¨VOWELS AND CONSONANTS¨ CONTRAST BETWEEN JAPANESE AND

SPANISH SOUND SYSTEMS

Vania Butron1, Gabriela Cussi2, Gabriela Cáceres3, Marcela Ríos4

1 Estudiante de la Carrera de Lingüística e Idiomas, Universidad Mayor de San

Andrés, goldenvan8@hotmail.com

2 Estudiante de la Carrera de Lingüística e Idiomas, Universidad Mayor de San

Andrés, gabub@hotmail.com

3 Estudiante de la Carrera de Lingüística e Idiomas, Universidad Mayor de San

Andrés, chibi345@hotmail.com

4 Estudiante de la Carrera de Lingüística e Idiomas, Universidad Mayor de San

Andrés, marge897@hotmail.com

ABSTRACT

We are part of a period with increasing contact between our culture and others
of the world. Along with that, Spanish, specifically in La Paz- Bolivia’s one, has
reach a direct contact with Japanese language because several reasons, so,
the interest for Japanese language has increased between people of all ages.
This contact between Spanish and Japanese has leaded us to develop a strong
interest for researching about it. Then, the main objective of this paper is to
compare the vowels and consonants of Japanese and Spanish´s sound
systems. Descriptive Method and comparative analysis are being used for it,
because both sound systems are described, for pointing out if there are more
similarities or differences between both languages. Talking about the results, it
was proved that there are more differences than similarities between both
language´s sound systems, mainly because Japanese language has several
sounds which do not exist in Spanish. And, as a conclusion, both sound
systems are very similar in the way in which phonemes are written, on how they
coincide in the manner of articulation and sonority, but, they are very different in
the way on how they are pronounced.

KEYWORDS: LANGUAGE, PHONETICS, SOUND SYSTEM.

INTRODUCTION

The popularity of Japanese language has increased a lot in our context over the
last decade and this might be because of recent diplomatic events, because
social media or simply because Japanese culture is so fascinating for a lot of
people and in order to know more about that culture people learn Japanese
language.

Most of us think that the gap between Spanish and Japanese is enormous
because of the different writing system, grammar structure, and above all
pronunciation. So, the common generalization is to think that Asiatic languages
are the same as Chinese; going against that belief we have focused on
Japanese language which has its own grammar structure, writing system and
phonological system.

Going through the Japanese teaching in Bolivian classrooms, there are more
and more people, every day, trying to learn the language for different reasons,
but also there are people quitting Japanese courses because of a stereotype
about the language, that overcomes the intention of trying to learn it. The
common conception are: “Japanese is too hard”, “Japanese is Chinese”, and
“Its pronunciation is so difficult”; all of them are clear examples of prejudice
towards the Japanese language. So, taking as reference , mainly, of Hiroto
Ueda, ¨Contrastive studies of spanish and japanese sounds¨ (1977), Surie
Nettowāku and Kabushiki Kaisha, ¨ Minna no Nihongo¨ (2012) and , of course,
our proper research, we have proved that the differences between Spanish and,
one of the most iconic languages of Asia, Japanese, are not as different as we
think.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

I. PHONETICS

Phonetics is concerned with how sounds are produced; transmitted and

perceived, and this work only focuses at the production of sounds. The paper of
Salcedo (2010) mentions the following:

¨The goal of phonetics is to seek a comprehensive description of classes

of sounds and of the general mechanisms of speech production caused by the
respiratory system as air passes in and out of the lungs through some form of
obstruction¨ (p.195).

So, we conclude that Phonetics is the science that studies and analyses the
manner, the point of articulation between of sound systems which are produced
by various organs, known as ¨articulators¨, that shape the passageway to allow
the produce of several sounds.

II. SPANISH SOUND SYSTEM

Vowels and consonants are part of Spanish language structure, and as our
career taught us, there are 19 consonant sounds and five vowels in Spanish.
Vowels and consonants mainly work together because; phonemes need to have
different embodiments according to the linguistic context in which they are.

2.1 VOWELS

The paper of Salcedo (2010) mentions the following:

¨In vowel production the air stream is not impeded and there is no
contact with upper or lower articulators, instead the position of the tongue
changes the shape of the oral cavity. Nasalization of vowels occurs when the
velum is lowered and air passes through the nasal cavity. Nasalization, lip
rounding, and length of duration are secondary articulations and do not
distinguish vowels in Spanish or change the meaning of the utterance¨ (p.198).

