Japan 12

Listen to Japan 12, a 32-year-old man from Anjo, Aichi, Japan. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 32

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 18/04/1984

PLACE OF BIRTH: Anjo, Aichi

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Japanese

OCCUPATION: student

EDUCATION: bachelor’s degree

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The subject has been living in New York, in the United States, since he was 26 years old.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

He began learning English in junior high school.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Helen Gent

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 31/08/2016

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH:

ˈkʰama gɛtsɐ ˈkʰjuɹ̩ˠ wɛl ˈçiəz̥ɐ ˈsoɾi fɔˈju ˈsaɾa ˈpeɾi wazɐ ˈbɛtʰɹinaɹi nɹ̩ˠs ɸu had bin ˈwɑ˞kʰŋ ˈdaɪəˌɹi at wɐn ˈol̴d͜ˈzʉ inɐ dɘˈzatid˺ disˈɹikt ɔv̥ ð̥ə ˈtʰɛɹitoɾi so ˈʃi wɐz ˈbɛɹi ˈhapi tʉ ˈstatɐ ny ˈd͡ʒab ɐtɐ s̩ˈpabə ˈpɹaɪˌbɛt ˈpɹak˺tɪs in ˈnɔsˌkwiə ˈniə zə djʉk stɹit˺ ˈtawɹ̩ˠ zaˈʔeɾiɐ waz̥ mʌt͡ʃ ˈniɹ̩ˠ ʌ fɔ ˈħɐ˞ andɘ mɔə tʰu hɐ˞ ˈwaɪkiŋ ˈivn̩ sɔ ɔ̃ ħɐ fas ˈmɔniŋ ʃi fɛlt stɹɘst ʃi eitɐ ˈbɔləbə ˈpɔɹɪd͡ʒ t͡ʃekt ˌħɐ˞ˈsel̴f iɲɐ ˈmiɹə andɘ wɔʃt ħɐ˞ feɪs iɲɐ ˈħaɹɪ ðɛn ʃi put˺ ɔŋɐ pʰɹeɪn ˈjɛɹo dɹɛs andɐ ɸwis̬ ˈd͡ʒaket pikt ʌp ħɐ˞ kit and ˈhɛdid fo wa˞k˺

wɛn ˈʃi g̊ɑt˺ ˈðɛɚ ðɛɚ waz ɐ ˈwimɛn wɪzɐ gʉs ˈweɪtiŋ fo ħɐɹˠ zɐ ˈwimɛn geb ˈsaɾa aŋ ɔˈɸi̥ʃaɹɛtɐ fɹɔm ðə ˈv̥ɛt˺ zɐ ˈɹɛta imˈpɹaɪðat˺ zə ˈaniməl kʰu bi ˈsʌfɹɪŋ fɹɔm ðə ɹeɐ˞ fɔm əb ɸut andɘ maʊs dɪˈziθ wit͡ʃəz wəz̥sɐˈpɹaɪzɪŋ biˈkas nɔmɔɾi juwud ɔ̃nɾi ɛkspɛktu si ʔɪt˺ ɪŋɐ ˈdɑg ɔə gotʰ ˈsaɾa waz̥sɛntimɛntl̴ so ðɪs meɪd hɐ˞ fil ˈsɔɾi fɔ ɐ ˈbjʉtfʊ bɐ˞d˺

bifɔɹɑ̃ŋ zɐʔ it͡ʃi gʉs bigan tʉ stɹʌtʰ əˈɹandɛ ɔfis laɪk ɐ ɹʊˈnatik wit͡ʃ meɪd ɐn ʌnˈsanitəɾi mɛs ðə ˈgʉsɪz ˈõnɹ̩ˠ ˈmaɹi ˈhaɹɪsən kɛpt ˈkɔɾɪŋ ˈkʰamɐ kʰama wit͡ʃ ˈsaɾa sotʰ wazɐ ʔɔd t͡ʃoɪs fɔɐ neɪm ˈkʰamɐ wɐz̥ˈstɹŋ̊gand ˈçjʉʃ sɔ it˺ ʊd˺ tʰeɪk sam ˈfɔs tʰu tɹap ˈħɐɚ bat˺ ˈsaɾa had ə difɹant aɪˈdiʏ fas ʃi tɹaɪd˺ tʉ d͡ʒɛntəɾi ˈstɹokiŋ zə gusɪz ɾowɐ bæk˺ wiθ ħɐ˞ pam zɛn ˈsiŋgingə tjʉn tu hɐ˞ ˈfaɪnəɾɪ ʃi adəˈministɹeɪtɪd ˈiðəɹˠ

