Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "魚" in Japanese?

sa-ka-na, three even beats with three identical a's.

魚 /sa.ka.na/

sakana

Three beats built on one vowel three times over, and standard speech leaves the word unaccented — so the pitch steps up after sa and runs flat to the end. The result should sound almost mechanically regular.

Listen: 魚

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Sound it out

sa A short, clean s, then a bright open a with the jaw down.

ka A k released with no puff at all, then a second a exactly matching the first.

na Tongue to the ridge, then a third identical a. Three of the same vowel in three consecutive beats.

Hear it in a sentence

魚が海で泳いでいます。

Sakana ga umi de oyoide imasu.

The fish is swimming in the sea.

Listen: 魚が海で泳いでいます。

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魚が海で泳いでいます contains 海 (u-mi) with its unrounded opening vowel and 泳いで with a vowel pair. So after three identical a's, the sentence asks for an unrounded u and then two vowels that must not merge — three different challenges in a row.

Where English speakers slip

"sa-KAH-na" stresses the middle beat and weakens the last toward a schwa. All three a's should be indistinguishable. Because the word is so vowel-uniform, an English stress pattern is unusually easy to hear — deliver it flatter than feels natural.