The Japanese language is known for the complexity of its writing system. There are 46 letters in the alphabet, two ways to write the alphabet, and variations on those letters that have different pronunciations. And that’s all before you get to the thousands of kanji (漢字) adopted from the Chinese writing system!
Fortunately, despite the size of the writing system, Japanese pronunciation is incredibly straightforward and consistent. This article is designed to help you understand the basics of this beautifully complex language and inspire you to take the next step on your Japanese language learning journey. Rosetta Stone is the ideal way to dive deeper into a language with bite-sized lessons taught by native speakers.
How to pronounce the Japanese alphabet
First, it is important to note that Japanese has two alphabets with identical pronunciations: hiragana (平仮名) and katakana (片仮名). Hiragana is the predominant alphabet in Japanese, while katakana is primarily used for foreign loanwords (words adopted from another language) and names. Kana (仮名) are analogous to English letters but they encompass both of the other alphabets.
The alphabet is divided into vowels first, then combined consonants and vowels that make a single kana. Conveniently, a vowel’s pronunciation carries to each of these consonants, meaning you do not need to worry about remembering multiple pronunciations for a single vowel. Compared to English’s five (or more!) ways to pronounce the vowel “a,” Japanese is easy.
This guide to learning Japanese pronunciation is divided by each set of vowels or consonants, including the variations some of those consonants have. These are voiced sounds that have a diacritical mark to show the change in sound. A voiced sound is simply one which causes the vocal cords to vibrate. In Japanese, these are known as daku-ten (濁点) which look like ゛. There are also handaku-ten (半濁点), which look like ゜, but they only apply to one set of consonants. These variations will be introduced in the appropriate sections below.
Vowels
The first five kana will be familiar to you: They are the same vowels as in English, just in a slightly different order. Try sounding out these words: baby, bat, ball. The sound of the letter “a” changes drastically! In Japanese, the vowels will sound the same in nearly every context.
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| あ | ア | a | ah (as in father) |
| い | イ | i | ee (as in keep) |
| う | ウ | u | oo (as in ooze) |
| え | エ | e | eh (as in egg) |
| お | オ | o | oh (as in okay) |
K and G
The first set of consonants comes with a voiced variant, changing the normal “k” sound to a voiced “g” sound. Both are very similar to their English relatives. For example, the word kimono (着物) has even been adopted into English, and the “k” sound is the same in both.
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| か | カ | ka | kah |
| き | キ | ki | kee |
| く | ク | ku | koo |
| け | ケ | ke | keh |
| こ | コ | ko | koh |
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| が | ガ | ga | gah |
| ぎ | ギ | gi | gee |
| ぐ | グ | gu | goo |
| げ | ゲ | ge | geh |
| ご | ゴ | go | goh |
S and Z
The “s” and “z” sounds are also similar in pronunciation to English, but the kana letter shi is worth particular mention. Rather than pronouncing it as “see,” it is pronounced with a “sh” consonant sound.
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| さ | サ | sa | sah |
| し | シ | shi | shee |
| す | ス | su | soo |
| せ | セ | se | seh |
| そ | ソ | so | soh |
Just like in the “s” category, the voiced version of the same kana shi—turned ji—is unusual and uses a “j” sound instead of a “z” sound.
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| ざ | ザ | za | zah |
| じ | ジ | ji | jee |
| ず | ズ | zu | zoo |
| ぜ | ゼ | ze | zeh |
| ぞ | ゾ | zo | zoh |
T and D
Here, two kana stand out: chi and tsu. Rather than romanized with a “t,” chi uses a “ch” sound, pronounced like the first half of “cheap.” Tsu, meanwhile, is easily recognizable from the word tsunami (津波), which we have adopted into English as a substitute for “tidal wave.”
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| た | タ | ta | tah |
| ち | チ | chi | chee |
| つ | ツ | tsu | tsoo |
| て | テ | te | teh |
| と | ト | to | toh |
The voiced version of chi becomes ji, but it is very rarely used. The kana for ji (じ) is predominantly used for this sound instead. The same can be said for the voiced version of tsu being zu: ず is used more often than づ.
