\n\tThis document is intended to define and provide a basic pronunciation key for basic Japanese used\n\tduring kendo practices. The many of our definitions are taken from Jim Breen’s World Wide Web\n\tJapanese Online Dictionary, which can be found at\n\thttps://www.edrdg.org/cgi-bin/wwwjdic/, and\n\talso from the All U.S. Kendo Federation Website at\n\thttps://www.auskf.org/info/what-is-kendo.\n\tThey are great resources.\n
\n\n\tDisclaimer: We are not professional linguists, so this document may (or most likely) contain\n\terrors or information which is not entirely accurate. Please use the following document as\n\ta light and entertaining guide to help bridge the language barrier, not as a definitive source.\n
\n\n\n\tJapanese, unlike English, contains many more words which are homonyms, or words that are\n\tpronounced the same but have multiple meanings. This is typically a source of confusion for novice\n\tJapanese speakers and native Japanese speakers alike. If you try to find definitions of kendo\n\tterms on your own, please keep that in mind.\n
\nAs an example, here are three words pronounced “kendo” with different meanings:
\nHere's an amusing non-kendo example:
\n\n\tIn general all of the romanized (romaji) versions of Japanese letters are pronounced as written,\n\twith one exception. The letter を is written in roman characters as “wo”, as in “kiwotsuke” but is\n\tpronounced more often as “o” to sound more like “ki-o-tsuke” or “kyotsuke”, identical to the お\n\t“o” sound in “otagai”. It is written in roman characters as “wo” to differentiate the two letters\n\tfrom each other. In some cases the use of “wo” is optional and denotes a slightly more formal\n\ttone, while its omission denotes more of an imperative command. In cases where the use of “wo” is\n\toptional, it is indicated by parentheses. Many times you will see the character of は (“ha”)\n\twritten, but if it is used outside of a word it is pronounced “wa” like the character わ. In\n\taddition, if the character へ is used in a word it is pronounced “hey”, while if it is used\n\toutside of a word in a sentence it is pronounced “eh” identical to え.\n
\n\n\tMany written words in common usage drop the unemphasized and sometimes silent “u” う. Two examples\n\tare “bougu” (bogu) and “kyuu” (kyu). Sometimes it is easier for nonJapanese speakers to think of\n\tthese “silent” characters as a sign to hold the vowel or consonant a little longer.\n
\n\n\tFor ease of pronunciation and computerized input systems, the phonetic romanization (Hepburn\n\tsystem) is used in this glossary. The complete roman spelling is first, followed by the common\n\tspelling in parentheses if different from the phonetic version. The kanji follow the romanized\n\tversion of the word, and the hiragana phonetic characters are last.\n
\nA pronunciation guide follows the glossary if you feel like you need more information.
\n\n\n\tThere are about one hundred dialects of Japanese, including those that were constructed\n\tdeliberately. They range from slight differences in pronunciation to differences so pronounced\n\tthat the dialect is unintelligible for other Japanese speakers from other parts of the country.\n\tPlease keep this in mind as the terminology from school to school and individual instructors may\n\tbe different from what is listed here.\n
\n\n\n\tJapanese has many levels of formality. The ritualized language used within Kendo practice is more\n\tformal and polite than everyday language. The general rule is that the longer the phrase, the more\n\tpolite it is.\n
\n\n\tAs an example, the following phrases all mean “Thank you”, the English translation roughly\n\tapproximates the level of formality implied by their usage:\n
\nNotice that the phrase used during kendo practice is the “formal+” version.