So, for vowels the air comes fluent without the impediment of any articulator. In
Spanish´s sound system, vowels are described in terms of their most significant
characteristics:
1) Tongue position, and
2) Tongue height

2.2 CONSONANTS
The production of a consonant requires, in their articulation, that either a partial
or a complete obstruction of the airstream passes through the oral tract; and the
two of the main factors that determine the nature of the consonant are: the
place at which this obstruction occurs and the manner in which it is created.
Besides, a consonant can be classified in terms of its place of articulation, its
manner of articulation and whether it is voiced or voiceless, so, only consonants
have those characteristics, no vowels.
2.2.1 PLACE OF ARTICULLATION

A consonants’ place of articulation refers to the position of the oral tract´s parts
that are involved in blocking the airstream. In Spanish´s sound system the
mainly relevant are:

Place of articulation in Spanish

Place of articulation Articulators

Bilabial Upper and lower lips
Labiodental Lower lip and upper front teeth
Dental Tongue tip/blade and upper front teeth
Alveolar Tongue tip/blade and alveolar ridge
Palato-alveolar Tongue blade and back of alveolar ridge
Palatal Front of tongue and (hard) palate
Velar Back of tongue and velum
Font: ¨THE PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM OF SPANISH¨ SALCEDO (2012)

2.2.2 MANNER OF ARTICULATION

Manners of articulation refer to how the air stream is directed from the lungs to
the mouth in order to produce a phoneme. In Spanish´s sound system, these
are classified in:

Manner of articulation in Spanish

Place of
Articulators
articulation
Complete blockage of airstream, with small burst of sound upon separation of
Stop
articulators
Close approximation of articulators, so that airstream is obstructed and friction is
Fricative
audible
Approximant Loose approximation of articulators, with no audible friction
Complete blockage of oral tract, but velum lowered to allow air to escape through
Nasal
nose
Complete blockage at a point along the centre of mouth, with space on one or
Lateral
both sides of tongue for passage of airstream

Tap Tongue tip gives single light tap to roof of mouth

Trill Tongue tip vibrates against roof of mouth in a current of air
Font: ¨THE PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM OF SPANISH¨ SALCEDO (2012)
2.2.3 SONORITY

Sonority has two characteristics related is the vocal cords are ¨vibrating¨ or are ¨
in rest¨.

 When the vocal cords vibrate the consonant is classified as

being ¨voiced¨.
 When the vocal cords are at rest it is classed as ¨voiceless¨.
III. JAPANESE SOUND SYSTEM
Standard Japanese has only 15 distinct consonants and 5 vowels. In other
words, Japanese only distinguishes between 20 basic sounds. Also according
to the page web ¨About World Languages¨, Japanese is spoken for more than
123 millions of people, between native and non native speakers. One of the
main characteristics of the language is its syllable composition, also called
MORA system:

1) Single vowel “a”

2) Consonant + Vowel “Ka”
3) Consonant + y + Vowel “Kya”
Their alphabet is not the same as the Spanish one. This means that meanwhile
in Spanish each sound is represented individually in the alphabet (A, B, C, D,
etc) in Japanese the consonants are joint with vowels according to the syllable
composition explained above, so the vowels are the only ones that are
represented as single letters. The alphabetical representation of Spanish A, B,
C, D, etc in Japanese is A, KA, SA, TA, NA; this means that the consonants are
always represented with a linked vowel.

The Sounds of Japanese(romaji)

Consonants k, g, s, sh, z, j, t, ch, ts, d, n, h, f, b, p, m, y, r, w

Vowels a, i, u, e, o

3.1 VOWELS
The phonological system of Japanese is composed by five vowels, which
written in Spanish are: a, i, u, e, o, according the traditional way. The
pronunciation is the same as in Spanish except for the “u”, that is pronounced
with the lips extended, being this a vowel that is not rounded.
Manner of articulation Point of articulation
HIGH i u FRONT CENTRAL BACK
MID e o
LOW a i u
e o
a

3.1.2 LONG AND SHORT VOWELS

The pronunciation of a long or short vowel is directly related with meaning with
the possibility of changing the meaning of a whole text just for the length of the
vowel. Examples:
 Obasan (tía) Obaasan (abuela)
/obasan/ /oba:san/

3.1.3 DOUBLE VOWELS

The vowel of one MORA (syllable system) can be lengthened by adding another
vowel directly after it. The rule is as follows Spelling Pronunciation
aa aa
ii ii
uu uu
ei/ee ee
ou/oo oo

So 'ei' is always a long 'e', and 'ou' is always a long 'o'. Whenever these pairs
are brought together from two parts of a compound word, they are pronounced
distinctly. In practice, these two cases are easy to distinguish.

