mochiron or mochirong


I've heard it a few times that some Japanese speakers seem to pronounce もちろん
as "mochirong", i.e., with more nasal voice than "mochiron".

Is this true, or just my aging ears are fooling me?




Your ears aren't fooling you, but it's not 'mochirong' (with a velar sound as
in the English sing). When ん comes on the end of a phrase, it can either be
pronounced as nasalization and elongation of the previous vowel, or as a
uvular nasal (pronounced in the back of the throat).

You use an alveolar nasal before た、な、ざ(but not さ) column kana. Take care that
when it comes before a ざ column kana, the z is pronounced dz (which is also
used when it comes at the beginning of a word).

You use a bilabial nasal before ぱ、ば、ま column kana (but not は).

You use a velar nasal before か column kana. Notably, が column kana are
sometimes pronounced as a velar nasal, and in that case you get a geminated
velar nasal.

You nasalize the previous vowel before anything else, including another vowel.

On the end of a phrase, you can have the nasalization, or a uvular nasal.

