Tsunami, not sunami: た ち つ て と and the two sounds that break the pattern

た ち つ て と: a t plus the five vowels, one short beat each. Three of them do exactly that. The other two move. In front of the vowel i, the Japanese t slides back toward ch, so ち sounds close to the start of "cheese" - that is why romaji writes it C-H-I, and why ticket is チケット. In front of u, the t becomes a t and an s together, like the end of "cats" - つ, the sound English drops from the front of tsunami. When Japanese needs a real "tee" it borrows a small character: パーティー. With the two small strokes: だ で ど are a plain d; ぢ and づ sound exactly like じ and ず from the s row. They are rare, and they appear for a reason: ち (blood) after はな (nose) is はなぢ, a nosebleed. And つづく, "to be continued", has both of today's odd sounds side by side. 0:00 Tsunami, not sunami 0:20 The T that English drops 0:42 The T row: た ち つ て と 1:21 た — たこ, かた 1:46 て — て, てがみ 2:05 と — とけい, そと 2:21 ち — the first that breaks away 2:58 Why: the tongue slides back before i 3:27 Borrowed words: チケット, チーム 3:50 A real tee: パーティー 4:16 つ — t and s together 4:56 The whispered u after つ 5:20 The whole row again 5:43 Why did two of them move? 6:15 Two strokes: だ ぢ づ で ど 6:53 はなぢ — why ぢ exists 7:35 つづく — to be continued 8:03 ちかてつで、いきます 8:24 The whole lesson in short 8:50 Next: the n row Japanese First Steps — pronunciation and reading for English speakers, one rule at a time. Lesson 8: な に ぬ ね の.