as if they were ordinary English sounds.
Basic Syllables and Sound Changes
| あ a (ah) | い i (ee) | う u (uu) | え e (ay) | お o (oh) |
| か ka (kah) | き ki (kee) | く ku (kuu) | け ke (kay) | こ ko (koe) |
| さ sa (sah) | し shi (she) | す su (sue) | せ se (say) | そ so (so) |
| た ta (tah) | ち chi (chee) | つ tsu (t’sue) | て te (tay) | と to (toe) |
| な na (nah) | に ni (nee) | ぬ nu (nuu) | ね ne (nay) | の no (no) |
| は ha (hah) | ひ hi (he) | ふ fu (fuu) | へ he (hay) | ほ ho (hoe) |
| ま ma (mah) | み mi (me) | む mu (muu) | め me (may) | も mo (moe) |
| や ya (yah) | ゆ yu (yuu) | よ yo (yoe) | ||
| ら ra (rah) | り ri (ree) | る ru (rue) | れ re (ray) | ろ ro (roe) |
| わ wa (wah) | を wo (oh) | |||
| n (as the “n” in “bond”) | ||||
| が ga (gah) | ぎ gi (ghee) | ぐ gu (guu) | げ ge (gay) | ご go (goe) |
| ざ za (zah) | じ ji (jee) | ず zu (zuu) | ぜ ze (zay) | ぞ zo (zoe) |
| だ da (dah) | ぢ ji (jee) | づ zu (zuu) | で de (day) | ど do (doe) |
| ば ba (bah) | び bi (bee) | ぶ bu (buu) | べ be (bay) | ぼ bo (boe) |
| ぱ pa (pah) | ぴ pi (pee) | ぷ pu (puu) | ぺ pe (pay) | ぱ po (poe) |
The following thirty-three syllables are combinations of some of those appearing in the two sets above. The first syllable, for example, is a combination of ki and ya, or kiya, phonetically shortened to kya. The last syllable, pyo, a combination of pi and yo, is similarly shortened.
| きゃ kya (k’yah) | きゅ kyu (cue) | きょ kyo (k’yoe) |
| しゃ sha (shah) | しゅ shu (shuu) | しょ sho (show) |
| ちゃ cha (chah) | ちゅ chu (chuu) | ちょ cho (choe) |
| にゃ nya (n’yah) | にゅ nyu (n’yuu) | にょ nyo (n’yoe) |
| ひゃ hya (h’yah) | ひゅ hyu (h’yuu) | ひょ hyo (h’yoe) |
| みゃ mya (m’yah) | みゅ myu (m’yuu) | みょ myo (m’yoe) |
| りゃ rya (r’yah) | りゅ ryu (r’yuu) | りょ ryo (rio) |
| ぎゃ gya (g’yah) | ぎゅ gyu (g’yuu) | ぎょ gyo (g’yoe) |
| じゃ ja (jah) | じゅ ju (juu) | じょ jo (joe) |
| びゃ bya (b’yah) | びゅ byu (b’yuu) | びょ byo (b’yoe) |
| ぴゃ pya (p’yah) | ぴゅ pyu (p’yuu) | ぴょ pyo (p’yoe) |
While you are becoming familiar with the pronunciation of the various syllables in the Japanese “alphabet” by reading the phonetics aloud, be sure also to familiarize yourself with the Hepburn spelling of each syllable so you can recognize words written in romaji.
As you probably noticed, a combination of two or more Japanese syllables often forms the sound of some common English word. For example, the combination of sa and i (sai) is pronounce exactly like the word “sigh.” Hai, meaning “yes,” is pronounced “high.” Such words, instead of the phonetic spellings, have frequently been used in this dictionary to facilitate pronunciation.
After you read a word or phrase slowly a few times out loud (always out loud!), practice saying it at ordinary speaking speed to get away from the “textbook sound.” In any event, don’t be bashful about using the Japanese you learn. Simply by using individual words, you can communicate to a useful and often surprising extent.
Special Language Pointers
There are no definite or indefinite articles in Japanese. There is also usually no differentiation made between the singular and plural form of nouns. 箱 Hako (hah-koe) can be one box or two or more boxes, depending on the context. The number of a noun is usually made clear by context, but there are also special suffixes to express plurals, particularly common with personal pronouns. For example, 達 tachi (tah-chee) added to the pronouns “I”, “he”, and “she” gives “we” and “they”:
I – 私 watakushi (wah-tock-she); We – 私達 watakushi-tachi (wahtock-she-tah-chee)
You – あなた anata (ah-nah-tah)
You (plural) – あなた達 anata-tachi (ah-nah-tah-tah-chee); or the polite form あなた方 anata-gata (ah-nah-tah-gah-tah)
He – 彼 kare (kah-ray); あの人 ano hito (ah-noh-shtoe); or the polite form あの方 ano kata (ah-noh-kah-tah)
She – 彼女 kanojo (kah-no-joe); or あの人 ano hito (ah-no-shtoe)
They – あの人達 ano hito-tachi (ah-no-shtoe-tah-chee); 彼ら kare-ra (kah-ray-rah) or 彼女達 kanojo-tachi (kah-no-joe-tah-chee); the polite form あの方々 anokata-gata (ah-no-kah-tah-gah-tah)
The interrogative form is expressed in Japanese by か ka (kah) at the end of a verb or