無声音(むせいおん)

むせいおん
noun
voiceless sound; voiceless consonant
language
1. voiceless sound; voiceless consonant
A speech sound produced without vibration of the vocal cords. In Japanese, the voiceless consonants include the k, s, t, h, and p series, written with basic kana without diacritical marks.
「か」は無声音(むせいおん)だ。
"Ka" is a voiceless sound.
英語(えいご)の「p」と「b」は無声音(むせいおん)と有声音(ゆうせいおん)の対(つい)だ。
The English "p" and "b" are a pair of voiceless and voiced sounds.
日本語(にほんご)では母音(ぼいん)に挟(はさ)まれた無声音(むせいおん)が有声化(ゆうせいか)することがある。
In Japanese, voiceless sounds between vowels sometimes become voiced.

A compound of 無声(むせい) (voiceless, without voice) and 音(おん) (sound). The antonym of 有声音(ゆうせいおん) (voiced sound). Voiceless sounds are produced by airflow through the mouth without the vocal cords vibrating.

Japanese voiceless consonant series

  • か行(かぎょう) (ka, ki, ku, ke, ko): voiceless velar
  • さ行(さぎょう) (sa, shi, su, se, so): voiceless alveolar
  • た行(たぎょう) (ta, chi, tsu, te, to): voiceless dental
  • は行(はぎょう) (ha, hi, fu, he, ho): voiceless glottal/bilabial
  • ぱ行(ぱぎょう) (pa, pi, pu, pe, po): voiceless bilabial

Common collocations

Similar words

Related Words

Antonym: 有声音(ゆうせいおん) (voiced sound)
Compare: 清音(せいおん) (voiceless kana)
Compare: 濁音(だくおん) (voiced kana)
general
Added 2026.5.2 0:37 · Revised 2026.10.2 9:20
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