Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "部屋" in Japanese?

he-ya, two beats — a soft h, a flat "eh," and "ya" as one single mora.

部屋 /he.ja/

heya

The two units are cut the same, with the crest on the first. Neither beat is long, and the whole word passes quickly — English speakers, seeing four letters, tend to give it more time than it deserves.

Listen: 部屋

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Sound it out

he A gently shaped breath rather than a forceful English h, opening onto a short front e anchored in one position.

ya The y-glide and the a form one mora together, produced as a single gesture rather than as "ee-ya."

Hear it in a sentence

部屋は小さいです。

Heya wa chiisai desu.

My room is small.

Listen: 部屋は小さいです。

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部屋は小さいです ends with 小さい, four morae with a long i at the front and a vowel pair at the close. So a compact two-beat noun is followed by a word carrying both kinds of extra duration — the contrast makes the adjective's length easier to hear.

Where English speakers slip

"HEY-ah" is the standard mangling: the e diphthongised into English "hey," and ya split into two beats. Anchor the e so it can't travel, and produce ya as one continuous gesture. The h also needs softening — English pushes far more air, which makes the word sound emphatic.