{"id":1381,"date":"2024-11-20T05:42:29","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T05:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nihongo-no-benkyo.com\/?p=1381"},"modified":"2024-12-01T06:19:03","modified_gmt":"2024-12-01T06:19:03","slug":"doc-001","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nihongo-no-benkyo.com\/en\/doc-001\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiragana and Katakana"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The characters that make up the Japanese language are hiragana, katakana, and kanji.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If kanji didn’t exist, all Japanese sentences could be written using only hiragana. In other words, hiragana is the basic character of the Japanese language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japanese pronunciation is said to be simple. All hiragana and katakana can be expressed as [a, i, u, e, o] and combinations of [a, i, u, e, o] and [k, s, t, n, h, m, y, r, w, n]. It is a simple structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is a table of hiragana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, “\u3061” is written as (ti(chi)) in the table. This means (Kunrei-shiki romanization (Hepburn-shiki romanization)). For pronunciation, see Hepburn-shiki romanization.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/td>a<\/td>i<\/td>u<\/td>e<\/td>o<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>\u3042
(a)<\/td>		\u3044
(i)<\/td>		\u3046
(u)<\/td>		\u3048
(e)<\/td>		\u304a
(o)<\/td><\/tr>
k<\/td>\u304b
(ka)<\/td>		\u304d
(ki)<\/td>		\u304f
(ku)<\/td>		\u3051
(ke)<\/td>		\u3053
(ko)<\/td><\/tr>
s<\/td>\u3055
(sa)<\/td>		\u3057
(si(shi))<\/td>		\u3059
(su)<\/td>		\u305b
(se)<\/td>		\u305d
(so)<\/td><\/tr>
t<\/td>\u305f
(ta)<\/td>		\u3061
(ti(chi))<\/td>		\u3064
(tu(tsu))<\/td>		\u3066
(te)<\/td>		\u3068
(to)<\/td><\/tr>
n<\/td>\u306a
(na)<\/td>		\u306b
(ni)<\/td>		\u306c
(nu)<\/td>		\u306d
(ne)<\/td>		\u306e
(no)<\/td><\/tr>
h<\/td>\u306f
(ha)<\/td>		\u3072
(hi)<\/td>		\u3075
(hu)<\/td>		\u3078
(he)<\/td>		\u307b
(ho)<\/td><\/tr>
m<\/td>\u307e
(ma)<\/td>		\u307f
(mi)<\/td>		\u3080
(mu)<\/td>		\u3081
(me)<\/td>		\u3082
(mo)<\/td><\/tr>
y<\/td>\u3084
(ya)<\/td>		<\/td>\u3086
(yu)<\/td>		<\/td>\u3088
(yo)<\/td><\/tr>
r<\/td>\u3089
(ra)<\/td>		\u308a
(ri)<\/td>		\u308b
(ru)<\/td>		\u308c
(re)<\/td>		\u308d
(ro)<\/td><\/tr>
w<\/td>\u308f
(wa)<\/td>		<\/td><\/td><\/td>\u3092
(wo)<\/td><\/tr>
n<\/td>\u3093
(n)<\/td>		<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


In Japan, when you enter elementary school, you start learning hiragana. You memorize all the hiragana by saying them out loud. The method is very simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Memorize the sounds by repeating them out loud: Aiueo, Kakikukeko\u2026yayuyo, rarirurero, wawon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, this study is very important because if you remember the position of each character, it will be much easier to understand when you study conjugation of words. If you don’t know the position of each character, you will have a hard time later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, memorize the words by repeating them out loud like you are chanting a sutra: aiueo, kakikukeko\u2026yayuyo, rarirurero, wawon. Keep doing this until you can say them without looking at anything. I recommend that you can say them 100% without looking at anything.