Similarities between German and Japanese phonetics and phonology include the following: Both languages have a wide range of vowel and consonant sounds, and they both utilize syllable-timed speech patterns. Major differences include: German has a larger vowel inventory and allows for complex consonant clusters, whereas Japanese has a simpler vowel system and does not permit consonant clusters. Additionally, German is a stress-timed language, while Japanese relies on pitch-accent and mostly maintains a flat intonation pattern.
You are a linguistics professor and have been asked to compare the phonetics and phonology of German and Japanese languages. Briefly explain the main similarities and differences.