Phonetic (Hiragana & Katagana & Dakuten & Handakuten) Flashcards
Difference between Hiragana & Katagana
Hiragana: Hiragana is a syllabary used primarily for native Japanese words, grammatical elements (such as particles and verb endings), and words without kanji equivalents. It is the most basic and essential script for reading and writing in Japanese.
Katakana: Katakana is also a syllabary but is used primarily for loanwords, foreign names, onomatopoeia, and some specialized terminology. It is often used for words of foreign origin or words that are considered technical or scientific.
Difference between Hiragana & Katagana
Dakuten
This symbol is made up of two small dots (commas) which
are placed in the upper right corner of the square at the
symbol of hiragana or katakana. In Japanese, it is called
DAKUTEN, or NIGORI and means that the consonant in
this syllable is voiced.
Handakuten
The diacritical mark called HANDAKUTEN, or
HANNIGORI is also placed in the upper right corner
in hiragana or katakana script. It shows the unvoicing
of a consonant in the syllable, and is used to replace
the unvoiced consonant syllables of the [H]-row with [ P].
Full Phonetic
- 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 wo
- un
Full Dakuten Phonetic
ga gi gu ge go
za zi zu ze zo
da di du de do
ba bi bu be bo
Full Handakuten Phonetic
pa pi pu pe po
a
あ（ア）
i
い（イ）
Vowel reduction or devoicing can occur when the vowels “I” and “U” are sandwiched between unvoiced consonants such as “k,” “s,” “t,” and “p.”
u
う（ウ）
Vowel reduction or devoicing can occur when the vowels “I” and “U” are sandwiched between unvoiced consonants such as “k,” “s,” “t,” and “p.”
when the “u” (う) sound is at the end of a word, especially in the “-su” (-す) syllable, it is often devoiced or reduced in casual speech.
う – symbol denoting a vowel’s length。It is placed after the vowel that we want to make longer and is written in a separate square in full size
Example 1: すうがく [ su:gaku]
Example 2: ありがとう [arigatо:]
e
え（エ）
o
お（カ）
ka
か（キ）（が）
ki
き（ク）（ぎ）
ku
く（ク）（ぐ）
ke
け（ケ）（げ）
ko
こ（コ）（ご）
sa
さ（サ）（ざ）
si
し（シ）（じ）
su
す（ス）（ず）
se
せ（セ）（ぜ）
so
そ（ソ）（ぞ）
ta
た（タ（だ））
chi
ち（チ）（ぢ）
tsu
つ（ツ）（づ）
つ – symbol denoting a consonant’s length. In order to make a consonant longer, we place the symbol つ [ TSU] in front of it. It is also written in a separate square, but it does not occupy it completely, and is placed in the lower left corner.
Example: けっこん [ kekkon]
te
て（テ）（で）
to
と（ト）（ど）
na
な（ナ）
ni
に（ニ）
nu
ぬ（ヌ）
ne
ね（ネ）
no
の（ノ）
ha
は（ハ）（ば）（ぱ）
hi
ひ（ヒ）（び）（ぴ）
fu
ふ（フ）（ぶ）（ぷ）
he
へ（ヘ）（べ）（ぺ）
ho
ほ（ホ）（ぼ）（ぽ）
ma
ま（マ）
mi
み（ミ）
mu
む（ム）
me
め（メ）
mo
も（モ）
ya
や（ヤ）
Iotized vowels are written in the lower left corner of a separate
square in small size. (after the word)
yu
ゆ（ユ）
Iotized vowels are written in the lower left corner of a separate
square in small size. (after the word)
yo
よ（ヨ）
Iotized vowels are written in the lower left corner of a separate
square in small size. (after the word)
ra
ら（ラ）
ri
り（リ）
ru
る（ル）
re
れ（レ）
ro
ろ（ロ）
wa
わ（ワ）
wo
を（ヲ）
un
ん（ン）
When appear before N, M, P, or B, then change “N” to “M”
Example: kaNPAI -> kaMPAI
ん – symbol denoting a consonant’s length
Example: おんな [onna]
Syllables with iotized vowels
りゃ rya
りゅ ryu
りょ ryo
みゃ mya
みゅ myu
みょ myo
ぴゃ pya
ぴゅ pyu
ぴょ pyo
ひゃ hya
ひゅ hyu
ひょ hyo
にょ nya
にゅ nyu
にょ nyo
ちゃ cha
ちゅ chu
ちょ cho
しゃ sha
しゅ shu
しょ sho
きゃ kya
きゅ kyu
きょ kyo
