Japanese: spelling → sound
Japanese is built from MORAE, not syllables: every beat takes the same time, and three things count as a beat on their own — ん (a nasal), っ (a held consonant) and the second half of a long vowel. とうきょう Tōkyō is four beats (to-o-kyo-o), not two; にっぽん Nippon is four (ni-p-po-n). Get that timing and you sound Japanese before your vowels are even right. The sound inventory is small and clean: five pure vowels (u is unrounded — /ɯ/, lips relaxed, not English 'oo'), and a consonant grid with five famous holes where the expected sound shifted: si→shi /ɕi/, ti→chi /t͡ɕi/, tu→tsu /t͡sɯ/, hu→fu /ɸɯ/ (blown across the lips, no teeth), zi→ji /d͡ʑi/. There is no stress — but there IS pitch accent, which quietly distinguishes 箸 hashi 'chopsticks' from 橋 hashi 'bridge'.
Trace a word
Every box is one rule firing. Hover a box (or open the table) to see why. Rules are applied in order, first match wins — that order is the spelling system. Type Hepburn rōmaji (sushi, tōkyō, kippu). Every syllable is a mora — one beat.
Consonants & glides
| IPA | Spelled | Example |
|---|---|---|
| k | か き く け こ k- | かさ kasa kasa umbrella |
| ɡ | が ぎ ぐ げ ご g- | ごはん gohan ɡohaɴ rice, meal — Many Tokyo speakers nasalise it to [ŋ] inside a word. |
| s | さ す せ そ s- | さかな sakana sakana fish |
| ɕ | し shi, しゃ しゅ しょ sh- | すし sushi sɯɕi sushi — Not English 'sh' — tongue flatter and further forward. |
| z | ざ ず ぜ ぞ z- | みず mizu mizɯ water |
| d͡ʑ | じ ji, じゃ じゅ じょ | じかん jikan d͡ʑikaɴ time |
| t | た て と t- | たべる taberu tabeɾɯ to eat |
| t͡ɕ | ち chi, ちゃ ちゅ ちょ ch- | ちいさい chīsai t͡ɕiːsai small |
| t͡s | つ tsu | つき tsuki t͡sɯki moon |
| d | だ で ど d- | だれ dare daɾe who |
| n | な に ぬ ね の n- | なつ natsu nat͡sɯ summer |
| ɴ | ん n | ほん hon hoɴ book — A beat of its own, and it changes colour: [m] before p/b/m, [n] before t/d/n, [ŋ] before k/g, uvular [ɴ] at the end. |
| h | は へ ほ h- | はな hana hana flower, nose |
| ç | ひ hi, ひゃ ひゅ ひょ | ひと hito çito person — German ich-Laut — h in front of i gets palatal. |
| ɸ | ふ fu | ふゆ fuyu ɸɯjɯ winter — Blow gently between the lips. Teeth never touch — this is not English f. |
| b | ば び ぶ べ ぼ b- | ばん ban baɴ evening |
| p | ぱ ぴ ぷ ぺ ぽ p- | きっぷ kippu kipːɯ ticket |
| m | ま み む め も m- | みみ mimi mimi ear |
| j | や ゆ よ y- | やま yama jama mountain |
| ɾ | ら り る れ ろ r- | さくら sakura sakɯɾa cherry blossom — One tap — between an English r, l and d. Never the English r. |
| w | わ wa | わたし watashi wataɕi I — Barely rounded compared with English w. |
Vowels
| IPA | Spelled | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a | あ ア a | あさ asa asa morning |
| i | い イ i | いま ima ima now |
| ɯ | う ウ u | うみ umi ɯmi sea — Say /u/ but DON'T round your lips. The commonest giveaway of a foreign accent. |
| e | え エ e | えき eki eki station |
| o | お オ o | おと oto oto sound |
| aː | ああ ā, アー | おばあさん obāsan obaːsaɴ grandmother — Length is meaning: おばさん obasan is 'aunt'. |
| iː | いい ī | おじいさん ojīsan od͡ʑiːsaɴ grandfather |
| ɯː | うう ū, ウー | すうじ sūji sɯːd͡ʑi number |
| eː | えい ei, ええ ē | せんせい sensei seɴseː teacher — ei is normally said as a long ē, not as two vowels. |
| oː | おう ō, おお | とうきょう Tōkyō toːkʲoː Tokyo |
The rules, in order
56 rules. The left column is a pattern (regular expression) matched at the current position of the word; (?=…) looks ahead, (?<=…) looks behind, $ is the end of the word.
| # | Pattern | Sound | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ā | ||
| 2 | ī | ||
| 3 | ū | ||
| 4 | ē | ||
| 5 | ō | ||
| 6 | tch | っ before ch (matcha) | |
| 7 | kk | っ — hold the closure for a whole beat (kippu, gakkō) | |
| 8 | pp | っ before p | |
| 9 | tt | っ before t | |
| 10 | ss | っ before s | |
| 11 | sh | si does not exist — the grid slot is shi /ɕi/ | |
| 12 | ch | ti does not exist — it is chi /t͡ɕi/ | |
| 13 | ts | tu does not exist — it is tsu /t͡sɯ/ | |
| 14 | ky | ||
| 15 | gy | ||
| 16 | ny | ||
| 17 | hy | ||
| 18 | by | ||
| 19 | py | ||
| 20 | my | ||
| 21 | ry | ||
| 22 | n' | n' marks ん before a vowel (kin'en) | |
| 23 | n(?=[aiueoyāīūēō]) | n + vowel is the な-row, not ん | |
| 24 | n(?=[pbm]) | ん before p/b/m becomes [m] (shinbun → shimbun) | |
| 25 | n(?=[kg]) | ん before k/g becomes [ŋ] (ringo) | |
| 26 | n | ん elsewhere: uvular, and a full beat | |
| 27 | h(?=i) | h before i is palatal — the German ich sound | |
| 28 | f | hu does not exist — it is fu, blown between the lips | |
| 29 | j | zi does not exist — it is ji | |
| 30 | wo | を is said o — it survives only as the object particle | |
| 31 | k | ||
| 32 | g | ||
| 33 | s | ||
| 34 | z | ||
| 35 | t | ||
| 36 | d | ||
| 37 | h | ||
| 38 | b | ||
| 39 | p | ||
| 40 | m | ||
| 41 | y | ||
| 42 | r | ||
| 43 | w | ||
| 44 | ou | ou is a long ō (Tōkyō, arigatō) | |
| 45 | ei | ei is normally a long ē (sensei, eiga) | |
| 46 | aa | ||
| 47 | ii | ||
| 48 | uu | ||
| 49 | ee | ||
| 50 | oo | ||
| 51 | a | ||
| 52 | i | ||
| 53 | u | u is UNROUNDED — lips relaxed | |
| 54 | e | ||
| 55 | o | ||
| 56 | [-'] |