Getting down the basic pronunciation of Japanese is one of the most important in learning the language. With a good and basic understanding of how words are pronounced, it will be easier for you to progress into speaking Japanese properly as well as discerning, upon seeing a Japanese word, how it might be pronounced. Admittedly, pronunciation in and of itself should be covered in great detail, but this will give you a working idea about it. It may get your tongue in a tangle like the picture on the left, but it is definitely something to prepare you for knowing the language.

Like the English language, Japanese has five vowels. Even better is the fact that the vowels are the same as the English alphabet - a, e, i, o, u (although they are in a different "natural" order in Japanese - a, i, u, e, o). However, the similarities end there. While in English, the vowels sound different depending on what word they are a part of ("mane" as opposed to "man", for example), in Japanese, the vowels, in single use, sound the same in almost all grammatical and vocabulary situations. To illustrate the vowel sounds:

Ah (a, "ah")
we (i, "ee")
soon (u, "oo")
get (e, "eh" )
old (o, "oh")

These should be pronounced in a crisp manner (and in the case of "u", with none or very little moving forward of the lips). If you ever forget, just remember the sentence I just made - "Ah, we soon get old" (a, i, u, e, o). It's handy for getting your pronunciation down.

Just because the single vowels are the same doesn't mean there isn't such a thing as using "long" vowels, though. We won't get into them here, but the long vowels are usually just a combination of sounds from the vowels by themselves, either said separately or flowed together (so "aa" is roughly "ahhh", ai is "ah-ee", etc.).

Now, for how consonants fit into this. In the Japanese alphabet, the consonants are almost always combined with the vowels to create sounds. The pronunciation for most consonants in the Japanese language is like the English language. With that in mind, pronunciation is easier to remember in the "Ah, we soon get old" format - for example, ka ("kah"), ki ("kee"), ku ("koo"), ke ("keh"), ko ("koh").

Let's talk about exceptions first before I show you a handy syllable table from our LING 101 class. First is the pronunciation of "r". The closest approximation to how to pronounce this consonant is a "rt" sound - a kind of touching or flicking of the tongue on the roof of the mouth as you speak it. Combined with a vowel sound, you flow your pronunciation into the vowel sound (i.e. ro is "rtoh"). It's a little difficult to get down, but it can be done with a little practice. One similarity to help you get accustomed to is is that it is like "rolling" r's with your tongue - only you're looking for a single, sharp "roll", a flick of the tongue, rather than a relaxed set of rolling r's. Second, and a little more easier, is the pronunciation of the single consonant "n", which is done with a nasal sort of intonation. This can simply be done by putting a crisp sound on your pronunciation. If you feel a slight tingle in your nasal passage as you do it, you've got it down.

Here is a table of simple syllables from our Basic Japanese class. There are of course more complex ones, but we won't be covering them here:

K Ka ("kah") Ki ("kee") Ku ("koo") Ke ("keh") Ko ("koh")	G Ga ("gah") Gi ("gee") Gu ("goo") Ge ("geh") Go ("goh")	S Sa ("sah") Shi ("shee") Su ("soo") Se ("seh") So ("soh")
Z Za ("zah") Ji ("jee") Zu ("zoo") Ze ("zeh") Zo ("zoh")	T Ta ("tah") Chi ("chee") Tsu ("tsoo") Te ("teh") To ("toh")	D Da ("dah") Ji ("jee") (almost never used) Zu ("zoo") (almost never used) De ("deh") Do ("doh")
N Na ("nah") Ni ("nee") Nu ("noo") Ne ("neh") No ("noh")	H Ha ("hah") Hi ("hee") Fu ("foo") He ("heh") Ho ("hoh")	B Ba ("bah") Bi ("bee") Bu ("boo") Be ("beh") Bo ("boh")
P Pa ("pah") Pi ("pee") Pu ("poo") Pe ("peh") Po ("poh")	M Ma ("mah") Mi ("mee") Mu ("moo") Me ("meh") Mo ("moh")	Y Ya ("yah") Yu ("yoo") Yo ("yoh")
R ("rt") Ra ("rtah") Ri ("rtee") Ru ("rtoo") Re ("rteh") Ro ("rtoh")	W Wa ("wah") Wo (! "oh" this one is generally only used for grammatical purposes, though you may find it in names; when used in sentences, is simply written as "o")

Try practicing saying the syllables sometime to get them down into your head. In learning to say Japanese words, having the groundwork for pronunciation on this basic level will really help you. And speaking of words, let's take a look at them next, as well as a mini grammar lesson.

>>Go to Lesson 3 - Japanese Words and Sentences