BIZLINE - English-Japanese Phonemic Transcription Chart

This is an English-Japanese phonemic conversion chart you can use when transcribing English words or your names in the Japanese alphabet (usually katakana). The entire chart is divided into three tables on this page for easy reference. The first row shows consonants and the first column, vowels.

How to Use

1. Use an English dictionary to find the pronunciation code of the word to write (Example: bird /bɜ:d/).

2. Then, find the consonant /b/ in the top row (fist table) and vowel /ɜ:/ in the left column. The letter for this sound can be found where /b/ and /ɜ:/ lines cross: "バー". The phonem /d/ can be located at the second row from top ("-" is for no vowel), namely "ド". Putting them together, the word can be written: バード.

The tables show two kinds of letter (in red and blue). Red letters are Hiragana and used to write Japanese-based words, while Katakana (in blue) is for foreign words (such as English).

Notes

Although all English words can be written using this chart, some may have already become part of Japanese vocabularies as gairaigo (imported words) under established spelling, as well as popular English names such as John Smith. To check this, use the Google language tool: https://translate.google.com/. The result shows how the word/name is usually transcribed in Japanese.