3.1.4 VOWEL DEVOICING

In order to pronounce Japanese correctly, it is critical that you know a bit about
vowel devoicing. When vowels ‘i’ and 'u' come between two unvoiced
consonants (k, s, sh, t, ch, ts, h, f, p), where the vocal cords do not vibrate or
sometimes at the end of a word, the vowel becomes devoiced. This means
exactly what it sounds like, the mouth takes the shape of the vowel, but the
vocal cords don't vibrate. The resulting vowel sounds "whispered" or non-exist
to English speakers.

3.2 CONSONANTS
Japanese has fifteen basic consonants, they are: k, s, sh, t, n, h, m, r, g, d, z, b,
ts, ch and j. Consonants and semi-vowels are never pronounced independently.
Make sure that they must always be accompanied by one of the five vowels in
the latter part of a syllable.
 Voiceless stops /p, t, k/ are slightly aspirated: less aspirated than English
stops, but more than Spanish.
 /t, d, n/ are denti-alveolar (that is, the blade of the tongue contacts the
back of the upper teeth and the front part of the alveolar ridge) and /s z/
are laminal alveolar. Before /i/, the oral sounds are alveolo-palatal [tɕ
(d)ʑ ɕ (d)ʑ] and before /u/ they are alveolar [ts (d)z s (d)z].
 /ɴ/ is a syllable-final moraic (belonging to MORA system) nasal with
variable pronunciation depending on what follows.
 /z/ is pronounced [dz] by many speakers when word-initial or following
the moraic) nasal. It is [dʑ] before /i/.
  /r/ is an apical postalveolar flap undefined for laterality. The phenomenon
is called rolled tongue in Japanese.
 /h/ is [h] before /i/ and /j/, “ji”, and [ɸ] before /u/ is articulated with the
labial compression of that vowel”fu”.

3.2.1 DOUBLE CONSONANT

"Doubled consonants" work similarly. The mouth takes Single Double

k kk
the shape of the consonant, and holds it for an extra s ss
mora. This results in an extended sound for’s’ and 'sh', sh ssh

and a brief pause for the rest. Only certain consonants t tt

ch *tch/cch
can be doubled: ts tts
p pp

*tch is the typical spelling, since 'ch' starts with the tongue in the same position as 't', but the
second spelling is sometimes used instead.

RESULTS

This work started under the consideration of the obvious differences between
Japanese and Spanish languages, first of all, it was analyzed the location of
each language, then, the differences when writing each one of them; and in
third place, the so called “difficulty” of Japanese language over Spanish
language. When elaborating the comparison of vowels and consonants, it was
observed that the differences ¨over passed¨ the similarities among both
sound systems. Finally, when developing the general and individual analysis, it
was noticed how quite different is our sound system (Spanish) with the
Japanese one, when comparing them with each other.

VOWELS

Japanese /a/ Spanish /a/

In both cases, the point of articulation is low, the manner of articulation is central.
Moreover, it is open in Spanish and Japanese. These vowels are SIMILAR.
 Japanese /e/ Spanish /e/
The point of articulation of this vowel in Spanish and Japanese is mid, the manner of
articulation is central and in both cases the vowel is half open. A clear resemblance is
shown in both cases. These vowels’ sounds are SIMILAR.

Japanese /i/ Spanish /i/

This vowels’ point of articulation is, in Japanese and Spanish, high, also their manner of
articulation is front and is closed. Both vowels are SIMILAR..

Japanese /u/ Spanish /u/

There is difference when articulating the vowel /u/. In Spanish the sound is high-back-
rounded, but in Japanese it is high-central-lateral, being lateral the most remarkable
characteristic of it, so, they are DIFFERENT.

Japanese /o/ Spanish /o/

This phoneme in Japanese and Spanish has a midpoint; also its manner of articulation is
back and is rounded. So, these are SIMILAR.

