Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "タオル" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce タオル in Japanese?

タオル is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ta.o.ɾɯ/. It means “towel.” ta-o-ru, three beats — the ta and o are separate morae, and there's no English "ow" anywhere.

ta-o-ru, three beats — the ta and o are separate morae, and there's no English "ow" anywhere.

タオル /ta.o.ɾɯ/

taoru

Three beats where English delivers two syllables. The a-o sequence accounts for one extra beat and the inserted final u for another, so the loanword is noticeably longer and rhythmically quite different from English "towel."

Listen: タオル

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Sound it out

ta Dental t with a quiet release into a bright short a.

o A stationary mid-back vowel taking its own full beat, arriving directly off the a with no glide.

ru A quick strike of the tongue tip, then the unrounded u — an inserted vowel, since Japanese cannot end a word in l or r.

Hear it in a sentence

新しいタオルをください。

Atarashii taoru o kudasai.

Please give me a new towel.

Listen: 新しいタオルをください。

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新しいタオルをください opens with 新しい, five morae ending on a long i, and closes with ください, four more with a vowel pair at the end. The loanword sits between them, and its three beats must not shrink to match English expectations.

Where English speakers slip

"TOWL" or "TAO-ru" both lose beats: the first fuses a and o into an English diphthong, the second swallows the final vowel. Give all three morae their own count, keep the lips flat for the u, and tap rather than curl for the r.