Vocabulary Lesson 10
Vocabulary
Lesson Notes
In Japanese, some compound words exhibit a unique property known as rendaku, where the second part of the compound has its unvoiced consonant changed into a voiced consonant. A voiced consonant can be easily recognized by dakuten mark (”). It’s important to note that rendaku is considered an unpredictable property of Japanese.
Consonant Shift Pattern
か (ka) → が (ga)
き (ki) → ぎ (gi)
く (ku) → ぐ (gu)
け (ke) → げ (ge)
こ (ko)→ ご (go)
さ (sa) → ざ (za)
し (shi) → じ (ji)
す (su) → ず (zu)
せ (se) → ぜ (ze)
そ (so)→ ぞ (zo)
た (ta) → ざ (da)
ち (chi) → じ (ji)
つ (tsu) → ず (du)
て (te) → ぜ (de)
と (to)→ ぞ (do)
は (ha) → ざ (ba)
ひ (hi) → じ (bi)
ふ (fu) → ず (bu)
へ (he) → ぜ (be)
ほ (ho)→ ぞ (bo)
Compound Words with Rendaku Property
Phonetic Shift
手 (te) [hand] + 紙 (kami) [paper] =
手紙 (tegami) [Letter]
握り (nigiri) [grasp] + すし (sushi) =
握りずし (nigirizushi) [hand pressed sushi]
鼻 (hana) [nose] + 血 (chi) [blood] =
鼻血 (hanaji) [nosebleed]
目覚まし (mezamashi) + 時計 (tokei) =
目覚まし時計 (mezamashidokei)
花 (hana) 火 (hi) = 花火 (hanabi)
興味 (kyoumi) + 深い (fukai) =
興味深い (kyoumibukai)
か (ka) → が (ga)
す (su) → ず (zu)
し (shi) → じ (ji)
と (to) → ど (do)
へ (hi) → べ (bi)
ひ (hi) → ぴ (pi)
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