The Phonological analysis of a japanese singer in producing the tense vowels, diphthongs, and liquids in live performance music videos.

vii ABSTRACT

Sanjaya, Albertus Agung. 2015. The Phonological Analysis of a Japanese Singer in Producing the Tense Vowels, Diphthongs, and Liquids in Live Performance Music Videos. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.

The study deals with the phonological analysis of a Japanese singer in producing tense vowels and liquids in live performance music videos. This study has two objectives. Firstly, it analyzes and describes the pronunciation process of Japanese singer in producing tense vowels, diphthongs, and liquids. Secondly, this study describes the strategies used by the Japanese singer when he produced the non-exist sounds in his first language.

The method used in this study is document analysis. The documents are from live performance videos of Japanese singer. The researcher watched and listened to the videos. After that, the researcher listed the words in the lyrics of the songs containing tense vowels, diphthongs, and liquids. The words were transcribed into standard phonetic transcription. Then, the researcher also transcribed the words into the phonetic transcription according to the pronunciation of the singer. After that, the data was classified into three parts which were the words containing tense vowels, diphthongs, and liquids.

After the researcher analyzed the videos, the results of this study showed that the Japanese singer as an EFL speaker had different pronunciation process in producing tense vowels, diphthongs, and liquids sounds. The differences were caused by the non-existence of some sounds in their first language phonological system. In producing those non-exist sounds, the results also showed that the singer frequently used two linguistic strategies. The singer used sound substitution strategy when he produced the tense vowel /i/ and liquids /r/ or /l/. Moreover, the singer used sounds simplification strategy when he produced diphthongs such as /eɪ/ and /oʊ/.

viii ABSTRAK

Sanjaya, Albertus Agung. 2015. The Phonological Analysis of a Japanese Singer in Producing the Tense Vowels, Diphthongs, and Liquids in Live Performance Music Video. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Penelitian ini berkaitan dengan analisis fonologi dari penyanyi Jepang dalam memproduksi bunyi-bunyi vokal tegang, diftong, dan liquid dalam video-video penampilan langsung. Penelitian ini memiliki dua tujuan. Pertama, menganalisis dan menjelaskan proses pengucapan penyanyi Jepang dalam memproduksi bunyi-bunyi vokal, diftong, dan konsonan likuida. Kedua, penelitian ini menggambarkan dan mendeskripsikan strategi yang digunakan oleh penyanyi Jepang ketika ia menghasilkan bunyi-bunyi yang tidak ada dalam sistem fonologi di bahasa pertamanya.

Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah studi dokumen. Data-data yang digunakan adalah dari video-video penampilan langsung dari penyanyi Jepang. Peneliti mengamati dan mendengarkan video-video yang didapat. Setelah itu, peneliti menyantumkan kata-kata dalam lirik lagu yang mengandung bunyi-bunyi vokal, diftong, dan konsonan likuida. Kata-kata tersebut ditranskripsi menjadi fonetik transkripsi standar. Kemudian, peneliti juga mentranskripsi kata-kata ke dalam fonetik transkripsi sesuai dengan pengucapan penyanyi. Setelah itu, data diklasifikasikan menjadi tiga bagian yang merupakan kata-kata yang mengandung bunyi-bunyi vokal, diftong, dan konsonan likuida.

Setelah peneliti menganalisa video-video, hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa penutur Jepang yang diwakili oleh penyanyi Jepang memiliki proses pengucapan yang berbeda dalam memproduksi bunyi-bunyi vokal, diftong, dan konsonan likuida. Perbedaan tersebut disebabkan oleh tidak adanya beberapa suara dalam sistem fonologis bahasa pertama mereka. Dalam memproduksi bunyi-bunyi yang tidak ada, hasil menunjukkan bahwa penyanyi sering menggunakan dua strategi linguistik. Penyanyi menggunakan strategi pergantian bunyi ketika ia menghasilkan bunyi vokal / i / dan konsonan likuida / r / atau / l /. Selain itu, penyanyi menggunakan strategi penyederhanaan bunyi ketika ia memproduksi diftong seperti / eɪ / dan / oʊ /.

THE PHONOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF A JAPANESE SINGER IN PRODUCING THE TENSE VOWELS, DIPHTHONGS, AND LIQUIDS

IN LIVE PERFORMANCE MUSIC VIDEOS

A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

By

Albertus Agung Sanjaya Student Number: 111214037

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

i

THE PHONOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF A JAPANESE SINGER IN PRODUCING THE TENSE VOWELS, DIPHTHONGS, AND LIQUIDS

IN LIVE PERFORMANCE MUSIC VIDEOS

A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree

in English Language Education

By

Albertus Agung Sanjaya Student Number: 111214037

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA

iv

DEDICATION PAGE

Don’t hurt others if you don’t want to be hurt (Albertus Agung Sanjaya)

Ora et labora (St. Benedict’s Rule)

Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh

findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (Matthew 7: 7-8)

v

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY

I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the work or parts of the works of other people, except those which were cited in the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.

Yogyakarta, 31 July 2015

The writer

vi

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:

Nama : Albertus Agung Sanjaya Nomor Mahasiswa : 111214037

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

THE PHONOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF A JAPANESE SINGER IN PRODUCING THE TENSE VOWELS, DIPHTHONGS, AND LIQUIDS

IN LIVE PERFORMANCE MUSIC VIDEOS

Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin kepada saya atau memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencatumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya,

Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 26 Juni 2015

Yang menyatakan

vii ABSTRACT

Sanjaya, Albertus Agung. 2015. The Phonological Analysis of a Japanese Singer in Producing the Tense Vowels, Diphthongs, and Liquids in Live Performance Music Videos. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University.

The study deals with the phonological analysis of a Japanese singer in producing tense vowels and liquids in live performance music videos. This study has two objectives. Firstly, it analyzes and describes the pronunciation process of Japanese singer in producing tense vowels, diphthongs, and liquids. Secondly, this study describes the strategies used by the Japanese singer when he produced the non-exist sounds in his first language.

The method used in this study is document analysis. The documents are from live performance videos of Japanese singer. The researcher watched and listened to the videos. After that, the researcher listed the words in the lyrics of the songs containing tense vowels, diphthongs, and liquids. The words were transcribed into standard phonetic transcription. Then, the researcher also transcribed the words into the phonetic transcription according to the pronunciation of the singer. After that, the data was classified into three parts which were the words containing tense vowels, diphthongs, and liquids.