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| だ | ダ | da | dah |
| ぢ | ヂ | ji | jee |
| づ | ヅ | zu | zoo |
| で | デ | de | deh |
| ど | ド | do | doh |
N
The “n” sounds are comparatively straightforward, with no voiced variations.
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| な | ナ | na | nah |
| に | ニ | ni | nee |
| ぬ | ヌ | nu | noo |
| ね | ネ | ne | neh |
| の | ノ | no | noh |
H, B, and P
Rather than one set of voiced sounds, the “h” sound has two variations: “b” and “p.” Within the normal group, the notable exception is fu. However, this “f” is softer than the English “f.” To pronounce fu correctly, try saying “hoo” (like an owl) while bringing your teeth up just enough to provide some resistance to the air.
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| は | ハ | ha | hah |
| ひ | ヒ | hi | hee |
| ふ | フ | fu | foo |
| へ | ヘ | he | heh |
| ほ | ホ | ho | hoh |
Fu joins the rest of the kana to start with the same sound in the voiced variations, using a “b” sound.
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| ば | バ | ba | bah |
| び | ビ | bi | bee |
| ぶ | ブ | bu | boo |
| べ | ベ | be | beh |
| ぼ | ボ | bo | boh |
The “p” variation uses the aforementioned handaku-ten, written with a small circle rather than the quotation-like marks.
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| ぱ | パ | pa | pah |
| ぴ | ピ | pi | pee |
| ぷ | プ | pu | poo |
| ぺ | ペ | pe | peh |
| ぽ | ポ | po | poh |
M
Like the “n” sounds, the “m” sounds have no voiced variations and are straightforward.
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| ま | マ | ma | mah |
| み | ミ | mi | mee |
| む | ム | mu | moo |
| め | メ | me | meh |
| も | モ | mo | moh |
Y
The modern Japanese “y” sounds are unique in that only three kana begin with “y” rather than the five seen in other sets of consonant sounds. Still, echoes of ye and yi exist in certain places, like the Japanese currency: yen. In Japanese, this is actually pronounced en (円), though the “y” is retained internationally.
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| や | ヤ | ya | yah |
| ゆ | ユ | yu | yoo |
| よ | ヨ | yo | yoh |
R
The Japanese “r” sounds are infamous for their pronunciation. Simply put, English does not have a ready equivalent for the kana ra, ri, ru, re, and ro. The earlier you learn the correct pronunciation, the easier a time you will have speaking Japanese!
When we make an “r” sound in English (like the word “rat”), the tip of the tongue is in the middle of the mouth and not touching anything. When we make an “l” sound (like the word “lap”), the tip of the tongue is touching or very near to the back of the front teeth.
The Japanese “r” sound comes from a quick tap of the tongue to the steeply sloped, rigid part of the roof of the mouth, called the alveolar ridge. You will find that it resembles an English “d” sound more than our “r” or “l” sound!
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| ら | ラ | ra | rah |
| り | リ | ri | ree |
| る | ル | ru | roo |
| れ | レ | re | reh |
| ろ | ロ | ro | roh |
Wa, wo, and n
Finally, wa, wo, and n are the most unique kana of the Japanese alphabet.
While we and wi used to be a part of the alphabet, they have since been replaced by e and i instead. You can still find rare occasions where these obsolete kana are used, however. Yebisu beer is one example, spelling its name with the old katakana for we: ヱ. Yes, even though it is technically a “w” sound, Yebisu starts with a “y”!
Wo is used almost exclusively as a grammatical component, known as a particle. Its pronunciation drops the “w” sound, meaning it sounds like “oh” instead. In some cases—such as in older songs—the “w” is pronounced, but this is uncommon.
