

- occurs in the syllables da, de, do and is pronounced like the English ‘d’.

For example:

da, de, do, do:, DOa, DOko, KAdo, KAado, DAre, DEru, kaRADA, toKIDOKI, chiKAdo:

The consonant ‘s’

- occurs in the syllables sa, su, se, so and corresponds to the English ‘s’.

For example:

sa, su, se, so, sa:, suu, so:, Asa, KAsa, SAe, iSU, saKU, saKURA, soKO, aSOko, SOra, soRE, SEki, seKI, SArada.

The consonant ‘n’

The consonant [n] coincides in pronunciation with the English [n]. This consonant is used before [s], [t], [ts], [dz], [d], [n], [f], [b], [w]. Before other sounds, a nasal [ñ] is pronounced, which is a sound distinct from the standard English ‘n’.

- occurs in the syllables nа, nu, nе, nо and is pronounced like the hard consonant ‘n’ in English.

The soft consonant ‘n’’

- coincides with the palatalized ‘n’ in English, like the ‘ny’ in “canyon”. It occurs only in ni.

For example:

nа, ni, nu, ne, no, no:, NAni, NAka, NAru, aNAta, haNA, haNAsu, Ani, NOni, kuNI, NUu, KInu, INE, kaNE, NEko, aNO, koNO, soNO, moNO.

The consonant ñ (transcribed as n)

A velar nasal sound, similar to the ‘ng’ in the English word “song”.

It is pronounced with relaxed mouth muscles: the back of the tongue slightly approaches the soft palate but does not form a complete closure, and the air stream passes simultaneously through the mouth and nose with tense vocal cords.

It does not have a direct letter correspondence in standard English orthography other than “ng”.

The ñ sound in Japanese is syllabic (i.e., like a vowel) and can have an independent pitch.

For example:

HOn (HO - n), KUnren (KU - n - re - n).

If a vowel sound follows ñ, an apostrophe follows it in transcription, for example: mihon'ichi (as opposed to konnichi).

Compare:

mi - HO - n - i - chi

KO - n - ni - chi

For example:

Un, En, SEn, HOn, Kin, kaBAN, koKUBAN

The consonant ‘m’

- occurs in the syllables ma, mu, me, mо and coincides with the English ‘m’.

The soft consonant ‘m’’

- occurs only in the syllable mi and coincides with the palatalized ‘m’ in English, like in “music”.

For example:

ma, mi, mu, mе, mо, mо:, MАe, MAdo, MAda, maTA, Ima, miSE, miEru, miSEru, miMI, muKAU, inuKOo, ME, MEede:, koME, oMOu, kuMOru, toTEMO, MOo, miNAto, miNAMI, miNA, NImotsu.

The consonant ‘g’

- occurs in the syllables ga, gu, ge, go, and is pronounced like the English ‘g’ in “go”.

For example:

ga, gi, gu, ge, go, go:, GImu, GEki, GAku.

If the syllables ga, gu, ge, gi, go occur in the middle of a word, g is pronounced with a nasal twang. It is a hard velar nasal voiced consonant. When pronounced, the soft palate lowers, opening the airway into the nasal cavity, giving the sound a nasal quality.

It resembles the nasal ŋ in the English words “going” and “doing”.

The soft consonant ‘g’’

- occurs only in the syllable gi in the middle of a word. It corresponds to a palatalized ‘g’. It is a soft velar nasal voiced consonant. It differs from the consonant g in that when it is pronounced, the middle part of the tongue is raised.

In transcription, the nasal character of the sound is not indicated.

For example:

kaGE, kaGO, kuGI, keGA, KAge, oKAGE, KOogi, Igi, GOgo, iKAga, KAgaku, SUgu, uSAGI, uWAGI, miGI, aNATAGATA, doITSUGO, buRUGAriago.

The consonant ‘sh’

- occurs only in the syllable shi, and is similar to the English ‘sh’ in “she” but softer.

For example:

shi, aSHI, iSHI, kiSHI, koSHI, shiO, waTASHI, waTASHItachi, iNDONEshia, maREeshia, roSHIA, roSHIAgo.

The consonant ‘dz’’ (j)

- occurs only in the syllable ji. Corresponds to the English [ʤ] in the word “Jim”.

For example:

SHIji, jiNUSHI, oNAJI, soOJI, SOose:ji (soOSEeji), MOmiji, niHONJIn, roSHIAjin, doITSUjin, iGIRISUjin, aMERIKAjin.

