Japanese vowels when it comes to Japanese Alphabet is often a sound that’s pronounced simply by with your mouth (in the event of nasal vowels, the use of your nose) with no obstruction of the mouth, tongue, or throat.There are actually certainly a variety of common rules to bear in mind every time pronouncing Japanese vowels. Learn More
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Japanese has only five basic vowels, but the distinction between short and long vowels is often important. The sounds below are first given in romanized Japanese, then hiragana and finally katakana. | |
The short vowels are: | |
like 'a' in "palm" | a, あ, ア |
like 'i' in "marine" | i, い, イ |
like 'oo' in "hoop", but short (best described as the sound said without rounded lips) | u, う, ウ |
like 'e' in "set" | e, え, エ |
like 'o' in "rope", but less round | o, お, オ |
Note that "u" is often weak at the end of syllables. In particular, the common endings desu and masu are pronounced by lowering the tongue from the roof of the mouth where the ss sound is formed and keeping a tiny bit of sound as you do so, it may be best to find audio of an actual japanese person saying desu to understand properly this particular sound. Also, the kana "do" and "to" are sometimes pronounced with a weak "o". | |
The long vowels are generally the same sound as the short vowels, only held approximate 60 % longer. The long vowels, marked with a macron in this phrasebook, are: | |
like 'a' in "father" | ā, ああ, アー |
like 'ee' in "cheese" | ii, いい, イー |
like 'oo' in "hoop" | u, うう, ウー |
like the 'ay' in "pay" | ei, えい, エー |
stretch out the 'o' in "soap" | ō, おう, オー |
All descriptions above are approximations, it's best to practice with a native speaker. |
Select the hyperlinks directly below to find a list of useful Japanese travel phrases which you’ll find structured by group. For each travel phrase in Japanese, there’ll be the English interpretation.
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