How Japanese sounds work
Japanese has far fewer sounds than English or Hindi. We will cover the whole system in one lesson.
Japanese runs on about 100 syllables, and nearly all of them are one consonant plus one vowel. There are five vowels, and they never change. Compare that with English, where "ough" has six different pronunciations. This is a small, honest system, and you can finish learning it in a week.
The five vowels
Every Japanese sound is built on one of these five. Keep them short and pure. They never glide the way English vowels do.
| Kana | Romaji | Devanagari | How it sounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| あ | a | अ | Short, like the अ in अब |
| い | i | इ | Like इ in इधर |
| う | u | उ | Like उ but with flat, unrounded lips |
| え | e | ए | Like ए in एक |
| お | o | ओ | Like ओ in ओर |
Every beat is equal
Each kana is one beat, called a mora, and every beat takes the same amount of time. That is the main rhythm rule. Japanese does not stress syllables the way English does, so no part of the word is louder than the rest.
- たまご ta-ma-goता-मा-गोegg: three even beats, none louder
- ありがとう a-ri-ga-to-uअ-रि-गा-तो-उthank you: five beats, not "ah-ree-GAH-toh"
What you will learn to write
Japanese uses three scripts at once. That sounds like a lot. In practice you learn two small alphabets, then pick up the third gradually for the rest of your life.
- Hiragana (ひらがな): 46 basic characters. Native Japanese words and all grammar. Learn this first.
- Katakana (カタカナ): the same 46 sounds, different shapes. Used for foreign words, names and emphasis.
- Kanji (漢字): characters borrowed from Chinese, each carrying meaning. You need roughly 100 for N5 and 300 for N4.