ha ˈɛfɔts wɐɚ nɔ ˈfʌtəl iˈnoʊ taɪm ðə ˈgʉs bigan tu taɪɹ̩ˠ so ˈsaɾa wɐz ˈeɪbl̴̩ tʉ ɸɔl̴d˺ ɔ̃n tʉ ˈkʰama andə gib hə ɐ ɾiˈɾæksɪŋ bas wan ˈsaɾɐ hɐdə ˈmanɛd͡ʒ də baθ ə ðə ˈgʉs ʃi waɪpt ħɐ˞ ɒf wizə ˈkɹɒs andə ˈɹeɪd hɐ˞ ɔ̃n hɐ˞ ˈɹaɪt saɪd˺ zɛ̃n ˈsaɹɐ cɔ̃ˈfɐm ðə b͜vɛt͜s ədaɪəgˈnosɪs ˈɔl̴məs ɪm ɪˈmidiatɹi ʃi ɾɪˈmembɐ˞d aŋ ɛˈfɛktɪb ˈtɹimɪntʰ ˈtɹitʰmɛnt ðætʰ ɾiˈkwaɪəd ħɐ˞ tu ˈmeʒə aʊt ə lɑtʰ əb ˈmɛdɪcɪ̃n ˈsaɾɐ ˈwandɪd ðatʰ dɪs ˈkʰɔʊs ɔb ˈtɹitmɛnt maɪ bi ɛksˈpɛ̃sɪb ˈiðɹ̩ˠ faɪʊə sɪks taɪms zɐ ˈkʰɔs əbə pɛˈnisɪlĩn aɪ kʰæˈnɔt iˈmaðĩn peɪ̃ŋ soʊ mʌt͡ʃ bʌtʰ miɪz̥ ə ˈhaɹɪsəŋ ɐ mɪljənɪə ˈɹɔjəɹˠ sɔtʰ it˺ waz ɐ feə pʰɹɐɪs fɔ ə ˈkjuɹ̩ˠ

TRANSCRIBED BY: Helen Gent

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 03/09/2016

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

I was born in Anjo and raised up in Aichi, and, uh, I graduated university when I was 22. Uh, I went to U.S., uh, six years ago and, uh, doing business, uh, and, uh, going to college. Uh, I’m still trying to, uh — what I want to and, uh, what I should do my life.

[Subject speaks in Japanese]: 私は6年前にアメリカに行って自分のやるべき事やなにを社会に貢献できるのか探してきました。またアメリカに戻ればその目的のためにこれからも頑張っていこうと思います。

[English translation: I went to U.S. six years ago to find what I should and how I contribute the society. If I can go back U.S., I would go for the purpose again.]

TRANSCRIBED BY: Helen Gent

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 01/09/2016

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

ˈaɪ wəz bɔ̃ ĩn ˈand͡ʒo andə ɹˈeɪzʌptʰ in ˈaɪt͡ʃi andə aɪ ˈgɹaʒʉeɪtɪd əjʉniˈbɐ˞sə̥ti ə wɛn aɪ wɐz ˈtwɛniˌt͡ʃʉ ʌ aɪ ˈwɛntʉ ˈjʉɛs ə sɪks ˈjiəðəgo andə ə ˈduɪŋgə ˈbɪznɪs ə and ə ˈgoʊɪŋ tə ˈkʰɑɹɛd͡ʒ̥ ʌ am stɪʊ ˈtɹaɪŋ tʰʉ əʊ ˈwɐɾaɪ wɔ̃n tʉ andəʊ wɐɾaɪ ʃʊ̟d˺ ˈdʉ in maɪ ˈɾaɪf

TRANSCRIBED BY: Helen Gent

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 03/09/2016

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

“r” onsets are usually pronounced [ɹ], the exceptional case being intervocalic, word-internal onset “r”s, which are sometimes pronounced [ɾ] instead. Although there is an equal distribution of [ɹ] and [ɾ] in this environment, note that [ɾ] almost never appears as the onset of a stressed syllable.

