ACCENT. 17
IT 26. All Japanese words really end either in a vowel or in the consonant n. But the fact of the occasional quies- cence of I and u produces the impression that there are words ending in other consonants. Thus the polite termination masii (e.g. in arimasii, " there is") mostly sounds like mas. Except in this single termination, the clipping of final vowels is not to be recommended.
ACCENT.
11 27. Generally speaking, the Japanese pronunciation both of vowels and of consonants is less broad and heavy than that current in most European languages, and especially in English. Particularly noticeable is the manner in which ch,jj sh and ts are minced. Tones, such as those of the Chinese, are entirely absent. There is little or no tonic accent, and only a very slight rhetorical accent ; that is to say that all the syllables of a word and all the words of a sentence are pronounced equally, or nearly so. Students must beware of importing into Japanese the strong and constantly recurring stress by which, in English and in most European languages, one syllable in every polysyllabic word, and the chief words in every sentence, are singled out for special notice. Thus, to quote the names of places familiar to every traveller in Japan, you must articulate Hakone, MiyanosJilta, Ashi- noyu with every syllable equal (excepting the I of Miyanoshita, which quiesces) ; thus: Ha-ko-ne, Mi-ya-no- sJita, A-shi-no-yu, all short and all without emphasis. Foreigners excruciate Japanese ears, when they say Hakone, MiyanosJita and Ashlnoyu. Only occasionally, among the lower classes, does the desire for exceptional