The last kana, n, is the only Japanese consonant that stands alone, without a vowel accompanying it.
| Hiragana | Katakana | Romanization | Pronunciation |
| わ | ワ | wa | wah |
| を | ヲ | wo | oh |
| ん | ン | n | n |
Devoiced sounds in Japanese pronunciation
In some cases, the vowel will be dropped in Japanese pronunciation. This is called “devoicing,” and happens most often with su, chi, and shi, which are also all common in verb conjugation.
All this means is that the kana will be pronounced without its vowel in certain words. The verb for “to be” is spelled desu (です), but rather than sounding like “deh-soo,” it will sound like “dehs” in most situations. For the common verb ending that denotes past tense, ~mashita (～ました), it will often sound like “mahsh-tah” rather than “mah-shee-tah.”
Syllables vs. morae
Now that you know the individual kana in Japanese, the more complex sounds will be easier to comprehend. Fundamentally, they require an understanding of morae. A mora is a linguistic term used to describe a unit of sound instead of a syllable in some languages. Morae are known as on (音, sound) in Japanese.
Each of the kana in the tables above are composed of a single mora. Let’s take a look at what happens when you combine multiple kana and how they become morae.
Contracted sounds
The kana that end in an “i” sound—such as ki, shi, and chi—can be combined with the “y” sounds to create new morae. These are written with a small ya, yu, or yo tacked on to the end of the “i” kana rather than normal-sized ones to show that it is one sound rather than two separate sounds.
| ya | yu | yo | |
| ki | きゃ kya | きゅ kyu | きょ kyo |
| gi | ぎゃ gya | ぎゅ gyu | ぎょ gyo |
| shi | しゃ sha | しゅ shu | しょ sho |
| ji | じゃ ja | じゅ ju | じょ jo |
| chi | ちゃ cha | ちゅ chu | ちょ cho |
| ni | にゃ nya | にゅ nyu | にょ nyo |
| hi | ひゃ hya | ひゅ hyu | ひょ hyo |
| bi | びゃ bya | びゅ byu | びょ byo |
| pi | ぴゃ pya | ぴゅ pyu | ぴょ pyo |
| mi | みゃ mya | みゅ myu | みょ myo |
| ri | りゃ rya | りゅ ryu | りょ ryo |
The most important thing to remember is that each of these take up the same amount of time as a single kana. Ki will have the same length as kya, gi will have the same length as gya, and so on.
When pronouncing them, they can be considered a combination sound of the “i” sound and the “y” sound. For example, nya will sound like a faster version of “nee-yah,” given that it comes from the combination of ni and ya.
Long vowels
Sometimes, consonants will be followed by an extra vowel to create a lengthened sound. Let’s consider the name of the city Kyoto. In Japanese, it is spelled with the letters ki, small yo, u, and to (きょうと、京都). The ki and small yo combine to make kyo, but the u that follows it makes the kyo sound last longer. This extra vowel is its own mora and needs the same amount of time as the kyo.
This difference can be crucial. For example, the word for “uncle” is ojisan (おじさん), but the word for “grandpa” is ojiisan (おじいさん). This is only a difference of one vowel, so be careful!
Double consonants
The kana tsu (つ) can also be shrunk (っ) to create a new mora. Rather than having a new pronunciation, this means that the consonant that follows will be doubled.
Let’s compare two names for Japan: nihon (にほん) and nippon (にっぽん). The first has three kana while the second has four. Rather than pronouncing the small tsu as its own sound, it creates a slight pause on the “p” of “po.” Since it takes up an extra unit of time, it is considered as its own mora.
Listen well to speak well
While there are always exceptions to every rule, these basics of Japanese pronunciation will take you far. Understanding the foundation of the Japanese alphabet and basic pronunciation rules can set you up successfully for further language learning.
To perfect your pronunciation, hearing the sounds is key. Rosetta Stone’s dynamic immersion method—designed to help you learn the way you learned your first language as a child—supplies audio from native speakers to get you accustomed to the correct pronunciation.
Written by Alexa Bevan
0 Commentaires