清 音(せいおん)

せいおん

noun

voiceless sound; clear sound (in Japanese phonetics)

1. voiceless sound; clear sound; unvoiced kana

In Japanese phonetics, the basic, unmarked kana syllables that have no voicing diacritic. Includes the sounds represented by か, さ, た, は, and other rows written without dakuten (゛) or handakuten (゜).

「か」は清音(せいおん)で、「が」は濁音(だくおん)です。

'Ka' is a voiceless sound, and 'ga' is a voiced sound.

清音(せいおん)と濁音(だくおん)を正(ただ)しく区別(くべつ)することが大切(たいせつ)だ。

It's important to correctly distinguish between voiceless and voiced sounds.

日本語(にほんご)の五十音表(ごじゅうおんひょう)は清音(せいおん)を基本(きほん)として構成(こうせい)されている。

The Japanese fifty-sounds chart is organized with voiceless sounds as the base.

A phonetics term composed of 清(せい) (clear, pure) and 音(おん) (sound). The name means 'clear/pure sounds' — referring to the basic kana without any voicing marks.

Related words

Japanese kana fall into three phonetic categories:

清音(せいおん): voiceless/clear sounds — the basic unmarked kana (あ, か, さ, た, な, は, ま, や, ら, わ rows)
濁音(だくおん): voiced sounds — marked with 濁点(だくてん) (゛): が, ざ, だ, ば
半濁音(はんだくおん): semi-voiced sounds — marked with 半濁点(はんだくてん) (゜): ぱ, ぴ, ぷ, ぺ, ぽ

Common collocations

清音(せいおん)と濁音(だくおん): voiceless and voiced sounds (a common pair)
清音(せいおん)の発音(はつおん): pronunciation of voiceless sounds
五十音(ごじゅうおん)の清音(せいおん): the voiceless sounds of the fifty-sounds chart

Similar words

濁音(だくおん): voiced sounds — g, z, d, b sounds marked with 濁点(だくてん) (゛)
半濁音(はんだくおん): semi-voiced sounds — the p-sounds marked with 半濁点(はんだくてん) (゜)
撥音(はつおん): the nasal sound 'n' (ん)

Usage

Not to be confused with the homophone 静音(せいおん) (quiet sound, silent operation), which uses different kanji.

Related Words

Compare: 濁音(だくおん) (voiced sounds)

Compare: 半濁音(はんだくおん) (semi-voiced sounds)

Compare: 撥音(はつおん) (the nasal sound 'n')

Related: 濁(にご)る (to become muddy, to become cloudy)

Compare: 有声音(ゆうせいおん) (voiced sound)

Compare: 無声音(むせいおん) (voiceless sound)

general

Added 2026.4.12 16:04 · Revised 2026.10.7 3:23

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