Help:IPA/Japanese

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Japanese language and Okinawan pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.

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.

Consonants
IPA Hiragana example Transliteration English approximation
b ばしょ, かびん basho, kabin bug
bʲ びょうき byōki beauty
ç ひと, ひょう hito, hyō hue
ɕ した, いっしょう shita, isshō sheep
d どうも, どうどう dōmo, dōdō doctor
dz[1] ずっと, ぜんぜん, キッズ zutto, zenzen, kizzu[2] cards
z[1] あざ, つづく aza, tsuzuku zoo
dʑ[1] じぶん, じょじょ, エッジ jibun, jojo, ejji[2] jeep
ʑ[1] みじかい, じょじょ mijikai, jojo vision
ɸ ふじ fuji roughly like foot
ɡ[3] がっこう, ごご, ぎんこう gakkō, gogo, ginkō goat
ɡʲ[3] きぎょう kigyō argue
h ほん, はは hon, haha hat
j やくしゃ, ゆゆしい yakusha, yuyushii yacht
k くる, はっき kuru, hakki skate
kʲ きょうかい, けっきょく kyōkai, kekkyoku skew
m みかん, せんぱい, もんもん mikan, senpai, monmon much
mʲ みゃく myaku mute
n なっとう, かんたん nattō , kantan not
ɲ にわ, こんにゃく, きんちょう niwa, konnyaku, kinchō canyon
ŋ[3] りんご, なんきょく ringo, nankyoku pink
ɴ にほん nihon roughly like long
p パン, たんぽぽ pan, tampopo span
pʲ はっぴょう happyō spew
ɾ ろく, そら roku, sora American better
ɾʲ りょうり ryōri American party
s する, さっそう suru, sassō soup
t たべる, とって taberu, totte stop
ts つなみ, いっつい tsunami, ittsui[2] cats
tɕ ちかい, けっちゃく chikai, ketchaku[2] itchy
ɰ[4] わさび wasabi roughly like was
ɰ̃[5] ふんいき, でんわ, あんしん fun'iki, denwa, anshin sin
ʔ あつっ！ atsu'! uh-oh (glottal stop)
Vowels
IPA Hiragana example Transliteration English approximation
a ある aru father
e えき eki bet
i いる iru meet
i̥[6] した shita whispered meet
o おに oni story
ɯ[7] うなぎ unagi roughly like food
ɯ̥[7][6] すきやき sukiyaki roughly like whispered food
Suprasegmentals
IPA Description Japanese example English approximation
ː Long vowel hyōmei, ojiisan re-equalize
ꜜ Pitch drop[8] [kaꜜki] (‎"oyster"), [kakiꜜ] (‎"fence") /ˈmɛri/ (merry), /məˈriː/ (Marie)
. Syllabification nin'i [ɲiɰ̃.i] react /ri.ækt/

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d In some dialects such as the Tokyo dialect, the voiced fricatives [z, ʑ] are generally pronounced as affricates [dz, dʑ] in word-initial positions and after the moraic nasal /N/ (pronounced [n] before [dz] and [ɲ] before [dʑ]) or the sokuon /Q/ (spelled ッ, only in loanwords). However, the actual realization of those sounds varies greatly, depending on region and speaker (see Yotsugana).
  2. ^ a b c d When an affricate consonant is geminated, only the closure component of it is repeated: [kiddzɯ], [eddʑi], [ittsɯi], [kettɕakɯ].
  3. ^ a b c When placed between vowels, /ɡ/ is sometimes pronounced [ŋ] by older speakers.
  4. ^ [ɰ], romanized w, is the consonant equivalent of the vowel [ɯ], which is pronounced with varying degrees of rounding, depending on dialect.
  5. ^ The moraic nasal /N/ is pronounced as some kind of nasalized vowel before a vowel, semivowel ([j, ɰ]) or fricative ([ɸ, s, ɕ, ç, h]). [ɰ̃] is a conventional notation that is undefined for the exact place of articulation.
  6. ^ a b In many dialects including the Tokyo dialect, close vowels [i] and [ɯ] become voiceless (marked by a ring under the symbol) when they are surrounded by voiceless consonants and not followed by a pitch drop.
  7. ^ a b [ɯ], romanized u, exhibits varying degrees of rounding, depending on dialect. In the Tokyo dialect, it is either unrounded or compressed ([ɯᵝ]), meaning the sides of the lips are held together without horizontal protrusion, rather than protruded [u].
  8. ^ A pitch drop may occur only once per word and does not occur in all words. The mora before a pitch drop has a high pitch. When it occurs at the end of a word, the following grammatical particle has a low pitch.
fonte: https://web.archive.org/web/20180809103601/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Japanese