Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "休み" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 休み in Japanese?

休み is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ja.sɯ̥.mi/. It means “day off / vacation.” ya-su-mi, three beats — "ya" is one mora and the middle vowel often whispers.

ya-su-mi, three beats — "ya" is one mora and the middle vowel often whispers.

休み /ja.sɯ̥.mi/

yasumi

An even three-count, with a crest early. The middle beat is often nearly voiceless, which makes the word feel shorter than it is — but the timing slot remains, so all three counts have to be there.

Listen: 休み

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Sound it out

ya The y and the a as a single continuous gesture in one beat, never split into "ee-ya."

su A short clean s with an unrounded u that tends to devoice between voiceless neighbours — so the middle of the word can go breathy.

mi The lips close and open, giving a short tense i about half the length of English "me."

Hear it in a sentence

八月に休みを取ります。

Hachi-gatsu ni yasumi o torimasu.

I'm taking a vacation in August.

Listen: 八月に休みを取ります。

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八月に休みを取ります opens with 八月 (ha-chi-ga-tsu), four morae with two affricates. So the sentence gives you a light chi, a real tsu, a whispered su and a tap in 取ります — most of the consonants English speakers find awkward, in one line.

Where English speakers slip

"ya-SOO-mee" rounds and stresses the middle vowel and doubles the final i. Spread the lips, let the su devoice, and clip the closing vowel. Learners also split ya into two beats, which turns a three-beat word into a four-beat one.