Japanese language

Sounds

Japanese vowels are "pure" sounds, similar to their Italian or Spanish counterparts. The only unusual vowel is the high back vowel {{IPA|/?/}}, which is like {{IPA|/u/}}, but unrounded. Japanese has five vowels (each one with short and long versions).

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Some Japanese consonants have several allophones, which may give the impression of a larger inventory of sounds. Most instances of allophony are caused by palatalization (for example, {{IPA|/ti/}} is pronounced {{IPA|}}, approximately chi).

Related Topics:
Allophone - Palatalization

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The syllabic structure and the phonotactics are very simple; no consonant clusters are allowed within a syllable, and almost none within the word.

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