Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "豚" in Japanese?

bu-ta, two short beats — a clean b, an unrounded u, and a dental t.

豚 /bɯ.ta/

buta

Both halves the same length, with a crest on the first. There is nothing lengthened and nothing nasal here, which makes the word a clean two-count and a good baseline against which to hear longer words.

Listen: 豚

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Sound it out

bu A b that transfers directly from English, followed by the unrounded u. The lips must spread after the closure rather than staying pursed.

ta The tongue touches the upper teeth for the t and releases quietly into a bright short a.

Hear it in a sentence

動物園で豚を見ました。

Doubutsuen de buta o mimashita.

I saw a pig at the zoo.

Listen: 動物園で豚を見ました。

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動物園で豚を見ました opens with 動物園 (do-o-bu-tsu-e-n), six morae with a long o, an affricate, a bare vowel and a moraic nasal. Against that, 豚's two plain beats sound almost startlingly short.

Where English speakers slip

"BOO-ta" rounds the u and stresses the first beat. Spread the lips and keep both beats equal. Learners also aspirate the t, which is a small error in isolation but adds up across a language where no stop is aspirated the way English aspirates them.