Writing System: KA and GA rows

Writing the KA row

English transcription of the row: KA, KI, KU, KE, KO.
Romaji transcription: ka, ki, ku, ke, ko.
Hiragana: か、き、く、け、こ。
Katakana: カ、キ、ク、ケ、コ。

Click on a character to view the animation.

Nigori and Hannigori (Dakuten and Handakuten)

Syllables with voiced consonants are denoted by the same characters of the given kana row, but with the addition of a mark - nigori (dakuten) in the upper right corner of each character - ゛. Unlike nigori, hannigori (handakuten) is applied only to the main HA row of the Japanese alphabet.

Writing the GA row

The KA row has a parallel row with a voiced [g] - the GA row.

English transcription of the row: GA, GI, GU, GE, GO.
Romaji transcription: ga, gi, gu, ge, go.
Hiragana: が、ぎ、ぐ、げ、ご。
Katakana: ガ、ギ、グ、ゲ、ゴ。

Introduction to Japanese Grammar

Features of the Japanese grammatical structure

In the Japanese language, there are grammatical phenomena that do not exist in English, but at the same time, some grammatical categories present in English are absent. Thus, Japanese features a causative voice, a continuous aspect, a desiderative mood, levels of politeness, etc., but lacks grammatical categories such as person, gender, perfective/imperfective aspects, and the subjunctive mood. The grammatical categories of Japanese do not completely correspond to similar categories in English, such as cases, tenses, voices, etc.

In Japanese, nouns, some pronouns, and numerals decline (take particles), and predicative words—verbs, predicative adjectives, and copulas—conjugate. There are indeclinable parts of speech—adverbs, uninflected adjectives.

Declension in Japanese is agglutinative, meaning various suffixes are attached to the unchangeable stem of a word, serving as indicators of different grammatical meanings.

During conjugation, changes in the stem’s sounds may occur followed by the addition of appropriate suffixes. Certain function words are also used to express grammatical meanings, forming analytical structures.

Relationships between words in a sentence are expressed by their word order, grammatical form, and function words.

In Japanese, verbs, adjectives, and copulas can have terminal (conclusive) and non-terminal forms. The terminal form conveys the tense and the degree of certainty of the statement (modality), while the non-terminal form does not express these meanings and relies on the terminal form for them. In a simple sentence, the final predicate takes the terminal form, and in a complex sentence, the predicate of the main clause takes the terminal form, while the predicate of the subordinate clause can take either a terminal or non-terminal form.

In Japanese, the subject does not agree with the predicate, nor does the modifier agree with the modified word.

In Japanese, there is a rigid word order in the sentence:

1. the subject group (the subject and its modifiers) usually stands at the beginning of the sentence;
2. the predicate stands at the end of the sentence;
3. the subordinate part of the sentence precedes the part of the sentence it depends on.

In a complex sentence, coordination and subordination are indicated by specific predicate forms, conjunctions, positioning, etc.

Parts of speech

In Japanese, there are notional and functional words.

Notional words include:

• nouns
• verbs
• adjectives
• pronouns
• numerals
• adverbs

All notional words have grammatical forms determined by the function of the word in the sentence.

Functional words include:

• postpositions (particles)
• conjunctions
• sentence-final particles
• copulas.

Interjections form a special group of words.

The Basic Case (Nominative/Topic)

The basic case coincides with the word stem. In the basic case, nouns are used in the following instances:

1. When addressing someone: YAMADA-SAN!
2. As the nominal part of a compound nominal predicate:
   GAKUSEI DESU. - (Someone is a) student, where DESU is the present tense copula (see below).
3. Combined with the topic particle WA, it can function as the subject:
   TANAKA-SAN WA GAKUSEI. - Tanaka is a student.

Personal Pronouns

In Japanese, each person has several personal pronouns differing in the degree of politeness, i.e., stylistically.

Personal pronouns in Japanese have the categories of number and person.

To form the plural, suffixes are used:

• gata - polite form
• tachi - familiar/neutral form

For example:

watashi - “I” - watashitachi - “we”
anata - “you” (singular) - anatagata - “you” (plural)

The table lists personal pronouns used in neutral-polite speech:

The pronoun WATAKUSHI - I is more formal than WATASHI.

The pronoun ANATA - you is rarely used in conversation; it is usually omitted, and the interlocutor is addressed by their last name, first name, or profession.