After the researcher analyzed the videos, the results of this study showed that the Japanese singer as an EFL speaker had different pronunciation process in producing tense vowels, diphthongs, and liquids sounds. The differences were caused by the non-existence of some sounds in their first language phonological system. In producing those non-exist sounds, the results also showed that the singer frequently used two linguistic strategies. The singer used sound substitution strategy when he produced the tense vowel /i/ and liquids /r/ or /l/. Moreover, the singer used sounds simplification strategy when he produced diphthongs such as /eɪ/ and /oʊ/.

viii ABSTRAK

Sanjaya, Albertus Agung. 2015. The Phonological Analysis of a Japanese Singer in Producing the Tense Vowels, Diphthongs, and Liquids in Live Performance Music Video. Yogyakarta: Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Penelitian ini berkaitan dengan analisis fonologi dari penyanyi Jepang dalam memproduksi bunyi-bunyi vokal tegang, diftong, dan liquid dalam video-video penampilan langsung. Penelitian ini memiliki dua tujuan. Pertama, menganalisis dan menjelaskan proses pengucapan penyanyi Jepang dalam memproduksi bunyi-bunyi vokal, diftong, dan konsonan likuida. Kedua, penelitian ini menggambarkan dan mendeskripsikan strategi yang digunakan oleh penyanyi Jepang ketika ia menghasilkan bunyi-bunyi yang tidak ada dalam sistem fonologi di bahasa pertamanya.

Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah studi dokumen. Data-data yang digunakan adalah dari video-video penampilan langsung dari penyanyi Jepang. Peneliti mengamati dan mendengarkan video-video yang didapat. Setelah itu, peneliti menyantumkan kata-kata dalam lirik lagu yang mengandung bunyi-bunyi vokal, diftong, dan konsonan likuida. Kata-kata tersebut ditranskripsi menjadi fonetik transkripsi standar. Kemudian, peneliti juga mentranskripsi kata-kata ke dalam fonetik transkripsi sesuai dengan pengucapan penyanyi. Setelah itu, data diklasifikasikan menjadi tiga bagian yang merupakan kata-kata yang mengandung bunyi-bunyi vokal, diftong, dan konsonan likuida.

Setelah peneliti menganalisa video-video, hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa penutur Jepang yang diwakili oleh penyanyi Jepang memiliki proses pengucapan yang berbeda dalam memproduksi bunyi-bunyi vokal, diftong, dan konsonan likuida. Perbedaan tersebut disebabkan oleh tidak adanya beberapa suara dalam sistem fonologis bahasa pertama mereka. Dalam memproduksi bunyi-bunyi yang tidak ada, hasil menunjukkan bahwa penyanyi sering menggunakan dua strategi linguistik. Penyanyi menggunakan strategi pergantian bunyi ketika ia menghasilkan bunyi vokal / i / dan konsonan likuida / r / atau / l /. Selain itu, penyanyi menggunakan strategi penyederhanaan bunyi ketika ia memproduksi diftong seperti / eɪ / dan / oʊ /.

ix

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank our God and Savior Jesus Christ because of His blessing and grace, I

was allowed to write and accomplish my thesis. I also thank Him for His guidance

when I underwent the process of making the thesis.

Special thanks go to my beloved parents Veronika Noer Harijanti or Mamah

and Michael Wisnu Brata or Papah who have allowed and facilitated me to study in

this wonderful study program. I also thank them for the motivation and advices given

to me when I am down and in difficult situation.

I would also like to give my gratitude to my advisor Yuseva Ariyani Iswandari, S.Pd., M.Ed. for being so patient and meticulous in guiding and giving feedback during the process of making and finishing this thesis. I also thank Christina

Lhaksmita Anandari, S.Pd., Ed.M. as my academic advisor for eight semesters. Without her guidance and advice, I cannot finish all of the courses in this study

program. I give my gratitude to my board of examiners Agustinus Hardi Prasetyo,

S.Pd., M.A.and C. Tutyandari, S.Pd., M.Pd. for giving the useful suggestions to my thesis. In addition, I thank Drs. Barli Bram, M.Ed., Ph.D. for being meticulous in correcting my thesis. Without him my thesis would be so full of mistakes and errors.I

also thank Pak Pras for being my inspiring English teacher in my senior high school. Because of him, I am now in English Language Education Study Program.

I thank my two best senior high school friends Billy and Edo. They have

x

Gerard, Albert, Yanu, Ginong, Theo, and Malik for being my best friends in English Language Education Study Program. Besides, I thank Puzzle Group members Monic,

Angel, Nike, Yanu, and Arin. We had done our very best in the process of SPD class, so I could complete the course well and finish my study in this study program. They

also had encouraged me in doing my thesis.

Lastly, I extend my gratitude to all people who cannot be mentioned one by

one. God bless us.

xi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ... i

APPROVAL PAGES ... ii

DEDICATION PAGE ... iv

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ... v

PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ... vi

ABSTRACT ... vii

ABSTRAK ... viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... xi

LIST OF TABLES ... xiv

LIST OF APPENDICES ... xv

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ... 1

A. Research Background ... 1

B. Research Problems ... 4

C. Problem Limitation ... 4

D. Research Objectives ... 5

E. Research Benefits ... 5

F. Definition of Terms ... 6

CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ... 9

A. Theoretical Description ... 9

1. Phonological Analysis ... 9

a. Sound Substitution ... 11

b. Sound Deletion ... 11

c. Sound Simplification ... 12

xii

e. Insertion ... 13

2. Vowels ... 13

a. Diphthongs ... 14

b. Tense ... 14

c. Lax ... 14

3. Liquids ... 14

a. Trill ... 15

b. Flap ... 15

4. EFL Speakers ... 15

5. Japanese Phonology ... 17

a. Vowels ... 18

b. Consonants ... 18

B. Theoretical Framework ... 19

CHAPTER III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 22

A. Research Method ... 22

B. Research Setting ... 24

C. Research Subject ... 24

D. Instruments and Data Gathering Techniques ... 25

1. Human Instrument ... 25

2. The Videos of Japanese Singer Performing English Songs ... 26

E. Data Analysis Techniques ... 27

F. Research Procedure ... 29

1. Formulating Problem ... 29

2. Specifying The Phenomenon ... 29

3. Selecting The Media ... 30

4. Gathering The Data ... 30

xiii

CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ... 32

A. Pronunciation Process of Tense Vowels, Diphthongs, and Liquids Produced By Japanese Singer ... 32

1. Tense Vowels ... 32

2. Diphthongs ... 35

3. Liquids ... 37

B. The Linguistic Strategies Done By Japanese Singer in Producing Tense Vowels, Diphthongs, and Liquids ... 39

1. Sound Substitution ... 39

2. Sound Simplification ... 40

CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ... 42

A. Conclusions ... 42

B. Recommendations ... 44

xiv

LIST OF TABLES

Tables ... Page

2.1. Japanese Vowels System ... 18

2.2. Japanese Consonantal System ... 19

3.1. Sounds Production ... 27

4.1. Tense Vowels Production ... 33

4.2. Diphthongs Production ... 35

xv

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendices ... Page

A. Chase Lyrics ... 48

B. XXX (Kiss Kiss Kiss) Lyrics ... 50

C. The Words Containing Tense Vowels In Chase Lyrics ... 51

D. The Words Containing Diphthongs In Chase Lyrics ... 52

E. The Words Containing Liquids In Chase Lyrics ... 53

F. The Words Containing Tense Vowels In XXX Lyrics ... 55

G. The Words Containing Diphthongs In XXX Lyrics ... 56

H. The Words Containing Liquids In XXX Lyrics ... 57

1

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This study discusses the phonological analysis of a Japanese singer in