CONSONANTS

STOPS

Japanese /p/ Spanish /p/

In both languages, it is noticed a clear similarity, because the point of articulation is bilabial,
for that, this consonant is articulated with both the upper and lower lips also both sounds are
voiceless, so, they are SIMILAR.
 Japanese /b/ Spanish /b/
In Japanese and Spanish, this sound is similar for both systems, because the point of
articulation is bilabial also both sound are voiced, so, they are SIMILAR.

Japanese /t/ Spanish /t/

There is one difference between Japanese and Spanish which is in the point of articulation,
because in Japanese is alveolar meanwhile in Spanish is dental. In both languages, this
sound is voiceless, so, there is a DIFFERENCE.

Japanese /k/ Spanish /k/

There is a clear similarity: the point of articulation is velar so the back of the tongue makes
contact with the central velar and also both are voiceless sound. So, they are SIMILAR.

Japanese /g/ Spanish /g/

The sound /g/ in both languages Japanese and Spanish show a clear similarity in the point
of articulation because is velar so the back of the tongue makes contact with the central
velar and also both are voiced sound, so, they are SIMILAR.

Japanese /d/ Spanish /d/

There is one obvious difference between Japanese and Spanish’ sound /d/. In Japanese
Language the point of articulation is alveolar, meanwhile, in Spanish language is dental. But
in both languages, the sound is voiced. So, they are DIFFERENT.
FRICATIVE

Japanese /s/ Spanish /s/

Between Japanese and Spanish’s sound, this phoneme /s/ shows a clear similarity, because
in both cases the manner of articulation is fricative and the point of articulation is alveolar.
Moreover, they are both voiceless, so, they are SIMILAR.

Japanese /z/
This sound does not exist in Spanish sound system, just in the Japanese one. Even though
its writing is part of the Spanish alphabet, the pronunciation of it is another, so, there is a
DIFFERENCE.

Japanese /h/
This sound does not exist in Spanish sound system, just in the Japanese one and this is
because, there are no glottal sounds in the Spanish sound system, and so, there is a
DIFFERENCE.

Spanish /x/
This sound does not exist in Japanese sound system, just in the Spanish one, so, there
is a DIFFERENCE.

Japanese /f/ Spanish /f/

Even if these two sounds are the same in the manner of articulation (fricative) and in the
sonority, there is a difference in the point of articulation, because in Japanese it is bilabial
and in Spanish it is labiodentals, so, they are DIFFERENT.
 Japanese /ʃ/
This sound does not exist in Spanish sound system, just in the Japanese one, so, there
is a DIFFERENCE.

AFFRICATE

Japanese /tʃ/ Spanish /tʃ/

In both languages, this phoneme shows a difference in the point of articulation: in
Japanese language is post-alveolar, meanwhile, in Spanish language is, but both
languages are voiceless. Then, they are DIFFERENT.

Japanese /dz/
This sound does not exist in Spanish sound system, just in the Japanese one, so, there is
a DIFFERENCE.

Japanese /ts/
This sound does not exist within the Spanish sound system, just in the Japanese one, so,
there is a DIFFERENCE.

NASAL

Japanese /m/ Spanish /m/

Here, both are SIMILAR because the point of articulation is ¨bilabial¨ and their manner of
articulation is nasal; moreover, both are voiced. Then, they are SIMILAR.
 Japanese /n/ Spanish /n/
In both cases, the point of articulation of this phoneme is ¨alveolar¨ and its manner of
articulation is nasal; also their sonority is voiced. Then, they are SIMILAR.

Spanish /ŋ/
This phoneme doesn’t exist in the Japanese language, just in Spanish Sound system, so,
there is a DIFFERENCE.

LATERAL

Spanish /l/
This phoneme, which is ¨alveolar¨ and voiced only exist in the Spanish language, and not
in the Japanese sound system. Then, there is a DIFFERENCE.
VIBRANT

Spanish /rr/
This phoneme only exists in the Spanish language which is vibrant, alveolar, multiple and
voiced. Then, there is a DIFFERENCE.

APPROXIMANT

Japanese /r/ Spanish /r/

Both languages are similar: in its point of articulation (alveolar), manner of articulation
(approximant) and is also voiced. So, they are SIMILAR.
 Japanese /j/
This phoneme only exists in the Japanese language and it is approximant, palatal and it
is voiced. So, there is a DIFFERENCE.

