The r Sound in Final Position

26 26 Then, based on the differences of English and Japanese l and r sound systems, both English l and r sounds are pronounced as Japanese alveolar flap ɾ. According to Suski 1931, Japanese English learners produce a single liquid voiced consonant that combines the two sounds of l and r as it is produced by a very quick tap also called a flap of the tongue tip on the alveolar ridge as cited in Smith, 2012, p. 202. Because in Japanese sound system there is no l sound, Japanese female singers pronounce the English l and r sounds as Japanese alveolar-flap ɾ. According to Smith 2012, “learners had some difficulty with pronouncing l and r sounds as in the case of delay, which is pronounced du: ɾei. This issue stems for the lack of a separate r and l sound” p. 202. It shows that Japanese female singers had difficulty to differentiate the English l and r sounds. Therefore, they pronounce the l sound more like Japanese alveolar-flap ɾ. The lack of ability to differentiate the l and r sounds also found when the l and r sounds are adjoining together in the word world. From Table 2.20, it can be seen that Singer 8 and Singer 9 pronounce the r sound then omit the l sound. Because it is difficult to differentiate the l and r sounds, the l sound is also pronounced as alveolar flap ɾ. Besides, the l sound in the word always is not only pronounced as ɾ, but the ɾ is also followed by a vowel „ʊ‟. Considering the Japanese syllable system is open- syllable, it is difficult for Japanese female singers to pronounce two consonants adjoining together. According to Sudjianto and Dahidi 2007, “syllable which is ended by vowel is called kaionsetsu open syllable whereas syllable which is ended 27 27 by consonant is called heionsetsu closed syllable” p.22. Therefore, when pronouncing English word which is ended by consonant closed syllable, there should be a vowel following the consonant. As in the word always, there are two consonants adjoining together: „l‟ and „w‟. Ohata 1996 states, inserting a vowel between consonants, so that the word can conform to the Japanese open syllable pattern CV-CV p. 14. As a consequence, the word always is pronounced as ˈɔruwe z by Singer 8 and Singer 9. From the Singer 8 and Singer 9‟s pronunciation, the ɾ sound is followed by vowel „ʊ‟. Kawarazaki 1997 as cited in Sudjianto and Dahidi 2007 states, Japanese words which are adopted from English and ended with consonant closed-syllable, therefore 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. Besides, the writer found pronunciation errors when l sound is in the final position of the English words. Actually, the errors are almost the same as the l sound in the middle of the word. The errors are discussed on Table 2.11.