Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "赤ちゃん" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 赤ちゃん in Japanese?

赤ちゃん is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /a.ka.tɕaɴ/. It means “baby.” a-ka-cha-n, four beats — "cha" is one mora and the closing nasal is another.

a-ka-cha-n, four beats — "cha" is one mora and the closing nasal is another.

赤ちゃん /a.ka.tɕaɴ/

akachan

Four slots, of which the last has no vowel. The word is 赤 plus the affectionate suffix ちゃん, and that suffix is two full beats — cha and n — which is why words ending in it always sound longer than English speakers expect.

Listen: 赤ちゃん

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Sound it out

a A bright open vowel with the jaw dropped, filling a full beat.

ka Quiet release on the k, then a second a identical to the first.

cha One affricate combined with an a in a single mora — not "chi-ya." The tongue blade makes the contact, and the friction is lighter than English ch.

n One count of pure resonance to finish, produced far back with the mouth still open.

Hear it in a sentence

赤ちゃんが寝ています。

Akachan ga nete imasu.

The baby is sleeping.

Listen: 赤ちゃんが寝ています。

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赤ちゃんが寝ています ends with 寝ています, five morae with a tap in the middle and a final devoiced su. There's nothing long or geminated anywhere, so the sentence's whole duration comes from counting nine morae honestly at one tempo.

Where English speakers slip

"a-KA-chan" stresses the middle and treats the final n as a closing consonant, so the word arrives in three beats instead of four. Level the emphasis, keep both a's identical, and hum the ん for its own full count. The cha should also be lighter — English ch is noticeably more aspirated.