Most if not all Japanese lessons start with a sentence in the like of: 私はXXです。 (Watashi ha XX desu, I’m XX.) This is bad pedagogically for at least three reasons — we may dive in that issue in later posts — in addition to bringing the inevitable question: “why is は (transcribed
Is it just me or as non-Japanese I actually find it _easier_ to say "wa" in that position than "ha"?! Probably something rooting in neuro-linguistics and/or mouth's muscle memory.
Sound changes can happen because it's easier to pronounce, but that's not always the case (but I agree wa is easier to say, subjectively). Also which phoneme change to which other is not random, they often share similarities, in this case both /p/ and /w/ are bilabial.
Is it just me or as non-Japanese I actually find it _easier_ to say "wa" in that position than "ha"?! Probably something rooting in neuro-linguistics and/or mouth's muscle memory.
Sound changes can happen because it's easier to pronounce, but that's not always the case (but I agree wa is easier to say, subjectively). Also which phoneme change to which other is not random, they often share similarities, in this case both /p/ and /w/ are bilabial.