Japan 14

Listen to Japan 14, a 24-year-old man from Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 24

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 19/06/1992

PLACE OF BIRTH: Nishinomiya, Hyogo

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Japanese

OCCUPATION: engineer

EDUCATION: bachelor’s degree

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

Subject moved to Shizuoka in 2015 and was still living there at the time of this recording.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

Subject started learning English in junior high school.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Helen Gent

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 04/09/2016

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH:

ˈkʊmɐ gɛts ə ˈkjɚ wɛl̴ ˈɸ͜hi˞ɹɪzə ˈstʌɾi fɔ ʔəju saɹəʔ ˈpɛɹi wɑzə bə ˈbɛtənəɹi bɛt˺ ˈbɛtəˌɹɪnəɹi ənʌs f f hu havə bin ˈw̰ʌ˞kɪŋ deɹi ʔat˺ ʔan ʔat an ol̴d͜zʉ in zə diˈzɑɹɛd d ˈdistɹɪkt ɔb ðəʔ ˈtɛɹɪtəɹʷi soʊ çi wʌz ˈbɛɹɪ ˈhɑpi tʉ stɑ˞t˺ njʉ ə ˈnjʉ d͡ʒoʊb̥ ɐʔ to s̩ˈpɚb pɹaɪvɛt ˈpɹaktɪs ɪn nɔsˈkwɛɚ niə ðə ˈdʌk sɹit˺ t ˈtɔʌ˞ zat˺ ˈeɹiə wɑz mat͡ʃ ˈniɹɪ ˈniɹə fɔ hʌ̥ɕʉ̥ fɔ hɚ ændə mɔ̰ mɔə tu ˈħə ˈɹaɪkɪŋ ˈivn̩ zoʊ ɔn ɸ hɐ fɐst mɔɹɪŋ ʃi fɛlt ˈsɹɛɾɛ ɛ̰ ʃi eɪt˺ ʌ boʊl̴ ɔb ˈpɹis æ̃ ˈt͡ʃɛkʰt ˈhɑsɛlf ɪnə ˈmiɹə and wɔʃt hɐ fʷeɪs ɪn ˈhʌ˞ɹi ʌ ˈðɛn si pʊt ɔn ðə pɹeɪnə ˈjɛɹoʊ ˈdɹɛsɪz an fɹis ˈd͡ʒækɛt n̩ pik ʌpt ˈhɑ kɪt an ˈhɛdɪd fɔ ə fɔ wɔk fɔ ˈwʌ˞kʰ æ̰̃

wɛn si gɑ ˈdɛɚ ə zɛɚ wʌz ˈwʊmən wɪðə gʉz̥ ˈweɪɾɪŋ fɔ ˈhɚ æ̰̃ z zə ˈwʊmən geɪb ˈsaɹɐ æ̃ ɐn ˈoʊɸʃə ˈɹɛɾə fɹɔm də ˈbɛt æ̰̃ ˈɹɛtə impɹaɪ zæt˺ ze ˈaniməl̴ cʊd˺ bi ˈsʌfəɹin fɹɔ ðə ˈdɹeɪə fɔm ob ɸɯtʰ an maʊθ dɪziz fwɪt͡ʃ wʌz θʌpɹaɪzɪŋ bikɔz̥ ˈnəməɾi jʉˈjʉ ˈnɔməɹi ju wʊdɹ̩ ˈɔ̃ɹɪ ɪkˈspɛkʰ tʉ si ˈɪɾɪ ɪn nə dɑg ɔə goʊt æ̃n ˈsaɹɐ wʌz ˈsɛnt͡ʃəˈmɛntəl̴ soʊ dɪs mɛɪd ħɐ ɸil̴ ˈsʌɹʷi ˈsʌɹʷi fɔ ðə ˈbjɯɾɪfʊ bʌ̰˞

