Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "家族" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 家族 in Japanese?

家族 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ka.zo.kɯ̥/. It means “family.” ka-zo-ku, three beats — the final u normally devoices, so the word ends on breath.

ka-zo-ku, three beats — the final u normally devoices, so the word ends on breath.

家族 /ka.zo.kɯ̥/

kazoku

The melody starts high and falls, over three units of matching length. The final beat is often almost inaudible, which tempts learners to stop after two — but the slot remains, so the word takes three counts regardless of what you can hear.

Listen: 家族

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Sound it out

ka A k released with no burst of air, then a bright short a.

zo A buzzing z — mid-word it's a plain z rather than the "dz" of word-initial position — into a stationary short o.

ku The soft k again, with an unrounded u that goes voiceless at the end of the word.

Hear it in a sentence

家族が大好きです。

Kazoku ga daisuki desu.

I love my family.

Listen: 家族が大好きです。

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家族が大好きです includes 大好き (da-i-su-ki), four morae where the su and ki both devoice, so the word comes out close to "dai-ski." Together with the devoiced ku of 家族 and the su of です, the sentence has four whispered vowels in a row at its end.

Where English speakers slip

"ka-ZOH-koo" stresses the middle, glides its vowel, and fully voices a rounded final one. Level the beats, freeze the o, spread the lips, and let the last vowel devoice. If your 家族 ends with an audible "koo," you're voicing something native speakers mostly don't.