Weakening
Non-coronal voiced stops /b, ɡ/ between vowels may be weakened to fricatives, especially in fast and/or casual speech:
| /b/ → bilabial fricative : | /abaɽeɽu/ → abareru 暴れる 'to behave violently' | ||
| /ɡ/ → velar fricative : | /haɡe/ → hage はげ 'baldness' |
However, /ɡ/ is further complicated by its variant realization as a velar nasal . Standard Japanese speakers can be categorized into 3 groups (A, B, C), which will be explained below. If a speaker pronounces a given word consistently with the allophone (i.e. a B-speaker), that speaker will never have as an allophone in that same word. If a speaker varies between and (i.e. an A-speaker) or is generally consistent in using (i.e. a C-speaker), then the velar fricative is always another possible allophone in fast speech.
/ɡ/ may be weakened to nasal when it occurs within words — this includes not only between vowels but also between a vowel and a consonant. There is a fair amount of variation between speakers, however. Some, such as Vance (1987), have suggested that the variation follows social class; others, such as Akamatsu (1997), suggest that the variation follows age and geographic location. The generalized situation is as follows.
At the beginning of words:
- all present-day standard Japanese speakers generally use the stop at the beginning of words: /ɡaijuu/ → gaiyū 外遊 'overseas trip' (but not *)
In the middle of simple words (i.e. non-compounds):
- A. a majority of speakers uses either or in free variation: /kaɡu/ → or kagu 家具 'furniture'
- B. a minority of speakers consistently uses : /kaɡu/ → (but not *)
- C. most speakers in western Japan and a smaller minority of speakers in Kantō consistently use : /kaɡu/ → (but not *)
In the middle of compound words morpheme-initially:
- B-speakers mentioned directly above consistently use .
So, for some speakers the following two words are a minimal pair while for others they are homophonous:
- sengo 1,005 (せんご) 'one thousand five' = for B-speakers
- sengo 戦後 (せんこ゜) 'postwar' = for B-speakers
To summarize using the example of hage はげ 'baldness':
- A-speakers: /haɡe/ → or or
- B-speakers: /haɡe/ →
- C-speakers: /haɡe/ → or
Read more about this topic: Japanese Phonology, Phonological Processes, Consonant Processes
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