Hiragana

From OLSEncyclopedia

Hiragana (平仮名) is the character set used by Japanese speakers to put all of their phonetics into writing.

Contents 1 Hiragana Chart 2 Pronunciation 2.1 Exceptions 2.2 Elongated Vowels 2.3 The -Y Combinations 2.4 The R/L Dilemma

Hiragana Chart

The complete hiragana chart is as follows (note that archaic hiragana are indicated in red):

vowels					yōon
あ a	い i	う u	え e	お o	(ya)	(yu)	(yo)
か ka	き ki	く ku	け ke	こ ko	きゃ kya	きゅ kyu	きょ kyo
さ sa	し shi	す su	せ se	そ so	しゃ sha	しゅ shu	しょ sho
た ta	ち chi	つ tsu	て te	と to	ちゃ cha	ちゅ chu	ちょ cho
な na	に ni	ぬ nu	ね ne	の no	にゃ nya	にゅ nyu	にょ nyo
は ha	ひ hi	ふ fu	へ he	ほ ho	ひゃ hya	ひゅ hyu	ひょ hyo
ま ma	み mi	む mu	め me	も mo	みゃ mya	みゅ myu	みょ myo
や ya		ゆ yu		よ yo
ら ra	り ri	る ru	れ re	ろ ro	りゃ rya	りゅ ryu	りょ ryo
わ wa	ゐ wi		ゑ we	を wo
				ん n
が ga	ぎ gi	ぐ gu	げ ge	ご go	ぎゃ gya	ぎゅ gyu	ぎょ gyo
ざ za	じ ji	ず zu	ぜ ze	ぞ zo	じゃ ja	じゅ ju	じょ jo
だ da	ぢ (ji)	づ (zu)	で de	ど do	ぢゃ (ja)	ぢゅ (ju)	ぢょ (jo)
ば ba	び bi	ぶ bu	べ be	ぼ bo	びゃ bya	びゅ byu	びょ byo
ぱ pa	ぴ pi	ぷ pu	ぺ pe	ぽ po	ぴゃ pya	ぴゅ pyu	ぴょ pyo

Pronunciation

Japanese follows a fairly straightforward and consistent pronunciation pattern (although there are some exceptions as will be noted). What follows is a general guide for English speakers on how to pronounce Japanese syllables. Disclaimer: These are approximations, and the reader is advised to search for actual audio clips by native speakers for examples of proper pronunciation. Failure to do so could result in ridicule and possibly decapitation.

あ a is roughly equivalent to the word "ah" or the sound "au" in the word "August" or the "a" in "father."

い i is similiar to the "ee" in "bee" or "see."

う u sounds much like the "ue" sound in the word "sue," as in "to sue someone."

え e is close to the "e" in the word "left" or the "e" in "peck"

お o can be pronounced like the word "oh" or the "o" in "roll"

For the remaining sounds, formation merely means adding the k-, s-, t-, n-, h-, m-, y-, r-, or w- sound as it would be generally pronounced in English, immediately preceding the basic vowel sound as just discussed. Thus, for instance, the hiragana さ sa would be pronounced as a combination of the English S and the Japanese あ a, making a sound very similar to the word "saw."

Exceptions

The exceptions in Japanese typically involve its use of grammatical particles, hiragana characters that are used to indicate different parts of a sentence and how they interrelate. The particles that have a differing pronunciation are:

は ha which as a particle is pronounced the same as わ wa.

へ he which as a particle is pronounced the same as え e.

を wo which as a particle is pronounced the same as お o.

ん n is a sound that is not usually written by itself but instead after another character, such as in あん. ん is a sound that is pronounced like the "n" in the English "man." For clarity, break it down into "ma" and "n."

ぢ and づ, pronounced "ji" and "zu" respectively, are not particles, but are technically exceptions to the general rules governing Japanese pronunciation. Normally じ and ず are used for these sounds, but because of historical reasons in the development of the Japanese language, ぢ and づ are still used in some situations.

Elongated Vowels

Certain words have an elongated vowel, and because this can change the word's meaning (e.g. いいえ iie (no) versus いえ ie (house), elongating vowels correctly is important.

-a sounds (あ, か, さ, た, は, etc.) are elongated by adding a あ character after the vowel (e.g. かあさん kaasan, which means "mom").

-i sounds (い, き, し, ち, ひ, etc.) are elongated by adding a い character after the vowel (e.g. いい ii, which means "good").

-u sounds (う, く, す, つ, ふ, etc.) are elongated by adding a う character after the vowel (e.g. ふつう futsuu, which means "ordinary").

-e sounds (え, け, せ, て, へ, etc.) are usually elongated by adding a い character after the vowel (e.g. えいご eigo, which means "English language"), but sometimes are elongated by adding a え character instead (e.g. ええと eeto, which means "err"/"let's see"/"umm").

-o sounds (お, こ, そ, と, ほ, etc.) are usually elongated by adding a う (u) after the vowel (e.g. まほう mahou, which means "magic"), but sometimes are elongated by adding a お character instead (e.g. おおきい ookii, which means "big").

The -Y Combinations

Notice in the chart the various -y combinations (e.g. きゃ kya, しゅ shu, ちょ　cho). As you can see, these are created by using a consonant-vowel hiragana like き, し, or ち, and then adding a small -y hiragana afterwards. There are only three such characters: や ya, ゆ yu, and よ yo.　 To pronounce -y combinations correctly, slur the initial hiragana sound with the -y hiragana that follows. Note that results can vary depending on which characters are used. Here are some examples:

きゃ kya: This is fairly intuitive. If not, first say the "key" and then say "yah." Now, try to say both as quickly as you can. This should result in the "ey" in "key" dropping off. What you are left with should be close to the pronunciation for "kya."

しゅ shu: Quite simple. This sounds just like the English words "shoe" and "shoo."

じゃ ja: Say the word "jacket" but pronounce the "a" according the to rules for Japanese vowels as discussed above (i.e. pronounce the A like "ah"). Said like this, the "ja" in "jacket" is the correct pronunciation.

The R/L Dilemma

ら ra り ri る ru れ re ろ ro are given an R consonant when spelled in romaji, but the actual pronunciation is something between an L and an R. In some words, the L/R combination can sometimes sound like the consonant, D. For instance, the word ありがとう arigatou (thank you) when said quickly sounds roughly like ah-dee-gah-toe.