Japanese /w/
This phoneme only exists in the Japanese language and it is approximant, velar and it is
voice. This sound does not exist in Spanish, so, there is a DIFFERENCE.
- ANALYSIS OF VOWELS

The following Japanese and Spanish’s vowels (a, e, i, o) mostly have a similar
point of articulation, manner of articulation and sonority. On the other hand, we
have the only vowel /u/ which is different in Japanese and Spanish, because in
Spanish the sound is high-back-rounded, but in Japanese it is high-central-
lateral.

- ANALYSIS OF CONSONANTS

The consonants are divided into plosives, fricatives, affricates, nasal, lateral,
vibrant and approximant.

 In the Stops, these sounds (p, b, k, and g) are similar as in the point and
manner of articulation; also in the sonority. But, these sounds (t, d) are
different only in the point of articulation; regarding to the sonority these 2
sound shares a similar sonority (voiceless, voiced).

 In Fricative sounds, the /s/ show a similarity in both languages: in the

point and manner of articulation and also they share the same sonority
that is voiceless. And even if the sound /f/ is present in the both
languages, they show a different point of articulation. Otherwise, we can
see that the sounds (z, h, ʃ) are different because they do not exist in the
Spanish sound system. Moreover, the sound /x/ just exists in the Spanish
sound system.

 The Affricates also present more differences than similarities. The /tʃ/ is
the only sound that shows a difference in the point of articulation, but a
similarity in the sonority. Otherwise, the other sounds (dz, ts) are very
different because these sounds do not exist in Spanish but in Japanese
exist.
  The Nasals present more similarities than differences, because these 2
sounds (m, n) have the same point and manner of articulation and also
the sonority in both languages. Otherwise, the Spanish sound /ŋ/ does
not exist in Japanese language.

 Laterals, mostly present differences more than similarities, because

these sounds (l, and ʎ) do not exist in Japanese language.

 The Vibrant /rr/ only exists in Spanish language so there is a difference

and not a similarity.

 The Approximants show more differences than similarities, because the

sound /r/ shares the same point and manner of articulation and also the
sonority in both languages. Otherwise, the /w/ and /j/ sounds show a
difference because they only exist in Japanese language.
DISCUSSION/DEBATE

In order to make a contrast with another´s author work, we select the paper ¨
Contrastive Studies of the Japanese and Spanish´s sounds¨ (1977) by Hiroto
Ueda. In his work, he also states that both languages posses 5 vowel
phonemes; He also points out that there are some differences in the place of
articulation, which are presented in the figure below:

SPANISH VOWEL PHONEMES JAPANESE VOWEL PHONEMES

Talking about the consonant phonemes, Min Kyung Lee ¨Language
Comparison¨ (2013) graphics the following about Japanese Language:
So, as we can compare the vowels and consonants that were identify in this
work, somehow, it is compared with what these two authors state, just that
perhaps some made a more deep phonological study.

CONCLUSIONS

Finally, the conclusion is that there are differences that over passed the
similarities among both sound systems. In fact, both sound systems are very
similar in the way in which the phonemes are written (Spanish alphabet and
Japanese- Romaji one), in the way on how they coincide in the manner of
articulation and sonority. But at the same time, they are very different in the way
on how they are pronounced and this is mainly because of the differences
within the points of articulation between one phoneme and another, especially
among consonants.

Within the vowels the similarities are very clear, because they almost exactly
the same, except for the vowel /u/ which differ in the position of the lips, making
its pronunciation weaker in Japanese than the Spanish one. Nevertheless,
among the consonants the differences among all of them are evident, but it is
important to remark that the differences are just in their point of articulation
while the manner of articulation and the sonority are exactly the same.

In summary, this research proves that there are more differences than
similarities between Spanish and Japanese sound systems. But not because
the sounds are completely different, it is because in Japanese language there
are several sounds which do not exist in the Spanish one, and what makes the
difference is just the point of articulation. Nevertheless, according to several
students of Japanese language Japanese sound system is not different at all
from Spanish one.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Hiroto Ueda. (1977). Estudio contrastivo de los sonidos españoles y

japoneses. Tokyo: Lexicon.
 Suri E Nettowaku, Kabushiki Kaisha . (2012). MINNA NO NIHONGO.
Tokyo: 3A Corporation.
 Claudia S. Salcedo. (2010). THE PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM OF
SPANISH. Southeastern Louisiana: Revista de Lingüística y Lenguas
Aplicadas.
 Moya, O. (2010). “Fonética Y Fonología”. La Paz-Bolivia: Artes Gráficas
¨LIA¨.ed.