Languages differ not only in what kind of consonants and vowels they will allow, but also what kinds of combinations of consonants and vowels they will allow. The combination of a consonant and a vowel corresponding to a beat is sometimes called syllable. In Japanese, the syllable ‘tsu’ つ is allowed; in fact, ‘tsu’ つ is one of the syllables that you saw in the Hiragana chart. However, in other languages, like English and Korean, the ‘tsu’ , which consists of a consonant ‘ts’ and vowel ‘u’ is not allowed as a syllable, so speakers of those languages sometimes say ‘su’ す instead of ‘tsu’ つ. Watch the videos below to enhance your knowledge of Japanese ‘tsu’ つ versus Japanese ‘su’ す. After watching the videos, you can complete the Lesson Quiz on Tsu vs. Su.
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