producing tense vowels and liquid in live performance music videos. This chapter

consists of six sections. The first section is about the background of the research

which discusses the general explanation of the difference between phonological

systems in English and Japanese and the significance of the study. The second

section is research problems in which the researcher raises two problems from the

topic. The third section is problem limitation which determines the focus of the

study. The fourth section is research objectives. This section presents the expected

outcomes of the research according to the research questions. The fifth and the sixth

part are research benefits and definition of terms.

A. Research Background

As an international language, English has been learned by many people around

the world. It is in accordance with Crystal’s statement (2003) that English becomes

the language which is most widely taught as a foreign language so that the number

of second language speakers increases vastly. In this case, there will appear a lot of

accents, Chinese accents, Korean accents, Spanish accents and so on. It is a clear

sign that the sound patterns or structure of their native languages influence the

speech or production of their second language. In short, it is very equitable to say

that the nature of a foreign accent is determined to a large extent by a learner’s native

language (Avery & Ehrlich, 1992).

The sound patterns of language or usually called as phonology of a certain

language raises some problems for the foreign speakers in pronouncing English

words since the phonology of a certain language is different from the phonology of

English. The difference can appear from the absence of sounds in a certain language

but they are present in English. One example of the language is Japanese. As

Kenworthy (1987) said, Japanese has only five vowels in its vowel inventory namely

/i/, /e/, /a/, /u/, and /o/. A system is quite common among many natural languages

in the world. It is different from English which has fifteen vowels namely /i/, /ɪ/, /e/,

/ᴈ/, /ᴂ/, /ə/, /ʌ/, /u/, /ʊ/, /o/, /ɔ/, and /a/. The difference of Japanese and English vowel

systems is also indicated from the existence of lax and tense in those two vowel

systems. The difference between tense and lax vowels is made according to how

much muscle tension or movement in the mouth is involved in producing vowels

(Ladefoged, 1982). Some of English vowel systems are tense such as /a/, /i/, /u/, /e/,

/o/ and all of Japanese vowel systems are lax.

Besides the difference in the vowel systems, there are also differences in

consonantal distribution between Japanese and English. According to Avery and

Japanese. Japanese does not have fricatives and affricates which are much more widely distributed in English such as /f/, /v/, /θ /, /ð/, / ʃ /, / ʒ /, /ʧ/, and /ʤ/. In

addition, Japanese has a liquid /r/ which is different from the /r/ or /l/ sound of

English. The exact of articulation point of /r/ sound in Japanese is not specific.

In addition, the researcher chooses the topic because of his interest in English

sounds production of foreign speakers. The researcher often listens to Japanese

songs in which there are some English words in the lyrics. Then the singer

pronounces the English words in a unique way. As a result, the researcher is

interested in analyzing the pronunciation process of the singer in producing English

words.

This study is quite significant because it gives the insights of the diversity in

English accent especially Japanese accent for the English Language Education

Study Program students. When they are working as an English teacher in Japan or

English as a foreign language teacher at Lembaga Bahasa Sanata Dharma

University, they will face the natives of Japanese in which they have to be able to

understand the English words uttered by the Japanese students.

Thus, this thesis discusses the phonological systems in Japanese which

influence the Japanese singer in pronouncing the English words. The study describes

the process of Japanese singer in making the sounds of tense vowels and liquids.

Finally, the study shows the linguistic strategies used by the Japanese singer to solve

In conducting this study, the researcher is inspired by the previous study

written by Aprilia Kristiana Tri Wahyuni, one of English Language Education Study

Program students 2012. She used Korean singers as her subjects and analyzing the

production of labiodental fricatives of Korean singers in live performance music

videos.

The Japanese singer who is used as the subject of the study is the singer of a band namely L’Arc-en-Ciel. The researcher uses the band because the members

have been considered as the band which is popular in Japan and other countries.

They also have debuted internationally.

B. Research Problems

From the research background, the study raises two research questions in

order to make this study more organized. Those two questions are as follows.

1. How does the Japanese singer pronounce tense vowels, diphthongs, and

liquids in English?

2. What are the linguistic strategies used by the Japanese singer when he faces

tense vowels, diphthongs, and liquids in English?

C. Problem Limitation

The study focuses on the sound production of the foreign speakers of English

who are represented by the Japanese singer since he has debuted internationally.

analyzes the live performance music videos of the singer and the other members

because they are considered as the authentic data in which the singer produces the

sound without any manipulation.

The subjects discussed in the study are the tense vowels, diphthongs, and

liquids produced by the Japanese singer when he sings English songs in each word

and phrase. Then, as the first objective, the study describes the pronunciation

process of the Japanese singer in producing the tense vowels, diphthongs, and

liquid in words and phrases. Secondly, it shows the linguistics strategies used by

the Japanese singer when he faces the tense vowels, diphthongs, and liquids.

D. Research Objectives

The study has two objectives. Those two objectives are as follows.

1. The study aims to describe the pronunciation process of the Japanese singer

when producing the tense vowels, diphthongs and liquid in each word.

2. The study aims to show the linguistic strategies used by the Japanese singer to

solve the absence of tense vowels, diphthongs, and the unspecified liquids.

E. Research Benefits

The results of the study are expected to give benefits to the teachers of English

1. English as Foreign Language Teachers

The results of the study give the insights of the diversity in English accent so

that the teachers can understand the learners especially Japanese learners. They

help the teachers not to misunderstand the English words uttered by Japanese

learners.

2. The English Language Education Study Program Students

This study is expected to be a source of reference for ELESP students to

improve their awareness of phonological phenomena occurred in another

country. It expands the phonological knowledge of ELESP students when they

are learning phonetic and phonology.

3. Linguistics Lecturers

This study is expected to be a source of knowledge for linguistics lecturers in

ELESP Sanata Dharma University especially phonetic and phonology lecturers.

It can be a media for students to make an observation of phonological

phenomena in other countries.

F. Definition of Terms

In order to avoid misunderstanding in the study, the researcher provides

some definition of terms.

