Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "荷物" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 荷物 in Japanese?

荷物 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɲi.mo.tsɯ̥/. It means “luggage / baggage.” ni-mo-tsu, three beats — a palatalised n at the front and a real affricate at the end.

ni-mo-tsu, three beats — a palatalised n at the front and a real affricate at the end.

荷物 /ɲi.mo.tsɯ̥/

nimotsu

Three beats, evenly cut, with a crest on the middle one. The final beat is often almost voiceless, which tempts learners to stop after two — but it holds its place in the count regardless.

Listen: 荷物

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Sound it out

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

mo The lips shut and release, giving a stationary short o that doesn't glide.

tsu One indivisible affricate: seal for t, release into s. The unrounded u after it devoices at the end of the word.

Hear it in a sentence

荷物はここに置いてください。

Nimotsu wa koko ni oite kudasai.

Please leave your luggage here.

Listen: 荷物はここに置いてください。

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荷物はここに置いてください contains ここ (two identical beats) and 置いて (three morae with a vowel pair). So the sentence asks you to match two repeated morae and then to keep two adjacent vowels apart — opposite skills, one after the other.

Where English speakers slip

"nee-MOE-tsoo" stretches the opening i, stresses and glides the middle, and rounds the final vowel. Halve the i and palatalise the n, freeze the o, and let the closing u devoice with the lips flat. Splitting the affricate into "t" plus "soo" adds a beat that isn't there.