Japanese Pronunciation Basics: Mora, Vowels, and Small っ

Japanese pronunciation is approachable when you listen for timing as well as individual sounds. This guide gives you a clean starting point for reading kana. Romaji is a temporary bridge; Hiragana and Katakana practice will help you move toward reading the Japanese script itself.

The five vowels

Japanese has five stable vowel sounds: あ a (similar to the a in “father”), い i (a clear ee sound), う u (a short, unrounded u), え e (like e in “bed”), and お o (like o in “more,” without an English diphthong). Keep them short unless the spelling shows a long vowel. For example, すし (sushi) has two morae in total: す and し, one each.

Think in morae

A mora is a small timing unit used to keep Japanese rhythm even. A kana such as か is one mora. A long vowel takes two: おばさん (obasan, aunt) has four morae, while おばあさん (obaasan, grandmother) has five because ああ stretches the vowel. Do not replace this difference with English word stress. Japanese pitch accent can change across words, but it is a rise-and-fall pattern, not the stronger syllable stress used in English. Beginners should first make the kana and timing clear, then get more listening exposure.

Small っ makes a held consonant

The small っ (促音, sokuon) takes one mora and briefly holds the next consonant. Compare きて (kite, come) with きって (kitte, stamp): the small っ creates a pause before て. In romaji, it is often shown by doubling the consonant, but hearing the extra beat is more useful than memorizing the spelling.

ゃ, ゅ, and ょ make one blended sound

Small ゃ, ゅ, and ょ combine with an i-row kana: きゃ (kya), きゅ (kyu), きょ (kyo). きゃ is one blended mora. It is different from きや (kiya), which has two morae because や is full-sized. The same idea appears in しゃ, しゅ, しょ and ちゃ, ちゅ, ちょ. Keep the small kana visibly small when you write.

The sound ん

ん is one mora. Its exact sound changes slightly before different consonants, but beginners can start with a clear nasal sound and a full beat: ほん (hon, book), せんせい (sensei, teacher), and こんにちは (konnichiwa, hello). Do not squeeze ん into the next syllable or add an extra vowel after it.

Use romaji carefully

Romaji spellings vary. Long vowels may appear as doubled vowels, a macron (ō), or an omitted mark; し may be written shi and ち as chi. These spellings help you search, but they cannot show every timing or pitch detail. Read the kana first, tap each mora, and use a reliable recording when you want to refine pronunciation. This page intentionally has no embedded audio. The Japan Foundation’s free IRODORI Starter materials provide official beginner PDFs and linked audio resources you can choose to use.

Review Japanese particles, try the quizzes, and use the N5 mind map to connect readings with characters. The guide to Japanese numbers and dates gives you useful time and counter words to say aloud. Pronunciation improves through short, repeated practice rather than one perfect romaji chart.

Timing reference: Japan Foundation — Teacher’s notes on mora.