1. Phonological Analysis

As Veen and Mve (2010) stated, phonological analysis can be defined as the

are produced by foreign speakers in this case Japanese singer. In this study, the

analysis describes the process of Japanese singer in pronouncing tense vowels,

diphthongs, and liquids in English words.

2. Tense Vowels

Tense vowels are vowels produced with extra muscle tension. For example, /i/ as in English /it/ “eat” is categorized as a tense vowel as the lips are spread

(muscular tension in the mouth) and the tongue moves toward the root of the

mouth (Ladefoged, 1982). Although Japanese has similar vowels system to

English which are /i/, /e/, /a/, /u/, and /o/, Japanese pronounces them in lax.

Thus, this study is going to analyze the pronunciation process of Japanese singer

when they are producing those tense vowels.

3. Diphthongs

Diphthongs are other types of vowels. They refer to a sequence of two sounds,

vowel plus glide (Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams, 2007). There are several examples of diphthongs, such as /aɪ/, /əʊ/, and /oʊ/. In this research, the

researcher analyzes the pronunciation process of the Japanese singer when he

produces English word containing diphthongs.

4. Liquids

Liquids are the sounds produced by some obstruction of the airstream in the

mouth, but not enough to cause a real constriction or friction (Fromkin,

Rodman, and Hyams, 2007). There are two liquids: /r/ and /l/. Even though

the English liquid /r/ or /l/, but rather it is considered to be an in-between sound

of English /r/ and /l/. The exact articulation point is not specified for the

Japanese /r/ sound. In this study, the researcher analyzes the pronunciation

9 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the review of literatures, theoretical writings and

researches which are related to the study. This chapter includes two sections. The first

section is theoretical description which includes the theories which are relevant to the

study being discussed. The theories are about the phonological analysis, tense vowels,

liquids, Japanese phonology, and Japanese singer who is considered as EFL (English

as Foreign Language) speakers. The second section is theoretical framework. It

summarizes all major relevant theories which will help the researcher conduct the study

to solve the research problems.

A. Theoretical Description

In this section, the researcher uses four theories which are directly related to the

study matter. This section describes the definitions, kinds and some important

information of the phonological analysis, tense vowels, liquids and Japanese singer who

is considered as EFL (English as Foreign Language) speakers.

1. Phonological Analysis

Phonological has meaning as relating to the nature of sounds of certain language,

in this case is English (Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams, 2007). Therefore, phonological

analysis can be defined as the theoretical and practical steps in analyzing the sound

speakers and the strategies they use to solve the problems in producing the English

sounds.

Steps of phonological analysis can be divided into three major steps. As Veen

and Mve (2010) said, the first step of phonological analysis is carrying out preliminary

inquiries in which the researcher has to determine the clear goals of the research and the

sound representations. The second step is performing phonetic transcription. This is the

necessary step yet it consumes a plenty of time to work on. The final step is analysis.

Veen and Mve (2010) also stated that in working on phonological analysis, there

are some important things to consider. Being rigorous, meticulous and accurate are must

in working on phonological analysis, especially in terms of transcription, data

management and storage, analysis, and description. They are very important since doing

a phonological analysis is a task that combines specific analytical skills, techniques and

reasoning (describing problems and giving solutions). The ability to manage the time

and being patient are also important since when the researcher does the phonetic

transcription it will take a plenty of time. It requires careful observation in watching and

listening. In addition, it requires repetition in identifying the exact pronunciation of the

subjects.

Besides, phonological analysis is going to identify the acts of the subjects in

solving their problems in producing English sounds which are usually called as

a. Sound Substitution

In producing English words, there will be a lot of problems faced by English

non-native speakers. They often find some sounds in English which do not exist in their

language. For example, as Ohata (1994) said, Japanese has a liquid sound which is

similar to both English /r/ and /l/. However the liquid does not exactly correspond to

either of the English liquids and they are often pronounced as a kind of in-between

sound of the English /r/ and /l/. In this case, Japanese students often change the English

/r/ and /l/ sounds (Suski, 1931). Therefore they usually change /l/ into /r/ at one time

and /r/ into /l/ at another. Because of this interchangeable use of both /l/ and /r/, the

words such as light and arrive may sound like right and alive to English native speakers.

Thus, that is usually called as a sound substitution strategy. That is the strategy

used by non-native English speakers in labeling the non-existing sound with the sound

which is present in their language and has the closest quality with the English sound.

b. Sound Deletion

Sound deletion refers to the phonological process in which one sound with a

syllable is omitted (Jenkins, 2000). Jenkins (2000) said that there are three kinds of

sound deletion, namely aphesis or apheresis, syncope, and apocope. Aphesis or

apheresis is the type of deletion which occurs in the initial vowel of a word. As the

Meanwhile, syncope is a very common deletion which occurs in the middle

vowel of a word, for example the word family [fæmli]. Finally, apocope is the deletion

of the consonant. The final sound of a word is omitted which is usually placed within

consonant cluster.

c. Sound simplification

Sound simplification is a variation in which the certain sound within one syllable

is simplified into simple sound. It usually occurs within short and long vowels or

minimal pair (McMahon, 2002). As the example, the long vowel in a word snake which

is pronounced as [sneɪk]. The long vowel [eɪ] is usually simplified into [e] which

becomes [snek].

d. Sound Assimilation

Sound assimilation refers to the linguistic process when one sound becomes more

like its neighbor (Nathan, 2008). There are two types of assimilation which are

anticipatory assimilation or regressive assimilation, or simply leftforward assimilation

and perseveratory assimilation, or progressive assimilation, or rightforward

assimilation. The first type of assimilation, anticipatory assimilation, happens when the

sound in the preceding syllable is assimilated to the next sound. Meanwhile,

perseveratory assimilation happens when the direction goes forward from the causing

e. Insertion

Insertion refers to the addition of a sound in the initial, middle or final of a word.

According to Nathan (2008), there are two reasons of the insertion application. The

first reason is to prevent consonant cluster that violate syllable structure. Secondly,

insertion is done to ease transition between segments that have multiple incompatible.

As stated on the definition of insertion, there are three types of insertion based

on the sound placed on a word. The first type is prothesis. Prothesis refers to the

insertion of a sound which precedes the initial letter of a word, for example the word

special becomes [espesial] (Nathan, 2008). The second one is epenthesis. It refers to the insertion of a sound in the middle of a word (Nathan, 2008). As the example, the

word film is pronounced as [fıləm]. The last one is paragoge. It refers to the insertion

of a sound in the final of a word, for example the word pride is pronounced as [puraido]

(Nathan, 2008). Those three types of insertion often occur when Japanese try to say

English words. They do those insertions to avoid the consonant clusters since they have

predominantly open syllables which means the word is finalized with a vowel.

