Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "赤" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 赤 in Japanese?

赤 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /a.ka/. It means “red.” a-ka, two identical open vowels, two identical beats, with an unaspirated k in the middle.

a-ka, two identical open vowels, two identical beats, with an unaspirated k in the middle.

赤 /a.ka/

aka

Two morae built from the same vowel twice, which makes it another clean test of even timing. Standard speech is unaccented here, so the pitch rises slightly from the first mora and stays flat — no fall, no peak, and certainly no English-style stress on either half.

Listen: 赤

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Sound it out

a A bright, short open vowel — the same quality it will have in the next mora, with no weakening in either position.

ka The k comes without the breath-puff English gives "car": hold a hand to your mouth and there should be almost nothing. The a matches the first one exactly in length and colour.

Hear it in a sentence

このりんごは赤いです。

Kono ringo wa akai desu.

This apple is red.

Listen: このりんごは赤いです。

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このりんごは赤いです turns the noun into the adjective 赤い, adding a third mora. The sentence also gives you りんご (ri-n-go): a flapped r, a moraic ん taking a full beat, then go. Learners routinely say "ringo" as two English syllables and lose the ん's count — say it as three and the word suddenly sounds Japanese.

Where English speakers slip

Because the letters look like the English name "Aka" or the phrase "a.k.a.," learners import an English stress pattern and aspirate the k hard. The correct version has two equal beats, two identical short a's, and a k released so gently it might pass for a g to an untrained ear. If you hear a puff of air after the k, soften it.