bifɔ ˈɹɑŋ zə ˈɪt͡ʃəi ɪzi gʉz biˈgæn tʉ stʌt eˈɹaʊn ðə ðə ɔfɪs ɹaɪkʰ ˈɹʌntɪkʰ æ̰̃ ʍɪt͡ʃ meɪd n̩ ˈʔʌnˈsteɪnɚɹi mɛs æ̰̃ zə gʉz ʔɪz ˈoʊnʌ˞ nəm ˈmæɹi ˈhænsn̩ ɛ kʰɛptʰ ˈkʰɔɹɪŋ ˈkɔmə ˈkɔmə nə̰ ʍɪt͡ʃ ˈsaɹɐ θoʊt wʌz ˈɔdə t͡ʃɔɪs fɔ əm ˈneɪm ˈkɔmə wʌz sɹɑŋ ænd çjʉʒ soʊ ɪt wʌz teik͜sʌm ɸoʊs tʉ tɹɑp hɐ˞ bʌ ˈsʌɹə hɑd̥ dɪfɹɛnt ʌɪˈdiə ə ˈfʌst əs fʌ ˈsi tɹaɪd ˈd͡ʒɛntɾɪs ˈsɹoʊkɪŋ zə ˈgʌʊzɪ ˈgʉzɪz ˈɹoʊəd̥ bæk wɪð ˈhɐ ˈpɹam æ̰̃ zɛn ˈsɪŋɪŋ ʌ t͡ʃɯn tu ˈhɚ ˈfaɪnəɹɪ ˈsi ædn̩ adˈmɪnɪstɚ iðɚ

ha ˈɛfɔts wɚ nɑt wɛ ɸəˈzil̴ æə ɪnoʊ ˈtʰaɪm ʌn zə gʉzə ˈbigæn tu tʰ tʰ taɪɚ æ̰̃ soʊ ˈsaɹə wʌz ˈeɪbl tə ˈħol̴d ˈɔn tə ˈkʰɔmə ni and̥ giv hɐ ə ɹiˈæksɪnŋ bʌθ æ ˈwʌn ˈsaɹɐ hɑd neɪ ʔə məˈnɛʒ tʉ beɪ n̩ n̩ beɪz tʉ ˈgʉs ḛ si wʌp weɪp˺ ˈsi waɪptə ha ɔf wið ə ˈkɹoʊθɪz ændə ɹeɪd hɐ ɔn dɪ h hə ˈɹaɪ saɪd ɐn zɛn saɹə wə kɔ̃fˈɐ˞mdə ʌ̰ zət ˈbɛts diʌˈnoʊzɪs diʌˈnoʊzɪs ɔl̴mɔst ɪdˈmɪdɛdɹi ɛ̰̃ ʃi ʔə ɹiˈmɛmbɚd ðət ɛˈfɛktɪb tɹitmɛnt zæt˺ ɹiˈkwɛdə ha tʰ mɛʒə aʊtʰ əl̴ ə ˈlɑt ʌv ˈmɛdɪsɪn ə̰̃ ˈsaɹə ˈwɑ˞nɛd wʌn ˈwand zætʰ dɪs kʰoʊs ɔv ˈtɹitmɛntʰ ən maɪt˺ bi ɪkˈspɛnsɪvə ˈiðə faɪv ʊ sɪks taɪms æ̃ zæt ˈkɔst ʌv ˈpɛnɛzlɪn pɛnɛˈθɪln ə aɪ kʰæntʰ ɪˈmɛz ɪˈmɑʒəm ˈpeɪŋ sə ˈmʌt͡ʃ bʌtʰ ˈmɪsəz ˈhaɹisn̩ ˈmɪɹɪ ˈhaɹɪsən ə ˈmɪɹɪnəɹɪ ni ˈmɪɾinəɹhɛɚ ˈɹoʊɑ˞ θoʊtʰ ʔɪt˺ wʌz ˈɸɛɚ pɹaɪs fɔ ˈkjɛɚ

TRANSCRIBED BY: Helen Gent

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 01/10/2016

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

Uh, I love traveling, uh, for my bike, uh, so I have been to m- any- any place, n, so. Uh, I’ve in fut- in the future I, mm, I want to go to, uh, I wa- I, I, I want to the traveling around the world and my bike.

