Japanese Language: A, I, U, E, O Sounds for Japanese

In the Japanese phonetic system, there is no equivalent sound to the “ə” or “æ” sound found in the word “apple.” This can make it challenging for Japanese speakers to pronounce the word accurately. The “ə” and “æ” sounds are vowel sounds that are not commonly used in Japanese, which primarily consist of vowel sounds like “a,” “i,” “u,” “e,” and “o.” When encountering words with the “ə” or “æ” sound, Japanese speakers often substitute it with a similar sound or modify it to fit within the Japanese phonetic system.

We don’t have proper “l” and “r” sounds either, so the word “apple” is becoming like the below:

Apple /ˈæpl/ in English = /appuɾu/ in Japanese

“R and L” for Japanese people

“S and TH” sounds for Japanese People

The absence of the “ə” and “æ” sound in Japanese adds an extra layer of difficulty for Japanese speakers when learning and pronouncing words like “apple” that contain this sound. It requires them to learn and practice new pronunciation techniques to accurately pronounce words with the “æ” sound, which may not come naturally to us.

Understanding these challenges can help non-Japanese speakers appreciate the effort Japanese speakers put into mastering words with unfamiliar sounds like “ə” or “æ”, and promote effective communication between different language speakers.

Other examples of “ə” or “æ” sound

Words	English pronunciation	Japanese pronunciation
address	/əˈdres/	/adoɾesu/
can	/kən/	/kjan/
answer	/ˈɑːnsə(r)/	/ansaː/
cat	/kæt/	/cjatto/
bank	/bæŋk/	/banku/
matter	/ˈmætə(r)/	/mataː/
thank	/θæŋk/	/sanku/

When you get the chance to interact with Japanese individuals, I encourage you to attentively listen to them with an open mind and a spirit of understanding.