Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "女" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 女 in Japanese?

女 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /on.na/. It means “woman.” o-n-na, three beats — the doubled n is a full beat of sustained humming before the na.

o-n-na, three beats — the doubled n is a full beat of sustained humming before the na.

女 /on.na/

onna

Three slots for what English reads as two syllables, with the extra one spent entirely on nasal resonance. Compare it with 男 (otoko), also three beats but with three audible vowels — same length, completely different internal make-up.

Listen: 女

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Sound it out

o A short stationary mid-back vowel, over quickly.

n A whole mora of nasal. Since a na follows, the tongue is already at the teeth-ridge, so this is a held n — hum it for a genuine extra count before releasing.

na The release: the same nasal opening onto a bright short a. There's no restart, just a vowel emerging from the sustained hum.

Hear it in a sentence

あの女の人は笑っています。

Ano onna no hito wa waratte imasu.

That woman is smiling.

Listen: あの女の人は笑っています。

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あの女の人は笑っています uses 女の人 and then 笑って with its geminate — wa-ra-t-te, four morae including a beat of held silence. So the sentence has a lengthened nasal early and a lengthened stop later: the two main gemination patterns, one voiced and one silent.

Where English speakers slip

"OH-na" in two beats is the standard shortfall, with the doubled n reduced to a single flick. Hold it audibly — say "on" and then keep humming before opening into "na." Learners also glide the opening o; freeze the lips so it stays a single steady vowel.