Japanese Sounds: Long Vowels, Small つ and the Syllable ん

Japanese has fewer sounds than English, but a few contrasts matter a lot. Get them right and you'll be understood much more easily.

Five pure vowels

Japanese has five vowels: a, i, u, e, o. Each is short and clear, and never glides like an English diphthong:

• あ like a in "father"
• い like ee in "see", but shorter
• う like oo in "moon", with relaxed lips
• え like e in "bed"
• お like o in "more", without the glide

Long vowels

A long vowel takes about twice as long as a short one, and it changes the meaning:

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

In romaji, a long vowel is often written with a macron: ā, ī, ū, ē, ō.

The small つ (っ)

The small っ marks a doubled (held) consonant, like a short pause before the next sound:

Without	Meaning	With	Meaning
きて (kite)	come	きって (kitte)	stamp
おと (oto)	sound	おっと (otto)	husband
さか (saka)	slope	さっか (sakka)	writer

The syllable ん

ん is a syllable of its own, held for a full beat. It changes slightly depending on the next sound (like m before b, p, m), but it always takes a beat:

• ほん (hon, book)
• こんにちは (konnichiwa, hello)
• さんぽ (sanpo, a walk)

Rhythm

Japanese is timed by beats, called morae. Each kana is roughly one beat, with ん, っ and the second half of a long vowel also counting as one beat. ニッポン has four beats: ni-p-po-n.

Pitch accent

Japanese words have a pitch pattern, not stress. For example, はし (hashi) can mean chopsticks (high-low) or bridge (low-high) in Tokyo speech. Context usually makes the meaning clear, but listening for pitch helps you sound natural.

The Japanese R

The ら行 sound is a light tap of the tongue, between an English r, l and d.

Tips

1. Listen to native speakers and repeat.
2. Practise the minimal pairs above.
3. Use the dictionary to check readings.

Look up any word with English Japanese Dictionary →