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On a CD that came with my text book I hear that desu is pronounced dess. Are
there many other words in Japanese, where done of the sound from the kana
spelling actually falls off, like in this example, at the end our at any other
place?

If I pronounce desu instead of dess, will it sound wrong to native Japanese
speakers?

Is there some rule to what vowels our other sounds (mora?) from the kanji to
omit?

Thanks.
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2016-10-11T16:36:26.130
39891
2020-04-20T15:46:36.007
18183
question
kana phonology phonetics sound-symbolism phonotactics
Desu pronounced dess: what about other words?
In Japanese phonotactics, high vowels (for Japanese, these are i and u) have a
certain property: they become unvoiced when surrounded by unvoiced sounds.
Since the "u" in desu is surrounded on the left by "s" (voiceless) and on the
right by nothing (nothing is also voiceless), the u is now voiceless. However,
this rule is not universally followed; for example, it is common for women not
to devoice vowels as much, as it is perceived as feminine. But in general,
whenever these conditions are met, it is common for the vowel to become
unvoiced.
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2016-10-11T16:49:40.710
39892
2016-10-11T16:49:40.710
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answer
This is not a direct answer to your question but let me explain about
difference between voicing/devoicing vowels and prolonging vowels.

There are several ways to pronounce です or the likes.

  1. des (1 syllable ~~non-moraic~~ 3 morae, /de/ is longer than /s/, sounds ~~chopped~~ foreign)
  2. des: (1 syllable 2 morae, /de/ and /s:/ are even, sounds eastern-dialect-ish)
  3. desu (2 syllable **s** 2 morae, /de/ and /su/ are even, sounds western-dialect-ish)
  4. desu: (2 syllable **s** 3 morae, /su:/ is longer than /de/, sounds feminine)

Japanese ears perceive no.1 as でぇす, no.2 and 3 as the same thing and normal
pronunciation of です while no.4 as ですぅ, which is different from the rest and
perhaps feminine.

However, English speakers perceive no.1 and no.2 as the same word "des" while
no.3 and 4 as another same word "desu". If they fail to differentiate no.3 and
4, they may mix features unique to each of them.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2016-10-12T10:53:15.807
39921
2020-04-20T15:46:36.007
2020-04-20T15:46:36.007
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answer