Pitulung:IPA/Basa Jepang

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, かびん	basho, kabin	bug
bʲ	びょうき	byōki	beauty
ç	ひと, ひょう	hito, hyō	hue
ɕ	した, いっしょう	shita, isshō	sheep
d	どうも, どうどう	dōmo, dōdō	doctor
dz^[1]	ずっと, ぜんぜん, キッズ	zutto, zenzen, kizzu^[2]	cards
z^[1]	あざ, つづく	aza, tsuzuku	zoo
dʑ^[1]	じぶん, じょじょ, エッジ	jibun, jojo, ejji^[2]	jeep
ʑ^[1]	みじかい, じょじょ	mijikai, jojo	vision
ɸ	ふじ	fuji	roughly like foot
ɡ^[3]	がっこう, ごご, ぎんこう	gakkō, gogo, ginkō	goat
ɡʲ^[3]	きぎょう	kigyō	argue
h	ほん, はは	hon, haha	hat
j	やくしゃ, ゆゆしい	yakusha, yuyushii	yacht
k	くる, はっき	kuru, hakki	skate
kʲ	きょうかい, けっきょく	kyōkai, kekkyoku	skew
m	みかん, せんぱい, もんもん	mikan, senpai, monmon	much
mʲ	みゃく	myaku	mute
n	なっとう, かんたん	nattō , kantan	not
ɲ	にわ, こんにゃく, きんちょう	niwa, konnyaku, kinchō	canyon
ŋ^[3]	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
pʲ	はっぴょう	happyō	spew
ɾ	ろく, そら	roku, sora	American better
ɾʲ	りょうり	ryōri	American party
s	する, さっそう	suru, sassō	soup
t	たべる, とって	taberu, totte	stop
ts	つなみ, いっつい	tsunami, ittsui^[2]	cats
tɕ	ちかい, けっちゃく	chikai, ketchaku^[2]	itchy
ɰ^[4]	わさび	wasabi	roughly like was
ɰ̃^[5]	ふんいき, でんわ, あんしん	fun'iki, denwa, anshin	sin
ʔ	あつっ！	atsu'!	uh-oh (glottal stop)

Vowels
IPA	Hiragana example	Transliteration	English approximation
a	ある	aru	father
e	えき, へ	eki	hey
i	いる	iru	meet
i̥^[6]	した	shita	whispered meet
o	おに, を	oni	American owe
ɯ^[7]	うなぎ	unagi	roughly like food
ɯ̥^[7]^[6]	すきやき	sukiyaki	roughly like whispered food

Suprasegmentals
IPA	Description	Japanese example	English approximation
ː	Long vowel	hyōmei, ojiisan	re-equalize
ꜜ	Tone drop^[8]	[kaꜜki] (‎"oyster"), [kakiꜜ] (‎"fence")	éjaan Inggris: [ˈmɛri] (merry), éjaan Inggris: [məˈriː] (Marie)
.	Syllabification	nin'i [ɲiɰ̃.i]	react éjaan Inggris: [ri.ækt]

Notes

1 2 3 4 In dialects including the Tokyo dialect, the voiced fricatives [z, ʑ] are generally pronounced as affricates [dz, dʑ] in word-initial positions and after the moraic nasal /N/ (pronounced [n] before [dz] and [ɲ] before [dʑ]) or the sokuon /Q/ (spelled ッ, only found in loans). However, actual realization of these sounds varies greatly depending on region and speaker (see Yotsugana).
1 2 3 4 When an affricate consonant is gemintated, only the closure component of it is repeated: [kiddzɯ], [eddʑi], [ittsɯi], [kettɕakɯ].
1 2 3 When placed between vowels, Cithakan:IPAslink is sometimes pronounced [ŋ] or [ɣ] by older speakers.
↑ [ɰ], romanized w, is the consonant equivalent of the vowel [ɯ], which is pronounced with varying degrees of rounding depending on dialect.
↑ The moraic nasal /N/ is pronounced as some kind of nasalized vowel before a vowel, semivowel or fricative. [ɰ̃] is a conventional notation undefined for the exact place of articulation.
1 2 In many dialects including the Tokyo dialect, close vowels [i] and [ɯ] become voiceless (marked by a ring under the symbol) when unaccented and surrounded by voiceless consonants.
1 2 [ɯ], romanized u, exhibits varying degrees of rounding depending on dialect. In the Tokyo dialect, it is either unrounded or compressed ([ɯᵝ]), meaning the sides of the lips are held together without horizontal protrusion, rather than protruded [u].
↑ The position of this downstep, which does not occur in all words, varies between dialects and is usually 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.

Cithakan:IPA keys horizontal

[yotsugana-1] 1 2 3 4 In dialects including the Tokyo dialect, the voiced fricatives [z, ʑ] are generally pronounced as affricates [dz, dʑ] in word-initial positions and after the moraic nasal /N/ (pronounced [n] before [dz] and [ɲ] before [dʑ]) or the sokuon /Q/ (spelled ッ, only found in loans). However, actual realization of these sounds varies greatly depending on region and speaker (see Yotsugana).

[gemination-2] 1 2 3 4 When an affricate consonant is gemintated, only the closure component of it is repeated: [kiddzɯ], [eddʑi], [ittsɯi], [kettɕakɯ].

[g-3] 1 2 3 When placed between vowels, Cithakan:IPAslink is sometimes pronounced [ŋ] or [ɣ] by older speakers.

[4] [ɰ], romanized w, is the consonant equivalent of the vowel [ɯ], which is pronounced with varying degrees of rounding depending on dialect.

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

[voiceless-6] 1 2 In many dialects including the Tokyo dialect, close vowels [i] and [ɯ] become voiceless (marked by a ring under the symbol) when unaccented and surrounded by voiceless consonants.

[u-7] 1 2 [ɯ], romanized u, exhibits varying degrees of rounding depending on dialect. In the Tokyo dialect, it is either unrounded or compressed ([ɯᵝ]), meaning the sides of the lips are held together without horizontal protrusion, rather than protruded [u].

[8] The position of this downstep, which does not occur in all words, varies between dialects and is usually 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.

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