“r” codas vary unpredictably between light rhoticization (ex: [ˈwɑ˞kʰŋ] “working”), complete absence of rhoticity (ex: [fɔ] “for”), addition of a neutral vowel after the main vowel (ex: [feə] “fair”), and a velarized [ɹˠ] (ex: [ˈkjuɹ̩ˠ] “cure”) which is darker and further back in the mouth than one would find in American English. This sound is almost always syllabic, even to the point of adding an extra syllable to the word. Again, the appearance of these various “r” coda sounds is unpredictable, though [ɹˠ] appears exclusively word-finally.

[l] can be found both in onsets and codas. In codas, it is found almost exclusively following high front vowels (the only exception being [ˈfʌtəl] “futile”). Otherwise, in “l” codas, the subject primarily uses [l̴], as in American English, very occasionally using [ʊ] (ex: [ˈbjʉtfʊ] “beautiful” and [stɪʊ] “still”). In onsets, it is largely unpredictable where the subject will use [l] as opposed to [ɹ], [ɾ], or occasionally [w]. Although, as is the case when it is standing in for [ɹ], [ɾ] primarily appears intervocalically. That both [ɹ] and [l] can be substituted with [ɾ] is not surprising, as Japanese represents both of these foreign sounds with [ɾ]. What is interesting is that, in the unscripted speech segment, the subject also uses [ɾ] as a substitute for [t] (ex: [wɐɾaɪ] “what I”) as in American English.

[ɸ] is sometimes used in place of [f] (ex: [ɸwis̬] “fleece”) or [h] (ex: [ɸɔl̴d˺] “hold”). This is unsurprising because [ɸ] is used for both of these sounds when converting foreign words into Japanese. “h” is also sometimes pronounced further back in the pharynx, more of an [ħ] (ex: [ħɐ˞] “her”).

/v/ in English is regularly pronounced as [b], though in a few places in can be heard as [v].

The [t] sound in [st] clusters is sometimes unpronounced.

Japanese does not use the [θ] or [ð] sounds. The subject often uses [s] or [z] in their place. Occasionally, however, the reverse is heard: [θ] or [ð] where one would expect [s] or [z]. This is likely a form of over-correction.

[n] sounds in codas are often unpronounced, but the vowel preceding them is nasalized as in [cɔ̃ˈfɐm] “confirm” and [ɔ̃] “on.” Sometimes, however, a differently positioned nasal is used, such as [iɲɐ] “in a” and [aŋ] “an.”

“Kit” words are mostly pronounced using [i], although [ɪ] can be heard on occasion.

Neutral vowels are more often pronounced [ɐ] than [ə], although the latter can be heard.

[a] is used in place of [ɑ] in words like “comma” and “job,” and in place of [æ] in words like “practice” and “jacket.” Rhoticized [a˞] can also be heard in place of [ɚ] in words like “working.”

“Goat” words are often pronounced using either [o] or [ɔ], rather than the [oʊ] diphthong of American English.

[u] is regularly pronounced [ʉ] in words like “graduated,” “to,” and “goose.”

A general note on stress: Japanese is an unstressed language, so it is expected that the word stress in this sample is more equal than is often found in the speech of native English speakers. The stress in unfamiliar words may be placed on the wrong syllable (ex: [pɛˈnisɪlĩn] “penicillin”), and many words are pronounced with equal stress on all syllables.

COMMENTARY BY: Helen Gent

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 04/09/2016

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