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What is the historical reason why all Japanese words end in a vowel except for the letter N?

Question #150223. Asked by satguru.
Last updated Nov 28 2023.
Originally posted Nov 28 2023 2:28 PM.

Philip_Eno
Answer has 3 votes

Currently Best Answer

Philip_Eno
17 year member
146 replies

Answer has 3 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.

In Modern Japanese, there is sometimes an n that looks like a syllable-final consonant (as in Nihon "Japan"), but that n actually functions as a vowel (a syllabic n).

https://linguosaurus.medium.com/did-japanese-verbs-ever-end-in-consonants-c1579d74f15#:~:text=In%20Modern%20Japanese%2C%20there%20is,vowel%20(a%20syllabic%20n).&text=Stems%20and%20affixes%20usually%20get,gradually%20fuse%20together%20over%20time.

Nov 28 2023, 2:30 PM

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What is the historical reason why all Japanese words end in a vowel except for the letter N?

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