phonetic Transcription /…/

The symbols between slashes represent how to pronounce the word.

Symbol	Explanation	Example
a, i, u, e, o	Japanese vowels	/watashi/
k, s, t, n, m, etc.	Consonants	/neko/
sh	Like English “sh” in “ship”	/shiroi/
ch	Like English “ch” in “cheese”	/chiisai/
ː (long mark)	Long vowel	/supoːtsu/ = “supootsu”
ii, ee	Double vowels (long)	/chiisai/, /gakusee/

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Pitch Accent Symbols

Japanese uses pitch accent (high and low tones), not stress accent like English.

￣ (Flat line)

• Indicates heiban (平板) or “flat” accent
• Pattern: Low-High-High-High…
• The pitch rises after the first mora and stays high
• Examples: 私￣, 名前￣, 猫￣

┐ (Downstep mark)

• Indicates a drop in pitch at that position
• The pitch falls immediately after the marked syllable
• Examples: 好き┐ = suKI↘, 青┐ = aO↘

③, ② (Numbers)

• Indicates which mora the pitch drops after
• ② = pitch drops after the 2nd mora
• ③ = pitch drops after the 3rd mora
• Examples:
  • スポーツ② = su-PO↘-o-tsu
  • 小さい③ = chi-i-SA↘-i

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Summary Table

Symbol	Name	Meaning
/…/	Phonetic transcription	Pronunciation guide
￣	Heiban	Flat pattern (no drop)
┐	Downstep	Pitch drops here
①②③	Accent position	Pitch drops after this mora
ː	Length mark	Long vowel

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Note

These pitch accent notations are based on Tokyo (standard) Japanese. Pitch patterns may vary in other dialects.