Japanese → Georgian
Georgian uses 33 sounds. You already own 10 of them from Japanese. The other 23 are the work — and 21 of those are the dangerous kind: close enough to something you already say that you will substitute them without hearing yourself do it.
The silent swaps
Your mouth has something close enough to reach for. These survive for years precisely because they sound right to you — the fix is hearing the difference first, not trying harder.
the move: alveolar → postalveolar
Georgian: magazine · written "ჟ"
Your /z/ is the one in みず mizu (water).
the move: alveolar → postalveolar
Georgian: child (son/daughter) · written "შ"
Your /s/ is the one in さかな sakana (fish).
the move: alveolo-palatal → postalveolar
Georgian: army · written "ჯ"
Your /d͡ʑ/ is the one in じかん jikan (time).
the move: aspirated
Georgian: money · written "ფ"
Aspirated — a puff of air, like English p in 'pin'.
Your /p/ is the one in きっぷ kippu (ticket).
the move: aspirated
Georgian: fish · written "თ"
Aspirated.
Your /t/ is the one in たべる taberu (to eat).
the move: aspirated
Georgian: woman · written "ქ"
Aspirated. ქართული /kʰartʰuli/ = Georgian.
Your /k/ is the one in かさ kasa (umbrella).
the move: aspirated
Georgian: sky · written "ც"
Aspirated.
Your /t͡s/ is the one in つき tsuki (moon).
the move: rounded
Georgian: night · written "უ"
Example for u: უნივერსიტეტი /univɛrsitʼɛtʼi/.
Your /ɯ/ is the one in うみ umi (sea).
the move: alveolar → labiodental
Georgian: apple · written "ვ"
Often [w] between consonants or after a vowel.
Your /z/ is the one in みず mizu (water).
the move: palatal → uvular
Georgian: hand · written "ხ"
Uvular — rougher than German ach.
Your /ç/ is the one in ひと hito (person).
the move: alveolo-palatal → alveolar
Georgian: dog · written "ძ"
Your /d͡ʑ/ is the one in じかん jikan (time).
the move: alveolo-palatal → postalveolar, aspirated
Georgian: tea · written "ჩ"
Aspirated.
Your /t͡ɕ/ is the one in ちいさい chīsai (small).
the move: open → open-mid
Georgian: one · written "ე"
Your /a/ is the one in あさ asa (morning).
the move: close-mid → open-mid
Georgian: two · written "ო"
Your /o/ is the one in おと oto (sound).
the move: palatal → velar, voiced
Georgian: wine · written "ღ"
Voiced — like a French r but further forward; the partner of ხ.
Your /ç/ is the one in ひと hito (person).
the move: fricative → lateral
Georgian: beautiful · written "ლ"
Your /z/ is the one in みず mizu (water).
the move: tap → trill
Georgian: milk · written "რ"
Trilled or tapped.
Your /ɾ/ is the one in さくら sakura (cherry blossom).
the move: ejective
Georgian: bread · written "პ"
Ejective — no air from the lungs; close the glottis and pop.
Your /b/ is the one in ばん ban (evening).
the move: ejective
Georgian: lake · written "ტ"
Ejective.
Your /t/ is the one in たべる taberu (to eat).
the move: ejective
Georgian: man · written "კ"
Ejective.
Your /k/ is the one in かさ kasa (umbrella).
Words you may say identically
Two or more Georgian sounds landing on one sound of yours. Until the ear separates them, the mouth cannot — which is what the ear trainer is for.
Genuinely new
Nothing in Japanese sits close to these. They sound foreign in your mouth — which is the good news: you can hear that you are not saying them yet.
coffee
Uvular ejective — made far back, a throaty pop. The hardest sound for learners; ბაყაყი 'frog' is the tongue-twister.
Closest thing you own: — but velar → uvular, ejective.
glass (drinking)
Ejective.
Closest thing you own: — but alveolo-palatal → postalveolar, ejective.
Rhythm and pitch
The layer spelling never records, and the one that makes a correct sentence still sound foreign.
| Japanese | Georgian | |
|---|---|---|
| Rhythm | Mora-timed | Syllable-timed, heavy clusters |
| Stress | No stress in the English sense — syllables are not louder or longer, so a Japanese speaker reading English tends to flatten it, and an English speaker reading Japanese tends to hammer syllables that should be even. | Weak and non-contrastive. Two-syllable words take it on the first syllable; longer words tend toward the third-from-last. No pair of Georgian words is distinguished by stress alone, which is why dictionaries do not mark it. To an English ear Georgian can sound evenly stressed, almost flat — that is correct, not a lack of expression. |
What you have that Georgian doesn't
21 sounds with no job in Georgian. They are not mistakes — but they are where an accent leaks in, because a sound you own is easy to use when a hard one is due.
The honest caveat
This is a prediction from the shape of two sound systems, not a recording of you. It says what your inventory makes likely — it cannot know that your Japanese has a regional variety that already owns one of these, or that you learned Georgian from someone whose accent you copied. A teacher listening to you beats it. Use it to know what to listen for.
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