an “alphabet” of some one hundred syllables that make up all the words in the Japanese language.
While there is only one way to pronounce Japanese properly, there are several ways to write it: using characters imported from China over 1,000 years ago; using one of the two phonetic scripts called kana (kah-nah), devised by the Japanese to supplement and sometimes replace the Chinese ideograms; or using more familiar Roman letters called romaji (roe-mah-jee) in Japanese.
The most widely used romanji system for transcribing Japanese was developed in the late 1880s by an American missionary, Dr. James Hepburn, soon after Japan’s opening to the West. There are other Roman letter systems for writing Japanese, but Dr. Hepburn’s was designed specifically for English speakers, and is therefore based on English phonetics.
All except one of the approximately one hundred syllables in the Japanese “alphabet” are based on five (romanized) sounds: a, i, u, e, and o––pronounced ah, ee, uu, eh, oh. The sixth base sound in the Japanese language is represented in English by the letter “n” and is pronounced like “n” in the word “bond.” As mentioned above, all Japanese words are made up of syllables consisting of combinations of these six basic sounds. The Japanese word for book, for example, is made up of two syllables, ho and n or hon, pronounced “hone” (rhyming with “bone”). The present tense of the word for read, yomimasu, is made up of four syllables—yo-mi-ma-su— although when said in ordinary speech, the last two syllables are typically run together, sounding like “mahss.”
All Japanese syllables, with their English-language phonetic equivalents, are presented here. To pronounce the syllables correctly, just read the phonetics (in parentheses) as if they were ordinary English sounds.
Basic Syllables and Sound Changes
| あ a (ah) | い i (ee) | う u (uu) | え e (ay) | お o (oh) |
| か ka (kah) | き ki (kee) | く ku (kuu) | け ke (kay) | こ ko (koe) |
| さ sa (sah) | し shi (she) | す su (sue) | せ se (say) | そ so (so) |
| た ta (tah) | ち chi (chee) | つ tsu (t’sue) | て te (tay) | と to (toe) |
| な na (nah) | に ni (nee) | ぬ nu (nuu) | ね ne (nay) | の no (no) |
| は ha (hah) | ひ hi (he) | ふ fu (fuu) | へ he (hay) | ほ ho (hoe) |
| ま ma (mah) | み mi (me) | む mu (muu) | め me (may) | も mo (moe) |
| や ya (yah) | ゆ yu (yuu) | よ yo (yoe) | ||
| ら ra (rah) | り ri (ree) | る ru (rue) | れ re (ray) | ろ ro (roe) |
| わ wa (wah) | を wo (oh) | |||
| n (as the “n” in “bond”) | ||||
| が ga (gah) | ぎ gi (ghee) | ぐ gu (guu) | げ ge (gay) | ご go (goe) |
| ざ za (zah) | じ ji (jee) | ず zu (zuu) | ぜ ze (zay) | ぞ zo (zoe) |
| だ da (dah) | ぢ ji (jee) | づ zu (zuu) | で de (day) | ど do (doe) |
| ば ba (bah) | び bi (bee) | ぶ bu (buu) | べ be (bay) | ぼ bo (boe) |
| ぱ pa (pah) | ぴ pi (pee) | ぷ pu (puu) | ぺ pe (pay) | ぱ po (poe) |
The following thirty-three syllables are combinations of some of those appearing in the two sets above. The first syllable, for example, is a combination of ki and ya, or kiya, phonetically shortened to kya. The last syllable, pyo, a combination of pi and yo, is similarly shortened.
| きゃ kya (k’yah) | きゅ kyu (cue) | きょ kyo (k’yoe) |
| しゃ sha (shah) | しゅ shu (shuu) | しょ sho (show) |
| ちゃ cha (chah) | ちゅ chu (chuu) | ちょ cho (choe) |
| にゃ nya (n’yah) | にゅ nyu (n’yuu) | にょ nyo (n’yoe) |
| ひゃ hya (h’yah) | ひゅ hyu (h’yuu) | ひょ hyo (h’yoe) |
| みゃ mya (m’yah) | みゅ myu (m’yuu) | みょ myo (m’yoe) |
| りゃ rya (r’yah) | りゅ ryu (r’yuu) | りょ ryo (rio) |
| ぎゃ gya (g’yah) | ぎゅ gyu (g’yuu) | ぎょ gyo (g’yoe) |
| じゃ ja (jah) | じゅ ju (juu) | じょ jo (joe) |
| びゃ bya (b’yah) | びゅ byu (b’yuu) | びょ byo (b’yoe) |
| ぴゃ pya (p’yah) | ぴゅ pyu (p’yuu) | ぴょ pyo (p’yoe) |
While you are becoming familiar with the pronunciation of the various syllables in the Japanese “alphabet” by reading the phonetics aloud, be sure also to familiarize yourself with the Hepburn spelling of each syllable so you can recognize words written in romaji.
As you probably noticed, a combination of two or more Japanese syllables often forms the sound of some common English word. For example, the combination of sa and i (sai) is pronounce exactly like the word “sigh.” Hai, meaning “yes,” is pronounced “high.” Such words, instead of the phonetic spellings, have frequently been used in this dictionary to facilitate pronunciation.
After
