උදවු:IPA for Japanese

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Japanese language and Okinawan pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. Sounds occurring only as allophones are included for narrow transcription.

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

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

Consonants
IPA	Hiragana example	Transliteration	English approximation
b	ばしょ, きぶん	basho, kibun	bug
[[Palatalization (phonetics)\|bʲ]]	びょうき	byōki	beauty
ç	ひと, ひょう	hito, hyō	hue
ɕ	した, しょう	shita, shō	sheep
d	どうも, どうどう	dōmo, dōdō	doctor
dz^[1]	ずっと, ぜんぜん	zutto, zenzen	cards
z^[1]	あざ, つづく	aza, tsudzuku	zoo
dʑ^[1]	じぶん, じょじょ	jibun, jojo	jeep
ʑ^[1]	みじかい, じょじょ	mijikai, jojo	vision
ɸ	ふじ, ふうふ	fuji, fūfu	roughly like baffle
ɡ^[2]	がっこう, ごご	gakkō, gogo	gap
[[Palatalization (phonetics)\|ɡʲ]]^[2]	ぎんこう, きぎょう	ginkō, kigyō	argue
h	ほん, ほほ	hon, hoho	hat
j	やくしゃ, ゆゆしい	yakusha, yuyushii	yacht
k	くる, けっきょく	kuru, kekkyoku	skate
[[Palatalization (phonetics)\|kʲ]]	きた, きょうかい	kita, kyōkai	skew
m	みかん, せんぱい, もんもん	mikan, sempai, monmon	much
[[Palatalization (phonetics)\|mʲ]]	みゃく	myaku	mute
n	なっとう, きねん	nattō , kinen	not
ɲ	にわ, こんにゃく, きんちょう	niwa, konnyaku, kinchō	canyon
ŋ^[2]	りんご, なんきょく	ringo, nankyoku	pink
ɴ	にほん	nihon	roughly like long
p	パン, たんぽぽ	pan, tampopo	span
[[Palatalization (phonetics)\|pʲ]]	いっぴょう	ippyō	pew
ɾ	ろく, そら	roku, sora	American better
[[Palatalization (phonetics)\|ɾʲ]]	りょうり	ryōri	dew
s	する, さっそう	suru, sassō	soup
t	たべる, とって	taberu, totte	stop
ts	つなみ, つつむ	tsunami, tsutsumu	cats
tɕ	ちかい, ちち	chikai, chichi	itchy
[[Compressed labio-velar approximant\|w]]^[3]	わさび	wasabi	roughly like was
[[Nasal vowel\|ɰ̃]]^[4]	ふんいき	fun'iki	sin
ʔ	あつっ！	atsu'!	uh-oh! (glottal stop)

Vowels
IPA	Hiragana example	Transliteration	English approximation
a	ある	aru	between cut and father
e	えき, へ	eki	hey
i	いる	iru	meet
[[Voicelessness\|i̥]]^[5]	よし, した	yoshi, shita	whispered meet
o	おに, を	oni	American owe
ɯ^[6]	うなぎ	unagi	roughly like food
[[Voicelessness\|ɯ̥]]^[6]^[5]	です, すきやき	desu, sukiyaki	roughly like whispered food

Suprasegmentals
IPA	Description	Japanese example	English approximation
ː	Long vowel	ojiisan	re-equalize
ː	Double consonant	seppuku	unnecessary (compare innovation)
̚	No audible release	kekka, ippan	doctor (compare docking)
ꜜ	Tone drop^[7]	/kaꜜki/ (‎"oyster"), /kakiꜜ/ (‎"fence")	/ˈmɛri/ (merry), /məˈriː/ (Marie)
.	Syllabification	saikin [sa.i.kiɴ], zasshi [d͡zaɕ.ɕi]	react /ri.ækt/

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d In dialects including the Tokyo dialect, the voiced fricatives [z] and [ʑ] are generally pronounced as the affricates [dz] and [dʑ] in word-initial positions and after the moraic nasal /N/ (pronounced [n] before [(d)z] and [ɲ] before [(d)ʑ]). However, actual realization of these sounds varies greatly depending on the region and on the speaker (see Yotsugana).
^ ^a ^b ^c When placed between vowels, /[[|ɡ]]/ is sometimes pronounced [ŋ] or [ɣ] by older speakers.
^ The Japanese w is not equivalent to a typical IPA [w] since it is pronounced with lip compression rather than rounding.
^ The moraic nasal /N/ is pronounced as some sort of nasalized close vowel before a vowel, semivowel or fricative. [ɰ̃] is a conventional notation undefined for the exact place of articulation.
^ ^a ^b In many dialects including the Tokyo dialect, the close vowels /[[|i]]/ and /[[|ɯ]]/ becomes voiceless (marked by a ring under the symbol) when placed between two voiceless consonants or, unless accented, between a voiceless consonant and a pause.
^ ^a ^b There is no simple symbol in the IPA for Japanese u, which is not rounded [u] or unrounded [ɯ] but compressed [ɯᵝ]. The labial spreading diacritic is an extended IPA character.
^ The position of this downstep, which does not occur in all words, varies between dialects and is frequently not indicated. The downstep is a drop in pitch, and the word rises in pitch before the ꜜ. When ꜜ occurs after the final syllable of a word, any attached grammatical particles have a low tone.

[yotsugana-1] In dialects including the Tokyo dialect, the voiced fricatives [z] and [ʑ] are generally pronounced as the affricates [dz] and [dʑ] in word-initial positions and after the moraic nasal /N/ (pronounced [n] before [(d)z] and [ɲ] before [(d)ʑ]). However, actual realization of these sounds varies greatly depending on the region and on the speaker (see Yotsugana).

[g-2] When placed between vowels, /[[|ɡ]]/ is sometimes pronounced [ŋ] or [ɣ] by older speakers.

[3] The Japanese w is not equivalent to a typical IPA [w] since it is pronounced with lip compression rather than rounding.

[4] The moraic nasal /N/ is pronounced as some sort of nasalized close vowel before a vowel, semivowel or fricative. [ɰ̃] is a conventional notation undefined for the exact place of articulation.

[voiceless-5] In many dialects including the Tokyo dialect, the close vowels /[[|i]]/ and /[[|ɯ]]/ becomes voiceless (marked by a ring under the symbol) when placed between two voiceless consonants or, unless accented, between a voiceless consonant and a pause.

[u-6] There is no simple symbol in the IPA for Japanese u, which is not rounded [u] or unrounded [ɯ] but compressed [ɯᵝ]. The labial spreading diacritic is an extended IPA character.

[7] The position of this downstep, which does not occur in all words, varies between dialects and is frequently not indicated. The downstep is a drop in pitch, and the word rises in pitch before the ꜜ. When ꜜ occurs after the final syllable of a word, any attached grammatical particles have a low tone.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

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