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How do you pronounce words like 「ごめんってば」 or 「日本人っぽい」?
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2018-03-06T13:35:32.143
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2018-03-07T04:57:11.807
2018-03-06T15:15:50.970
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question
phonetics
Pronunciation of words with ん followed by sokuon
When I speak at normal speed...

「～んって」 - I think I pronounce the ん the same way as in 「んて」(ん+/t/).

「～んっぽい」 - I think I pronounce the ん the same way as in 「んぽい」(ん+/p/). (like /m/
?)

（「か **ん** て **ん** って」って言うときの２つの「ん」は同じような気がします。。。  
「ア **ン** パ **ン** っぽい」って言うときの２つの「ン」も同じような気がします。。。）

I think I pronounce んって in ごめんって as 「ん sound in ん+/t/ + gemination + て」, and
んっぽい in 日本人っぽい as 「ん sound in ん+/p/ + gemination + ぽい」(which is like
"...jimppoi").
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2018-03-06T14:58:14.753
57121
2018-03-06T15:53:23.780
2018-03-06T15:53:23.780
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answer
You're asking about two archiphonemes:

  * The mora nasal phoneme /N/, written `ん` in Japanese orthography
  * The mora obstruent phoneme /Q/, written `っ` in Japanese orthography

The exact physical pronunciation of these phonemes depends on the phonetic
context, in particular on the following sound. Let's look at /Q/ first:

> 一杯 いっぱい /iQpai/ [ipːːɑi]  
>  一点 いってん /iQteN/ [itːːẽɴː]  
>  一通 いっつう /iQcuH/ [itːːsɯː]  
>  一歳 いっさい /iQsai/ [isːːɑi]  
>  一兆 いっちょう /iQčoH/ [icːːɕoː]  
>  一章 いっしょう /iQšoH/ [iɕːːoː]  
>  一回 いっかい /iQkai/ [ikːːɑi]

The transcriptions in square brackets are phonetic, showing how the sound is
physically produced. In each case, you end up lengthening the following
consonant. When you pronounce 一通, for example, the [t] sound begins on the
second mora and continues through to the beginning of the third mora. The [ː]
symbol shows this; in IPA, this symbol is used to indicate a lengthened
consonant or vowel.

So when you pronounce /Q/, you aren't simply pausing before you pronounce the
next sound. You're actually starting to pronounce the following sound, and
holding that sound for an entire mora.

Likewise, the way you physically produce the /N/ sound depends on the
following sound:

> 三アンペア さんアンペア /saNaNpea/ [sɑ̃ɰ̃ːɑ̃mːpea]  
>  三位 さんい /saNi/ [sɑ̃ɰ̃ːi]  
>  三有 さんう /saNu/ [sɑ̃ɰ̃ːɯ]  
>  三円 さんえん /saNeN/ [sɑ̃ɰ̃ːẽɴː]  
>  三億 さんおく /saNoku/ [sɑ̃ɰ̃ːokɯ]  
>  三回 さんかい /saNkai/ [sɑ̃ŋːkɑi]  
>  三号 さんごう /saNgoH/ [sɑ̃ŋːgoː]  
>  三兆 さんちょう /saNčoH/ [sɑ̃ɲːcɕoː]  
>  三通 さんつう /saNcu/ [sɑ̃nːtsɯː]  
>  三等 さんとう /saNtoH/ [sɑ̃nːtoː]  
>  三度 さんど /saNdo/ [sɑ̃nːdo]  
>  三歳 さんさい /saNsai/ [sɑ̃ɰ̃ːsɑi]  
>  三章 さんしょう /saNšoH/ [sɑ̃ɰ̃ːɕoː]  
>  三時 さんじ /saNǰi/ [sɑ̃ɲːɟʑi]  
>  三千 さんぜん /saNzeN/ [sɑ̃nːzẽɴː]  
>  三人 さんにん /saNniN/ [sɑ̃ɲːːĩɴː]  
>  四杯 よんはい /yoNhai/ [jõɰ̃ːhɑi]  
>  三泊 さんぱく /saNpaku/ [sɑ̃mːpɑkɯ]  
>  四百 よんひゃく /yoNhyaku/ [jõɰ̃ːɕjɑkɯ]  
>  四フィート よんフィート /yoNfiHto/ [jõɰ̃ːɸiːto]  
>  三部 さんぶ /saNbu/ [sɑ̃mːbɯ]  
>  三枚 さんまい /saNmai/ [sɑ̃mːːɑi]  
>  三ヤード さんヤード /saNyaHdo/ [sɑ̃ɰ̃ːjɑːdo]  
>  三塁 さんるい /saNrui/ [sɑ̃nːrɯi]  
>  三割 さんわり /saNwari/ [sɑ̃ɰ̃ːɰɑɾi]

This is an example of **assimilation** , where one sound becomes more like
another nearby sound. The reason this happens is physical. Your lips, tongue,
and so on are moving into place to pronounce the next sound, and this affects
the preceding sound.

For example, when you pronounce コンビニ, the /Nb/ sequence becomes [mːb] because
your lips close together in preparation for the following /b/ sound. In
technical terms, we can say that /N/ assimilates to the place of articulation
of the following sound.

Understanding that, it should be clear what happens with a /NQ/ sequence:

> ごめんってば /gomeNQteba/ [gõmẽnːtːːebɑ]  
>  日本人っぽい /nihoNǰiNQpoi/ [nihõɲːɟʑĩmːpːːoi]

In each case, the following sound is a long consonant:

  * /Qt/ is [tːː] phonetically, so /NQt/ becomes [nːtːː]. 
  * /Qp/ is [pːː] phonetically, so /NQp/ becomes [mːpːː].

Please note that the rhythm of these sounds is very important! The nasal sound
is long here because it takes up an entire mora. The following long consonants
are even longer, because they take up an entire mora, plus the first part of
the following mora. That's why they're written with the length markers like
that.

* * *

For more information about Japanese phonetics, I recommend _The Sounds of
Japanese_ by Timothy J. Vance. This material is covered in Chapter 5 of his
book, and the examples in this answer are mostly taken from his book.
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2018-03-06T15:45:40.890
57122
2018-03-06T16:01:06.610
2018-03-06T16:01:06.610
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answer