Milli mála - 01.01.2010, Blaðsíða 287
3.1 Geminate insertion
2 tokens: Diðrik, Friðrik
3 choices each: /-iku/, /-ikku/, /-i:ku/ (/-i#ku/, /-iQku/, /-irku/8)
When English words are transliterated into Japanese, an extra con-
sonant is frequently inserted between a monophthong and a conso-
nant, making it a geminate.9 For example, cup [kʌp] becomes [ka
p pu], bed [bEd] becomes [be d do] (or [be t to]). also, proper
names such as Nick, Ted, Pat, Frederick are pronounced [ni k ku],
[te d do], [pa t to], [ Φɯ re de ri k ku]. In katakana, the first ele-
ment of a geminate, as [k] in [ni k ku], [d] in [te d do], or [t] in [pa
t to], phonemically /Q/, is indicated by one small letter, ‘ッ’. When
a short vowel is followed by a consonant, it tends to be transliter-
ated with an extra consonant, forming a geminate. In Japanese, the
insertion of the letter ‘ッ’ counts as an extra mora. Thus, a word such
as cup is pronounced and written [ka p pu], with one extra conso-
nant [p], which forms one mora on its own.
It should be noted here that Japanese has single consonant and
geminate contrast in native words, e.g. [kite] (te-form of the verb
come) – [kitte] (stamps), [Jiɕi] (west) – [Jiɕɕi] (journal). But a
conso nant tends to become geminated C → QC, when an English
word is borrowed into Japanese. In other words, both geminated
and non-geminated versions are allowed in native Japanese and it
would appear not to be necessary to insert a geminate in the pro -
cess of transliteration. However, in loan word phonology, a conso-
nant tends to get geminated.
according to Shirai10, there are two cases where the geminate
in sertion occurs in loan words, i.e. word final consonant and ambi -
syllabic consonants. When the word ends with a syllable with a lax
vowel and a single consonant, the last consonant tends to be gem-
inated, e.g. English [IN glIS] > [i n gM 4i ɕ ɕM], clinic [klIn Ik]
> [kM 4i ni k kM], dog [dQg] > [do g gM], Cambridge [keIm
KaOru uMEZaWa
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8 The reader is reminded that /Q/ is a phonemic symbol of the first element of geminate
consonants in Japanese, which forms one mora on its own, and that /r/ is a phonemic sym-
bol of the second element of long vowels in Japanese, which forms one mora on its own.
9 鈴木俊二、“日本語の外来語における音節とモーラ”、国際短期大学紀要、
10/1995, pp. 27–58, here pp. 42–44.
10 Setsuko Shirai, “gemination in loans from English to Japanese”, MA thesis, University of
Washington 1999, pp. 1–7.
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