Japanese Characters and Pronunciation
Welcome to Kantan Nihongo (Easy Japanese), a blog for learning Japanese! To start things off, I will be teaching you Japanese characters and their pronunciations. Through out these lessons, I will be writing in both Japanese and roman characters. You don't have to learn to write Japanese to learn from this blog, but I'd highly recommend it.
Hiragana
In Japanese, there are 5 vowels. They are:
あ /a/ - 'a' as in father
い /i/ - like the 'i' in ink
う /u/ - 'oo' like in boot
え /e/ - 'e' like in bet or egg
お /o/ - like the 'o' in open
Consonants
[tsu] - Pronouced like [ts] in 'pets' or 'cats'.
[g] - Like g in 'go' If it comes either in middle or end of word, depending on the region, it can be pronouced like 'ng' like in 'song'. Either way is fine.
[w] - as in 'want'. Try not to round your lips.
[f] - in Japanese [fu]. It is prounced with a slight amount of friction between your upper and lower lips. Like if you about to blow out a candle, or whistle. Don't pronouce like English [f]!
[r] - This is nothing like English [r]. This sound is made by slightly lightly tapping the tip of your tounge just behind the teeth. About the same place your tounge hits when saying English [l]. Somewhat similar to Spanish rolling [r].
When pronouncing the vowels [ei - えい] and [ou - おう], pronouce them like long [e] and long [o].
In Japanese, you will run into words spelt with a small [tsu - っ] character. This will produce double consonants (Ex. pp, sshi, tt, kk, etc.) Like [issai - いっさい], [ippai -いっぱい ] or [nikkou -にっこう]. It is said like a quick pause in the word. Unless it is double 's'. Like [sesshou - せっしょう], where instead if a pause, there is a 's' sound.
Here are the rest of the hiragana characters:
[KA] -- [KI] -- [KU] -- [KE] -- [KO]
[か] --- [き] ---- [く] --- [け] --- [こ]
[SA] -- [SHI] -- [SU] -- [SE] -- [SO]
[さ] ---- [し] ---- [す] --- [せ] --- [そ]
[TA] -- [CHI] -- [TSU] -- [TE] -- [TO]
[た] ---- [ち] --- [つ] ----- [て] --- [と]
[NA] -- [NI] -- [NU] -- [NE] -- [NO]
[な] ---- [に] --- [ぬ] --- [ね] ---- [の]
[HA] -- [HI] -- [FU] -- [HE] -- [HO]
[は] --- [ひ] --- [ふ] --- [へ] --- [ほ]
[MA] -- [MI] -- [MU] -- [ME] -- [MO]
[ま] ----- [み] --- [む] ---- [め] ---- [も]
[YA] -- [YU] -- [YO]
[や] ---- [ゆ] --- [よ]
[RA] -- [RI] -- [RU] -- [RE] -- [RO]
[ら] ---- [り] ---- [る] --- [れ] ---- [ろ]
[WA] -- [O]
[わ] ---- [を]*
[N]
[ん]
*This is special "o" (also writen as "wo") that is only used as a particle.
Use of "dakuten" and "handakuten"
If you add two small dashes in the upper right part of the character, which I call 'tenten' (also called "dakuten"), it changes the sound of the character. For example:
[KA] [KI] [KU] [KE] [KO] ---becomes---> [GA] [GI] [GU] [GE] [GO]
[か] [き] [く] [け] [こ] ----------------------- [が] [ぎ] [ぐ] [げ] [ご]
[SA] [SHI] [SU] [SE] [SO] ---becomes---> [ZA] [JI] [ZU] [ZE] [ZO]
[さ] [し] [す] [せ] [そ] ----------------------- [ざ] [じ] [ず] [ぜ] [ぞ]
[TA] [CHI] [TSU] [TE] [TO] ---becomes---> [DA] [JI] [ZU] [DE] [DO]
[た] [ち] [つ] [て] [と] -------------------------- [だ] [ぢ] [づ] [で] [ど]
[Note]: The characters ぢ and づ are rarely used becuase the are pretty much the same as じ and ず . One example of when you would use ぢ and not じ would be for the word 'hanaji' (はなぢ ) which means 'nose bleed'. Hana(はな ) means nose and chi (ち) means blood. When put together, chi (ち) turns to ji (ぢ).
[HA] [HI] [FU] [HE] [HO] ---becomes---> [BA] [BI] [BU] [BE] [BO]
[は] [ひ] [ふ] [へ] [ほ] --------------------- [ば] [び] [ぶ] [べ] [ぼ]
There is another symbol, which I just call 'maru' (also called "handakuten"), that changes the sound for 'h' characters.
