FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Fun Trivia
Home: Questions and Answers Forum
Answers to 100,000 Fascinating Questions
Welcome to FunTrivia's Question & Answer forum!

Search All Questions


Please cite any factual claims with citation links or references from authoritative sources. Editors continuously recheck submissions and claims.

Archived Questions

Goto Qn #


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
141 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).

link 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
free email trivia FREE! Get a new mixed Fun Trivia quiz each day in your email. It's a fun way to start your day!


arrow Your Email Address:

Sign in or Create Free User ID to participate in the discussion

Related FunTrivia Quizzes

play quiz Historical Figures: The Letter 'F'
( People by Surname)
play quiz Historical Figures: Letter 'B'
( People by Surname)
play quiz Just a few Japanese words....
(Japanese)

Return to FunTrivia
"Ask FunTrivia" strives to offer the best answers possible to trivia questions. We ask our submitters to thoroughly research questions and provide sources where possible. Feel free to post corrections or additions. This is server B184.