HANDAKUON are the syllables defining with p, which is the semi-voiced counterpart of b.

This type of symbol is indicated by a little circle instead of two abbreviated strokes at the upper

right hand corner of the syllables that begin with h namely, ぱ, ぴ, ぷ,ぺ,ぽ.

As you may recall, the pronunciation of ぷ is represented by (fu), because this denotes the
correct pronunciation better than (hu) does. There is no corresponding change in the
pronunciation of syllables that begin with p. These are pronounced like (pa), (pi), (pu), (pe), (po).
(Likewise, as seen in the previous section, there is no change in the syllables beginning with b.)

pa ぱ pi ぴ pu ぷ pe ぺ po ぽ

SIMILAR HIRAGANA

あ–a お–o

き – ki さ- sa

ち – chi ら – ra
 た – ta な – na

い–i り – ri

う -u え–e

ま – ma も – mo

る – ru ろ – ro

こ – ko に – ni
す – su む – mu

け – ke は – ha ほ – ho

め – me ぬ – nu の – no
わ – wa れ – re ね – ne
 THE JAPANESE ALPHABET

Hiragana

ひらがな
The first step to learning the Japanese language is to learn the alphabet. Or, at least, to learn the
sounds that exist in the language. There are absolutely no "tones" in Japanese like in many other
asian languages and there are only 2 exceptions within the alphabet which will be explained later.
The Japanese alphabet does not contain letters but, instead, contains characters and, technically,
they are not alphabets but character sets. The characters are called Hiragana. Hiragana is the
main alphabet or character set for Japanese. Japanese also consists of two other character sets -
Kanji (Chinese characters), which we will get into later, and another alphabet/character set,
Katakana, which is mainly used for foreign words. Katakana will be covered in Lesson 2. rn them
as you continue to go through the other lessons. Don't wait to move on until you have all
Hiragana characters memorized.

There are 5 vowels in Japanese. (a), pronounced "ahh", (i), pronounced like "e" in "eat", (u),
pronounced like "oo" in "soon", (e), pronounced like "e" in "elk", and (o), pronounced "oh". All
Hiragana characters end with one of these vowels, with the exception of (n). The only
"consonant" that does not resemble that of English is the Japanese "r". It is slightly "rolled" as if it
were a combination of a "d", "r", and "l".
COMPLETE HIRAGANA CHART TABLE
 A I U E O

a line あ い う え お

ka line か き く け こ

ga (“) が ぎ ぐ げ ご

sa line さ し す せ そ

za (“) ざ じ ず ぜ ぞ

ta line た ち つ て と

da (“) だ ぢ づ で ど

na line な に ぬ ね の

ha line は ひ ふ へ ほ

ba (“) ば び ぶ べ ぼ

pa (◦) ぱ ぴ ぷ ぺ ぽ

ma line ま み む め も

ya line や ゆ よ

ra line ら り る れ ろ

wa line わ を

n ん
 COMPLETE KATAKANA CHART TABLE

A I U E O

a line ア イ ウ エ オ

ka line カ キ ク ケ コ

ga (“) ガ ギ グ ゲ ゴ

sa line サ シ ス セ ソ

za (“) ザ ジ ズ ゼ ゾ

ta line タ チ ツ テ ト

da (“) ダ ヂ ヅ デ ド

na line ナ ニ ヌ ネ ノ

ha line ハ ヒ フ ヘ ホ

ba (“) バ ビ ブ ベ ボ

pa (◦) パ ピ プ ペ ポ

ma line マ ミ ム メ モ

ya line ヤ ユ ヨ

ra line ラ リ ル レ ロ
wa line ワ ヲ

n ン

Takushoon Table of Katakana

RULES IN HIRAGANA
DAKUON HIRAGANA
The three voiceless consonants, (k) is (g), (s) is (z), and (t) is (d). (b) is and (p) form a
pair too. The symbolic representation to indicate voicing of these consonants in
Japanese is very systematic. Two abbreviated strokes are added at the upper right
corner of each symbol. For example, you may recall that (ka) is represnted by か, so
(ga) is が, (ki) is き, (gi) ぎ, and so on.

It is important to note the voiced counterparts of し (shi) and ち (chi), which are じ(ji)
andち” (ji) respectively, are pronounced the same. Likewise, the voiced counterparts

of す(su) and つ (tsu), which areず (zu) and づ (zu), are pronounced the same.

In the answer to the question of when to use one or the other, we can say that the
Modern Japanese, are じ(ji) andず(zu) are most commonly used. However,ち” (ji)

and づ (zu) are still used occasionally, but only in the following cases. In a

1. In a compound word in which the original syllable was ち (chi), but the
consonant become voiced as the result of compounding and euphonic change
change, for example:

はな (nose) +ち (blood) はなち” (nose bleed)

こ (small) +つつみ (package) こつつ”み (postal package)

かん (can) +つめ (る) (cram) かんつ”め (canned foods)

2. In a word in whichち (chi) andつ (tsu) repeat themselves, but the secondち

(chi) and つ(tsu) are voiced due to a euphonic change, for example:

ちち”む (to shrink)

 ちかぢか (near future) ちか(い) (near)+ ちか(い) (near)

つつ”く (continue)

ga - が gi - ぎ gu - ぐ ge - げ go - ご

za - ざ ji - じ zu - ず ze - ぜ zo ぞ

da - だ ji, dji, jyi -ぢ dzu, zu - づ de -で

do ど

ba - ば bi - び bu - ぶ be - べ bo - ぼ
 Column & Rows to Remember the
Dakuon of Hiragana

YOON
The thirty-six contracted syllables consist of twenty one basic yoon plus twelve where a consonant
becomes voiced and three where a consonant become semi voiced.

All of the symbols that represents consonants combined with the vowel (i) make yoon
(contracted syllables) when followed by (ya), (yu) or (yo). Thus (ki) + (ya) becomes (kya), (ki) + (yo)
becomes (kyo). The Hiragana representation of each these syllables is made with a full-size
Hiragana and a half size (ya), (yu) or (yo). All of the consonants form this combination in one of
the three following.
As indicated, in writing the (ki) and (yo) together in romaji to form one syllable (kyo), you always
delete the letter i in the first syllable : K(i)YO KYO. Note that this KYO contrasts with the word
KIYO (contributions). There are many similar cases.

As indicated, pronouncing (chi) and (ya) together to form one syllable (cha) results in the deletion
of the vowel (i) in the first syllable and the (y) in the second syllable. The same deletions are made
 when writing romaji.

As indicated, in combining (ji) and (yu) to produce the syllable (ju), the vowel (i) and the (y) are
deleted.

HIRAGANA
ゃ ya ゅ yu ょ yo
き ki きゃ kya きゅ kyu きょ kyo
し shi しゃ sha しゅ shu しょ sho
ち chi ちゃ cha ちゅ chu ちょ cho
に ni にゃ nya にゅ nyu にょ nyo
ひ hi ひゃ hya ひゅ hyu ひょ hyo
み mi みゃ mya みゅ myu みょ myo
り ri りゃ rya りゅ ryu りょ ryo
dakuten
ぎ gi ぎゃ gya ぎゅ gyu ぎょ gyo
じ ji じゃ jaじゅ ju じょ jo
び bi びゃ bya びゅ byu びょ byo
handakuten
ぴ pi ぴゃ pya ぴゅ pyu ぴょ pyo