Therefore, when they say the word pride, they will pronounce it as [puraido] instead

of [praid] in which epenthesis and paragoge inertions are applied.

2. Vowels

McMahon (2002) said that vowels refer to the sounds which are produced on a

pulmonic aggressive airstream, with central airflow. Vowels can also refer to an

out through the lips (Roach, 2009, p. 10). Vowels have some types, three of which are

diphthongs, tense and lax.

a. Diphthongs

A diphthong is a sequence of two sounds, vowel plus glide. For example: bite

[bajt]; there are [a] vowel and glide of [j]. Another example is bout [bawt]; there are

vowel of [a] and [w] glide (Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams, 2007). This kind of vowels

do not exist in Japanese since as Kenworthy (1987) said, Japanese has only five vowels.

b. Tense

Tense vowels are the vowels which are produced with greater tension of the

tongue muscle than its counterpart, and they are often a little longer in duration

(Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams, 2007). [a], [e], [i], [o], [u] and diphthongs are tense in

English, while in Japanese, there is no tense or lax differentiation. In his journal, Ohata

said that the tense/lax vowels pairs of English such as /i/ vs. /ɪ/, /e/ vs. /ε /, /u/ vs. /ʊ/, do

not exist in the five-vowel system of Japanese.

c. Lax

According to Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams (2007), lax vowels refer to the

vowels which are produced with smaller tension of the tongue muscle than its

counterpart, and they are shorter in duration. Some examples of lax vowels are /ʌ/, /ɪ/,

/ʊ/, /ᴈ/, and /ɔ/.

3. Liquids

Liquids refer to the sounds produced by some obstruction of the airstream in the

Hyams, 2007). There are two liquids in English: [l] and [r]. In Japanese liquids are not

exactly the same as in English. This issue stems from the lack of a separate /r/ and /l/

sound and the difference in place of articulation between Japanese and English /r/

sounds.

a. Trill

A trilled “r” can be found in the word “perro” which means dog in Spanish. They

produce the /r/ very clear. Therefore, according to Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams (2007), a trilled “r” is the sound produced by rapid vibrations of an articulator.

b. Flap

A flap is produced by a flick of the tongue against the alveolar ridge. It sounds like “a very fast d (Fromkin, Rodman, & Hyams, 2007).” This kind of sound can be

found when American pronounce the word “writer” in which it is almost the same as

pronouncing the word “rider”. A flapped “r” is symbolized as [ɾ], so the word “writer”

will be pronounced as [raiɾər]. It also happens when Japanese students say an English

word which has liquids. It is different from English in which /l/ is an alveolar lateral or

approximant and the /r/ is a post-alveolar approximant. Japanese students produce a

single liquid voiced consonant that combines the two sounds of /l/ and /r/ as it is produced by a very quick tap (also called a “flap”) of the tongue tip on the alveolar ridge

(Suski, 1931, p. 70).

4. EFL Speakers

In this part, there will be a general explanation of speaking and EFL. As it is

defined as a process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal or oral

form (Chaney & Burk, 1988, p.13 and Gebhard, 1996, p.169). Moreover, Nunan (2003,

p.48) defines that speaking consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey

meaning. In this context, the person who uses English (language) to convey the meaning

in verbal utterances is considered as an English speaker. An English speaker who has

learned and used English from early childhood refers to a native English speaker.

Meanwhile, an English speaker who is not born or raised in a place where a particular

language is spoken, in this case, English refers to a non-native English speaker

(Merriam-Webster).

In addition, EFL is the acronym of English as Foreign Language. This term is

usually used to describe the students learning English (their first language is not

English) in their own country. For example, the students in Indonesia learn English. In

his article at grammar.about.com, Nordquist also stated another meaning of EFL which

is a traditional term for the use or study of the English language by non-native speakers

in countries where English is generally not a local medium of communication. From

those statements, non-native English speakers are directly related to EFL since they do

not use English as the first language but as the foreign language. Therefore, in this

context, the Japanese singer can be considered as the EFL speakers.

From the usage of English by Japanese singers, it is closely related to the

purposes of speaking English for EFL speakers. They use English for the specific

purposes in which this situation can be called as English for Specific Purposes (ESP).

which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner's reason for

learning" (p. 19). In brief, ESP is the use of a particular variety of English in a specific context of use and justified by the learners’ needs. In this study, the learner is a Japanese

singer who uses English for entertainment purposes since he has debuted

internationally.

As the EFL speakers, they face problems in speaking English one of which is

pronunciation. Pronunciation problems appear because as EFL speakers, they do not

use English as their first language in which they are not also accustomed to speak

English in their daily life. As a result, they cannot pronounce English words as perfect

as the words in their language. Nation and Newton (2009) also stated that the EFL

speakers often have pronunciation problems in speaking English. The pronunciation of

the speakers can be influenced by the first language of the speakers. As Nation & Newton (2009) stated that the research studies show many learners’ first language has

been the major influence when they produce English sounds. One evidence for this is where speakers of the same first language typically pronounce the second language in

the same way, making the same kinds of substitutions and patterns of pronunciation.

5. Japanese Phonology

In order to describe the pronunciation process of the Japanese singer in

producing vowels (including diphthongs) and liquids, this research discusses the

a. Vowels

Japanese language does not have many kinds of vowels like in English. It even

does not have the diphthongs. Ohata (1994) stated in his journal that Japanese language

has only five vowels in its vowel inventory which are very different from English

vowels containing fifteen different vowels, which include several diphthongs such as

[image:36.612.96.519.247.490.2]

/aw/, /ay/, and /oy/. The Japanese vowels are presented in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1. Japanese Vowels System

Front Central Back

High i u

Mid e o

Low a

In Japanese Vowels System table adapted from Okada (1991), /a/ sounds like “cut” in English but with more slightly open mouth. /i/ in Japanese sounds like “feet”

in English. Meanwhile /u/ in Japanese, they pronounce it with the lips compressed

toward each other but neither rounded like [u] nor spread to the sides like [ɯ]. /e/ in Japanese has the same sound as “set” in English. Finally /o/ is somewhere between

“core” and “coke” in English.

b. Consonants

As in its vowels, Japanese consonants also have differences from English

/, / ʒ /, /ʧ/, and /ʤ/ do not exist in the Japanese consonantal system (Avery & Ehrlich,

[image:37.612.105.528.214.497.2]

1992; Kenworthy, 1987). The Japanese consonantal system is presented in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2 Japanese Consonantal System

Place and Manner of Articulation

Bilabial Alveolar Alveopalatal Velar Glottal

Stops Voiceless p T k

Voiced b D g

Fricatives Voiceless  S _Ҫ h

Voiced Z

Nasals m n

Liquids (approximants)

r

Although Japanese has a liquid consonant as shown in Table 2.2, the liquid does

not exactly sound like the English liquid /r/ or /l/, but rather it is considered to be an

in-between sound of English /r/ and /l/. The exact articulation point is not specified for

the Japanese /r/ sound. As Akamatsu (1997) stated, /r/ is an apical postalveolar flap

undefined for laterality. Therefore, it is specified as neither a central nor a lateral flap,

but may vary between the two which is similar to Korean /r/.

