Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "上手" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 上手 in Japanese?

上手 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /dʑoː.zɯ/. It means “good at / skilled.” jo-o-zu, three beats — a long o at the front and an unrounded u at the end.

jo-o-zu, three beats — a long o at the front and an unrounded u at the end.

上手 /dʑoː.zɯ/

jouzu

Three morae, two of which are the long o. That gives the word a front-heavy shape in duration but not in stress — the length is at the beginning, yet nothing is emphasised. English speakers reliably convert the length into loudness instead, which changes the character of the word entirely.

Listen: 上手

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Sound it out

jou A soft palatal affricate — tongue blade, not tip — releasing into an o held for two full morae. The u in the romaji marks that length; there's no separate "oo" sound.

zu A buzzing voiced consonant with the flat-lipped Japanese u. Mid-word this is closer to a plain z than to the "dz" you'd hear word-initially.

Hear it in a sentence

料理がとても上手ですね。

Ryouri ga totemo jouzu desu ne.

You're very good at cooking.

Listen: 料理がとても上手ですね。

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料理がとても上手ですね opens with 料理 (ryo-o-ri), which packs a palatalised r-mora, a long vowel and a tap into three beats — arguably harder than 上手 itself. Two long o's in one sentence, in りょう and じょう, and both need their full two counts.

Where English speakers slip

"JOE-zoo" is the standard version: a short first vowel, English stress on it, a hard English j, and a rounded final vowel. Hold the o for two counts, soften the j to a blade articulation, and spread the lips for the u. The rounding is especially audible here because the word ends on that vowel.