Learn to pronounce the nasals: ま, み, む, め, も / な, に, ぬ, ね, の
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| This is まみむめも. |
| And this is なにぬねの. |
| By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to tell them apart, PLUS you'll be practicing them and on your way to perfect pronunciation! |
| I'm Risa, and this is Japanese Pronunciation Through Minimal Pairs. |
| The first group is |
| ま (ma), み (mi), む (mu), め (me), も (mo) |
| The second group is |
| な (na), に (ni), ぬ (nu), ね (ne), の (no) |
| The consonants m and n are called "nasals" because the airflow is directed through the nose during pronunciation. |
| Close the mouth, put the lips together, and make the nasal sound m. It is the same as in the English word "mat." |
| ま (ma), み (mi), む (mu), め (me), も (mo) |
| (3 seconds pause) |
| ま (ma), み (mi), む (mu), め (me), も (mo) |
| When you pronounce the n sound, the air should flow through your nose. It is the same as in the English word "name." |
| な (na), に (ni), ぬ (nu), ね (ne), の (no) |
| (3 seconds pause) |
| な (na), に (ni), ぬ (nu), ね (ne), の (no) |
| The sounds ま (ma), み (mi), む (mu), め (me), も (mo) and な (na), に (ni), ぬ (nu), ね (ne), の (no) are typically not difficult to pronounce. |
| Let's practice. |
| Compare the sounds of these minimal pairs. |
| 間/名 (ma/na) |
| (1) |
| 間/名 (ma/na) |
| (1) |
| 間 means "interval," and 名 means "name." |
| 似る/見る (niru/miru) |
| (1) |
| 似る/見る (niru/miru) |
| (1) |
| 似る means "to resemble," and 見る means "to see." |
| 向く/抜く (muku/nuku) |
| (1) |
| 向く/抜く (muku/nuku) |
| (1) |
| 向く means "to face," and 抜く means "to pull out." |
| 飴/姉 (ame/ane) |
| (1) |
| 飴/姉 (ame/ane) |
| (1) |
| 飴 means "candy," and 姉 means "older sister." |
| 森/海苔 (mori/nori) |
| (1) |
| 森/海苔 (mori/nori) |
| (1) |
| 森 means "forest," and 海苔 means "seaweed." |
| As we've seen in this lesson, the tiny differences in minimal pairs can lead to big changes in meaning. |
| Keep listening and practicing these minimal pairs– they'll help you improve your pronunciation! |
| By the way, if you watched til the end |
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