アンカー 1

ラ行の発音
Ra-gyō

Listen carefully to れ of しつれい from A to J. Which one is pronounced by native speakers and which one by learners of Japanese?

A

F

B

C

D

E

G

H

I

J

A, D, E, H and J are pronounced by native speakers, and B, C, F, G and I are done by learners. F is pronounced by a learner, but it is very similar to native speakers' one.
What do you think is the difference between native speakers' れ and learners' れ?

The consonant of Ra-gyō is a very short sound.
The cross-section of the oral cavity below is borrowed from https://soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu/.

ら、り、る、れ、ろ

When pronouncing ら, り, る, れ, ろ, your tongue blade (rather than tongue tip) touches the gum of your upper teeth and immediately pull away. The duration of the contact is extremely short.
The "n" sound of Na-gyō (な, に, ぬ, ね, の) and "d" sound of Da-gyō (だ, で, ど) are made at the same place as "r" sound of Ra-gyō. But, when n and d are produced, the tongue makes contact with the gum tightly, so the duration of contact is longer than r.

The Japanese r sound is a flap, not a rhotic, and is identical to the underlined sound of "paddy" in American English.

Listening 1

Listen to the audio and choose one you heard. You will hear each word twice.

ANSWERS 1 ライフ、2 なく、3 レジ、4 れっとう、5 にせい、6 れんしゅう、7 のうりょく、8 らいじょう、9 ノック、10 なんかん

Now listen and compare both words. You will hear each word once.

Once you have found the difference, imitate the audio. Compare your pronunciation with the model sound to see if they are the same or not.

Listening 2

Listen to the audio and choose one you heard. You will hear each word twice.

ANSWERS 1 おり、2 むに、3 しる、4 あれ、5 はな、6 くり、7 かのう、8 はなす、9 いろり、10 ひのまる

Now listen and compare both words. You will hear each word once.

Once you have found the difference, imitate the audio. Compare your pronunciation with the model sound to see if they are the same or not.

Listening 3

Listen to the audio and choose one you heard. You will hear each word twice.

ANSWERS 1 りく、2 のうどう、3 ライト、4 いる、5 まね、6 きらい、7 だいに、8 いらい、9 ぞうに、10 しんりん

Now listen and compare both words. You will hear each word once.

Once you have found the difference, imitate the audio. Compare your pronunciation with the model sound to see if they are the same or not.

Listening 4

Listen to the audio, paying attention to the blue-colored letter. Choose one you heard.
You will hear each word twice.

ANSWERS 1 ない、2 らく、3 だん、 4 あら、5 せんろ、6 いだい、7 そうらん、8 だんとう、9 しんらい、10 でんしょう

Now listen and compare both words. You will hear each word once.

Once you have found the difference, imitate the audio. Compare your pronunciation with the model sound to see if they are the same or not.

Speaking (word)

Listen carefully to the audio and try to imitate it.

1　留守、理由、廊下、来年、来週

2　空、体、サラダ、オーロラ、オンライン

3　これ、それ、あれ、どれ、これら、それら、あれら

4　のろのろ、ぬるぬる、だらだら、のらりくらり

5　料理、これから、六時頃、色々、所

6　割れる、見られる、言われる、食べられる、笑われる

7　線路、便利、権利、心理、暖炉、進路

8　関連、訓練、年齢、親類、信頼

9　人類、分類、本来、混乱、展覧会

Speaking (conversation)

Listen carefully to the audio and try to imitate it.

Return to Others

ラ行の発音 Ra-gyō

Listen carefully to れ of しつれい from A to J. Which one is pronounced by native speakers and which one by learners of Japanese?

A

F

B

C

D

E

G

H

I

J

A, D, E, H and J are pronounced by native speakers, and B, C, F, G and I are done by learners. F is pronounced by a learner, but it is very similar to native speakers' one. What do you think is the difference between native speakers' れ and learners' れ?

The consonant of Ra-gyō is a very short sound. The cross-section of the oral cavity below is borrowed from https://soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu/.

Listening 1

Listen to the audio and choose one you heard. You will hear each word twice.

ANSWERS 1 ライフ、2 なく、3 レジ、4 れっとう、5 にせい、6 れんしゅう、7 のうりょく、8 らいじょう、9 ノック、10 なんかん

Now listen and compare both words. You will hear each word once.

Once you have found the difference, imitate the audio. Compare your pronunciation with the model sound to see if they are the same or not.

Listening 2

Listen to the audio and choose one you heard. You will hear each word twice.

ANSWERS 1 おり、2 むに、3 しる、4 あれ、5 はな、6 くり、7 かのう、8 はなす、9 いろり、10 ひのまる

Now listen and compare both words. You will hear each word once.

Once you have found the difference, imitate the audio. Compare your pronunciation with the model sound to see if they are the same or not.

Listening 3

Listen to the audio and choose one you heard. You will hear each word twice.

ANSWERS 1 りく、2 のうどう、3 ライト、4 いる、5 まね、6 きらい、7 だいに、8 いらい、9 ぞうに、10 しんりん

Now listen and compare both words. You will hear each word once.

Once you have found the difference, imitate the audio. Compare your pronunciation with the model sound to see if they are the same or not.

Listening 4

Listen to the audio, paying attention to the blue-colored letter. Choose one you heard. You will hear each word twice.

ANSWERS 1 ない、2 らく、3 だん、 4 あら、5 せんろ、6 いだい、7 そうらん、8 だんとう、9 しんらい、10 でんしょう

Now listen and compare both words. You will hear each word once.

Once you have found the difference, imitate the audio. Compare your pronunciation with the model sound to see if they are the same or not.

Speaking (word)

Listen carefully to the audio and try to imitate it.

Speaking (conversation)

Listen carefully to the audio and try to imitate it.

The poster is posted with permission. Amuse Soft ©Nobuhiro Watsuki/Shueisha ©2012 るろうに剣心 Production Committee

ラ行の発音
Ra-gyō

A, D, E, H and J are pronounced by native speakers, and B, C, F, G and I are done by learners. F is pronounced by a learner, but it is very similar to native speakers' one.
What do you think is the difference between native speakers' れ and learners' れ?

The consonant of Ra-gyō is a very short sound.
The cross-section of the oral cavity below is borrowed from https://soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu/.

Listen to the audio, paying attention to the blue-colored letter. Choose one you heard.
You will hear each word twice.