[HA] [HI] [FU] [HE] [HO] ---becomes---> [PA] [PI] [PU] [PE] [PO]
[は] [ひ] [ふ] [へ] [ほ] --------------------- [ぱ] [ぴ] [ぷ] [ぺ] [ぽ]
Use of small ya (や), yu (ゆ) and yo (よ):
[KYA] [KYU] [KYO] ------> [GYA] [GYU] [GYO]
[きゃ] [きゅ] [きょ] ----------- [ぎゃ] [ぎゅ] [ぎょ]
[SHA] [SHU] [SHO] ------> [JA] [JU] [JO]
[しゃ] [しゅ] [しょ] --------- [じゃ] [じゅ] [じょ]
[CHA] [CHU] [CHO]
[ちゃ] [ちゅ] [ちょ]
[NYA] [NYU] [NYO]
[にゃ] [にゅ] [にょ]
[HYA] [HYU] [HYO]
[ひゃ] [ひゅ] [ひょ]
[BYA] [BYU] [BYO]
[びゃ] [びゅ] [びょ]
[PYA] [PYU] [PYO]
[ぴゃ] [ぴゅ] [ぴょ]
[MYA] [MYU] [MYO]
[みゃ] [みゅ] [みょ]
[RYA] [RYU] [RYO]
[りゃ] [りゅ] [りょ]
Long Vowels and Short Vowels
Unlike in English, Japanese is sensitive about the length of vowels. Making a vowel too long or too short can change the entire meaning of the word.
Some examples are:
いえ -/ie/ - House
いいえ - /iie/ - No
おばさん - /obasan/ - Aunt, middle-aged woman
おばあさん - /obaasan/ - Grandma, old lady
ちず - /chizu/ - Map
チーズ - /chiizu/ - Cheese
Whispered Vowels
There are sometime vowels that are whispered in Japanese. They are 'i' and 'u'. They are usually silent when they are before p, t, k, s, sh, etc.
Some examples of this are:
わたくし -/watakushi/- I, myself - pronunced as 'watakshi'
すきやき - /sukiyaki/ - sukiyaki - pronunced as 'skiyaki'
がくせい - /gakusei/ - student - pronunced as 'gaksei'
Pitch Accent
Unlike in English, different pitches can mean different words in Japanese. An example of this is the word あめ (ame). あめ (ame) with a downward pitch means 'rain', where as あめ (ame) with an upward pitch means 'candy'. Don't worry though, Japanese will still understand you if you get the pitch wrong. In some dialects of Japan, the tone used for words is reversed.
Hiragana
In Japanese, there are 5 vowels. They are:
あ /a/ - 'a' as in father
い /i/ - like the 'i' in ink
う /u/ - 'oo' like in boot
え /e/ - 'e' like in bet or egg
お /o/ - like the 'o' in open
Consonants
[tsu] - Pronouced like [ts] in 'pets' or 'cats'.
[g] - Like g in 'go' If it comes either in middle or end of word, depending on the region, it can be pronouced like 'ng' like in 'song'. Either way is fine.
[w] - as in 'want'. Try not to round your lips.
[f] - in Japanese [fu]. It is prounced with a slight amount of friction between your upper and lower lips. Like if you about to blow out a candle, or whistle. Don't pronouce like English [f]!
[r] - This is nothing like English [r]. This sound is made by slightly lightly tapping the tip of your tounge just behind the teeth. About the same place your tounge hits when saying English [l]. Somewhat similar to Spanish rolling [r].
When pronouncing the vowels [ei - えい] and [ou - おう], pronouce them like long [e] and long [o].
In Japanese, you will run into words spelt with a small [tsu - っ] character. This will produce double consonants (Ex. pp, sshi, tt, kk, etc.) Like [issai - いっさい], [ippai -いっぱい ] or [nikkou -にっこう]. It is said like a quick pause in the word. Unless it is double 's'. Like [sesshou - せっしょう], where instead if a pause, there is a 's' sound.
Here are the rest of the hiragana characters:
[KA] -- [KI] -- [KU] -- [KE] -- [KO]
[か] --- [き] ---- [く] --- [け] --- [こ]
[SA] -- [SHI] -- [SU] -- [SE] -- [SO]
[さ] ---- [し] ---- [す] --- [せ] --- [そ]
[TA] -- [CHI] -- [TSU] -- [TE] -- [TO]
[た] ---- [ち] --- [つ] ----- [て] --- [と]
[NA] -- [NI] -- [NU] -- [NE] -- [NO]
[な] ---- [に] --- [ぬ] --- [ね] ---- [の]
[HA] -- [HI] -- [FU] -- [HE] -- [HO]
[は] --- [ひ] --- [ふ] --- [へ] --- [ほ]
[MA] -- [MI] -- [MU] -- [ME] -- [MO]
[ま] ----- [み] --- [む] ---- [め] ---- [も]
[YA] -- [YU] -- [YO]
[や] ---- [ゆ] --- [よ]
[RA] -- [RI] -- [RU] -- [RE] -- [RO]
[ら] ---- [り] ---- [る] --- [れ] ---- [ろ]
[WA] -- [O]
[わ] ---- [を]*
[N]
[ん]
*This is special "o" (also writen as "wo") that is only used as a particle.
