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.
| 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.
| 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)
| 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 |