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is a table of katakana characters.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/td>a<\/td>i<\/td>u<\/td>e<\/td>o<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>\u30a2
(a)<\/td>		\u30a4
(i)<\/td>		\u30a6
(u)<\/td>		\u30a8
(e)<\/td>		\u30aa
(o)<\/td><\/tr>
k<\/td>\u30ab
(ka)<\/td>		\u30ad
(ki)<\/td>		\u30af
(ku)<\/td>		\u30b1
(ke)<\/td>		\u30b3
(ko)<\/td><\/tr>
s<\/td>\u30b5
(sa)<\/td>		\u30b7
(si(shi))<\/td>		\u30b9
(su)<\/td>		\u30bb
(se)<\/td>		\u30bd
(so)<\/td><\/tr>
t<\/td>\u30bf
(ta)<\/td>		\u30c1
(ti(chi))<\/td>		\u30c4
(tu(tsu))<\/td>		\u30c6
(te)<\/td>		\u30c8
(to)<\/td><\/tr>
n<\/td>\u30ca
(na)<\/td>		\u30cb
(ni)<\/td>		\u30cc
(nu)<\/td>		\u30cd
(ne)<\/td>		\u30ce
(no)<\/td><\/tr>
h<\/td>\u30cf
(ha)<\/td>		\u30d2
(hi)<\/td>		\u30d5
(hu)<\/td>		\u30d8
(he)<\/td>		\u30db
(ho)<\/td><\/tr>
m<\/td>\u30de
(ma)<\/td>		\u30df
(mi)<\/td>		\u30e0
(mu)<\/td>		\u30e1
(me)<\/td>		\u30e2
(mo)<\/td><\/tr>
y<\/td>\u30e4
(ya)<\/td>		<\/td>\u30e6
(yu)<\/td>		<\/td>\u30e8
(yo)<\/td><\/tr>
r<\/td>\u30e9
(ra)<\/td>		\u30ea
(ri)<\/td>		\u30eb
(ru)<\/td>		\u30ec
(re)<\/td>		\u30ed
(ro)<\/td><\/tr>
w<\/td>\u30ef
(wa)<\/td>		<\/td><\/td><\/td>\u30f2
(wo)<\/td><\/tr>
n<\/td>\u30f3
(n)<\/td>		<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Katakana exists in a one-to-one correspondence with Hiragana. Katakana is mainly used for foreign words. For example, \u30a2\u30e1\u30ea\u30ab(America), \u30d3\u30b6(visa), etc. They are pronounced exactly the same as Hiragana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Hiragana and Katakana, there are rows with voiced and semi-voiced sounds. First, the table for Hiragana is shown below.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/td>a<\/td>i<\/td>u<\/td>e<\/td>o<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>\u3042
(a)<\/td>		\u3044
(i)<\/td>		\u3046
(u)<\/td>		\u3048
(e)<\/td>		\u304a
(o)<\/td><\/tr>
k<\/td>\u304b
(ka)<\/td>		\u304d
(ki)<\/td>		\u304f
(ku)<\/td>		\u3051
(ke)<\/td>		\u3053
(ko)<\/td><\/tr>
g
(voiced sounds)<\/td>		\u304c
(ga)<\/td>		\u304e
(gi)<\/td>		\u3050
(gu)<\/td>		\u3052
(ge)<\/td>		\u3054
(go)<\/td><\/tr>
s<\/td>\u3055
(sa)<\/td>		\u3057
(si(shi))<\/td>		\u3059
(su)<\/td>		\u305b
(se)<\/td>		\u305d
(so)<\/td><\/tr>
z
(voiced sounds)<\/td>		\u3056
(za)<\/td>		\u3058
(zi(ji))<\/td>		\u305a
(zu)<\/td>		\u305c
(ze)<\/td>		\u305e
(zo)<\/td><\/tr>
t<\/td>\u305f
(ta)<\/td>		\u3061
(ti(chi))<\/td>		\u3064
(tu(tsu))<\/td>		\u3066
(te)<\/td>		\u3068
(to)<\/td><\/tr>
d
(voiced sounds)<\/td>		\u3060
(da)<\/td>		\u3062
(di(ji))<\/td>		\u3065
(du(zu))<\/td>		\u3067
(de)<\/td>		\u3069
(do)<\/td><\/tr>
n<\/td>\u306a
(na)<\/td>		\u306b
(ni)<\/td>		\u306c
