Pronunciation Of Japanese Language (Nihongo)

Vowels and Consonants of Japanese

Pronunciation of words in Japanese is not so difficult.

Japanese has only 5 vowels. They are a, i, u, e and o. These are the same as Spanish.

However, Japanese people don’t move their mouth so actively when they speak.

In most languages, “u” is pronounced with pursed lips. But Japanese people don’t do so definitely. Japanese “u” is a little obscure vowel.

Japanese has only 14 consonants.

[unvoiced] k, s, t, p, h [voiced] g, z, d, b, r, n, m [semivowel] y, w

Above consonants are the base of Japanese language.

Additionally, the sounds of sh (ex."ship"), ch (ex."cheese"), j (ex."jump"), ts (ex."cats") in English are used as the changed consonants.

"R" in Japanese is slightly different from "r" in English. It is also different from "r" with a roll in Spanish. It is nearly equal to "t" in "water" pronounced by native speaker of English.

You bring the tip of the tongue near the upper gum, then breathe out at the position. That is "r" sound in Japanese.

By the way, Japanese doesn’t have the consonants of l, f, v which most languages have. And Japanese doesn’t have special consonant such as th (ex."think", "that") in English.

Therefore, when Japanese people learn English, they aren’t good at the pronunciation of the words including such sounds.