Rendaku

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Rendaku (連濁; Japanese pronunciation: [ɾendakɯ], lit. 'sequential voicing') is a pronunciation change seen in the middle of some compound words in Japanese. It replaces a voiceless consonant, such as /k s t h/, with a voiced consonant, such as /ɡ z d b/. Rendaku modifies the consonant at the start of the second (or later) part of the compound. For example, the morpheme kami (paper) starts with the voiceless consonant /k/, which is replaced with the corresponding voiced consonant /ɡ/ in the compound word origami, from ori (fold) + kami. Rendaku is common, but it does not occur in all compound words. A rule known as Lyman's law blocks rendaku when the second element already contains one of the consonants /ɡ z d b/, as in the compound word umikaze (sea breeze). Because the second element kaze (wind) contains /z/, its initial consonant /k/ remains voiceless. Rendaku is also blocked almost always when the second element of a compound is a recent loan into Japanese. Furthermore, rendaku may fail...

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