B. Theoretical Framework

As the framework of the theories, it sums up that the researcher uses five theories.

linguistic strategies. The study provides the description of five linguistic strategies. The

first strategy is sound substitution. Sound substitution refers to the strategy in labeling

the non-existing sound with the sound which is present in their language and has the

closest quality with the English sound. Secondly, sound deletion is the strategy which

is simply used by omitting the sound from a word (Jenkins, 2000). The third strategy is

sound simplification which refers to a variation in which the certain sound within one

syllable is simplified into simple sound (McMahon, 2002). The fourth strategy is sound

assimilation. It is a linguistic process when one sound becomes similar to its neighbor

(Nathan, 2008). Lastly, insertion is the addition of a sound in the initial, middle or final

of a word (Nathan, 2008). The insertion of sound which preceding the initial of a word

is usually called as prosthesis (Nathan, 2008). The insertion of sound which occurs in

the middle of a word is called epenthesis (Nathan, 2008). Finally, paragoge is the

insertion of a sound in the final of a word (Nathan, 2008).

The second and the third theories are vowels and liquids in English phonological

system. In 2007, Fromkin, Rodman, and Hymas stated that English vowels consist of

tense vowels, lax, and diphthongs. The fourth theory is English as a Foreign Language

(EFL) speakers. The theory also describe the position of the Japanese singer when he

sings English song. In this case, he uses English to sing the song. As a result, he can be

considered as an English as foreign language speaker since it is similar to the definition

of EFL which is a traditional term for the use or study of the English language by

non-native speakers in countries where English is generally not a local medium of

The last theory is Japanese phonology theory. This theory describes the

phonological system in Japanese. There are some absences of sounds between English

and Japanese. In Japanese there are only five variants of vowel which are not specified

whether they are lax or tense while in English there are fifteen different vowels and they

contain diphthongs, tense and lax. The absence of an exact sounds of liquids also exists

in Japanese consonants. According to Kenworthy (1987), although Japanese has the

same liquids as in English, they do not pronounce them very clearly whether they should

22 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents a rationale of the methods of research and analysis. It

contains six sections which are going to be defined and described each of them. The

first section is research method. It contains the explanation of the document analysis

as the research method used in this study. The second section is research setting.

Research setting describes where and when the research is done. In the third section,

this study elaborates on the participants/subjects of the research as well as the

methods of sampling. The fourth section is instruments and data gathering

technique. In this section, the researcher explains the research instruments used in

the study and the techniques in gathering the data. Then, from the data there are

some findings and the description of the way how to analyze the findings is

presented in data analysis technique as the fifth section of this chapter. Finally, the

steps taken in conducting the study are described in the section of research

procedure.

A. Research Method

This research was qualitative research since this study dealt with the

description of sound production analysis, which focused on the pronunciation

process when Japanese produced liquids and tense vowels. This study described how

In this study, the sources of data gathering can be specified into document analysis.

As Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh (2002) said that document analysis refers to a method

of research utilized to written or visual materials in a purpose of identifying specified

characteristics of the material or a project that focuses on analyzing and interpreting

recorded materials within its own context. From the description of document

analysis, live performance videos from Japanese singer can be indicated as the visual

materials which are going to be identified and analyzed the errors.

As Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh (2002) stated, there are six steps in document

analysis which should be done. The first step is specifying the phenomenon to be

investigated. In this step, the researcher specified the phenomenon of pronunciation

process of Japanese singer in producing tense vowels and liquids. Secondly, the

researcher selected the media to analyze which are the videos. The third step is

formulating exhaustive and mutually exclusive coding categories so that the verbal

or symbolic content can be counted. Then, the researcher specified the sample in this

case video based on the year or period when they performed. It aims to obtain a

representative sample of the documents. The next step is training the coders so that

they can consistently apply the coding scheme that has been developed and thus

contribute to the reliability of the content analysis. Finally, the data was analyzed

and it involved the descriptive accounts since this study used qualitative research.

The materials could be analyzed from the textbooks, newspapers, web pages,

speeches, television programs, advertisements, videos, musical compositions, or any

of a host of other types of documents. The reason why the researcher wanted to use

singer when he sang a song in English. The videos did not use the process of editing

and it was as real as it was. In addition, from that originality the researcher was able

to see the authentic process when the Japanese singer pronounced the English words.

The pronunciation of the Japanese singer was analyzed from the lip movement and

mouth so that the clearer sound transcription could be interpreted.

B. Research Setting

The researcher conducted the research starting from 6 March 2015 until 30

April 2015. On 6 March 2015, the research was conducted at the researcher’s

boarding house by downloading several live performance videos from youtube.

Then, the videos were watched and analyzed during two weeks, starting from 7

March 2015 until 21 March 2015. During two weeks, the researcher saw the process

of pronunciation when Japanese singer produced tense vowels and liquids. The next

five weeks, starting from 21 March 2015 until 30 April 2015, the researcher

described the results of the analysis from the videos by making the table and

comparing how Japanese singer made the sound of tense vowels and liquids to the

sounds in English. The researcher also did the revision from the results which had

been described.

C. Research Subject

In conducting the study, the researcher used the Japanese singer as the subject

of the research. The Japanese singer was a vocalist in a Japanese band named L’Arc

four members consisting of Hyde as the vocalist, Tetsuya as the bassist, Ken as the

guitarist and Yukihiro as the drummer. Those members are formed after several

changes occurred in their group. On 1 April 1993, the band released their debut

album Dune on the independent, but well-known, record label Danger Crue. This

was their first debut. Besides, they have debuted internationally in U.S. (2004) and

Europe (2006-2008). On 31 July 2004, L'Arc-en-Ciel made their North American

debut at the anime convention Otakon. Then, when they were in Europe, they did

their performance in Paris, France. The subject was going to be analyzed through

the live-performance videos of their concert in which there were not any

manipulation.

The study used L’Arc-en-Ciel’s singer as the subject because he has been

considered as the singer who was popular in Japan and other countries. The singer

and the members also have debuted internationally. Besides, they have songs in

English and from those songs, the researcher analyzed when the Japanese singer

sang those songs. This is one authentic example in which Japanese people use

English.

