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Alphabet Chart
Pronunciation
Japanese Writing
The Japanese writing system consists of three different systems: Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. For example, this simple Japanese sentence below (I buy a television) includes all of the three:
Katakana
私
Kanji
は
Hiragana
テレビ
Katakana
を
買
う
。
Hiragana
Hiragana
Hiragana originates from the cursive script of Chinese calligraphy. The form of Hiragana is round and smooth without any sharp angles. Hiragana is a phonetic lettering system. It can be used to represent the pronunciation of a Kanji as well as used alone as a character in writing. When Hiragana is used as a character on its own, it can be a segment of a word or a grammatical element in a sentence such as a particle.
As segments of a word:
わたし
かばん
As particles:
を
は
Katakana
Katakana comes from the regular script of Chinese calligraphy. Its form is more angular in comparison with Hiragana. Both Hiragana and Katakana can be used to represent Japanese pronunciation. And each Katakana has a correspondent Hiragana, which has the same sound, and vice versa. Katakana is usually used to spell foreign words. The words in the chart below all have English origins, therefore are written in Katakana.
television
テレビ
coffee
コーヒー
camera
カメラ
Kanji
There are massive amounts of Kanji in the Japanese language that are almost identical in appearance with Chinese characters yet with completely different pronunciations and denotations.
I
私
umbrella
傘
desk
机
Tips
Hiragana placed above a Kanji is called Furigana, which indicates the pronunciation of the Kanji as in the examples below:
わたし
私
かさ
傘
つくえ
机
Fifty Sounds (Gojūon)
Gojūon ("the Fifty Sounds") is the foundation of Japanese learning. It is the Japanese "alphabetical order" and its name refers to the 5×10 grid in which the characters are displayed. By using a Gojūon chart, Hiragana and Katakana can be learned and memorized pretty fast.
占
Row
あ
Column
い
Column
う
Column
え
Column
お
Column
あ
Row
あ
ア a
い
イ i
う
ウ u
え
エ e
お
オ o
か
Row
か
カ ka
き
キ ki
く
ク ku
け
ケ ke
こ
コ ko
さ
Row
さ
サ sa
し
シ si
す
ス su
せ
セ se
そ
ソ so
た
Row
た
タ ta
ち
チ ti
つ
ツ tu
て
テ te
と
ト to
な
Row
な
ナ na
に
ニ ni
ぬ
ヌ nu
ね
ネ ne
の
ノ no
は
Row
は
ハ ha
ひ
ヒ hi
ふ
フ hu
へ
へ he
ほ
ホ ho
ま
Row
ま
マ ma
み
ミ mi
む
ム mu
め
メ me
も
モ mo
や
Row
や
ヤ ya
(い)
(イ) i
ゆ
ユ yu
(え)
(エ) e
よ
ヨ yo
ら
Row
ら
ラ ra
り
リ ri
る
ル ru
れ
レ re
ろ
ロ ro
わ
Row
わ
ワ wa
(い)
(イ) i
(う)
(ウ) u
(え)
(エ) e
を
ヲ wo
占
行
ん
ン n
Tips
1. A Gojūon chart consists of five columns and ten rows. The first row contains the five Japanese vowels and they are considered the most important of all, because the Hiragana in the other nine rows is pronounced based on a combination of consonants and those five vowels.
2. For each row, it’s named with the first "Kana"(Hiragana, Katakana). For example, the first row is called "a-row". And for each column, it is also named with the first Kana (Hiragana, Katakana). For example, the first column is "a-column".
3. In Gojūon, each Kana is represented in Hiragana, Katakana and Romanization (Romaji).
あ
Hiragana
ア
Katakana
a
Romaji
4. Romaji is Japanese writing in Roman letters for the convenience of transliteration for speakers of other languages who don’t read any Kana. Apart from being broadly employed in signs or slogans aimed at international audiences, Romaji is also a very common way to input Japanese into computers. In the beginning phase of learning Japanese pronunciation, Romaji would be greatly helpful as well.
There are two Romanizations in use today, the Kunrei-shiki and the Hepburn System. They are slightly different in marking the reading of some Kana:
た-Row
た
ち
つ
て
と
Kunrei-shiki
ta
ti
tu
te
to
Hepburn
ta
chi
tsu
te
to
The Kunrei-shiki system is very orderly and traditional in nature and is primarily used inside Japan, mostly in domestic textbooks. The Hepburn system is a direct reflection of Kana’s pronunciation. For its simplicity in grasping Japanese pronunciation, the Hepburn system is extensively applied in Japanese teaching internationally.
(Note: LingoDeer uses the Hepburn system by default.)
5. Pay special attention to the pronunciation of the Kana in the penultimate row (ra-row). The Japanese "r" is non-rhotic. Though Romanized as "ra, ri, ru, re, ro", they should be pronounced like "la, li, lu, le, lo".
