ABSTRACT
In any discussion of the phonological structure of Japanese it is necessary to begin with a statement concerning the way speakers of Japanese perceive the phonological units of the language. Japanese are members of a highly literate society, and the consequences of this include the fact that their perception of the phonological units of the language is based on the writing system. The Japanese writing system is based on a syllabary rather than on a phonetic system. This syllabary is termed in Japanese gojuuon 'the fifty sounds'. It is based on five vowel sounds which occur with a number of consonants. Each vowel sound and its Accompanying consonant has a separate symbol, termed kBnB (kBtBkBnB and hirBgBnB].