D. Instruments and Data Gathering Technique

There were two instruments used to gather the data. The two instruments were:

1. Human Instrument

In this research, the researcher used human as the instrument in gathering the

data. It was not the same as quantitative research, as Ary, Jacobs, and Razavieh

qualitative and quantitative research is the condition in which human can be used as

primary instrument for gathering data, or human as instrument. Qualitative research

in form of document analysis study which deals with human experiences and

situation need a flexible instrument to ensnare the complexity of both subject.

Therefore, this study which deals with the situation where Japanese people speak

English as international language employs the researcher himself as the instrument

to examine the phenomena happened in the subject.

2. The Videos of the Japanese Singer Performing English Songs

Since this study used document analysis, the documents which were obtained

during the observation was also called research instrument. The documents were in

form of videos and they were specified to live-performance videos of Japanese

singer. In the videos, the Japanese singer did live performance. There were no

editing process in their performance in which it will keep the authenticity of the

sample. The songs which the Japanese speaker sings were English songs.

In gathering the data, the researcher used the videos as the data or documents

to analyze. The researcher downloaded the videos in this case were live-performance

videos of Japanese singer from youtube. After that, the researcher tried to find the

lyrics of songs which were sung by the Japanese singer and matched them to the

video, which part should be omitted, which part was repeated. It aimed to make the

lyrics have exactly same part and sequence to the video. Then, the researcher found

the words containing tense vowels and liquids sounds. After that, the researcher

The researcher used the table as the tools to ease the work in gathering the

data. Then, the words or the word groups which contain tense vowels, diphthongs, and liquids were inserted in the words/word groups’ column. There were the other

columns to show the standard phonetic transcription and the variation phonetic

transcription which is produced by the Japanese singer. The standard phonetic

transcription refers to the phonetic transcription which is showed in the eighth

edition of the Oxford for Advanced Learners Dictionary. The following is the table

[image:45.595.103.520.258.567.2]

used to collect the data.

Table 3.1. Sounds Production

No. Word / Word Group

Phonetic Transcription

Standard Variation

1.

2.

3.

…

The findings were single words or word groups. Word group in this research

refers to a kind of group which has random combination. It did not create fixed

phrase, such as adjective phrase, noun phrase, and so on. It contained various type

of words, such as combination of noun verb, verb article, and many others. These

E. Data Analysis Technique

There are two research problems in this research. Those two research

problems were answered by using document analysis. The first thing to do, the

researcher transcribed the word or word group from the lyrics of the song in the

standard phonetic transcription. Since the researcher only focused the sounds on

tense vowels and liquids, the words were grouped into three major groups which

were words or word groups with tense vowels, words or word groups with

diphthongs, and words and word groups with liquids. The phonetic transcriptions

then were inserted in the sounds production table.

The next step was analyzing the process of pronunciation done by the

Japanese singer when producing English words containing tense vowels and liquids.

The researcher watched and listened to the word or word groups containing tense

vowels and liquids sound produced by the Japanese singer in the live-performance

video. The researcher also asked one colleague who also understands the linguistic

to observe the videos. It aimed to confirm the findings of pronunciation process in

the videos. After that, those English words were transcribed in the phonetic

transcription as the words are produced by the singer and they were inserted in the

table of variation phonetic transcription. After inserting the phonetic transcription,

the researcher found the differences between the standard phonetic transcription and

the variation. From the differences, the researcher described the process of

pronunciation of the Japanese singer when producing tense vowels, diphthongs, and

liquids by relating the theories how the process of pronouncing the tense vowels,

From that analysis, it could be described what made the Japanese singer produce the

sounds of tense vowels, diphthongs, and liquids differently. Then, the strategies of

how they made the sounds could be indicated.

F. Research Procedure

In doing the study, the researcher underwent some procedures in formulating

the problems, gathering the data and analyzing the data. Since, the researcher used

document analysis, the steps were similar to it. The following is the steps how the

research done.

1. Formulating The Problem

This step was started by finding the topic which was going to be used for the

research. The researcher had made the topic of phonological analysis of a Japanese

singer in producing the tense vowels and liquids in live-performance music video.

From that topic, it raised research problems in form of two questions about the

process of Japanese singer in pronouncing the English words containing tense

vowels and liquids and the linguistic strategies used by the Japanese singer when

they are facing those words. Those two questions were answered descriptively.

2. Specifying The Phenomenon

In this step, the researcher had specified the phenomenon by employing the Japanese singer who is L’Arc-en-Ciel as the subject of the research. Since it is about

phonological analysis, it is all about the sound pattern. Therefore, the researcher also

specified the sounds which were going to be identified to the tense vowels and

3. Selecting The Media

A document analysis uses many kinds media to be analyzed, such as

textbooks, newspapers, web pages, speeches, television programs, advertisements,

videos, musical compositions, or any of a host of other types of documents. In this

study, the media to analyze was taken from the live-performance videos from the

Japanese singer when he is singing English songs.

4. Gathering The Data

In this step, the researcher started to find the live-performance videos of L’Arc-en-Ciel . The researcher downloaded the videos from youtube. After that, the

researcher found the song lyrics sung by those singer and transcribed the standard

phonetic transcription of the words and word group in the lyrics containing tense

[image:48.595.98.514.244.560.2]

vowels and liquids. The standard phonetic transcriptions were inserted in the basic

table which had been made.

5. Analyzing The Data

In analyzing the data, there were some steps which should be undergone by

the researcher. The following is the steps in analyzing the data.

a. The first thing to do was listening to the video from YouTube.com.

b. Secondly, the researcher found the words containing tense vowels and liquids.

c. Next, the words found were transcribed into phonetic symbols.

d. After having written the phonetic transcription, the writer inserted them in the

table of variation of phonetic transcription so that the difference from the

e. Then, the next step was categorizing the findings into three major groups, which

were words or words group containing tense vowels, words or word groups

containing diphthongs, and words or word groups containing liquids.

f. After inserting the phonetic transcription, the researcher tried to find the

difference between the standard phonetic transcription and variation.

g. From the differences, the researcher described the process of pronunciation of

the Japanese singer when producing tense vowels and liquids by relating the

theories how the process of pronouncing the tense vowels and liquids were with

the pronunciation produced by the Japanese singer.

h. Describing what made the Japanese singer produce the sounds of tense vowels

and liquids differently in which the strategies of how they made the sound could

32 CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the results of the research. The results answered the

first research problem by describing the process of pronunciation of the Japanese

singer in producing tense vowels, diphthongs, and liquids. Then, the second

research problem was answered by indicating the linguistic strategies done by the

Japanese singer when he produces the tense vowels, diphthongs, and liquids from

the description of the pronunciation process.

