Sound contrast · Standard Japanese; Tokyo-area citation forms
Japanese /t/ vs /d/t and d
A practical initial-consonant comparison in one shared following-vowel context, with dictionary-selected words and phonological support.
Practice these sounds/t/
An unvoiced tongue closure
A brief stop near the front of the mouth. The target here is the first consonant.
As in種
/d/
A voiced tongue closure
Compare this opening consonant with /t/ while keeping the rest of the word out of the decision.
As in駄目
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
A small change.
A different word.
A practical initial-consonant comparison in one shared following-vowel context, with dictionary-selected words and phonological support.
Listen for the target sound in each word.
Sound examples
Tap to hear each word種
/tane/seed棚
/tana/shelf滝
/taki/waterfall旅
/tabi/journey谷
/tani/valley駄目
/dame/no good誰
/daɾe/who台所
/daidokoɾo/kitchen団子
/daɴɡo/dumpling大根
/daikoɴ/daikon radish10 words. Words stay hidden during practice unless you choose to reveal them.