Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "男" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 男 in Japanese?

男 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /o.to.ko/. It means “man.” o-to-ko, three even beats with three identical o's — none of them reduced.

o-to-ko, three even beats with three identical o's — none of them reduced.

男 /o.to.ko/

otoko

Three slots and one vowel repeated three times, which strips away every excuse for unevenness. Standard speech gives the word an early crest, but the durations stay locked; if any of the three o's is shorter or weaker, English reduction has crept in.

Listen: 男

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Sound it out

o A stationary mid-back vowel opening the word, short, with no glide toward w.

to Dental t, quietly released, then an o exactly matching the first.

ko A third quiet k-like release, then a third identical o. Three of the same vowel in a row is a genuine test of even production.

Hear it in a sentence

あの男の人は私のおじです。

Ano otoko no hito wa watashi no oji desu.

That man is my uncle.

Listen: あの男の人は私のおじです。

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あの男の人は私のおじです strings the word into a longer phrase, 男の人, five continuous morae with the particle の joined on directly. English would break before "man"; Japanese runs the whole noun phrase together, so the seam should be inaudible.

Where English speakers slip

"o-TOE-ko" stresses the middle beat, diphthongises its vowel, and weakens the last one. Freeze all three o's so none of them glides, and match their lengths exactly. The word should sound almost monotonous — which is precisely what a native version sounds like to an English ear.