Japanese does not have a direct equivalent to the sound “q” in its native phonetic inventory. However, when Japanese speakers encounter foreign words or loanwords that contain a “q” sound, they typically substitute it with the closest Japanese sound, which is “ku” (く). For example, the English word “queen” would be transliterated as “kuiin” (クイーン) in Japanese.
It is important to note that this substitution is not limited to the “q” sound alone. Japanese often adapts foreign sounds to fit its own phonetic system. This is because the Japanese language has a relatively limited set of phonetic sounds compared to English and other languages. As a result, when borrowing words from other languages, Japanese speakers must approximate the foreign sounds using their existing phonetic repertoire.
In the case of the missing sounds in Japanese, “c,” “f,” “l,” “v,” and “x,” similar substitutions occur. For the “c” sound, Japanese typically uses “s” (さ or し) or “k” (か or き) depending on the context. For example, the name “Catherine” may be transliterated as “Kyaasarin” (キャサリン) or “Seesarin” (シーサリン) in Japanese.
The “f” sound is approximated with the “fu” (ふ) sound in Japanese. For example, the English word “funny” would be transliterated as “fanii” (ファニー) in Japanese.
The “l” sound is not present in Japanese, and instead, it is substituted with the “r” (ら, り, る, れ, ろ) sound. For example, the English word “love” would be transliterated as “rabu” (ラブ) in Japanese.
The “v” sound is typically replaced with the “b” (ば, び, ぶ, べ, ぼ) sound in Japanese. For example, the English word “video” would be transliterated as “bideo” (ビデオ) in Japanese.
The “x” sound is often substituted with the “kusu” (くす) or “ekusu” (エクス) sounds. For example, the name “Alex” may be transliterated as “Arekkusu” (アレックス) in Japanese.
These substitutions are necessary for Japanese speakers to communicate words from other languages that contain sounds absent from Japanese. While these approximations may not perfectly capture the original pronunciation, they still allow for effective communication between speakers of different languages.