(nu)<\/td>		\u306d
(ne)<\/td>		\u306e
(no)<\/td><\/tr>
h<\/td>\u306f
(ha)<\/td>		\u3072
(hi)<\/td>		\u3075
(hu)<\/td>		\u3078
(he)<\/td>		\u307b
(ho)<\/td><\/tr>
b
(voiced sounds)<\/td>		\u3070
(ba)<\/td>		\u3073
(bi)<\/td>		\u3076
(bu)<\/td>		\u3079
(be)<\/td>		\u307c
(bo)<\/td><\/tr>
p
(semi-voiced sounds)<\/td>		\u3071
(pa)<\/td>		\u3074
(pi)<\/td>		\u3077
(pu)<\/td>		\u307a
(pe)<\/td>		\u307d
(po)<\/td><\/tr>
m<\/td>\u307e
(ma)<\/td>		\u307f
(mi)<\/td>		\u3080
(mu)<\/td>		\u3081
(me)<\/td>		\u3082
(mo)<\/td><\/tr>
y<\/td>\u3084
(ya)<\/td>		<\/td>\u3086
(yu)<\/td>		<\/td>\u3088
(yo)<\/td><\/tr>
r<\/td>\u3089
(ra)<\/td>		\u308a
(ri)<\/td>		\u308b
(ru)<\/td>		\u308c
(re)<\/td>		\u308d
(ro)<\/td><\/tr>
w<\/td>\u308f
(wa)<\/td>		<\/td><\/td><\/td>\u3092
(wo)<\/td><\/tr>
n<\/td>\u3093
(n)<\/td>		<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Voiced sounds are found only in the ka, sa, ta, and ha rows. Semi-voiced sounds are found only in the ha row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the very least, you should know that voiced and semi-voiced consonants exist. And learn to read those characters. After that, get used to it by studying words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is a table of Katakana. The structure is exactly the same as Hiragana.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/td>a<\/td>i<\/td>u<\/td>e<\/td>o<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>\u30a2
(a)<\/td>		\u30a4
(i)<\/td>		\u30a6
(u)<\/td>		\u30a8
(e)<\/td>		\u30aa
(o)<\/td><\/tr>
k<\/td>\u30ab
(ka)<\/td>		\u30ad
(ki)<\/td>		\u30af
(ku)<\/td>		\u30b1
(ke)<\/td>		\u30b3
(ko)<\/td><\/tr>
g (voiced sounds)<\/td>\u30ac
(ga)<\/td>		\u30ae
(gi)<\/td>		\u30b0
(gu)<\/td>		\u30b2
(ge)<\/td>		\u30b4
(go)<\/td><\/tr>
s<\/td>\u30b5
(sa)<\/td>		\u30b7
(si(shi))<\/td>		\u30b9
(su)<\/td>		\u30bb
(se)<\/td>		\u30bd
(so)<\/td><\/tr>
z (voiced sounds)<\/td>\u30b6
(za)<\/td>		\u30b8
(zi(ji))<\/td>		\u30ba
(zu)<\/td>		\u30bc
(ze)<\/td>		\u305e
(zo)<\/td><\/tr>
t<\/td>\u30bf
(ta)<\/td>		\u30c1
(ti(chi))<\/td>		\u30c4
(tu(tsu))<\/td>		\u30c6
(te)<\/td>		\u30c8
(to)<\/td><\/tr>
d (voiced sounds)<\/td>\u30c0
(da)<\/td>		\u30c2
(di(ji))<\/td>		\u30c5
(du(zu))<\/td>		\u30c7
(de)<\/td>		\u30c9
(do)<\/td><\/tr>
n<\/td>\u30ca
(na)<\/td>		\u30cb
(ni)<\/td>		\u30cc
(nu)<\/td>		\u30cd
(ne)<\/td>		\u30ce
(no)<\/td><\/tr>
h<\/td>\u30cf
(ha)<\/td>		\u30d2
(hi)<\/td>		\u30d5
(hu)<\/td>		\u30d8
(he)<\/td>		\u30db
(ho)<\/td><\/tr>
b (voiced sounds)<\/td>\u30d0
(ba)<\/td>		\u30d3
(bi)<\/td>		\u30d6
(bu)<\/td>		\u30d9
(be)<\/td>		\u30dc
(bo)<\/td><\/tr>
p (semi-voiced sounds)<\/td>\u30d1
(pa)<\/td>		\u30d4
(pi)<\/td>		\u30d7
(pu)<\/td>		\u30da
(pe)<\/td>		\u30dd
(po)<\/td><\/tr>
m<\/td>\u30de
(ma)<\/td>		\u30df
(mi)<\/td>		\u3080
(mu)<\/td>		\u3081
(me)<\/td>		\u30e2
(mo)<\/td><\/tr>
y<\/td>\u30e4
(ya)<\/td>		<\/td>\u30e6
(yu)<\/td>		<\/td>\u30e8
(yo)<\/td><\/tr>
r<\/td>\u30e9
(ra)<\/td>		\u30ea
(ri)<\/td>		\u30eb
(ru)<\/td>		\u30ec
(re)<\/td>		\u30ed
(ro)<\/td><\/tr>
w<\/td>\u30ef
(wa)<\/td>		<\/td><\/td><\/td>\u30f2
(wo)<\/td><\/tr>
n<\/td>\u30f3
