30 Peculiarities and characteristics of the Japanese language

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For students of the Japanese language, it is important to know some peculiarities and characteristics of the Japanese language. Today we will analyze several points that you need to learn before studying Japanese, some basic rules of reading and identification.

Read also: Can I use Hiragana and Katakana in the same word?

Peculiarities in the reading and pronunciation of the Japanese language

Of course, the understanding of this article may change depending on the language you are reading. Below are some rules directed to the Western alphabet:

• In Japanese, the pronunciation of [R] will always be the same, as pronounced in the word caro. There is no [RR] in the Japanese language.
• The [H] does not have a silent sound as in Portuguese; it will be pronounced as [R], like in the English word “Hungry”.
• The [E] should be pronounced with a closed sound as in poems and where;
• The [W] is a semivowel with a sound equivalent to [U], while the [Y] has a sound equivalent to [I];
• The [S] is always a sibilant like [SS] and [Ç] in Portuguese;
• [J] has the sound of [DJ] as in adjective;
• [CH] has the sound of [tch] as in tchau;
• [SH] has the sound of [X] or [CH] as in Chá;
• [GE] and [GI] are pronounced [gue] and [gui];
• When we talk about words with two consonants like [Ittekimasu], a pause should be made between these two [T] extending the previous vowel;
• When there is a line above the vowel as in the word [Okāsan], it means a long vowel and can be said: [Okāsan];

If you want to delve into the pronunciation of the Japanese language, you can watch our video below:

Read also: How to read Japanese? The pronunciation and silent speech? Basic rules

Peculiarities of Hiragana and Katakana

• The letter [つ] is pronounced [TSU] and does not exist in our Portuguese language;
• When the つ is small between the letters, as in the word: [いってきます], it indicates a plosive sound;
• The line [ー] in Katakana also means an extension of the previous vowel;
• The small [やゆよ] are contracted sounds, like [Kya Kyu Kyo];
• Long vowels will be transcribed with the duplication of the vowel, as in [おかあさん];
• In the Japanese alphabet, the lines of the syllables [ぎょう] follow the order A I U E O different from Portuguese which is A E I O U;
• The small Hiragana found above some words, mainly in karaoke or some books, the pronunciation of the kanji is known as furigana;

Other characteristics of the Japanese language

• Japanese currently mixes many words in English;
• Japanese is a very formal language, you must speak politely, depending on the person;
• In Japanese, plurals or future tenses are not used, as in Portuguese;
• Many special suffixes are used when talking about people’s names or some things;
• People’s names often are names of anything, fruits, objects, etc.;
• In Japanese, there are thousands of identical words, so you must pay close attention to the context of the conversation;
• There are no degrees of augmentative and diminutive, however, there are suffixes for that;
• There are thousands of ways to count;
• Nouns are invariant, or do not have distinct genders for masculine and feminine;
• A word can have several meanings, using the same writing in kanji;
• The Japanese language uses the SOV system where the verb always goes at the end of the sentence;
• Nihongo has a formal and informal language, with different hierarchical levels;