Master the pronunciation for the double consonants
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| This is 音 おと, and this is 夫 おっと. |
| This is スパイ, and this is すっぱい. |
| In this lesson, we will learn the secret of mastering the small tsu in Japanese. |
| I'm Risa, and this is Japanese Pronunciation Through Minimal Pairs. |
| In Lesson 13, we explored how a vowel's duration can change a word's meaning. The same goes for consonants as well. |
| In すっぱい, the small っ is called a "double consonant" in English. Unlike long vowels, it's not pronounced as つ, but indicates a slight pause to prepare for the next sound. |
| For example, to pronounce かっこ "bracket", say か, then pause and say こ. Make sure you pause for the length of one syllable. You can think of かっこ as being made up of three beats, with one in the middle that is a silent pause. |
| Do you know which position you put your tongue in when you make a pause? |
| Let's take the word きって kitte "stamp", for example. |
| After saying き, put your tongue in the position when getting ready to say the t consonant and pause before saying て. |
| So basically, you just put your tongue in a standby position for the following consonant during that pause. |
| すっぱい (suppai) "sour" |
| After saying す, pause and bring your lips together to standby for p before saying ぱい. |
| If you don't pause enough, you might end up saying a completely different word. |
| Let's look at some examples of how similar words change depending on whether there is a small っ or not. |
| きて/きって |
| (1) |
| きて/きって |
| (1) |
| きて means "come," and きって means "cut." |
| さか/さっか |
| (1) |
| さか/さっか |
| (1) |
| さか means "slope," and さっか means "writer." |
| Let's try another. |
| (3 sec pause) |
| おと/おっと |
| (1) |
| おと/おっと |
| (1) |
| おと means "sound," and おっと means "husband." |
| Now listen to the following sentence, focusing on the minimal pair. |
| (1 sec pause) |
| スパイが酸っぱいリンゴを食べました。 |
| (Supai ga suppai ringo o tabemashita.) |
| "The spy ate a sour apple." |
| スパイ "spy" |
| すっぱい "sour" |
| By the way, if you watched til the end |
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