Hiragana


    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

a

i

u

e

o

ka

ki

ku

ke

ko

sa

shi*

su

se

so

ta

chi*

tsu*

te

to

na

ni

nu

ne

no

ha

hi

fu*

he

ho

ma

mi

mu

me

mo

ya
 
 

yu
 
 

yo

ra

ri

ru

re

ro

wa
 
 
 
 
 
 

o*

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

ga

gi

gu

ge

go

za

ji*

zu

ze

zo

da

ji**

zu**

de

do

ba

bi

bu

be

bo

pa

pi

pu

pe

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 pronounciation. (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







hiragana symbol for you   Yu

Useful Words


Good Morning
おはよう
(ohayoo)

Good Afternoon
こんにちわ
(konnichiwa)

Good Evening
こんばんわ
(konbanwa)

Good Night
おやすみなさい
(oyasuminasai)

Thank you
ありがとう
(arigatoo)

Good-bye
さようなら
(sayoonara)

Excuse me; I'm sorry
すみません
(sumimasen)

No; Not at all
いいえ
(iie)

I'll go and come back
いってきます
(ittekimasu*)
*the ending u is not pronounced

Please go and come back
いってらっしゃい
(itarasshai)