Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "名前" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 名前 in Japanese?

名前 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /na.ma.e/. It means “name.” na-ma-e, three beats — the final e is its own mora, not a glide off the a.

na-ma-e, three beats — the final e is its own mora, not a glide off the a.

名前 /na.ma.e/

namae

Three beats, with a crest in the middle. The a-e junction is where the count usually breaks down: English hears one syllable and delivers one beat, turning a three-mora word into two. Pulse them apart until three feels natural.

Listen: 名前

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Sound it out

na Tongue to the ridge for the n, then a bright short a.

ma Lips meet and part, giving an a of exactly the same quality as the first.

e A short front e standing alone as a beat, arriving straight off the a. This is the mora English speakers delete.

Hear it in a sentence

お名前は何ですか。

Onamae wa nan desu ka?

What is your name?

Listen: お名前は何ですか。

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お名前は何ですか adds the polite お prefix, which is a full beat in its own right — so the word becomes four morae, o-na-ma-e. Then 何 is read "nan" before です, giving a moraic nasal. The whole question runs to about nine beats.

Where English speakers slip

"na-MY" is what English produces: the last two morae fused into a diphthong with stress on them. Say na, ma, e as three separate pulses. Learners also drop the polite お in お名前 to a barely-audible grace note — it carries a full beat like everything else.