﻿こんにちは。ゆうこ先生です。
Today wa are going to learn a Japanese spelling system with small やゆよ to spell
sounds like these. Cya (=Cha), Gyu, Syo (=Sho).
These sounds are called Glides or Contracted
sounds. They are combinations of two sounds, but you pronounce them together in one beat as
if they are one sound. There are three points you must keep in mind when you spell Glides.
Point 1. The first sound of the combination has to be from this group with the vowel [i].
So, they are き,し, ち, に, ひ, み, り.
Point 2. The second sound has to be one of these YA, YU, YO.
Point 3. When you combine these two letters, you must make the second letter YA, YU, or YO smaller
to indicate it's a glide combination. Let me show you an example using the letters [shi] and [yu].
If you keep them in regular size, this is just a sequence of two sounds [shi-yu].
And each Hiragana letter takes one beat in pronunciation, so you need to give two
beats to this combination, [shi-yu].
Now, if you make the second letter [yu] smaller,
this is glide. And you need to pronounce the two sounds together in one beat.
I will gradually shift from two beats to one beat for you, so please listen carefully.
[shi-yu] > [syu]
So, this is しゆ [shi-yu] with two beats, but this is しゅ [syu] with one beat.
しゆ. しゅ.
Let's try another glide combination with り [ri] and よ [yo].
This is りよ [ri-yo] with two beats, but this is りょ [ryo] with one beat.
りよ. りょ.
I hope you now understand Japanese Glides and how to spell them in Hiragana.
By the way, the same system applies to Katakana too. When you spell glides in Katakana,
you do the same thing. You combine a letter with the vowel [i] and add small-sized YA, YU, or YO.
This lesson is a sample lesson of the online course Hiragana
Masterclass. Please check the description box below to learn more about the course.
Ok, let's practice reading some Hiragana words with Glides.
おちゃ
やきゅう
ひゃく
としょかん
Of course, you can also use voiced sounds for Glides. And as we learned,
you can only use the letters with the vowel [i] for glide combinations.
So they are ぎ, じ, ぢ, び, ぴ
So, how do you read this combination?
Right. This is び and よ together, so びょ.
You'll see this combination in a word like this. びょういん.
You pronounce it with 4 beats like this. びょういん
And here is a review of one of our previous lessons. You have the vowel
sequence [o-u] in spelling here, right? So you pronounce it [o-o].
As a result, the pronunciation of this word is [byo-o-i-n].
Please review Japanese long vowels and their spelling in this lesson. I’ll leave the link
to the lesson in the show-more section below.
On a side note, if you change this small よ to the
regular size, it changes the meaning of the word.
This is びよういん, and it means "hair salon."
びょういん and びよういん
Can you pronounce this one now? It has two glide combinations in it.
そうですね。That's right. It has 3 beats, and you pronounce it like this.
ju-gyo-o
Ok, let's try one more. What about this one?
そうですね。This is [gyu-u-nyu-u].
I hope you now understand how to use small やゆよ to spell Glides in Japanese.
I posted worksheets for you to practice Japanese glides. The worksheets include
a writing exercise too, so please follow the instruction and spell some words with Glides.
こんにちは、ゆうこ先生です。
日本語オンライン学校、スマイル日本語アカデミーで 日本語を教えています。
I have been teaching Japanese for many years to
English-speaking learners in the USA. And now, I provide online courses for learners worldwide.
In my courses, you can learn Japanese in your spare time at your own pace. And I'll always be there to
answer your questions and support your learning. If you are interested in learning Japanese with
me, please go to SmileNihongo.com/class to check available courses.
Course packages with discounts are not always open for sign-ups.
Please check the description box below to see if they are available when you are watching this video.
I look forward to having you as my student and being part of your Japanese learning journey.
みなさんといっしょに日本語を勉強するのを 楽しみにしています。
では、また次のレッスンで会いましょう。