\n\n\n\tCultural note: the relationship between senior and junior is one aspect of kendo that establishes\n\tnot only a hierarchy, but also a support structure. A 6th Dan and a 7th Dan will use these terms\n\tand relationships just as a beginner and ranking person might.\n
\n\n\n\tThe following table is a “quick” pronunciation guide to Japanese characters if you are confused\n\tabout how a term is pronounced. There really is no replacement for hearing someone speak the terms\n\tcorrectly, so please use this portion of the glossary as a very rough guide.\n
\n\n\tJapanese letters other than vowels are made up of two sounds, a hard consonant and a vowel sound.\n\tJapanese vowels tend to be “short vowel” sounds in English. Each column in the table corresponds\n\tto one particular consonant, and each row of the table corresponds to a certain vowel sound. The\n\tfirst column is made up of all vowel sounds. Several spaces in the table are left blank because\n\tseveral letters in the Japanese alphabet have been eliminated. This table uses only “hiragana”\n\tcharacters, because almost all of the terms in this list use this character set. A separate\n\tcharacter set called “katakana” exists for words from other languages.\n
\n| \n\t\t\t | “K” | \n\t\t\t“S” | \n\t\t\t“T” | \n\t\t\t“N” | \n\t\t\t“H” | \n\t\t\t“M” | \n\t\t\t“Y” | \n\t\t\t“R” | \n\t\t\t“W” | \n\t\t\t“N” | \n\t\t
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a あ | \n\t\t\tka か | \n\t\t\tsa さ | \n\t\t\tta た | \n\t\t\tna な | \n\t\t\tha は | \n\t\t\tma ま | \n\t\t\tya や | \n\t\t\tra ら | \n\t\t\twa わ | \n\t\t\tn ん | \n\t\t
| i い | \n\t\t\tki き | \n\t\t\tshi し | \n\t\t\tchi ち | \n\t\t\tni に | \n\t\t\thi ひ | \n\t\t\tmi み | \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t | ri り | \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t | \n\t\t |
| u う | \n\t\t\tku く | \n\t\t\tsu す | \n\t\t\ttsu つ | \n\t\t\tnu ぬ | \n\t\t\thu ふ | \n\t\t\tmu む | \n\t\t\tyu ゆ | \n\t\t\tru る | \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t | \n\t\t |
| e え | \n\t\t\tke け | \n\t\t\tse せ | \n\t\t\tte て | \n\t\t\tne ね | \n\t\t\the/e へ | \n\t\t\tme め | \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t | re れ | \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t | \n\t\t |
| o お | \n\t\t\tko こ | \n\t\t\tso そ | \n\t\t\tto と | \n\t\t\tno の | \n\t\t\tho ほ | \n\t\t\tmo も | \n\t\t\tyo よ | \n\t\t\tro ろ | \n\t\t\two を | \n\t\t\t\n\t\t |
Here are some example English words that correspond to one letter from each column and row:
\n| apply | \n\t\t\tkeel | \n\t\t\tsoon | \n\t\t\ttennis | \n\t\t\tknoll | \n\t\t\thalt | \n\t\t\tme | \n\t\t\tyou | \n\t\t\tresult | \n\t\t\twalk | \n\t\t\tno | \n\t\t
\n\tSeveral columns are characters that are further modified by the addition of quotes or a small\n\tcircle – both are placed in the upper right corner of the character they modify. This changes the\n\tconsonants at the beginning of the character respectively:\n
\n| \n\t\t\t | “G” | \n\t\t\t“Z” | \n\t\t\t“D” | \n\t\t\t“B” | \n\t\t\t“P” | \n\t\t
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| “a” | \n\t\t\tga が | \n\t\t\tza ざ | \n\t\t\tda だ | \n\t\t\tba ば | \n\t\t\tpa ぱ | \n\t\t
| “i” | \n\t\t\tgi ぎ | \n\t\t\tji じ | \n\t\t\tji ぢ | \n\t\t\tbi び | \n\t\t\tpi ぴ | \n\t\t
| “u” | \n\t\t\tgu ぐ | \n\t\t\tzu ず | \n\t\t\tzu づ | \n\t\t\tbu ぶ | \n\t\t\tpu ぷ | \n\t\t
| “e” | \n\t\t\tge げ | \n\t\t\tze ぜ | \n\t\t\tde で | \n\t\t\tbe べ | \n\t\t\tpe ペ | \n\t\t
| “o” | \n\t\t\tgo ご | \n\t\t\tzo ぞ | \n\t\t\tdo ど | \n\t\t\tbo ぼ | \n\t\t\tpo ぽ | \n\t\t
\n\tCertain characters may be written small in combination with others to produce additional\n\tsyllables. Similar to abbreviations, these small characters denote that the sound is to be\n\tunderaccented than if it were written largely. Some examples are shown below:\n
\n| \n\t\t\t | き “ki” | \n\t\t\tに “ni” | \n\t\t\tひ “hi” | \n\t\t\tま “mi” | \n\t\t\tり “ri” | \n\t\t\tし “shi” | \n\t\t\tち “chi” | \n\t\t
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| “ya” ゃ | \n\t\t\tkya きゃ | \n\t\t\tnya にゃ | \n\t\t\thya ひゃ | \n\t\t\tmya まゃ | \n\t\t\trya りゃ | \n\t\t\tsha しゃ | \n\t\t\tcha ちゃ | \n\t\t
| “yu” ゅ | \n\t\t\tkyu きゅ | \n\t\t\tnyu にゅ | \n\t\t\thyu ひゅ | \n\t\t\tmyu まゅ | \n\t\t\tryu りゅ | \n\t\t\tshu しゅ | \n\t\t\tchu ちゅ | \n\t\t
| “yo” ょ | \n\t\t\tkyo きょ | \n\t\t\tnyo にょ | \n\t\t\thyo ひょ | \n\t\t\tmyo まょ | \n\t\t\tryo りょ | \n\t\t\tsho しょ | \n\t\t\tcho ちょ | \n\t\t
Please feel free to explore the web or seek additional instruction/information.
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