Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "暇" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 暇 in Japanese?

暇 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /çi.ma/. It means “free (time).” hi-ma, two short beats, and the h is palatal — closer to the start of "hue" than to "he."

hi-ma, two short beats, and the h is palatal — closer to the start of "hue" than to "he."

暇 /çi.ma/

hima

Two beats of equal size, with the melody high on the first. Because the word is so short, there's no room to soften the palatal h by easing into it: it has to be right from the first instant. Both beats are brief — the whole word lasts about as long as the English syllable "heem."

Listen: 暇

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Sound it out

hi Before an i, Japanese h moves its friction up to the hard palate, giving a hissier, more focused sound than the plain h of "hat." Think of the breathy onset of English "human." The i is short and tense.

ma Lips together, then a bright short a. Straightforward — the interest in this word is all in the first mora.

Hear it in a sentence

今晩は暇ですか。

Konban wa hima desu ka?

Are you free tonight?

Listen: 今晩は暇ですか。

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今晩は暇ですか opens with 今晩 (ko-n-ba-n), four morae with two nasals, the first of which becomes an m-like closure before the b. Then 暇ですか arrives with its palatal h and a devoiced su. The sentence moves from heavy nasal resonance to light friction in the space of a few beats.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers say "HEE-ma" with a plain h and a stretched first vowel. The plain h is the audible error — Japanese ひ has a distinctly hissier quality that English h lacks. Raise the friction to the palate, shorten the vowel, and keep both beats equal in length so the word doesn't sound like it has an English stress on the front.