 Vowels and Consonants
Japanese is composed of vowels and consonants. There are five vowels. [ a, i, u, e, o ]
A vowel can be considered a piece of a single word.
In the end of the pronunciation of the consonant, it becomes the pronunciation of the vowel.
| ka | -------> | a |
| ki | -------> | i |
| ku | -------> | u |
| ke | -------> | e |
| ko | -------> | o |
"R" and "L"
There is no pronunciation of "R" in Japanese.
So, most Japanese people can not distinguish between "L" and "R" sounds.
The Japanese hear both as the same pronunciation.
Geminative consonant
When a character is written twice (doubled), it is a "geminative consonant."
The vowel following is excluded.
EX. BACCHI ---> like "Batch" |
This is expressed in small "TSU".
It is  in Hiragana or  in Katakana.
The example above is written  .
Stretched pronunciation
When a vowel character is doubled, it shows a "long" vowel sound.
Like "Zoo".
In Japanese, there is no character which shows long vowel sounds.
"U" is used to show the long sound.
In case of the language in the foreign country, a hyphen is used.
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In the movie, "The Sound of Music," we learn the basic sounds of the musical scale.
Like the Sound of Music, I will now present the basic sounds of the Japanese language.
You can hear the pronunciation of each word when you click a character.
Basic characters
 [ A ]
This is "a" pen.
Not "ei"
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 [ I ]
" i"mage
Not "ai" |
 [ U ]
"u"ltra
Not "you" |
 [ E ]
"e"lephant
Not "i" |
 [ O ]
"o"il
Not "ou" |
 [ KA ]
"co"usin
|
 [ KI ]
"ki"ng |
 [ KU ]
"cu"shion |
 [ KE ]
"Ke"ntucky |
 [ KO ]
"co"operate |
 [ SHA ]
"sa"lad
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 [ SHI ]
"she" |
 [ SHU ]
"su"per |
 [ SHE ]
"se"cond |
 [ SHO ]
"so"ap |
 [ TA ]
"ta"nk
|
 [ CHI ]
"ti"cket |
 [ TSU ]
"two" |
 [ TE ]
"te"st |
 [ TO ]
"to"ast |
 [ NA ]
"na"tional
|
 [ NI ]
"ni"pper |
 [ NU ]
"noo"dle |
 [ NE ]
"ne"ck |
 [ NO ]
"no"ise |
 [ HA ]
"ha"rd
|
 [ HI ]
"hi"ll |
 [ HU or FU]
"fu"ll |
 [ HE ]
"he"lp |
 [ HO ]
"ha"ll |
 [ MA ]
"ma"rine
|
 [ MI ]
"mi"lk |
 [ MU ]
"moo"n |
 [ ME ]
"me"mory |
 [ MO ]
"mo"ment |
 [ YA ]
"ya"rd
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 [ YU ]
"you" |
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 [ YO ]
New"Yo"rk |
 [ RA ]
"la"mp
|
 [ RI ]
"li"beral |
 [ RU ]
"lu"minescence |
 [ RE ]
"le"sson |
 [ RO ]
"lo"ad |
 [ WA ]
"wa"gon
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 [ WO ]
"wa"lk |
 [ N ]
statio"n"
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Voiced sound characters
[ GA ]
"ga"rden
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[ GI ]
"gi"ft |
[ GU ]
"g"roup |
[ GE ]
"ge"t |
[ GO ]
"go"al |
 [ ZA ]
"Za"ire
|
 [ ZI ]
"zi"p |
 [ ZU ]
"Zu"lu |
 [ ZE ]
"ze"ro |
 [ ZO ]
"zo"ne |
 [ DA ]
"da"sh
|
 [ DI ]
"zi"p
Same as ZI |
 [ DU ]
"Zu"lu
Same as ZU |
 [ DE ]
"da"y |
 [ DO ]
"do"or |
 [ BA ]
"ba"ck
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 [ BI ]
"be"gin
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 [ BU ]
"b"ring
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 [ BE ]
"be"lt
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 [ BO ]
"bo"rder
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Half voiced sound characters
 [ PA ]
"pa"ck
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 [ PI ]
"pi"cture
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 [ PU ]
"pu"ll
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 [ PE ]
"pe"t
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 [ PO ]
"po"rt
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Contraced sound characters
 [ KYA ]
"ca"mp
|
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 [ KYU ]
"cu"be |
|
 [ KYO ]
??? |
 [ SHA ]
"sha"dow
|
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 [ SHU ]
"sh"rimp |
 [ SHE ]
"she"ll |
 [ SHO ]
"sho"rt |
 [ CHA ]
"cha"rm
|
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 [ CHU ]
"che"w |
 [ CHE ]
"che"ck |
 [ CHO ]
"cho"colare |
 [ NYA ]
???
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 [ NYU ]
"new"s |
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 [ NYO ]
??? |
 [ FA ]
"fa"n
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 [ FI ]
"fi"n
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 [ FE ]
"fe"nder
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 [ FO ]
"pho"ne
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 [ HYA ]
???
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 [ HYU ]
"hu"manist |
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 [ HYO ]
??? |
 [ MYA ]
???
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 [ MYU ]
"mu"sic |
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 [ MYO ]
??? |
 [ RYA ]
???
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 [ RYU ]
??? |
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 [ RYO ]
??? |
[ GYA ]
"ga"p
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[ GYU ]
??? |
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[ GYO ]
??? |
 [ JA ]
"Ja"pan
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 [ JU ]
"ju"ice |
 [ JE ]
"je"t |
 [ JO ]
"jo"in |
 [ DYA ]
"Ja"pan
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 [ DYU ]
"ju"ice |
 [ DYE ]
"je"t |
 [ DYO ]
"jo"in |
 [ BYA ]
???
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 [ BYU ]
"beau"tiful |
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 [ BYO ]
??? |
 [ PYA ]
???
| |
 [ PYU ]
"pu"ma
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 [ PYO ]
???
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