The Building Blocks of Japanese

Hiragana is where it all begins. By mastering this alphabet you will be able to pronounce virtually every word in the Japanese language. The sounds of the hiragana alphabet are easily adapted for English speakers.

Hiragana

あ a	い i	う u	え e	お o
か ka	き ki	く ku	け ke	こ ko
さ sa	し shi*	す su	せ se	そ so
た ta	ち chi*	つ tsu*	て te	と to
な na	に ni	ぬ nu	ね ne	の no
は ha	ひ hi	ふ fu*	へ he	ほ ho
ま ma	み mi	む mu	め me	も mo
や ya		ゆ yu		よ yo
ら ra	り ri	る ru	れ re	ろ ro
わ wa				を o*
ん n

* exception to pattern

 

Diacritical Marks

The additional sounds of the Japanese phonetic collection are accomplished using two diacritical marks.

They are: ( ” ) and ( ° ). The first turns k,s,t, and h into g,z,d, and b respectively. The ( ° ) will turn an h to a p.

Hiragana with Diacritical Marks

が ga	ぎ gi	ぐ gu	げ ge	ご go
ざ za	じ ji*	ず zu	ぜ ze	ぞ zo
だ da	ぢ ji**	づ zu**	で de	ど do
ば ba	び bi	ぶ bu	べ be	ぼ bo
ぱ pa	ぴ pi	ぷ pu	ぺ pe	ぽ po

* exception to pattern

** rarely used

 

Transcribing Contracted Sounds

There are smaller versions of や, ゆ, and よ; roughly one half the size (ゃ, ゅ, and ょ). These are used to created contracted sounds. These sounds are a single sylable and are accomplished with a “chopping” analogy to the pronunciation. (pretend to be accompanying a karate chop with these sounds)

Hiragana Contactions

きゃ kya	きゅ kyu	きょ kyo
ぎゃ gya	ぎゅ gyu	ぎょ gyo
しゃ sha	しゅ shu	しょ sho
じゃ jya	じゅ jyu	じょ jyo
ちゃ cha	ちゅ chu	ちょ cho
にゃ nya	にゅ nyu	にょ nyo
ひゃ hya	ひゅ hyu	ひょ hyo
びゃ bya	びゅ byu	びょ byo
ぴゃ pya	ぴゅ pyu	ぴょ pyo
りゃ rya	りゅ ryu	りょ ryo

 

Flashcards and Quiz:

http://www.manythings.org/q/kana.php?u=hiragana

 

Examples: