Japanese Phonetics Episode 48—LIVE (now with native recordings)!
Added 2018-09-01 11:17:59 +0000 UTCNote: I had intended on including native recordings for the voiced version of 'h' in 'haha' and 'gohan', but after listening to these files on repeat, I came to the conclusion that isolated recordings of these pronunciations could end up confusing learners more than it helped, and thus opted to leave them out. My recordings for these words may not be 100% native, but because the voicing of 'h' is something most native English speakers are used to (as mentioned in the lesson), I don't believe this to be a particularly major issue. More than anything else, I wanted to include the section on the voicing of 'h' such that any people like me who are genuinely interested in phonetics would know. Again, I don't imagine most learners having trouble with this issue, even if it seems a bit confusing in the lesson.
Bibliography
Japanese Phonetics Index Page
Good evening Patrons! The forty-eighth episode of Japanese Phonetics is live and updated with native recordings! In this lesson we look at the 'h' sounds, exploring the more challenging ひ and ふ in detail.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns with regards to this lesson, please don't hesitate to leave a comment below. Thank you very much for your continued support, and good luck with your Japanese studies!
Best from Beppu,
Dōgen
Comments
I remember early on in my language journey when they were using the word "あの人" and it always sounded to me like there was an "sh" kinda sound, like "ano-shto". To think I didn't know how similar ひ and し are until now!
C. Too
2025-01-13 20:25:38 +0000 UTCEven as an English speaker, hearing ふ pronounced as "foo" makes me gag.
Trainfan1055
2024-11-15 17:30:15 +0000 UTCHi, Sashin. JP here. Did the feedback you got from Natsumi Sensei help with this? Otherwise, try some of the tips Dōgen gives around 5:09 in lesson 42 to help you understand where your tongue is positioned. Keep at it!
Dogen
2024-06-03 09:53:07 +0000 UTCHi, Gambel. JP here, Dōgen's business partner. I'm helping manage the messages here on Patreon. I just caught your comment today; apologies for not seeing this sooner! You might recall Dōgen touched on し and ひ back in lesson 42 ("The consonant S"), with a drill you can use to help you feel where your tongue is positioned. This along with some practice might help, as well as getting some direct feedback from Natsumi Sensei if you can join a monthly Patreon group lesson. Sashin Exists had a similar question during the last lesson and was able to get feedback right away. Hope this helps!
Dogen
2024-06-03 09:49:59 +0000 UTCProbably a little vague a question, but do you have any advice on learning how to use the correct tongue position for ひ and し?
Sashin Exists
2024-05-18 03:32:11 +0000 UTCSo because し and ひ are so similar, should I be worrying if when I'm shadowing, I have a hard time picking up on what I'm even saying (at least right when I say it? I have a yeti mic that gives instant playback but it still seems like I can only hear 100% clearly when im listening to a recording of myself, it just seems like I'm pronouncing し as REALLY lispy/ひ sounding but then it sounds alright when I listen to the recording. Idk I think I probably just need more practice.
Gambel
2024-05-11 23:25:13 +0000 UTCInteresting, thanks for the share James!
Dogen
2021-01-15 12:04:18 +0000 UTCI'm sorry if this doesn't belong here or has been said before elsewhere but just in case it helps anyone, I thought I might write this here. If you speak Received Pronunciation British English then the [ç] in ひ is actually the same consonant we use in words like 'hue' and 'human' (and any other word where /hj/ is realised). This realisation was quite useful to me.
James Mason
2021-01-13 19:34:52 +0000 UTCI'm glad the video helped you make this realization! haha Thanks for the support Austin!
Dogen
2019-01-15 05:30:52 +0000 UTCEven though my native language is English, my teeth are laid out in such a way that I can't easily make the English 'f' sound. I have used the Japanese 'f' sound my whole life and no one has noticed unless I pointed it out. So in case you want to practice, I guess you can do it that way, haha.
Austin Baker
2019-01-14 14:04:42 +0000 UTCNo worries Nathan, glad to hear that you're getting so much out of the series! ^^ Incidentally just released a comedy video on my channel so feel free to check it out if you have a minute! 今後ともよろしくお願いします！
Dogen
2018-09-07 01:05:42 +0000 UTCHi Arthur! Glad to hear that you found it useful! I used to offer private lessons, but since my wife had our twins I've unfortunately had to close the service due to time constraints. That said, I may offer it again in the future. Right now one option for you would be to upload recordings of yourself to HiNative or a similar service. After doing this for a few weeks I imagine that you'll be able to find a native with a proper understanding of pitch and pronunciation, and who would be willing to look at your speech from time to time (especially if you're willing to pay!). I did this for a while on lang-8 and it always worked great. Thank you for the support and good luck with your studies!
Dogen
2018-09-07 01:04:48 +0000 UTCThanks again for the great video, Dogen! As always, super helpful. I didn't realize that ひ was pronounced differently (although I think in 人 et al. I was doing it right, but not in general). And like Caoimhin, I also found the loanword hint very useful. The work you're putting into this series is so valuable, and super appreciated!
Nathan Vegdahl
2018-09-05 22:14:22 +0000 UTCHey Dogen. Thanks for another video for a sound I have a lot of difficulties with! I had a slightly unrelated question that I wanted to ask you, but was not really sure where would be most appropriate to do so. I have been studying Japanese for just over half a year now, and although pronunciation has been my primary focus, I still don't feel confident in either my speaking ability or my ability to judge myself in active speech or recordings. I wanted to find an active accent coach who could help me reach a native-like accent before I develop any bad habits on my own. Would you offer such a service or do you know of anyone with enough knowledge of phonology and linguistics who you would trust offering such a service? If not that, do you at least know of a place where I could look to find a Japanese accent coach who would be willing to work with me despite my relatively low level of spoken japanese? Cheers and thank you as always for the great content.
greyface
2018-09-05 19:26:00 +0000 UTCMy pleasure!
Dogen
2018-09-02 01:42:17 +0000 UTCGood to know! Thank you as always for the great content.
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh
2018-09-02 00:42:22 +0000 UTCGlad to hear that you found it useful Caoimhín! A little bit of conscious practice should go a long way with this one—it's not terribly difficult to fix once you become aware of this issue. Cheers! ^^
Dogen
2018-09-02 00:11:50 +0000 UTCExcellent point about reverting to an English 「f」 sound when using loanwords, I'm 100% guilty of this. Will definitely try to be more aware of when I do this and hopefully I can break the habit.
Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh
2018-09-01 22:04:16 +0000 UTC