A. The Pronunciation Process of Tense Vowels, Diphthongs and Liquids Produced by the Japanese Singer

This part discusses the pronunciation process of Japanese speakers which

are represented by the Japanese singer. This part has three sections of discussion

containing the pronunciation process when he produced tense vowels, diphthongs

and liquids.

1. Tense Vowels

In two videos, the researcher found thirty nine single words containing tense

vowels. From the videos, the researcher analyzed that the singer of the band L’Arc

-en-Ciel produced words containing tense vowels in a different way. Even though

pronunciation between tense and lax. It means that in English, there are specific

differences between tense and lax vowels, such as /i/ and /ɪ/, /u/ and /ʊ/, /e/ and /ᴈ/

and so on. However, although long vowels of Japanese are sometimes analyzed as

having the same quality as English tense vowels, this claim is difficult to support

because those vowels of Japanese are not always contrastive in nature as the English

tense/lax vowel pairs (Vance, 1987). This case occurred when the singer produced

[image:51.595.102.513.246.549.2]

/i/ sounds. Several examples are provided in Table 4.1.

Table 4.1: Tense Vowels Production

No. Words Phonetic Transcription

Standard Variation

1. me /mi/ /mɪ/

2. street /stri:t/ /strɪt/

3. knee /ni:/ /nɪ/

4. see /si:/ /sɪ/

5. deeply /di:pli/ /dɪplɪ/

6. heavenly /hevnli/ /hevənlɪ/

7. eternity /ɪtᴈ:nəti/ /etᴈ:nətɪ/

8. venality /vi:nᴂləti/ /vənalətɪ/

The table showed that the singer produced /i/ sound in lax. In English, it is

usually called short /i/ which is symbolized as /ɪ/. When the singer said the word me, he pronounced it as /mɪ/ instead of /mi/. It also happened when the singer pronounced street, knee, and see. He pronounced all of them as /strɪt/, /nɪ/, and /sɪ/

in which the /i/ sound which is supposed to be the tense vowel became /ɪ/. There were

also other examples such as the words eternity and venality. In English, eternity

singer produced /ɪ/ sound instead of /i/ especially in the final syllable from the other

words such as deeply and heavenly. In the videos, the researcher also watched the

vocalist did not totally do unrounded lips. In fact, Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams

(2007) said that when someone produces /i/ sound he or she will have the lips in the shape of smile which is totally unrounded. Meanwhile, the vocalist’s teeth were still

not closed which means the lips were not in the shape of smile.

In addition, when the singer pronounced words me, knee, and see, he actually had produced impossible words in English. It means that lax vowels mostly

did not appear at the ends of English words. For example the words me, knee, and

see should be pronounced as /mi/, /ni:/, and /si:/ in English yet the singer which is a Japanese pronounced them as /mɪ/, /nɪ/, and /sɪ/ all of which have no meaning in

English words.It comes from Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams (2007) who stated that lax vowels do not occur at the ends of words, so [sɪ], [sᴈ], [sᴂ], [sʊ], and [sʌ] are

impossible words in English.

From the data result, it can be concluded that the singer who is a Japanese

speaker did not pronounce the tense vowels clearly. The singer produced the tense

vowels in lax. It means that the singer did not spread the lips when he produced the

words me, knee, and see. In fact, Ladefoged (1982) stated that the difference

between tense and lax vowels is made according to how much muscle tension or

movement in the mouth is involved in producing vowels. In this case, the muscle

2. Diphthongs

The second section is diphthongs. In order to make the discussion clearer,

the meaning of diphthongs was explained concisely here. As Fromkin, Rodman, and

Hyams (2007) stated, diphthongs are the sounds produced by the English speakers

by adding the short /j/ and /w/ glides when they produce front and back vowels. For

example, English speakers pronounce survey as /sᴈveɪ/ in which the front vowel /e/

is followed by a short /j/ glide and they are symbolized as /eɪ/.

Discussing the analysis result, there were fifty eight single words and word

groups containing diphthongs found from two videos. The researcher analyzed that

there were several different pronunciation done by the vocalist when he produced

diphthongs. The different pronunciation occurred because the vocalist often

pronounced diphthongs only the tense vowels without the /j/ or /w/ glides. There

[image:53.595.102.516.230.686.2]

were several examples of the different pronunciation provided in Table 4.2.

Table 4.2: Diphthongs Production

No. Words Phonetic Transcription

Standard Variation

1. rolling /roʊlɪŋ/ /lɔ:lɪŋ/

2. cold /koʊld/ /kɔ:ld/

3. no /noʊ/ /no/

4. twilight /twaɪlaɪt/ /tw :let/

5. around /əraʊnd/ /ər :nd/

6. down /daʊn/ /dɔ:n/

7. snake /sneɪk/ /snek/

8. taste /teɪst/ /test/

9. so /səʊ/ /so/

From the table, it could be seen that most of different pronunciation

occurred because the vocalist did not pronounce the glides /j/ or /w/ clearly. It

occurred because there are only five vowels in Japanese vowels inventory

(Kenworthy, 1987). He pronounced the words rolling, cold, and twilight as /lɔ:lɪŋ/, /kɔ:ld/, and /tw :let/ in which he only pronounced the vowels. One example came

from the word down. In the word down, /a/ becomes /aʊ/ since /a/ is added with /w/ glide so the word is pronounced as /daʊn/. However, the singer pronounced it as /dɔ:n/. The singer did not pronounce the glide clearly, so that the sound was like

/o/ in lax which becomes /ɔ/. Another example is snake. /e/ became /eɪ/ since /e/ is added with /j/ glide, so the word is pronounced as /sneɪk/. However, the singer only

pronounced the tense vowel [e] without the [j] glide and it became /snek/.

The different pronunciation also occured in the other words such as so and wake. The words should be pronounced as /səʊ/ and /weɪk/. Yet, the vocalist pronounce them differently and the words became /so/ and /wek/. It happened since

there are no vowels which are added with the glides in Japanese vowel system. It is supported by Okada’s statement (1991, p.94) which is showed in the vowel chart

that the vowels of standard Japanese are only [ä], [i], [ɯ], [e̞], and [o̞]. They only

have simple vowels usually called as monophthongs (Fromkin, Rodman, and

Hyams, 2007).

The data result indicated that the singer did not pronounce the diphthongs

clearly. In this case, the singer had produced the diphthongs only in one sound

which means that the glides were not produced directly after the vowels. For

instead of /daʊn/. Therefore, it is different from what Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams

(2007) had stated in their book that diphthong is two sounds containing vowel and

glide which are produced in a sequence.

3. Liquids

From the two videos, the researcher found sixty four single words and

word groups containing liquids. Each word had the liquids which w