Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "国" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 国 in Japanese?

国 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /kɯ.ɲi/. It means “country.” ku-ni, two short beats — flat lips on the u and a palatalised n.

ku-ni, two short beats — flat lips on the u and a palatalised n.

国 /kɯ.ɲi/

kuni

Nothing is promoted here: two units of the same length, and standard speech leaves the word unaccented — the pitch rises from ku to ni and stays there, so a following particle sits high. Neither beat should be heard as the word's centre.

Listen: 国

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Sound it out

ku The k is released so gently that no air escapes; then the unrounded u. A voiced n follows, so this vowel keeps its voicing rather than whispering away.

ni The tongue blade lies broadly against the hard palate rather than the tip tapping the ridge, giving a ñ quality, with a short tense i.

Hear it in a sentence

日本は美しい国です。

Nihon wa utsukushii kuni desu.

Japan is a beautiful country.

Listen: 日本は美しい国です。

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

日本は美しい国です places 国 after 美しい, whose long final i runs for two beats. That gives you a sustained vowel colliding directly with a short one, and the join must not blur — the adjective's length belongs to the adjective, not to the noun.

Where English speakers slip

"KOO-nee" rounds the u, stresses the first beat, and stretches the final vowel to English length. Spread the lips, level the two beats, and halve the i. The palatal n is the subtler point: tapping with the tongue tip gives an English n, where Japanese uses a broad, flat contact.