Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "窓" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 窓 in Japanese?

窓 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ma.do/. It means “window.” ma-do, two short beats — a bright a and a stationary o, neither of them stressed.

ma-do, two short beats — a bright a and a stationary o, neither of them stressed.

窓 /ma.do/

mado

Equal durations, with the crest on the first. Both consonants are voiced and both vowels are open-ish, which gives the word a soft, quick quality that English speakers tend to weigh down by stressing the first beat.

Listen: 窓

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Sound it out

ma An unforced lip closure, then a bright short a with the jaw genuinely dropped.

do The d is dental — the tongue tip on the back of the upper teeth, not the ridge — releasing quietly into a short o that doesn't glide.

Hear it in a sentence

窓から海が見えます。

Mado kara umi ga miemasu.

You can see the sea from the window.

Listen: 窓から海が見えます。

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窓から海が見えます contains 見えます, where mi and e are separate morae with no glide between them. So the sentence pairs a simple two-beat noun with a verb that requires you to keep two adjacent vowels apart — the harder skill, arriving second.

Where English speakers slip

"MAH-doh" stretches and stresses the first beat and glides the second vowel. Both should be short, and the o must not move during its beat. Learners also place the d on the ridge behind the teeth with a small puff of air; Japanese puts it on the teeth themselves and releases it quietly.