If the pronoun ANATA is used in conversation, it is only when a senior addresses a junior or when addressing an equal in age or social status.

The pronoun ANOHITO - he, she is less polite than ANOKATA - he, she.

The interrogative pronoun for asking about a person in polite speech is DONATA - who?, and in less polite speech - DARE - who?.

Personal pronouns have a mandatory category of number; the plural is indicated by appropriate suffixes.

Personal pronouns decline just like nouns, meaning they attach the same case markers. In a sentence, pronouns can act as the subject, modifier, object, or nominal part of a compound nominal predicate.

Simple unextended sentence with a nominal predicate

A simple unextended sentence with a nominal predicate may consist of a subject, often accompanied by the topic particle WA, and a compound nominal predicate with the copula DESU - です.

The subject can be expressed in various ways. Using a noun or pronoun in the basic form with the particle WA is the most common way of expressing the subject. The particle WA marks the subject as the topic of the statement, while the new, main information in such a sentence is conveyed by the predicate.

Both the subject and the predicate can be expressed by a nominal part of speech:

• noun,
• pronoun,
• adjective,
• less commonly - a numeral (or a word with a counter suffix).

In Japanese, two tenses are grammatically distinguished:

1. present-future and
2. past

The copula as part of the nominal predicate is mandatory in all tenses.

The copula has two forms:

• affirmative - in neutral-polite speech, the form DESU - です is used
• negative - the form DEWA ARIMASEN - では ありません

The form of the copula also expresses:

• tense and
• mood

The structure of a simple unextended affirmative declarative sentence:

SUBJECT pronoun noun (numeral)

WA GA MO

PREDICATE pronoun noun numeral adjective

+

DESU

(Sentence types where the subject is accompanied by, for example, the nominative case marker GA or the particle MO will be covered in later lessons.)

The Particle WA - は

The particle WA - は is also called a HIGHLIGHTING or TOPIC particle.

In the considered sentence type, it marks the subject. However, its function is to highlight the topic of the statement, which can be expressed by a word or phrase and which, as we will see much later, does not necessarily coincide with the grammatical subject of the sentence. Most importantly, the appropriateness of its use becomes obvious only in a context broader than a single sentence. In writing, the particle WA is denoted by the hiragana character - は.

The Copula DESU (です)

The copula DESU - です has the meaning of “is”, “am”, “are” and is practically untranslated literally. An analogy can be drawn with the English verb - to be.

It concludes the compound nominal predicate. It also indicates that the statement is made in a neutral-polite style (in familiar or casual speech, it corresponds to the copula DA - だ).

For example:

The negative form of the copula DESU - です is DE WA ARIMASEN - では　ありません.

The structure of a simple unextended negative declarative sentence:

SUBJECT

WA GA MO

+

PREDICATE

DE WA ARIMASEN

For example:

ANATA WA GAKUSEI DE WA ARIMASEN. —> You are not a student.

The Suffix -SAN (さん)

The suffix -san さん is used with proper names in polite speech.

When talking about oneself, SAN is NOT used!.

SAN translates to: Mr., Ms., Mrs. ...

For example:

MOri-san — Mr./Ms. Mori.

Interrogative sentence containing a general question (Yes/No question)

A general question is one that requires only confirmation or negation of the information contained within it.

An interrogative sentence containing a general question differs from a declarative one by the presence of the interrogative particle KA - か at the end of the sentence.

The question mark, adopted in a number of European languages, is generally not used in traditional Japanese writing.

The “?” sign will be used in sentences written in romaji.

The word order in an interrogative sentence is exactly the same as in a declarative sentence.

Note that the intonation rises at the end of the sentence on the interrogative particle KA.

Scheme of a simple interrogative sentence:

SUBJECT

WA GA MO

PREDICATE

DESU KA?

The answer to a general question will be:

1. an affirmative sentence starting with the word HAI - はい - (“yes”), or
2. a negative sentence starting with the word IIE - いいえ - (“no”).

For example:

Question:

ANATA WA TOM-SAN DESU KA? — Are you Tom? (Is your name Tom?)

Affirmative answer:

• HAI, SO: DESU. WATASHI WA TOMU DESU. — Yes, you are right. (Yes, that’s so.) I am Tom.
• HAI, WATASHI WA TOMU DESU. — Yes, I am Tom.
• НАI, TOMU DESU. — Yes, Tom.
• HAI, (SO: DESU.) — Yes. (That’s so.)

