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Why は is pronounced as 'wa' when it is used as connecting word (self.learnjapanese)

submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by glorious_puffy to c/[email protected]

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わなしは　にほんじんです Here は is read as wa instead of its usual ha Can somebody explain this?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

It's WA when it's used as a particle and HA when not used as a particle. The Japanese government attempted to standardize WA sounds to わ after WWII, and was mostly successful, but the は particle stuck around, seemingly due to inertia. Lots of languages have little oddities in pronunciation that aren't reflected in spelling, or vice versa. Where do the British get the F in lieutenant?