Editing Classical Japanese (section)

==== Labialized consonant ({{nihongo2|合拗音}}, ''gōyōon'') rule ====

Starting in Early Middle Japanese, as more and more Chinese characters were borrowed into Japanese, the language acquired consonants fronted with glides. Those fronted with the palatal glide are described in the Y-row rule, but Early Middle Japanese also introduced consonants fronted with labial glides (i.e., CwV). These were far more limited in range than their palatal counterparts, however, affecting only the K- and G- rows. instead of {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/u/}}, and {{IPA|/o/}} for the vowels of onset, like the palatal glides, the vowels of onset for the labial glides were {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/i/}}, and {{IPA|/e/}}, and used the kana {{nihongo2|わ}}, {{nihongo2|ゐ}}, and {{nihongo2|ゑ}} (''wa'', ''wi'', and ''we''). Finally, while the palatal glides are written with an I-column kana, the labial glides are written with a U-column ({{nihongo2|ウ段}} ''U-dan'') kana. However, when historical kana was standardized in the Meiji Period, only the syllables with historical {{IPA|/wa/}} were indicated. Nevertheless, some classical texts may indicate the other differences, and some resources will refer to them, so it is useful to be familiar with them. This rule applies exclusively to Sino-Japanese words. Some examples:

'''{{nihongo2|くわ}} (written ''kuwa'', but pronounced ''kwa'') and {{nihongo2|ぐわ}} (written ''guwa'', but pronounced ''gwa'') (indicated in standard historical kana)'''
* {{nihongo2|菓子 ('''くわ'''し) → 菓子 ('''か'''し)}} ('''''kwa'''shi'' → '''''ka'''shi'' "sweets")
* {{nihongo2|元旦 ('''ぐわ'''んたん) → 元旦 ('''が'''んたん)}} ('''''gwa'''ntan'' → '''''ga'''ntan'' "New Year's Day")
'''{{nihongo2|くゐ}} (written ''kuwi'', but pronounced ''kwi''), {{nihongo2|ぐゐ}} (written ''guwi'', but pronounced ''gwi''), {{nihongo2|くゑ}} (written ''kuwe'', but pronounced ''kwe''), and {{nihongo2|ぐゑ}} (written ''guwe'' but pronounced ''gwe'') (not indicated in standard historical kana)'''
* {{nihongo2|歸省 ('''くゐ'''せい) → 帰省 ('''き'''せい)}} ('''''kwi'''sei'' → '''''ki'''sei'' "homecoming") (note the old character form)
* {{nihongo2|僞善 ('''ぐゐ'''ぜん) → 偽善 ('''ぎ'''ぜん)}} ('''''gwi'''zen'' → '''''gi'''zen'' "hypocrisy") (note the old character form)
* {{nihongo2|番犬 (ばん'''くゑ'''ん) → 番犬 (ばん'''け'''ん)}} (''ban'''kwe'''n'' → ''ban'''ke'''n'' "watchdog")
* {{nihongo2|同月 (どう'''ぐゑ'''つ) → 同月 (どう'''げ'''つ)}} (''dou'''gwe'''tsu'' → ''dou'''ge'''tsu'' "same month")

[[Labialized consonant]]s sometimes occur in modern loanwords, and they are generally dealt with in one of two ways. Firstly, the labialized consonant may be changed from a sequence {{IPA|/CwV/}} to a sequence {{IPA|/CuwV/}}, both in writing and in speech. For example,

* {{nihongo2|'''クイ'''ック}} ('''''kui'''kku'' "quick", from English "quick" with original {{IPA|/kw/}})

In other cases, they may be indicated with a U-column kana followed by a small A-row kana, indicating a labialized consonant. For example,

* {{nihongo2|'''クィー'''ン}} ('''''kwī'''n'' "queen", from English "queen" with original {{IPA|/kw/}})

However, in these cases, an alternative version with large A-row kana generally exists (as it does in this case), indicating a monophthong pronunciation, and many speakers use the monophthong pronunciation regardless of how it is written.

There are no known exceptions to this rule, but some dialects (such as the [[Kagoshima dialect]]) preserve the distinction.