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I am currently studying Japanese grammar through Japanistry's Grammar Guide
(<https://www.japanistry.com/the-number-system/>)

I've come across a section when it says that a reading changes when two kanji
join. For example, the Tsu (つ) character may be used and sometimes a dakuten
(or handakuten) is added.

Yes, there's a chart but it's really confusing for me.

Is there a name for this process? Yes, I know it's almost irrelevant to on and
kun readings but what is this called? Is there any more resources I can
research that might help me? I want to know more about this. Thank you.
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2018-09-27T19:16:13.423
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2023-04-15T02:12:27.860
2023-04-15T02:12:27.860
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readings rendaku gemination
Bridging tsu ("つ") when joining two kanji
I believe the name for this process is _rendaku_.

More here: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendaku>
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2018-09-27T20:09:22.673
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You're describing what's known as _sandhi_ , specifically _rendaku_ and
_gemination_. It happens a bunch in Japanese, but the rules are notoriously
complex. For example it's unclear to me why 学祭{がくさい} couldn't be がっさい.

You can read about it some more
[here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_phonology#Sandhi_2).
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2018-09-27T20:14:05.393
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There's a page here on the 9 different changes that can occur in Japanese when
words or syllables are joined. <https://jn1et.com/hennonngennshou/>

The insertion of a つ is 促音化 sokuonka (gemination in English).

The general rules are relatively straightforward for most two on-yomi
compounds.

  1. First character reading ends in tsu followed by k, s or t -> tsu changes to sokuon (発射 hatsu+sha = hassha)
  2. First character reading ends in ku followed by k -> ku changes to sokuon (国歌 koku + ka = kokka)
  3. First character reading ends in tsu followed by h -> tsu changes to sokuon, h changes to p (出版 shutsu + han = shuppan)
  4. First character reading ends in n followed by h -> h changes to p (新品 shin+hin= shinpin)

In words of three or more characters, the gemination can be optional for the
third character. It is more likely if the three characters are thought of as
one word, rather than as word+suffix. E.g. sentaku (washing) + ki (machine) ->
both sentakki and sentakuki are allowed

Rendaku, which is specifically the voicing of consonants in compounds, is not
common for on-yomic compounds, but can happen. E.g. 融通 is yuuzuu, which has
rendaku changing the reading of 通 tsuu to zuu.

Kun-yomi, numbers and some other compounds can be less regular, although there
are general rules. And there are, as always, exceptions to the above.
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2018-09-28T11:13:48.513
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It is called 音便 (onbin).  
[https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/音便](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9F%B3%E4%BE%BF)

But this is not something that beginners should worry about.  
Instead of trying to guess the pronunciation of words, you should just consult
the dictionary.

For example 学校 is listed in the dictionary:  
[https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/en/学校/#je-12764](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/en/%E5%AD%A6%E6%A0%A1/#je-12764)  
So you can see that 学校 is pronounced がっこう.

There are many words out there whose pronunciations (and meanings) can be
quite unexpected, so it is not a good idea to try to guess.  
It is much better and simpler to just consult the dictionary.
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2018-09-29T07:04:34.813
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