Hiraganas for /N/, /Q/, long vowel mark

2.11. Hiraganas for /N/, /Q/, long vowel mark

/N/:

Hiragana	Phoneme	Pronunciation	Description
	/N/	long "n" (see right)	Basically, the pronunciation of /N/ is "n" with one-syllable length. It is important to correctly pronounce the syllable following /N/. Modify /N/ if necessary. If /N/ is followed by any vowel, /s/, /h/, /w/, or /y/, don't shut your mouth completely like "n". Keep your breath going out from both your nose and your mouth. If /N/ is followed by /m/, /b/, or /p/, pronounce /N/ as "m". If /N/ is followed by /k/ or /g/, pronounce /N/ as "n" in think. The Romanization is "n" in most cases. If followed by "b", "p", or "m", the Romanization is "m". If followed by vowels or "y", the Romanization is "n'" or "n-".

The following phrases are pronounced differently:

/kani/ = /ka/ + /ni/ (means crab), two syllables

/kaNi/ = /ka/ + /N/ + /i/ (means simplified), three syllables (Don't let your tongue touch your teeth)

/ka'Nni/ = /ka/ + /N/ + /ni/ (means into a can), three syllables (/N/ is pronounces as "n")

/Q/:

Hiragana	Phoneme	Pronunciation	Description
	/Q/	(see right)	Pronounce the next consonant longer than usual. If the next consonant is a plosive such as "t" and "k", /Q/ is a breath stop with the mouth position to pronounce the next consonant. If the next consonant is a fricative such as "s" and "sh", /Q/ is a continuous consonant. Examples: /haQten/ = "hatten" (means developing), where "tt" is "t" preceded by one-syllable-length breath stop. /haQsya/ = "hassha" (means launching), where "ssh" is "sh" preceded by one-syllable-length "sh". This hiragana looks like the hiragana of (/tu/), but they differ in size. The Romanization is duplicating the next alphabet. If followed by "ch", use "tch" instead of "cch".

Note for /N/ and /Q/:
Even though /N/ and /Q/ don't contain a vowel, they are treated as syllables in Japanese.
In Japanese, keep all syllables to have the same length of time.

Long vowel mark:

Hiragana	Phoneme	Pronunciation	Description
	either /a/, /i/, /u/, /e/, or /o/	either "a", "i", "u", "e", or "o" (see right)	Pronounce the vowel of the previous kana. For example, if this mark follows /ka/, its pronunciation is "a". This mark is used only for imported words.