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I _sometimes_ see that English _ka_ and _ca_ are rendered キャ ( _kya_ ) instead
of カ ( _ka_ ). Why is this?

Do English _ka_ and _ca_ really sound more like _kya_ than _ka_ , at least to
Japanese listeners? (I know it doesn't to me.)
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2012-03-20T13:33:11.510
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2012-03-21T01:10:15.090
2012-03-20T15:12:39.293
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question
kana phonology kana-usage rōmaji
Why is English "ka" and  "ca" sometimes rendered as キャ (kya) instead of カ (ka)?
In reference to Sawa's request for an example, キャンディ is a case of キャ being
used to transcribe English _ca_.

I asked my Japanese teacher exactly this question many years ago. The reply
was that the vowel in English _candy_ is higher (in phonetic terms) than the
low front vowel in RP English _cast_. The fact that キャ is palatalised raises
the vowel and makes it sound more like it does in English.

EDIT: Other examples of this effect, for reference, include キャラクター, キャンペーン,
キャベツ and others.

It's also interesting that this only happens to velars (キャ, ギャ), so we don't
have, for instance, ミャン for 'man'.
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2012-03-20T14:31:26.037
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2012-03-21T01:10:15.090
2012-03-21T01:10:15.090
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answer