Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "今日" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 今日 in Japanese?

今日 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /kʲoː/. It means “today.” kyoo — one syllable but two beats, with a palatalised k and a genuinely long o.

kyoo — one syllable but two beats, with a palatalised k and a genuinely long o.

今日 /kʲoː/

kyou

Two beats inside one syllable — a shape English simply doesn't have. Since this word opens countless everyday sentences, getting its length right sets the tempo for everything that follows; a clipped きょう makes the whole sentence sound rushed.

Listen: 今日

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Sound it out

kyo The k and the y are produced simultaneously: the tongue is already in the palatal position as the k releases. Saying "kee-yo" splits one mora into two.

u (length) The romaji u is a length mark, not a vowel. Hold the o for a second full beat without rearticulating or changing the mouth position.

Hear it in a sentence

今日はとても忙しいです。

Kyou wa totemo isogashii desu.

I'm very busy today.

Listen: 今日はとても忙しいです。

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今日はとても忙しいです moves from this held vowel to とても's three short beats and then to 忙しい's five, which end on another long vowel. Two long vowels bracketing eight short ones — if you deliver the sentence with the held vowels shortened, it loses roughly a fifth of its length.

Where English speakers slip

"kyo" as a single quick beat is the standard shortfall, along with a split "kee-oh" at the other extreme. Neither is right: one compressed consonant gesture, then a vowel held for two counts. English speakers also aspirate the k heavily; soften it so no air escapes.