Negative answer:

• IIE, SO: DE WA ARIMASEN, (WATASHI WA) TOMU DE WA ARIMASEN. — No, you are not right (that’s not so). I am not Tom.
• IIE, WATASHI WA TOMU DE WA ARIMASEN. — No, I am not Tom.
• IIE, TOMU DE WA ARIMASEN. — No, not Tom.
• IIE. (SO: DE WA ARIMASEN.) — No. (That’s not so.)

Intonation

Intonation of a declarative sentence

In a declarative affirmative sentence, the logical stress falls on the nominal part of the predicate, and the copula is pronounced with a falling pitch, for example:

The topic particle WA - は is pronounced together with the noun it refers to. The word with the topic particle WA is usually followed by a pause.

In a declarative negative sentence, the logical stress also falls on the nominal part of the predicate; the pitch drops after DE in the copula DE WA ARIMASEN, for example:

Intonation of an interrogative sentence

In an interrogative sentence with an interrogative word (Wh-question), the logical stress falls on the interrogative word and on the particle KA, for example:

In an interrogative sentence without an interrogative word (Yes/No question), the logical stress and pitch rise fall on the nominal part of the predicate and on the DE in the copula DESU; the particle KA is also pronounced with a rising pitch, for example:

Phonetics and Grammar Tasks and Exercises

1. Practice writing the KA and GA rows in hiragana and katakana.

2. Read the words aloud, paying attention to the rising pitch.

Audio:

あい、あう、いい、いいえ、いう、いえ、うえ、うお、ええ、

おおい、かく、きく、こえ、かう、かお、あおい、あかい、

きかい、おか、えき、あき、あく、いく、おく、いけ、おけ、

いかが、うかがう、こぐ、けが、がか、かがく、かいが、ぎかい、

ぐあい、げき、ごく、えいご、おおごえ、うごく、がい、かき、かぎ、かご、

かこ、くき、くぎ、がけ、かげ、ここ、ごご、いがく、がいこく。

アイ、アウ、イイ、イイエ、イウ、イエ、ウエ、ウオ、エエ、

オオイ、カク、キク、コエ、カウ、カオ、アオイ、アカイ、

キカイ、オカ、エキ、アキ、アク、イク、オク、イケ、オケ、

イカガ、ウカガウ、コグ、ケガ、ガカ、カガク、カイガ、ギカイ、

グアイ、ゲキ、ゴク、エイゴ、オオゴエ、ウゴク、ガイ、カキ、カギ、カゴ、カコ、

クキ、クギ、ガケ、カゲ、ココ、ゴゴ、イガク、ガイコク。

3. Read the words aloud, paying attention to the pronunciation of diphthongs and the long [e:].

AI, AIGO, IGAI, IGAKUKAI, IKAI, IKEI, IKIOI, UKAI, UKEAI, UKEI, EGUI, EII, OKUGAI, KAGAI, KAIAKU, KAKEI, KEIAI, KEIEI, KIEI, KIGAI, GIKEI, GUAI.

4. Write the words from exercise 3 in hiragana and katakana.

5. Read the words aloud, paying attention to the pronunciation of diphthongs and the long [e:].

おくがい、かいが、あかい、あおい、こい、

がいこう、かいがい、かいけい、おい。

6. Read the words aloud, paying attention to the pronunciation of long vowels.

IGO:, EIGO:, EIKO:, E:KA:, O:, O:I, O:GI, O:GOE, O:GUKE, O:KA, O:KOKU, O:KO:, O:KO, O:U, KA:, KAGU:, KAGO:, KAIGO:, KI:, KIKO:, KO:EKI, KO:GAKU, KO:GI, KO:GO:, KO:GU:, KO:KO:, KO:KU:, KU:GEKI, GO:KEI, GU:, GU:GU:.

7. Write the words from exercise 6 in hiragana and katakana.

8. Read the words aloud, paying attention to the pronunciation and spelling of long vowels.

いこう、こうこう、こうぎ、くうき、おおごえ、かいごう、こうげい、

おおい、けいこう、こうがく、おおき、くうこう、こうがい、ごうけい。

9. Read the words aloud, paying attention to the pronunciation of [g] in the middle of the word.

AIGI, AGAKU, AKAGI, AKOGI, AGE, AGO, IGI, IGIGAKU, IGO, IGAKU, UGAI, UGOKI, UIGO, EIGA, EGAKU, OGI, OKAGE, OKUGI, OKUGAKI, KAGAKU, KAGE, KAGO, KAIGA, KAIGI, KEIGAI, KIGA, KOAGE, KOKUGI, KOKUGO, KUGAI, KUGE, KUGI, GEIGEKI, GIGA, GOGAKU.

