Pronunciation – Japanese basics

Japanese has a small set of sounds, and kana spell them regularly: each kana is said the same way wherever it appears. Each beat is one kana, or a kana with a small ゃ, ゅ or ょ, and beats are roughly equal in length, which gives Japanese its even rhythm. This page describes standard Tokyo Japanese.

Vowels

There are five vowels. They are short and pure: the mouth stays still, without the glide English adds in words like "day" and "go".

Vowel	Kana	Sound
a	あ	Like a in "father", but short
i	い	Like ee in "meet", but short
u	う	Like oo in "food", but short, with the lips relaxed rather than rounded
e	え	Like e in "pet"
o	お	Like o in "go", without sliding into w

Each vowel keeps its own sound next to another vowel: 名前 namae "name" is na-ma-e, three beats, and 家 ie "house" is i-e.

Consonants

Most consonants are close to English. A few need care:

r is a light tap of the tongue behind the top teeth, like the d in "ladder" or the tt in American "better". It is neither English r nor l.
f in ふ fu is made by blowing between the lips, not with the teeth on the lip.
ts in つ tsu is as in "cats", even at the start of a word.
g is always hard, as in "go".
h before i, as in ひ hi, is close to the h in "huge".
Some rows change their consonant: さしすせそ is sa shi su se so, たちつてと is ta chi tsu te to, and はひふへほ is ha hi fu he ho. Romanization spells the real sounds.

Long vowels

A long vowel lasts two beats instead of one. Length changes meaning, so hold long vowels for their full time.

Short	Meaning	Long	Meaning
おばさん obasan	aunt	おばあさん obāsan	grandmother
おじさん ojisan	uncle	おじいさん ojīsan	grandfather
ゆき yuki	snow	ゆうき yūki	courage
ここ koko	here	こうこう kōkō	high school

東京 Tōkyō has four beats, to-o-kyo-o, not two. See Spelling with kana for how long vowels are written.

Small っ: a pause

A small っ holds the next consonant for a beat: a beat of silence before k, t and p, with the mouth ready for the consonant, and a drawn-out s before s and sh. Romanization doubles the consonant.

Without	Meaning	With	Meaning
おと oto	sound	おっと otto	husband
さか saka	slope	さっか sakka	writer
かた kata	shoulder	かった katta	bought

ん

ん is a full beat on its own. Its sound changes with the sound after it:

Before m, b and p it is m: さんぽ sanpo "walk" sounds like sampo.
Before k and g it is ng, as in "sing": ぎんこう ginkō "bank".
Before t, d and n it is n: ほんとう hontō "true".
At the end of a word it is made further back, with the tip of the tongue not touching the top of the mouth: ほん hon "book".
Before a vowel or y it stays a beat of its own: げんいん gen'in "cause" is ge-n-i-n, four beats. Romanization marks this with an apostrophe.

Whispered vowels

In Tokyo speech, i and u between voiceless consonants, such as k, s, sh, t, ch and h, are often whispered so they are almost silent. The u at the end of です and ます usually is too. The beat still keeps its time.

です sounds like "dess", and します like "shimass".
すき suki "like" sounds like "ski".
した shita "under" sounds like "shta".

Pitch accent

Japanese marks words with pitch rather than stress: each beat is high or low, and each word has its own pattern. A few words are told apart only by pitch:

Word	Reading	Pitch	Meaning
箸	はし hashi	high, then low	chopsticks
橋	はし hashi	low, then high	bridge
雨	あめ ame	high, then low	rain
飴	あめ ame	low, then high	candy

Pitch patterns differ from region to region, and context nearly always makes the meaning clear, so don't let pitch hold you back. Copy the melody of words as you hear native speakers say them.

箸で食べます。
Hashi de tabemasu.
I eat with chopsticks.
郵便局で切手を買いました。
Yūbinkyoku de kitte o kaimashita.
I bought stamps at the post office.
学校で日本語を勉強します。
Gakkō de nihongo o benkyō shimasu.
I study Japanese at school.