Use of "dakuten" and "handakuten"
If you add two small dashes in the upper right part of the character, which I call 'tenten' (also called "dakuten"), it changes the sound of the character. For example:
[KA] [KI] [KU] [KE] [KO] ---becomes---> [GA] [GI] [GU] [GE] [GO]
[か] [き] [く] [け] [こ] ----------------------- [が] [ぎ] [ぐ] [げ] [ご]
[SA] [SHI] [SU] [SE] [SO] ---becomes---> [ZA] [JI] [ZU] [ZE] [ZO]
[さ] [し] [す] [せ] [そ] ----------------------- [ざ] [じ] [ず] [ぜ] [ぞ]
[TA] [CHI] [TSU] [TE] [TO] ---becomes---> [DA] [JI] [ZU] [DE] [DO]
[た] [ち] [つ] [て] [と] -------------------------- [だ] [ぢ] [づ] [で] [ど]
[Note]: The characters ぢ and づ are rarely used becuase the are pretty much the same as じ and ず . One example of when you would use ぢ and not じ would be for the word 'hanaji' (はなぢ ) which means 'nose bleed'. Hana(はな ) means nose and chi (ち) means blood. When put together, chi (ち) turns to ji (ぢ).
[HA] [HI] [FU] [HE] [HO] ---becomes---> [BA] [BI] [BU] [BE] [BO]
[は] [ひ] [ふ] [へ] [ほ] --------------------- [ば] [び] [ぶ] [べ] [ぼ]
There is another symbol, which I just call 'maru' (also called "handakuten"), that changes the sound for 'h' characters.
[HA] [HI] [FU] [HE] [HO] ---becomes---> [PA] [PI] [PU] [PE] [PO]
[は] [ひ] [ふ] [へ] [ほ] --------------------- [ぱ] [ぴ] [ぷ] [ぺ] [ぽ]
Use of small ya (や), yu (ゆ) and yo (よ):
[KYA] [KYU] [KYO] ------> [GYA] [GYU] [GYO]
[きゃ] [きゅ] [きょ] ----------- [ぎゃ] [ぎゅ] [ぎょ]
[SHA] [SHU] [SHO] ------> [JA] [JU] [JO]
[しゃ] [しゅ] [しょ] --------- [じゃ] [じゅ] [じょ]
[CHA] [CHU] [CHO]
[ちゃ] [ちゅ] [ちょ]
[NYA] [NYU] [NYO]
[にゃ] [にゅ] [にょ]
[HYA] [HYU] [HYO]
[ひゃ] [ひゅ] [ひょ]
[BYA] [BYU] [BYO]
[びゃ] [びゅ] [びょ]
[PYA] [PYU] [PYO]
[ぴゃ] [ぴゅ] [ぴょ]
[MYA] [MYU] [MYO]
[みゃ] [みゅ] [みょ]
[RYA] [RYU] [RYO]
[りゃ] [りゅ] [りょ]
Long Vowels and Short Vowels
Unlike in English, Japanese is sensitive about the length of vowels. Making a vowel too long or too short can change the entire meaning of the word.
Some examples are:
いえ -/ie/ - House
いいえ - /iie/ - No
おばさん - /obasan/ - Aunt, middle-aged woman
おばあさん - /obaasan/ - Grandma, old lady
ちず - /chizu/ - Map
チーズ - /chiizu/ - Cheese
Whispered Vowels
There are sometime vowels that are whispered in Japanese. They are 'i' and 'u'. They are usually silent when they are before p, t, k, s, sh, etc.
Some examples of this are:
わたくし -/watakushi/- I, myself - pronunced as 'watakshi'
すきやき - /sukiyaki/ - sukiyaki - pronunced as 'skiyaki'
がくせい - /gakusei/ - student - pronunced as 'gaksei'
Pitch Accent
Unlike in English, different pitches can mean different words in Japanese. An example of this is the word あめ (ame). あめ (ame) with a downward pitch means 'rain', where as あめ (ame) with an upward pitch means 'candy'. Don't worry though, Japanese will still understand you if you get the pitch wrong. In some dialects of Japan, the tone used for words is reversed.
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