JJapanese

Velar nasal vs. voiced velar stops minimal pairs

Wikipedia mentions that for some speakers, /g/ and /ŋ/ can form minimal pairs, such as

* 千五　せんご
* 戦後　せんこ゜

How common is this? Is this a regional, generational, or class thing? Is there a way to predict whether an が行 kana should actually be /ŋ/ based on Chinese etymology or something?

1 comment

  1. Based on what I’ve heard some extremely experienced and knowledgeable second language speakers say, 鼻濁音 is effectively dead in natural speech in the standard dialect, and I’d be inclined to agree according to my own (admittedly somewhat limited) personal experience

    So you really don’t need to worry about it unless you want to work in a field that requires extremely “proper” pronunciation, like newscasting or (voice) acting. If you just want to use 鼻濁音 for effect sometimes you’ll pick up more than enough from just listening to people who still have it speak

Leave a Reply
— Previous article

Roll for Sushi - Ep 09 - Hirame/Olive Flounder Sashimi
Next article —

Beginner Kanji Book

You May Also Like
JJapanese
It is Japanese cuisine. This is a rather luxurious one. We eat this kind of food at precious event. There are various kind of local dishes. Each one is very healthy and, these are considered about nutrition. I ate it at “Shidashi-ya”. これは特別な日に食べる「おもてなし料理」の一例です。日本料理のcatering serviceをするお店を「仕出し屋」と呼びます。
Read More

It is Japanese cuisine. This is a rather luxurious one. We eat this kind of food at precious event. There are various kind of local dishes. Each one is very healthy and, these are considered about nutrition. I ate it at “Shidashi-ya”. これは特別な日に食べる「おもてなし料理」の一例です。日本料理のcatering serviceをするお店を「仕出し屋」と呼びます。

It is Japanese cuisine. This is a rather luxurious one. We eat this kind of food at precious…