Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "娘" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 娘 in Japanese?

娘 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /mɯ.sɯ.me/. It means “daughter.” mu-su-me, three even beats with two unrounded u's and a flat final "meh."

mu-su-me, three even beats with two unrounded u's and a flat final "meh."

娘 /mɯ.sɯ.me/

musume

The three units are cut identically. This word makes an instructive pair with 息子: same first two morae in writing, but the su devoices in one and stays voiced in the other, purely because of what follows. The timing is identical in both.

Listen: 娘

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Sound it out

mu The lips close for the m and then spread for the flat u — not pursed.

su An ordinary s into a second unrounded u. Because a voiced m follows, this vowel keeps its voicing, unlike the corresponding beat in 息子.

me Bring the lips together, then a short front e held in one position. English slides toward "may" here; anchor the tongue instead.

Hear it in a sentence

娘は医学を勉強します。

Musume wa igaku o benkyou shimasu.

My daughter studies medicine.

Listen: 娘は医学を勉強します。

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娘は医学を勉強します contains 医学 (i-ga-ku), three morae whose final u devoices before the following particle, and 勉強 with its nasal and long vowel. The sentence therefore gives you a voiced su and a devoiced ku within a few beats of each other.

Where English speakers slip

"moo-SOO-may" rounds both u's, stresses the middle, and diphthongises the final e. Three separate fixes, of which the lip position matters most — Japanese u is made with the lips flat, and getting that wrong twice in one three-beat word transforms its whole sound.