Euphonic Changes in Polysyllabic Kanji Words - “onbin” (音便)
When combining two or more kanji into one word, certain euphonic changes often occur, following the following patterns:
1. Rendaku (連濁)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rule: The pronunciation of the first syllable of the second component changes into its voiced/aspirated counterpart if it belongs to the か-, さ-, た- or は-rows.
The kana takes a dakuten (i.e. they become が, ざ, だ or ば). Examples:
For the は-row, the kana takes a handakuten (maru) to become ぱ if it comes after ん. As in:
The exact rules for this are hard to pin-down and subject to academic debate, but it happens more often than not. My own kanji book* (from where I started to learn about these phenomena) hints to expect it, and to learn where it doesn’t happen… Sometimes even the same kanji obeys and doesn’t for example, the kanji 費 is usually read as hi, as in 食費 - shokuhi, but the compound 出費 is read as shuppi.
2. Sokuon (促音)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rule: if the last syllable of the first component is a member of the k-line, ち or つ, this changes to a sokuon (little つ) in combinations with syllables starting with a kana from the k-, s-, t- or h-lines. This phenomenon is much more regular (if not totally regular) than the rendaku rule. Examples:
As a bonus, we can even see both of these rules happening at once.
Vocabulary: 灰皿 - ashtray; 腕時計 - wristwatch; 本棚 - bookcase, bookshelf; 文法 - grammar; 食器 - tableware; 八歳 - 8 years; 物価 - price; 一杯- full, a lot.
Disclaimer: I’m not making out that I’m an expert on these phonetic phenomena, I’m just highlighting them since I found them useful.
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