Sounds of the Japanese Language
Dr. Bob Miller (8/22/2007)
The Sounds of Japanese
The speech sounds of standard Japanese consist of the following:
Vowels: a i u e o
Consonants: b ch d f g h j k m n p r s sh t ts w y z
These letters represent the sounds of Japanese, not English. With the exception of n, the
consonants occur with vowels (e.g., ba, bi, bu, be, bo; ma, mi, mu, me, mo)
Vowels
The five Japanese vowels are pronounced as follows:
“a” is pronounced as the sound of the[a] in English “father.” Example: atama
“i” is pronounced as the sound of the [i] in English “machine.” Example: imi
“u” is pronounced similarly to the sound of the [u] in English “pull,” but the tongue should
be a little relaxed and forward, with the lips less pouted than in English. Example: sumu.
“e” is pronounced as the sound of the [e] in English “pet.” Example: eda.
“o” is pronounced as the sound of the [o] in English “won’t.” Example: otoko.
“ā ē ō ū” represent the long-vowels. Each of these is pronounced twice as long as the
vowels already explained.
As a general rule the natural tone of Japanese is level, neither rising nor falling in accent.
Consonants
The Japanese consonants represented by b, d, g, j, k, n, t, w, y and z coincide with those of
English. The consonants ch, f, r, sh, and ts are pronounced differently than English.
“ch” is pronounced as the sound of the[ch] in English “church.” Example: chigai
“f” in European languages is pronounced as a labio-dental voiceless fricative, but in
Japanese it is more of a a bilabial sound; it sounds like a combination of the [wh] sound in
English “who” + an “f” sound formed by almost touching the lips together. Examples: fuji,
fune.
“r” is pronounced without a velar or trilled sound; this sound is produced by the tip of the
tongue slipping a little along the upper gum. Examples: rakuda, kuri.
“sh” is pronounced as the sound of the[sh] in English “should.” Example: shigoto
“ts” is pronounced as the sound of the[tse] in English “tsetse fly.” Examples: tsubame,
tsukuru.
Generally speaking, the Japanese language consists of open syllables—a vowel always follows a
consonant or stands alone. This is represented by the Gojūonzu (Fifty-Sound Chart). Note that,
originally, there were fifty sounds, but some of the sounds are no longer used in the modern
spoken language.
Sounds of the Japanese Language
Dr. Bob Miller (8/22/2007)
a i u e o
ka ki ku ke ko
sa shi su se so
ta chi tsu te to
na ni nu ne no
ha hi fu he ho
ma mi mu me mo
ya -- yu -- yo
ra ri ru re ro
wa -- -- -- (w)o
The consonant n is the only consonant that occurs alone.
The natural tendency to write speech sounds exactly as they are has led to the creation of 25 new
syllables as
a i u e o
ga gi gu ge go
za ji zu ze zo
da ji zu de do
ba bi bu be bo
pa pi pu pe po
Note: this table represents a shift from unvoiced consonants to voiced consonants.
Further changes to the way Japanese is spoken led to the formation of the yō-on “contorted
sounds” as shown in the following table:
a u o
kya kyu kyo
sha shu sho
cha chu cho
nya nyu nyo
hya hyu hyo
mya myu myo
rya ryu ryo
gya gyu gyo
ja ju jo
ja ju jo
bya byu byo
pya pyu pyo
There is no easy way to learn Japanese accent except by closely imitating the speech of a native
speaker. For practical purposes, especially in a beginning course, the context of one’s speech
will make the intended meaning clear.
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Sounds of the Japanese Language
Dr. Bob Miller (8/22/2007)
Vowel Absorbing Consonants
There is a tendency to drop vowels occurring after the following vowel absorbing consonants:
f k p ch ts s sh
Example: tsutsuji (azalea) may be pronounced tstsuji
Double Consonants
Double consonants occurring in word require the time allotted to one syllable, that is there is a
clear enunciation of the first consonant then the second consonant, with each being given equal
time. The significance of this pronunciation is shown in the following words:
ikken (matter) iken (opinion)
ikkyō (surprise) ikyō (foreign land)
Euphonic Change
The consonant n often undergoes a euphonic (sound) change before some consonants:
enpitsu (pencil) is pronounced as though it were empitsu
honbu (head office) is pronounced as though it were hombu
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