IPA transcription of kana づ please: I think it will be [dzɯ].
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-22T02:45:49.393
33043
2016-03-23T00:42:17.080
2016-03-22T02:53:07.310
13935
question
kana
IPA transcription of kana づ please
The same as ず, can be /dzu/, /dʒu/ or /ʒu/.

Source:
[https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/づ](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%81%A5)
(Cited by @istrasci)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-22T16:01:27.363
33058
2016-03-22T16:01:27.363
13942
33043
answer
This description is written from Toukyou-area Japanese / 標準語; it applies
through most of the rest of Kantou and most of Kansai and Chuugoku as well
(with the major exception of the Unpaku dialect around the former Izumo
province).

The consonant will be [z] or [dz] depending on speaker and context. ず varies
similarly, and there is no way to distinguish between the two.

The vowel has no agreed-upon IPA transcription. It's not [ɯ] because it does
involve bringing your lips together, but it's not [u] because it doesn't
involve pushing your lips outwards or pulling the corners of your mouth
together. Some (I don't remember who) have described it as a 'compressed'
vowel rather than a rounded vowel; you bring your lips together but not as
much as with [u], and without rounding them at all (the corners remain
basically in place).

I have heard it vary, though, anywhere from really quite similar to [u]
(especially in more choral singing; I wonder if this is European influence) to
something that's as far forwards as [ʉ]. Mostly it seems to be in the middle,
though, conforming fairly well to the above description.

Elsewhere in Japan:

Part of southern Shikoku (Kouchi, for example) preserves the original [d] in
free variation with [dz], contrasting with the [z] in ず. Kagoshima and eastern
Kyuushuu contrast just [dz] with ず's [z].

In Touhoku/Hokkaidou and some parts of the Unpaku area, づ・ず have further
merged together with ぢ・じ thanks to /i/ and /u/ merging into [ɨ] (I think,
Japanese sources mostly transcribe it unhelpfully as 'ï') after /t d s/ (and
maybe /n/?). This has removed the trigger for the /s z/ → [ɕ ʑ] change, and
all four kana vary in pronunciation between [zɨ] and [dzɨ]. Other parts of the
Unpaku area have shuffled around /i/ and /u/ rather than merging them and
mostly leave づ as [du] (probably not with actual [u] but the Japanese version
described above).

Narata in Yamanashi prefecture apparently pronounces づ with [ɖ], oddly enough;
the whole yotsugana series (じ・ぢ・ず・づ) is the rather remarkable [ði ɖʐi ðu ɖu]
(with the same caveat about 'u').
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-23T00:42:17.080
33066
2016-03-23T00:42:17.080
3639
33043
answer