Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "医者" in Japanese?

i-sha, two beats — "sha" is a single mora, not "shi-ya."

医者 /i.ɕa/

isha

Two beats, both short, with a crest on the first. The word is compact and easy to over-lengthen, since English needs two full syllables to produce anything resembling "isha" — keep both beats brief and equal.

Listen: 医者

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Sound it out

i A tight, forward i opening the word, clipped to about half the length of English "ee."

sha A palatal hiss combined with an a in one mora. The tongue blade does the work, and the friction is lighter and further forward than English sh.

Hear it in a sentence

明日、医者に行きます。

Ashita, isha ni ikimasu.

I am going to the doctor tomorrow.

Listen: 明日、医者に行きます。

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明日、医者に行きます opens with 明日 (a-shi-ta), whose middle vowel devoices, and closes with 行きます, whose ki devoices too. So the sentence has two whispered vowels around 医者's two clear ones, all at the same tempo.

Where English speakers slip

"EE-shah" doubles the opening vowel and stresses it, then lets the final a ring out. Both beats are short. Learners also sometimes split the sha into two morae by inserting an i — that turns a two-beat word into a three-beat one and makes it unrecognisable.