Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "大きい" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 大きい in Japanese?

大きい is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /oː.kiː/. It means “big / large.” oo-kii — four beats, made of two long vowels, even though English reads only two syllables.

oo-kii — four beats, made of two long vowels, even though English reads only two syllables.

大きい /oː.kiː/

ookii

Four morae from what looks like a two-syllable word, and every bit of that extra length lives in the two long vowels. Standard speech places a fall in the middle, but the timing is what identifies the word — a short version simply doesn't register as 大きい to a native listener.

Listen: 大きい

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Sound it out

oo A single mid-back o held for two full morae without wavering. This isn't emphasis and it isn't two separate o's — it's one continuous vowel that lasts twice as long as a short one.

kii A quietly released k followed by an i sustained for another two morae. Same principle at the other end of the word: one vowel, double length.

Hear it in a sentence

大きい家に住んでいます。

Ookii ie ni sunde imasu.

I live in a big house.

Listen: 大きい家に住んでいます。

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大きい家に住んでいます follows it with 家 (i-e), two separate short vowels, and then 住んで with its moraic nasal. So the sentence puts a four-beat word made of length right before a two-beat word made of two distinct short vowels — the clearest possible contrast between holding a vowel and articulating two.

Where English speakers slip

"OH-kee" in two beats is what English delivers, because doubled letters read as spelling conventions rather than instructions. That halves the word. Hold each vowel until it feels theatrical — you'll still probably be short. And keep the o from gliding: it's one steady position for two whole counts, not a diphthong stretched out.