I can read any word written with あ–の, count its moras, and say every vowel in full: Japanese never reduces a vowel to “uh”.
One character, one mora
One character, one mora
Japanese writing is not an alphabet. Each hiragana character here is always read the same way and takes one mora: one beat of equal length (exceptions come later). Today you read the first 25 characters: the five vowels and the か, さ, た, な rows.
The vowels: あ [a], い [i], う [ɯ] (lips relaxed, not pushed forward), え [e], お [o]. English turns unstressed vowels into “uh”; Japanese never does: in あさ both moras are equally clear. [i] and [ɯ] between voiceless consonants (つき, くつ) are whispered, but the mora keeps its length.
Words are measured in moras, not syllables: さ・か・な (sakana) is three equal moras, none stressed. Romaji in parentheses shows the sound; to type, spell what the kana spells.
The rest are the row's consonant plus a vowel: か [ka], き [ki], く [kɯ], け [ke], こ [ko]; the さ, た, な rows work the same way. Three don't follow their row: し [ɕi] (shi), close to English “she”, with the tongue flatter (さ row: さ し す せ そ); ち [tɕi] (chi), like “chee” in “cheese”; つ [tsɯ] (tsu), the ts of “cats”, even at the start of a word (た row: た ち つ て と).
て and ね have a pure [e], like the e of “bet”: no glide into “ee”.
Common mistakes:
• NOT a shorter first mora in あさ — both are the same length.
• NOT “KAH-suh” for かさ: both vowels are a full [a].
• NOT [si] or [ʃi] for し.
• NOT [tsu] with rounded lips for つ.
• NOT “tay” with a glide for て.
Five vowels, never reduced
A vowel sounds the same anywhere in a word: unlike English, Japanese never reduces a vowel to “uh”.
| Character | Sound | Word | NOT like this |
|---|---|---|---|
| あ | [a] | あさ | the first mora is as long as the second |
| い | [i] | いえ | not the i of “sit” |
| う | [ɯ] | うた | lips not pushed forward |
| え | [e] | こえ | not “ay” |
| お | [o] | たこ | no “oh-w” at the end |
How many moras in a word
One character, one mora — and every mora is the same length.
| Written form | How many moras | The rhythm |
|---|---|---|
| つくえ | 3 | three even moras |
| とけい | 3 | three separate characters — three moras |
| ちかてつ | 4 | four equal moras |
| あに | 2 | two short moras |
Lesson notes
One character, one mora
Japanese writing is not an alphabet. Each hiragana character here is always read the same way and takes one mora: one beat of equal length (exceptions come later). Today you read the first 25 characters: the five vowels and the か, さ, た, な rows.
The vowels: あ [a], い [i], う [ɯ] (lips relaxed, not pushed forward), え [e], お [o]. English turns unstressed vowels into “uh”; Japanese never does: in あさ both moras are equally clear. [i] and [ɯ] between voiceless consonants (つき, くつ) are whispered, but the mora keeps its length.
Words are measured in moras, not syllables: さ・か・な (sakana) is three equal moras, none stressed. Romaji in parentheses shows the sound; to type, spell what the kana spells.
The rest are the row's consonant plus a vowel: か [ka], き [ki], く [kɯ], け [ke], こ [ko]; the さ, た, な rows work the same way. Three don't follow their row: し [ɕi] (shi), close to English “she”, with the tongue flatter (さ row: さ し す せ そ); ち [tɕi] (chi), like “chee” in “cheese”; つ [tsɯ] (tsu), the ts of “cats”, even at the start of a word (た row: た ち つ て と).
て and ね have a pure [e], like the e of “bet”: no glide into “ee”.
Common mistakes:
• NOT a shorter first mora in あさ — both are the same length.
• NOT “KAH-suh” for かさ: both vowels are a full [a].
• NOT [si] or [ʃi] for し.
• NOT [tsu] with rounded lips for つ.
• NOT “tay” with a glide for て.