10. Write the words from exercise 9 in hiragana and katakana.

11. Practice reading words with different types of pitch accent:

a) rising:

AGO, AGE, AIKO, AIIKU, IKU, IKEI. IKO:, UE, UEKI. UKU, E, EIGO, EIKO:, OI, O:IKI. O:KOKU, OU, KAE, KAGO:, KAIGO:, KAIIKI, KAKAKU. KAKI, KAKIOKI, KAKIKAKE. KAKOKU, KAKOU, KAKU, KAKUGO, KI, KIAI. KIAKE, KIGAE, KIGO:

KIGU:, KIKEI, KIKIGAKI, KIKO:, KIKOKU, KIKOE, KIKU, KIUKE, KU:GEKI, KUIKAKE, KUKEI, KUKAKU, KU:KO:. KE, GEKA, KEIEI. KEIGAIKA, KEIGO:, KEIKAI, KEIKAKU, KEIKO, KEIKOKU, KO, KO:EKI. KO:GAI, KO:GAKU, KO:GEI, KO:GO:, KOGOE, KO:GU:, KO:KEI. KOKO:, KOKO, KO:KOKU, KO:KU:;

b) falling:

AI, AKI. IGI, IKI, IKA, UKA, UKAI, UKI, EIGAI. EII, EKI, OGI, O:KA. O:KIKU, O:KU, KAGAI, KAGAKU, KAGE, KAGEKI, KAGO, KAGU, KAI, KAIGA, KAIGI, KAII. KAKI, KAKU, KAKUEKI, KAKUGI, KAKUI, KIGA, KIGI, KIGU, KU, KUEKI, KUGAI, KUGAKU, KU:KI, KEGO, KEI, KEIGU, KEIKA, KEIKI, KO:, KOE. KOGA, KOGAKU, KO:GAI, KO:GI, KO:I, KOI, KO:KA, KO:KI, GO, GOGO:

c) falling-rising (hill-shaped):

AEGU, IE. IKE, UGOKU. UKE, OKUGAI, O:U. KAGI, KIKAI, KIKEIGAKU, KIKI, KIKU, KUGIKAI. KUKU, KEGA, KO:GI, KOGE, KOKE, KOKU:;

IKIIKI, UKEAU, EKAKI. EKIKAKI, O:GOE, OIOI, KUIKE, KEIEIGAKU, KEIKAIKI, KEIKOGI, KEIKU, KO:KO:GAI, KOKUO:;

EIGAKUKAI, OKUGAKI, KO:GEKIKI:

KEIKO:KU:KI.

12. Write the words from exercise 11 in hiragana and katakana.

The input field above can be expanded by dragging the bottom right corner.

13. Read the following words written in Latin script (romaji).

Agaku, ageku, ago, ai, aika, aikoku, akagi, akugi, aki, igui, igo, iiai, ii, ikoku, ukeau, uki, egao, eigaka (e:gaka), eigo (e:go), eiki (e:ki), eki, oga, oku, kae, kagai, keiki (ke:ki), keikaku (ke: kaku), kikai, kika, kogu, ko:go, ku:ki, ku:ko:, gaika, gekika, gikai, gokai, goki, gu:i, guko:, guai.

14. Write the words from exercise 13 in hiragana and katakana.

15. Read the following words.

Audio:

