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Learning Guide
Hiragana
Hiragana ひらがな is one of three writing systems used in Japan, along with kanji (Chinese characters) and katakana. Hiragana are Japanese phonetic characters that represent syllables. They are often used to write native Japanese words, politeness suffixes, grammatical particles and phonetic expressions.
ひらがな
Contents
Introduction
The origin of hiragana dates back to the Heian period in Japan (794-1185). At the time, the women of the imperial court used Chinese characters to write their vernacular, but these characters were difficult to read for people who were not fluent in the Chinese language. This is how hiragana was created to enable everyone to read and write in Japanese.
Hiragana consists of 46 characters, each representing a Japanese syllable. The characters are derived from simplified kanji, which have been reduced to their simplest form and transformed to represent sounds rather than ideas. Hiragana are usually written in small sizes and are often used in combination with kanji to write Japanese words.
Syllabary
Basic Syllables
ごじゅうおん
The gojūon (五十音, literally “fifty sounds”) form the foundation of the Japanese kana (hiragana and katakana) writing system. They make up a chart in which rows are arranged by vowels (a, i, u, e, o) and columns by consonants (k, s, t, n, h, etc.). Despite the name, there are not exactly fifty sounds due to the evolution of Japanese (as some older sounds have disappeared or become rare). The concept of the gojūon chart is essential for learning the language, because it presents the syllabic alphabet in a logical and easy-to-remember format.
Voiceless sounds
だくおん・はんだくおん
Dakuon (だくおん, “voiced sounds”) are kana to which two small marks (dakuten) are added, indicating that the consonant is pronounced more sonorously (for example か → が, さ → ざ, た → だ, etc.). Handakuon (はんだくおん, “half-voiced sounds”) apply only to the h series, which become p with a small circle (handakuten) instead of two strokes (は → ぱ, ひ → ぴ, ふ → ぷ, へ → ぺ, ほ → ぽ). Adding these markings changes how the consonant is pronounced, and these transformations are essential for correct reading and writing in Japanese.
Contracted sounds
ようおん
The 拗音 (yōon, -contracted sounds-) are combinations of hiragana (or katakana) ending in -i (for example き, し, ち…) with a small ゃ, ゅ, or ょ, merging into a single sound such as きゃ (kya), しゃ (sha), ちゃ (cha), etc. This contraction enriches the Japanese phonetic system, allowing for more varied sounds. Visually, the small ゃ, ゅ, or ょ character is written in a smaller size, and in speech, these characters are pronounced as one syllable rather than two separate sounds.
Go further
Hiragana is also used to write okurigana, which are hiragana characters that follow kanji and indicate the pronunciation of a word. Okurigana are particularly useful for differentiating between the different meanings of a kanji depending on the context in which it is used.
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