Part 1 · How a sentence works · Lesson 10
Sounds that change: long vowels, small っ, ん, silent vowels and voicing
The sound rules that kana charts leave out: long vowels and why they matter, the small っ, three sounds of ん, vowels that go silent, the irregular consonants (し, ち, つ, ふ), は/へ/を as particles, rendaku, and an introduction to pitch accent.
Hiragana look like a perfect one-to-one code, but spoken Japanese adds rules on top. None is hard; skipping them is what makes a learner sound foreign. This lesson summarises what to listen for. The kana chapter covers the charts and the basic sounds.
The five vowels are pure
Japanese has five vowels, always pronounced the same way: あ (ah), い (ee), う (oo, lips not rounded as in English), え (eh), お (oh, shorter than English). They do not glide into other sounds, and they do not shrink. A word like さくら has three equal beats.
Beats, not syllables
Japanese counts in morae (beats). Each kana is one beat, except the small ゃ ゅ ょ, which join the kana before them. Compare:
| Word | Kana | Beats |
|---|---|---|
| 東京 | と・う・きょ・う | 4 |
| 学校 | が・っ・こ・う | 4 |
| 日本 | に・ほ・ん | 3 |
If you give long vowels, small っ and ん a full beat, you will already sound much more natural.
Long vowels
A long vowel is held for two beats. Length changes meaning, so it matters.
| Short | Long |
|---|---|
| おばさん (aunt, middle-aged woman) | おばあさん (grandmother) |
| おじさん (uncle, middle-aged man) | おじいさん (grandfather) |
| ビル (building) | ビール (beer) |
| ゆき (snow) | ゆうき (courage) |
| ここ (here) | こうこう (high school) |
How a long vowel is written in hiragana:
- あ・い・う・え: add an extra あ, い, う or い. おかあさん, おにいさん, すうじ, ねえさん.
- o-sound: usually add う (とうきょう, ありがとう), but some words use お (おおきい, とおい, おおかみ, ほおずき).
- え-sound: usually add い (せんせい, けいかく), though a few use え (ええ, おねえさん).
- Katakana always uses ー: ビール, コーヒー, スーパー.
So とうきょう is Tokyo, read "tohkyoh", not "to-u-kyo-u".
The small っ (gemination)
A small っ makes the next consonant last one beat. It is a silent beat before a hard consonant.
| Without | With っ |
|---|---|
| かた (shoulder) | かった (bought) |
| きて (come) | きって (stamp) |
| いた (was) | いった (went) |
| さか (slope) | さっか (writer) |
It appears before k, s, t, p (and sh, ch, ts): がっこう, ざっし, きって, いっぱい, まっちゃ. You do not say a vowel in the gap: just hold the mouth shape for a beat.
ん: three sounds, one letter
ん is a full beat, but its sound depends on what follows.
- Before p, b, m: an m sound (しんぶん, さんぽ, みんな).
- Before t, d, n, r, s, z: an n sound (ほんとう, せんせい).
- Before k, g or at the end: an "ng" sound (りんご, ほん).
- Before a vowel or y: the vowel is nasal and there is a clear break: ほんや (book shop), not ほにゃ. Hiragana separates them: ほんや versus ほにゃ.
You will do this automatically if you simply do not close your mouth for ん.
Vowels that go silent (devoicing)
In Tokyo-style speech, い and う between voiceless consonants (k, s, t, p, h, sh, ch, ts, f), and at the end of words after voiceless consonants, are whispered or dropped:
| Word | Said as |
|---|---|
| です | des(u) |
| ます | mas(u) |
| すき | s(u)ki |
| ひと | h(i)to |
| した | sh(i)ta |
| つくえ | ts(u)kue |
| きた | k(i)ta |
The vowel is still counted as a beat; the sound just becomes breath. This is why です sounds like "dess" in conversation. If you pronounce every vowel fully, you will sound careful, like a learner. It is not wrong, just slower.
Spelling quirks that sound different
Particles
Three kana are pronounced differently when they are particles:
| Written | Particle sound | Elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| は | wa | ha |
| へ | e | he |
| を | o | (only particle) |
So こんにちは is "konnichiwa" and わたしは is "watashi wa". The sound を is the same as お.
じ/ぢ and ず/づ
じ and ぢ are both "ji"; ず and づ are both "zu". The ぢ and づ spellings appear only in compounds: はなぢ (nosebleed), つづく (continue), こづつみ (parcel). When typing, ぢ is "di" and づ is "du".
Irregular consonants
The kana chart has a neat grid, but the sounds in it are not all regular:
| Kana | Sound | Expected | Because |
|---|---|---|---|
| し | shi | si | before い, s softens |
| ち | chi | ti | before い, t softens |
| つ | tsu | tu | before う, t softens |
| ふ | fu | hu | h becomes a soft breath |
| じ | ji | zi | |
| ぢ | ji | di | |
| づ | zu | du |
Learn the sounds as the kana says them; do not try to rebuild them from the grid.
Voicing in compounds: rendaku
When two words join into a compound, the first sound of the second word often becomes voiced (か → が, さ → ざ, た → だ, は → ば). This is called rendaku.
| Words | Compound | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| て + かみ (hand + paper) | 手紙 | てがみ |
| ひと + ひと | 人々 | ひとびと |
| いり + くち | 入り口 | いりぐち |
| ひ + はな | 火花 | ひばな |
| あお + そら | 青空 | あおぞら |
You cannot predict it fully, but it is a very common reason that a kanji has several readings. If a compound looks unfamiliar, a voiced first sound is likely rendaku.
Pitch accent
Japanese words have a pitch pattern: some beats are high and some low, and the pattern is part of the word. Tokyo Japanese has patterns like low-high (LH) or high-low (HL).
| Word | Pitch | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| はし | HL | chopsticks (箸) |
| はし | LH | bridge (橋) |
| あめ | HL | rain (雨) |
| あめ | LH | candy (飴) |
Note that the pitch is relative: a drop is what you hear. You do not need to learn it from rules at the start. Learn it from a dictionary that marks accent, and above all from a lot of listening. Wrong pitch rarely makes you incomprehensible, but listeners notice.
Listening and speaking tips
- Give every beat equal time. Don't stress syllables like in English.
- Hold long vowels and small っ.
- Do not diphthongise. こう is "ko-o", not "koh-w".
- Say ん with the mouth open before vowels (ほんや, not ほにゃ).
- Listen for silent vowels in です and ます and copy them.
Longer sentences
Read these aloud and listen to your own rhythm. Count beats, not syllables.
Key points
- Five pure vowels; each kana is one beat.
- Long vowels (おばさん vs おばあさん) and small っ (かた vs かった) change meaning.
- ん is a nasal beat, with three sounds.
- Devoiced い and う in です, ます, すき make speech smooth.
- は/へ/を are wa/e/o as particles.
- し, ち, つ, ふ, じ are irregular consonants. Rendaku voices compounds.
- Pitch accent is learned from listening.