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JAPANESE PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

JAPANESE PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
A as in the ‘a’ in father Mi as in the ‘mea’ in meat
E as in the ‘e’ in echo Mo said like Moe
I as in the ‘I’ in it Mu said like moo
O as in the ‘o’ in open Mya is a sound between mi and a
U as in the ‘ew’ in dew Myo is a sound between mi and o
Ba as the ‘ba’ in ball Myu as in the ‘mu’ in music
Be said like bay N as the ‘n’ in never
Bi said like bee Na as the ‘na’ in natural
Bo as the ‘bo’ in boat Ne said like nay
Bu as the ‘bu’ in Buddhist Ni said like knee
Bya is a sound between bi and a No as the ‘no’ in nose
Byu as in the ‘bu’ in bureau Nu as the ‘noo’ in noon
Cha as in the ‘cha’ in cha-cha Nya as in ‘nia’ in ammonia
Che as in the ‘che’ in check Nnyo is a sound between ni and o
Chi as in the ‘chee’ in cheek Nyu as in news
Cho as the ‘cho’ in choke Pa as in the ‘pa’ in papa
Chu as the ‘choo’ in choose Pe said like pay
Da as in the ‘do’ in dock Pi said like pea
De as the ‘de’ in desk Po said like Poe
Do as the ‘do’ in dough Pu said like Pooh
Fu as the ‘foo’ in food Pya is a sound between pi and a
Ga as the ‘ga’ in gas Pyo is a sound between pi and o
Ge said like gay Pyu said like pew
Gi as the ‘gee’ in geek’ Ra as the ‘ra’ in rattle
Go as the ‘go’ in going Re said like ray
Gu said like goo Ri as the ‘rea’ in read
Gya is a sound between gi and a Ro said like row
Gyo as in the ‘gu’ in argument Ru as in the ‘roo’ in root
Ha said like haw Rya is a sound between ri and a
He said like hey Ryo is a sound between ri and o
Hi said like he Ryu is a sound between ri and u
Ho said like hoe Sa as in the ‘so’ in sock
Hya is a sound between hi and a Se said like say
Hyo is a sound between hi and o So as the ‘so’ in soak
Hyu is a sound between hi and u Su as in the ‘soo’ in soon
Ja as in the ‘Ja’ in Japan Shi as in the ‘shee’ in sheep
Je as in the ‘ge’ in gentlemen Sho as the ‘sho’ in show
Ji as in the ‘gy’ in gymnasium Shu as the ‘shoo’ in shoot
Jo said like Joe Ta as the ‘to’ in toffee
Ju as in ‘ju’ in June Te as the ‘ta’ in take
Ka said like caw To said like toe
Ke said like Kay Tsu ‘ts’ sound in pants with a ‘u’
Ki said like key Wa as in the ‘wa’ in war
Ko as in the ‘co’ in loco Wu said like woo
Ku said like coo Ya as the ‘ya’ in yank
Kya is a sound between ki and a Yo as the ‘yo’ in yolk
Kyo is a sound between ki and o Yu said like you
Kyu like cue Za as in the ‘za’ in zap
M as in the ‘m’ in mother Ze as in the ‘’za’ in zany
Ma as in the ‘ma’ in mama Zo as in the ‘zo’ in zone
Me like May Zu said like zoo

Related Link

Follow this link to the Judoinfo website where there is more on the subject of pronunciation. Sometimes even audible downloads exists there, if you can find it.

JudoInfo Site