Basic Japanese Sounds

Basic Japanese Sounds

Japanese sounds are easy to hear and pronounce. Each syllable is simple, short, and usually enunciated very clearly. With a little practice, you'll get used to them quickly. This section gets you off on the right foot (or should I say the right sound) by looking at vowels, consonants, and a couple of letter combinations.


Vowel sounds

Japanese has only five basic vowels - a, e, i, o, and u - all of which sound short and crisp - plus their longer counterparts, a, e, i, o, andu. Short and long vowel sounds in Japanese are quite different than they are in English. In Japanese, long vowels have the same sounds as short vowels - you just draw out the sounds for a moment longer. To an English-speaking ear, a long Japanese vowel sounds as if it is being stressed.

Short and long vowel sounds in Japanese are quite different than they are in English. In Japanese, long vowels have the same sounds as short vowels - you just draw out the sounds for a moment longer. To an English-speaking ear, a long Japanese vowel sounds as if it's being stressed.
Japanese Vowel Sounds

Letter Pronunciation English Word
with the Sound Example
a a aa obasan (o-ba-san; aunt)
a a - obaasan (o-ba-san; grandmother)
e ee bed Seto (se-to; a city in Japan)
e ehh - seto (seh-to; pupil)
i i feet ojisan (o-ji-san;uncle)
ii ii - ojisan (o-ji-i-san; grandfather
0 o dome tori (to-ri; bird)
0 oo - tori (to-o-ri; street)
u u foot yuki (yu-ki; snow)
u uu - yuiki (yu-i-ki; courage)

In Japanese, any two vowels can appear next to each other in a word. You may hear them as one vowel sound, but to the Japanese, they sound like two vowels. For example, ai (ah-ee; love) sounds like one vowel - the English i (as in eye) - but to the Japanese, it's actually two vowels, not one. The word koi (koh-ee; carp) sounds like the one-syllable English word coy, but in Japanese, koi is a two-syllable word.

Table below lists some other common vowel combinations. Some of them may sound awfully similar to you, but Japanese speakers hear them differently. Try saying them aloud so that you can hear the differences.

Vowel Combinations

Vowel Combination Pronunciation Translation
Ai a-i love
Mae ma-e front
Ao a-o blue
Au a-u meet
Ue u-e up
Koi ko-i carp
Koe ko-e voice

The vowels i (ee) and u (oo) come out as a whisper whenever they fall between the consonant sounds ch, h, k, p, s, sh, t, and ts or whenever a word ends in this consonant-vowel combination. What do those consonants have in common? They're what linguists call "voiceless," meaning that they don't make your vocal cords vibrate. Put your hand over your vocal cords and say a voiceless consonant like the k sound. Then say a "voiced" consonant like the g sound.

Words with Whispered Vowels

Japanese Pronunciation Translation
Suketo Su-Ke-to skating
Kusai Ku-Sa-i stinky
Ashita A-Shi-ta tommorow
So desu so-du-su that's right

Words without Whispered Vowels

Japanese Pronunciation Translation
Sugoi Su-go-i amazing; wow
Kuni Ku-ni country
Kagu Ka-gu furniture

Consonant sounds

Fortunately, most Japanese consonants are pronounced as they are in English. Table below describes the sounds that you need to pay attention to.

Japanese Consonants Different from English

Consonant Description of the Sound Examples
r Here you tap your tounge on the roof of your mouth just once - almost like an English f-somewhere between an f and an h sound. rakuda (ra-ku-da; camel); toca (toh-rah; tiger); tori (toh-ree; bird)
f A much softer sound than the English f-somewhere between an f and an h sound. Make the sound by bringing your lips close to each other and gently blowing air through them. Fujisan (foo-jee-sahn; Mt. Fuji); tofu (tohh-foo; bean curd); fufu (fu-fu; married couple)
ts The combination is hard to pronounce at the beginning of a word, as in tsunami, although it's easy anywhere else. Try saying the word cats in your head and then saying tsunami. tsunami (tsoo-nah-mee; tidal wave); tsuki (tsu-ki; the moon)
ry The combination of rand yis difficult to pronounce when it occurs before the vowel o. Try saying ri (ree) and then yo (yoh). Repeat many times and gradually increase the speed until you can pronounce the two sounds simultaneously. Remember that the rsounds almost like a dm English. ryo (ryohh; dormitory); ryokan (ryo-kan; Japanese-style inn)

Like most other languages, Japanese has double consonants. You pronounce these double consonants - pp, tt, kk, and ss - as single consonants preceded by a brief pause. Check out the following examples:

* kekkon (kehk-kohn; marriage)
* kippu (keep-poo; tickets)
* kitte (keet-teh; stamps)
* massugu (mahs-soo-goo; straight)