ら
Row
ら
ラra
り
リri
る
ルru
れ
レre
ろ
ロro
6. Note that the bracketed Kana in the third row to the last (ya-row) and the last row (wa-row) are the same as the Kana in the first row (a-row).
や
Row
や
ヤya
(い)
(イ)i
ゆ
ユyu
(え)
(エ)e
よ
ヨyo
わ
行
わ
ワwa
(い)
(イ)i
(う)
(ウ)u
(え)
(エ)e
お
オwo
7.The last Kana
ん
ンn
in Gojūon usually doesn’t appear on its own, but rather in combinations with other Kana (go to Hatsuon for detailed reference). While inputting on a keyboard, double-type "n" for "ん".
Other than Gojūon, Japanese has additional pronunciation rules such as voiced consonants, Yōon, Hatsuon, long vowels and Sokuon. Each of those will be explained one by one as follows:
Voiced Consonants
There are voiceless and voiced consonants in Japanese. Voiced consonants are created by adding two dashes to the upper-right corner of their voiceless counterparts as in: "が/ga-row" (with consonant “g”), which stems from the voiceless "か/ka-row" (with consonant "k"); "ざ/za-row" (with consonant "z") from the voiceless "さ/sa-row" (with consonant "s"); "だ/da-row" (with consonant "d") from "た/ta-row" (with consonant "t"); And "ば/ba-row" (with consonant "b") "ぱ/pa-row" (with consonant "p") from "は/ha-row" (with consonant "h"). The following voiced consonants chart would be helpful for learning and memorization.
( k )
か
カ ka
き
キ ki
く
ク ku
け
ケ ke
こ
コ ko
( g )
が
ガ ga
ぎ
ギ gi
ぐ
グ gu
げ
ゲ ge
ご
ゴ go
( s )
さ
サ sa
し
シ si
す
ス su
せ
セ se
そ
ソ so
( z )
ざ
ザ za
じ
ジ zi
ず
ズ zu
ぜ
ゼ ze
ぞ
ゾ zo
( t )
た
タ ta
ち
チ ti
つ
ツ tu
て
テ te
と
ト to
( d )
だ
ダ da
ぢ
ヂ di
づ
ヅ du
で
デ de
ど
ド do
( h )
は
ハ ha
ひ
ヒ hi
ふ
フ hu
へ
へ he
ほ
ホ ho
( b )
ば
バ ba
び
ビ bi
ぶ
ブ bu
べ
ベ be
ぼ
ボ bo
( p )
ぱ
パ pa
ぴ
ピ pi
ぷ
プ pu
ぺ
ペ pe
ぽ
ポ po
Yōon
Yōon are represented in Hiragana using any Kana in "い/i-row", such as き (ki), combined with やya、ゆyu、よyo. For example, kyo, is written as きょ [kyo], using a much smaller version of the yo Kana よ as a subscript to き. This format also rings true for the other two や and ゆ.
きki
しsi
ちti
にni
ひhi
みmi
りri
ぎgi
じzi
びbi
ぴpi
や
ゆ
よ
きゅ
kyu
にゃ
nya
ひょ
hyo
Hatsuon
"ん(n)" is individual Kana. It is usually not used on its own but in conjunction with other Kana: "Kana+ん", which is called Hatsuon. Examples are as follows:
日本人(にほんじん)
nihonjin
Japanese
簡単（かんたん）
kantan
simple
便利（べんり）
benri
convenient
Tips
After pronouncing the first Kana, naturally glide to an 'en' sound.
Long Vowels
When Kana is followed by the same vowel, it forms a long vowel sound. For example, "ka+a" should be pronounced as "[ka:]". The long vowel sound also goes for the Kana in "e-column" followed by "i" and the Kana in "o-column" followed by "u".
あ/a-column
あ・か・さ・た…
い/i-column
い・き・し・ち…
う/u-column
う・く・す・つ…
え/e-column
え・け・せ・て…
お/o-column
お・こ・そ・と…
あ
い
う
え
お
あ
え
お
い
う
The following are some examples of long vowels:
お母さん(おかあさん)
okaasan
mother
小さい（ちいさい）
chiisai
small
学生（がくせい)
gakusei
student
空港（くうこう )
kuukou
airport
大きい(おおきい)
ookii
big
Sokuon
"っ" placed between two Kana marks "Sokuon". The tip to pronounce it is to make a short and sudden stop between the two Kana.
学校(がっこう)
gakkou
school
雑誌（ざっし)
zasshi
magazine
喫茶店（きっさてん)
kissaten
cafe
Tips
Notice: The Romaji writing rule for Sokuon is to double the consonant letter of the Kana following the Sokuon syllable.
