Devoice (Japanese)

From Conservapedia

The Japanese language is a syllabary, consisting of 5 vowels and 14 consonants. Each syllable thus consists of a single vowel (a, i, u, e, o) or a consonant followed by a vowel. A syllable never ends in a consonant, except for the nasal "n" (ん).

However, the vowels "u" and "i" are often devoiced in spoken Japanese, giving the impression a vowel does end in a consonant. "Devoiced" means that they are not spoken, when they occur between the consonants k, s, sh, t, ch, h, f, b, p or at the end of a word following one of these consonants. These consonants are referred to as the "voiceless" consonants.

However, just because they are not spoken, does not mean they fall away. You still make the mouth shape for them, but the sound is not audible, almost as if you are whispering the devoiced vowel to yourself.

Examples

• Desu (sentence-ending verb, indicating a statement of fact) is pronounced "dess" (not deh-sue), even in the question form "desu ka" -> dess-ka.
• Suki (like) is pronounced "sski"
• Mashite (to grow) is pronounced "mash-te"
• Shika (historian) is pronounced "sh'kah"