Hiragana | Phoneme | Romanization | Description
|
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 | /a/ | "a"
| The tongue position for this vowel is between that for "a" in father and that for "a" in cat.
|
 | /i/ | "i"
| Similar to "ea" in beat.
|
 | /u/ | "u"
| Similar to "oo" in cool, but Japanese "u" is a more relaxed sound than that.
You don't have to round your lips tightly.
|
 | /e/ | "e"
| Similar to "e" in end, but the mouth position for Japanese "e" is not as wide as that for English "e".
|
 | /o/ | "o"
| Similar to the first sound in owe.
Do not change the mouth position during the pronunciation. The word owe sounds /o/ + /u/ to Japanese speakers.
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