In hiragana

いき、えいが、うえ、い、いこう、うごく、いう、いえ、あご、え、

あいこく、あい、うかがう、うく、いく、いけ、うえき、えいご、き、

かがく、おく、かいごう、おくがい、おおく、くうこう、こぐ、こい、

けいえい、けいかく、きがえ、けいぐ、かこう、かいぎ、

こうがい、こくがい、こうこう、こうけい、けが、きごう、

けいかくか、けいえいがく、こくおう、かくう、かげ、あおぐ、いご、いきおい、

いきがい、うごき、えがく、えがお、おおう、かいが、

かいかい、かいがい、かいかく、かいけい、がいこう、がか、かぐ、

きおく、きかく、きげき、きこう、くいき、くかく、けいき、

けいこう、けいこく、こうい、こうか、こうかい、こうがい、

こうくう、こうげい、こうこがく、こうこく、ごがく、こぐ、こくご。

In katakana

イキ、エイガ、ウエ、イ、イコウ、ウゴク、イウ、イエ、アゴ、エ、

アイコク、アイ、ウカガウ、ウク、イク、イケ、ウエキ、エイゴ、キ、

カガク、オク、カイゴウ、オクガイ、オオク、クウコウ、コグ、コイ、

ケイエイ、ケイカク、キガエ、ケイグ、カコウ、カイギ、

コウガイ、コクガイ、コウコウ、コウケイ、ケガ、キゴウ、

ケイカクカ、ケイエイガク、コクオウ、カクウ、カゲ、アオグ、イゴ、イキオイ、

イキガイ、ウゴキ、エガク、エガオ、オオウ、カイガ、

カイカイ、カイガイ、カイカク、カイケイ、ガイコウ、ガカ、カグ、

キオク、キカク、キゲキ、キコウ、クイキ、クカク、ケイキ、

ケイコウ、ケイコク、コウイ、コウカ、コウカイ、コウガイ、

コウクウ、コウゲイ、コウコガク、コウコク、ゴガク、コグ、コクゴ。

16. Write in hiragana, and then in katakana:

A. Eki, Aku, aKU, kaU, iKE, koKO, KAku, kaO, Aka, iKU, kiKU, aKI, KO, KOi, KOe, ku.

B. kaGI, kaGO, kuGI, keGA, gaKA, oKAGE, Igi, GOgo, iKAga, KAgaku, KAge, aKAI, kiKAI, oOKIi.

Vocabulary

* Denoting nationality is formed by attaching the
morpheme jin to the country name.

Proper names: Jon, Tomu, Ratana:, Garo, Ari

Since the vocabulary above is not complete (this is how it is in the source), you can do the exercises below partially. Those who will complete them fully, please share your knowledge. You can write the missing words, your translations, etc., in the comments. Unfortunately, there are no Japanese specialists on the site. Therefore, the lessons are provided entirely for your independent study. You can form a group on social networks by creating a special topic.

17. Read and translate:

(1).

• Watashi wa o:sutorariajin desu.
• Anata wa igirisujin desu.
• Anokata wa mare:shiajin desu.
• Watashitachi wa gakusei desu.
• Anatagata wa sensei desu.
• Tanaka-sensei wa nihonjin desu.
• Anohitotachi wa indojin de wa arimasen. Indoneshiajin desu.
• Sensei wa watashi desu. Gakusei wa anatatachi desu.

(2)

• Anata wa Natasha-san desu ka?
• Hai, watashi wa Natasha desu.
• Anata wa gakusei desu ka?
• Hai, watashi wa gakusei desu.
• Anata wa nihonjin desu ka?
• Iie, watashi wa nihonjin de wa arimasen. Roshiajin desu.

18. Fill in the blanks:

• - Anata wa Toimu-san desu ka? - Hai, watashi Tomu desu.
• - Anata wa gakusei desu ka? - Iie, watashi gakusei de wa arimasen.
• - Ratana:-san wa mare:shiajin desu ka? - Iie, Ratana:-san mare:shiajin de wa arimasen.
• - Ratana:-san amerikajin desu ka? - Iie, Ratana:-san wa amerikajin arimasen. Indoneshiajin desu.
• - Sensei wa nihonjin desu ka? - Iie, sensei wa nihonjin arimasen. Roshiajin desu.

19. Translate into Japanese (use Romaji):

1. I am a student.
2. You are a teacher.
3. He is Indian.
4. She is Indonesian.
5. Are you Americans?
6. I am not a teacher.
7. They are not Australians. They are Austrians.
8. Are they Germans?
9. He is not a businessman. He is an athlete.
10. Mr. Tanaka is an engineer.
11. - Is Professor Kato Japanese? - No, he is from Brazil.
12. - Is Ms. Akino not Japanese? - Yes, you are right. She is not Japanese. She is Filipina (Philippines - Firipin). - And is Ms. Kurihara Japanese? - Ms. Kurihara is Japanese. She is a resident of Osaka (Oosakajin).
13. The teacher is me.
14. The students are not them.
15. We are Muscovites. We are Russian.