Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "月" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 月 in Japanese?

月 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /tsɯ̥.ki/. It means “moon; month.” tsu-ki, two beats — a genuine affricate at the front, with the u often whispered to nothing.

tsu-ki, two beats — a genuine affricate at the front, with the u often whispered to nothing.

月 /tsɯ̥.ki/

tsuki

Two slots, both short, with the pitch high on the first. Almost the whole word can go voiceless in fast speech, which makes it a good reminder that the beats are being counted internally by the speaker even when there's very little to hear.

Listen: 月

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Sound it out

tsu One indivisible sound at the start of a word, where English never allows it. Seal for t, release into s, in a single gesture. The u sits between voiceless sounds and commonly devoices.

ki A k with a palatal colouring before the i, then a short tense vowel. Because it follows a voiceless environment, this vowel can lighten too.

Hear it in a sentence

今夜は月がきれいです。

Konya wa tsuki ga kirei desu.

The moon is beautiful tonight.

Listen: 今夜は月がきれいです。

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今夜は月がきれいです pairs it with きれい, whose final "ei" is pronounced as a long e — so the sentence closes on a held vowel after opening with an affricate. 今夜 (ko-n-ya) also contributes a nasal beat, with the ん sitting awkwardly before a y-glide.

Where English speakers slip

"TSOO-kee" splits or over-voices the affricate, rounds the u, and lengthens the final i. All three shrink toward nothing in natural speech. Keep the ts as one release, spread the lips, and clip the ki. English speakers also tend to aspirate the k here, which makes the word sound percussive.