子音

• 読み: しいん
• ローマ字: shiin
• 漢字の分解: 子 (shi/ko) — child, subsidiary; 音 (in/on/oto) — sound
• 発音: /ɕi.iɴ/

意味

Consonant. A speech sound produced by partially or fully obstructing airflow, as opposed to a vowel.

A noun used in linguistics and language education to describe consonant sounds. Paired with 母音 (boin, vowel) in phonetics discussions. Japanese has a relatively simple consonant system compared to many languages. Important for understanding Japanese phonology, especially when studying how consonants combine with vowels to form mora (拍, haku). Common in language classes and linguistics courses.

例文

1. 日本語の子音は英語より少ない。
2. 子音と母音の組み合わせで音節ができる。
3. 外国語を学ぶとき、子音の発音に苦労した。

使い方ガイド

場面: linguistics, language learning, education

トーン: academic

起源と歴史

From Sino-Japanese: 子 (shi, child/subsidiary) + 音 (in/on, sound). Literally 'subsidiary sound' — a sound that supports or accompanies a vowel, contrasted with 母音 (boin, 'mother sound,' i.e. vowel).

文化的背景

時代: Modern

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Educated