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13 Table 2.3 shows the variety types of syllable including open and closed
syllables: CV open syllable, CVC CCVC, CCVCC, CCCVCC closed syllable in English language. Closed syllables are syllables that have at least one consonant
following the vowel. The most common closed syllable is the CVC syllable. On the other hand, open syllables are syllables that end in a vowel.
A Japanese syllable is symbolized by hiragana and katakana. According to Sudjianto and Dahidi 2007, p. 21, a syllable in Japanese is formed from the
composition of phonemes: a.
V one vowel a, i, u, e, and o. b.
CV one consonant and one vowel ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, sa, shi. c.
CSV one consonant, one semi vowel, and one vowel kya, kyu, kyo, sha, shu, sho.
d. SV one semi vowel and one vowel ya, yu, yo, and wa.
From the syllables above, it appears that most of Japanese syllables end with a vowel. According to Sudjianto and Dahidi
2007, “syllable which is ended by vowel is called kaionsetsu open syllable whereas syllable which is ended by consonant is
called heionsetsu closed syllable” p.22. Since Japanese syllables are kaionsetsu
open syllable, all foreign words should follow Japanese language syllable rules. It means that when Japanese female singers say English words which are heionsetsu
closed syllable, they should add one vowel at the end of the closed syllable. Ohata
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14 1996 states
that a vowel should be inserted between consonants, so that the word can conform to the Japanese open syllable pattern CV-CV p. 14. Kawarazaki
1997 as cited in Sudjianto and Dahidi 2007 states Japanese words which are adopted from English and ended with consonant
closed-syllable, it should be changed into open-syllable by add one vowel at the end of the words . For example, „milk‟ becomes „miruku‟, „test‟ becomes
„tesuto‟, etc. Closed-syllable „t‟ and „d‟ should be followed by „o‟, and closed- syllable „c‟, „b‟, f, „g‟, „k‟, „l‟, „m‟, „p‟, and „s‟ should be followed by „u‟ p.
22.
Based on the theory above, the writer identifies the problem of Japanese female singers in pronouncing English liquids l and r. O‟Grady, Archibald,
Aronoff, and Miller 2005 conclude that “they form of a special class of consonants
known as liquids”. For example, the word hello is pronounced hʌro or hʌˈlo. The l sound is changed into r. On the other hand, the l sound in the final position is
pronounced purely in the word well. It is different when they pronounce the word girl
. The l sound is changed into r even though the l sound in both words well and girl
is in the same place, final position. Hence, this study focuses on English liquids as the object. The writer wants to see how well Japanese female singers produce these
sounds.
B. Data Analysis
The objects of this research are Japanese female singers in reality shows and interview videos. The reality shows and interview videos were downloaded from
15
15 Youtube. In the reality shows and interview videos, Japanese female singers are
speaking English. Besides, the Japanese female singers on the reality shows and interview video are well-known singers in Japan and outside Japan. Considering the
phenomenon which is discussed in the previous paragraph, the writer tried to listen to ex-AKB48 members Itano Tomomi, ex-Morning Musume members Ogawa
Makoto, Ishikawa Rika, Tanaka Reina, Fujimoto Miki, and Kamei Eri, Berryz Koubou member Momoko Tsugunaga, Utada Hikaru, and Ayumi Hamasaki
produce the English words with the l and r sounds. From the videos, the English words with l and r sounds are classified into three parts based on its positions in
words: initial, medial, and finally. Then the accuracy measurement of English l and r sounds are classified into three parts based on its positions in words: initial,
medial, and final produced by Japanese female singers are based on Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary.
1. The l Sound
This section shows how the English l sound is produced by Japanese female singers. This section will discuss the production of English l sound based on its
positions in words: initial, middle and final position by Japanese female singers.
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16
a. The l Sound in Initial Position
The writer observed how the l sound is produced initially. The writer took some of words which are often pronounced by Japanese female singers. Those words
are: like, love, look, listen, and live.
Table 2.4 The Result of the l Sound Production Initially Word
Standard Production
Singer
Like la k
la k Singer 1
la k Singer 3
la k Singer 9
Love l
ʌv l
ʌb Singer 1
lov Singer 9
Look l
ʊk l
ʊk Singer 1
l ʊk
Singer 9 Listen
l sn l s
ən Singer 1
l sn Singer 3
l s n Singer 9
Live la v
ɾa f Singer 1
Table 2.4 shows all Japanese female singers are able to pronounce the English l sound initially, except in the word live. In the word live, the l sound is
pronounced as r sound. However, the r sound here is not like English r sound. It is more in between l and r sounds. Ohata 1996 states that the liquids do not
exactly correspond to English liquids l or r, but rather it is considered to be an in- between sound of English r and l p.7. It shows that there is a change in the sound
production of English l. According to Bada 2001, the lateral l in English, another missing sound in the Japanese sound system, may cause some articulation difficulty.
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17 Japanese English learners will probably tend to replace this sound with its nearest
counterpart, the alveolar flap ɾ p. 5. From the result on Table 2.4, all the initial l
sounds in English words are pronounced clearly, except the l sound in the word live.
b. The l Sound in Medial Position
Here, there are five words that will be discussed. Those five English words are the most frequently spoken by the Japanese female singers on the interview videos.
Those are: really, hello, world, always, and English. Firstly, the writer will discuss the word really.
Table 2.5 The Result of the l Sound Production in the Medial Position Word
Standard Production
Singer
Really ri
ːəli ɾiːəɾi
Singer 1 ɾiːəli
Singer 3 ɾiːeli
Singer 6 ɾeɾi
Singer 9 Hello
h əˈləʊ
heˈɾo Singer 1
h ʌˈlo
Singer 8 World
w ɜːld
w ɜːld
Singer 1 w
ʌɾd Singer 8
wo ɾd
Singer 9 Always
ɔːlwe z ɔːɾuwe z
Singer 8 ɔːɾuwe z
Singer 9 English
ŋɡl ʃ ŋɡl ʃ
Singer 3 ŋgɾ ʃ
Singer 4
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18 Table 2.5 shows that there are some words with l sound in the middle which
are not pronounced clearly. It means the l sound in the words is pronounced as alveolar flap
ɾ. On the other hand, some words with l sound in the middle position are pronounced clearly by Japanese female singers. It shows that it is confusing for
Japanese female singers in differentiating the English l and r sounds. According to Goto 1971, Japanese speakers poorly identify r and l as cited in Hattori, 2009, p.
37. Moreover, when the English l and r sounds are adjoining together as in the word world in Table 2.5. Here, the l sound is omitted then the alveolar flap
ɾ sound is more audible.
c. The l Sound in Final
Position
The results for the l sound located in the final of the words are not much different from the previous discussion. From the result, the l sound is sometimes
produced purely but in the other times it sounds as Japanese alveolar flap ɾ. There
are five words that are pronounced problematically by the Japanese female singers: all, people, single, girl,
and cool.
