Help:IPA/Japanese

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The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Japanese language and Okinawan pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-ja}}, {{IPAc-ja}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

Examples in the charts are Japanese words transliterated according to the Hepburn romanization system.

See Japanese phonology for a more thorough discussion of the sounds of Japanese.

Consonants
IPAKana exampleTransliterationEnglish approximation
bばしょ, かびん, ヴァージョンbasho, kabin, vājonbug
bʲびょうきbyōkibeauty
çひと, ひょうhito, hyōhue
ɕした, いっしょうshita, isshō sheep
dどうも, どうどうdōmo, dōdōdoctor
dz[1]ずっと, ぜんぜん, キッズzutto, zenzen, kizzu[2]cards
dʑ[1]じぶん, じょじょ, エッジjibun, jojo, ejji[2]jeep
ɸふじfujiroughly like phew!
ɡ[3]がっこう, りんご, ぎんこうgakkō, ringo, ginkōgoat
ɡʲきぎょうkigyōargue
hほん, ははhon, hahahat
jやくしゃ, ゆずyakusha, yuzuyacht
kくる, はっきkuru, hakkiskate
kʲきょうかい, けっきょくkyōkai, kekkyokuskew
mみかん, せんぱい, もんもんmikan, senpai, monmonmuch
mʲみゃくmyakumute
nなっとう, かんたんnattō, kantannot
ɲにわ, こんにゃく, きんちょうniwa, konnyaku, kinchōcanyon
ŋ[3]りんご, なんきょくringo, nankyokupink
ɴにほんnihonroughly like long
pパン, たんぽぽpan, tanpopospan
pʲはっぴょうhappyōspew
ɾろく, そらroku, soraAmerican better
ɾʲりょうりryōriAmerican party
sする, さっそうsuru, sassōsoup
tたべる, とってtaberu, tottestop
tɕちかい, けっちゃくchikai, ketchaku[2]itchy
tsつなみ, いっついtsunami, ittsui[2]cats
ɰ[4]わさびwasabiroughly like was
ɰ̃[5]ふんいき, でんわ, あんしんfun'iki, denwa, anshinsin
z[1]あざ, つづくaza, tsuzukuzoo
ʑ[1]みじかい, じょじょmijikai, jojovision
ʔあつっ！atsu'!uh-oh
Vowels
IPAKana exampleTransliterationEnglish approximation
aあるarufather
eえきekibet
iいるirumeet
i̥[6]したshitawhispered meet
oおにonistory
ɯ[7]うなぎunagiroughly like shoot
ɯ̥[7][6]すきやきsukiyakiroughly like whispered shoot
Suprasegmentals
IPADescriptionJapanese exampleEnglish approximation
ːLong vowelhyōmei, ojiisanre-equalize
ꜜPitch drop[8][kaꜜki] (‎"oyster"), [kakiꜜ] (‎"fence")i/ (merry), iː/ (Marie)
.Syllabificationnin'i [ɲiɰ̃.i]higher ər/

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d In 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). Actual realizations of these sounds vary among speakers (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]. Traditionally Japanese prohibits voiced geminates, so these geminates are normally devoiced: [ɡɯddzɯ] → [ɡɯttsɯ] (Sano 2013).
  3. ^ a b A declining number of speakers pronounce word-medial /ɡ/ as [ŋ] (Vance 2008:214), but /ɡ/ is always represented by [ɡ] in this system.
  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 syllable-final n (moraic nasal) 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 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 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, unlike 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.