[Subject speaks in Japanese]: バイクが好きで今バイクを作る仕事をしています。

[English translation: I like motorbikes, so my work is designing motorbikes.]

TRANSCRIBED BY: Helen Gent

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 24/09/2016

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

æ̰̃ ˈaɪ ʌv tɹʌbɛɪŋ wʔɛ̰ fɔ maɪ ˈbaɪk æ̃n soʊ aiː hæd˺ p͜fə bin tʉ mˈʔɛnɪˌʔɛni pɹeɪs n̩ soʊ æ̰̃ aɪv ɪn ˈfjʉt͡ʃ ɪn ðə ˈfʉt͡ʃɚ aɪ m̩ aɪ wɑn tʉ goʊ tuː ʌ aɪ woʊ aɪ ˈwaɪ ˈaɪ wɑn tʉ ðə ˈtɹʌvəlɪŋ əˈɹaʊn ðə ˈwɑl̴ æ maɪ ˈbaɪk

TRANSCRIBED BY: Helen Gent

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 01/10/2016

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY:

“r” sounds are generally — as in American English — rhotic vowels in codas and [ɹ] in onsets. Often, however, in codas, the rhoticity of the vowel is dropped, or a non-rhotic schwa is added. This happens most often in unstressed syllables (ex: [fɔ] “for”). There are also a couple of isolated instances of coda “r” being moved into an onset position and pronounced as [ɹ]. This appears to be done by deleting a consonant that would have followed the “r” coda. The preceding vowel is not rhotacized (ex: [diˈzɑɹɛd] “deserted” [mɔɹɪŋ] “morning”). In onsets, there are only a couple of instances of [ɾ] being used instead of [ɹ] (ex: [ˈstʌɾi] “story”), and a couple of labialized [ɹʷ] sounds (ex: [ˈtɛɹɪtəɹʷi] “territory”).

In onsets, “l” is overwhelmingly pronounced [ɹ]. Though there are four instances in the recording where it is pronounced [l] and three where it is pronounced [ɾ] (though it bears noting that in one of these instances [ˈnəməɾi] “normally” the subject corrects to [ˈnɔməɹi]). “l” codas are almost entirely [l̴].

The vast majority of unvoiced “th” sounds are pronounced [θ], with a single exception. In “North Square” the [θ] is either deleted or assimilated with the [s] sound in “Square,” yielding [nɔsˈkwɛɚ]. (Interestingly, in “penicillin,” the [s] sound is actually replaced with [θ].) Voiced “th” sounds are somewhat more varied. Certainly, many of them are pronounced [ð], but many are also pronounced [z] and a few [d] (ex: [beɪz] “bathe” [ˈdɛɚ] “there”). This replacement happens primarily with functional words like “the,” “that,” etc. The subject also has an interesting habit of changing “a” to “the” or “that,” resulting in more replacements than would have been in a word-perfect reading of the passage.

The word “she” is often pronounced [si], though it is also occasionally pronounced [ʃi].

“Str” consonant clusters are usually pronounced [sɹ], deleting the [t] sound. Of the six in the passage, only one is pronounced [stɹ] ([ˈdistɹɪkt] “district”) and one is pronounced [st] ([stʌt] “strut”); the remaining four are all [sɹ].

On several occasions, the [ɸ] sound is substituted in for [f] (ex: [ˈoʊɸʃə] “official”).

“V” is pronounced [b] more often than [v], though both are heard (ex: [ˈbɛt] “vet” [pɹaɪvɛt] “private”).

Final consonants are often either dropped or pronounced with a schwa following them.

[æ] is often replaced with [a] or occasionally [ɑ].

[u] is most often replaced with [ʉ] or occasionally [ɯ].

While word stress is often what one would expect to hear from a native English speaker, there are several instances of all syllables in a word receiving equal stress.

COMMENTARY BY: Helen Gent

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 01/10/2016

The archive provides:

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