(n)<\/td>		<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


There are some other special characters. Here are examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • \u300c\u30fc\u300d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    Word<\/td>English<\/td>Pronunciation<\/td><\/tr>
    \u30c8\u30fc\u30af<\/td>talk<\/td>to o ku<\/td><\/tr>
    \u30af\u30fc\u30eb<\/td>cool<\/td>ku u ru<\/td><\/tr>
    \u30ce\u30fc\u30c8<\/td>note<\/td>no o to<\/td><\/tr>
    \u30c6\u30fc\u30d7<\/td>tape<\/td>te e pu<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • \u300c\u3083\u300d\u3001\u300c\u3085\u300d\u3001\u300c\u3087\u300d\u3001\u300c\u3063\u300d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      They are small “ya,” “yu,” “yo” and “tsu”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Word<\/td>Word<\/td>Pronunciation<\/td><\/tr>
      \u304a\u8336(\u3061\u3083)<\/td>tea<\/td>o cha<\/td><\/tr>
      \u4e2d\u592e(\u3061\u3085\u3046\u304a\u3046)<\/td>center<\/td>chu u o u<\/td><\/tr>
      \u30c1\u30e7\u30b3\u30ec\u30fc\u30c8<\/td>chocolate<\/td>cho ko re e to<\/td><\/tr>
      \u5207\u624b(\u304d\u3063\u3066)<\/td>stamp<\/td>ki tte<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


      Just know that these characters exist, learn to read them, and then get used to them by studying words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The characters that make up the Japanese language are hiragana, katakana, and kanji. If kanji didn’t exist, all Japanese sentences could be written using only hiragana. In other words, hiragana is the basic character of the Japanese language. Japanese pronunciation is said to be simple. All hiragana and katakana can be expressed as [a, i, u, e, o] and combinations of [a, i, u, e, o] and [k, s, t, n, h, m, y, r, w, n]. It is a simple structure. Below is a table of hiragana. For example, “\u3061” is written as (ti(chi)) in the table. This means … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/nihongo-no-benkyo.com\/?p=1282","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,20,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-eng","category-doc-eng","category-general-eng","en-US"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nihongo-no-benkyo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nihongo-no-benkyo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nihongo-no-benkyo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nihongo-no-benkyo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nihongo-no-benkyo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1381"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/nihongo-no-benkyo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1460,"href":"https:\/\/nihongo-no-benkyo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381\/revisions\/1460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nihongo-no-benkyo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nihongo-no-benkyo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nihongo-no-benkyo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}