Help:IPA for Japanese
The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Japanese language and Okinawan pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. Sounds occurring only as allophones are included for narrow transcription.
See Japanese phonology for a more thorough discussion of the sounds of Japanese.
Examples in the charts are Japanese words transliterated according to the Hepburn romanization system.
| IPA | Hiragana example | Transliteration | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|
| b | ばしょ, きぶん |
basho, kibun | bog |
| ç | ひと, ひょう |
hito, hyō | hue, humor, h with a y sound |
| ɕ | した, しょう |
shita, shō | sheep |
| d | どうも, どうどう |
dōmo, dōdō | doctor |
| z[1] | ずっと, ぜんぜん |
zutto, zenzen | zen |
| dz | づくし, つづく |
dukushi, tsuduku | cards |
| dʑ, | じぶん, じょじょ |
jibun, jojo | jeep |
| ɸ | ふじ, ふうふ |
fuji, fūfu | like p with lips closed incompletely or making an f sound with only the lips |
| ɡ | がっこう, ごご |
gakkō, gogo | gape |
| h | ほん, ほほ |
hon, hoho | hone |
| j | やくしゃ, ゆゆしい |
yakusha, yuyushii | yak |
| k[2] | くる, けっきょく |
kuru, kekkyoku | skate |
| m | みかん, せんぱい, もんもん |
mikan, sempai, monmon | much |
| n | なっとう, きねん |
nattō , kinen | not |
| ɴ | にほん | nihon | roughly like long but pronounced very far back in the throat |
| ɲ | にわ, こんにゃく |
niwa, konnyaku | canyon |
| ŋ | りんご, なんきょく, が |
ringo, nankyoku, ga | pink |
| p[2] | パン, たんぽぽ |
pan, tanpopo | span |
| ɽ~ɺ[3] | ろく, そら |
roku, sora | the [ɽ] is close to /t/ in auto, better, or buddy in American English, or between lock and Scottish rock ([l] and [ɾ]). It is a flapped d to an l sound instead of rolling the tongue [ɺ]. |
| s | する, さっそう |
suru, sassō | sue |
| t[2] | たべる, とって |
taberu, totte | stop |
| ts | つなみ, つつむ |
tsunami, tsutsumu | cats |
| tɕ | ちかい, ちち |
chikai, chichi | itchy |
| w[4] | わさび, を |
wasabi, wo | roughly like was, but the lips are opened wider (compressed) |
| ʔ | っ | atsu'! (or as found in Ryukyuan languages) | uh-oh! (glottal stop) |
| IPA | Hiragana example | Transliteration | English approximation |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | ある | aru | father |
| e | えき, へ |
eki | met |
| i | いる | iru | meet |
| i̥ | よし, した |
yoshi, shita | like meet but voiceless |
| o | おに, を |
oni | owe |
| ɯ[5] | うなぎ | unagi | roughly like food but with the lips opened wider (compressed) |
| ɯ̥[5] | です, すきやき |
desu, sukiyaki | roughly like food but with lips opened wider (compressed) and voiceless |
| Suprasegmentals | ||
|---|---|---|
| IPA | Japanese example | English approximation |
| ː | long vowel: ojiisan |
re-equalize |
| double consonant: seppuku |
unnecessary (compare innovation) | |
| ꜜ[6] | tone drops: kaꜜki (“oyster”), kakiꜜ (“fence”) |
– |
| ̃ | nasal vowel: fun'iki |
vin blanc |
| Syllabification | ||
| . | moe /mo.e/, anime /a.ni.me/, saikin /sai.kĩɴ/, zasshi /zaɕ.ɕi/ |
|
Notes
- ^ The fricative [z] tends to be used between vowels, the affricate [dz] in pausa, but some speakers use [z] everywhere. Before /i/, it is palatalized to [dʑ] or, less often, [ʑ], and it is usually represented phonemically as /z/. Some dialects maintain a distinction (see yotsugana).
- ^ a b c /p/, /t/, /k/ are slightly aspirated: less aspirated than English stops, but more so than Spanish, other Romance languages, Austronesian or as in English spy, sty, sky.
- ^ Japanese r varies between a postalveolar flap [ɽ] and an alveolar lateral flap [ɺ].
- ^ The Japanese w is not equivalent to a typical IPA [w] since it is pronounced with lip compression rather than rounding.
- ^ a b There is no simple symbol in the IPA for Japanese u, which is not rounded [u] or unrounded [ɯ] but compressed [ɯᵝ]. The labial spreading diacritic is an extended IPA character.
- ^ The position of this downstep, which does not occur in all words, varies between dialects and is frequently not indicated. The downstep is a drop in pitch, and the word rises in pitch before the ꜜ. When ꜜ occurs after the final syllable of a word, any attached grammatical particles have a low tone.
