Hiragana & Katakana

What is Kana?

Hiragana (ひらがな) and katakana (カタカナ) are two syllabic writing syststrongs used in modern Japan. Like the Latin alphabet these syststrongs represent speech sounds. While both developed around the same time, they were used in different contexts. Hiragana and katakana are never mixed together to spell a word.

Both syststrongs have the same sounds and the same number of characters. There are five vowel (V) characters, one consonant (C) character and 40 consonant-vowel (CV) characters in modern Japanese.

The letters of the English alphabet are either vowels or consonants; in Japanese 40 of the "letters" are actually syllables.

Syllable or Mora?

Syllables are the phonetic (sound) building blocks of words. They typically involve a vowel or some combination of consonants and vowels. Japanese only has V, CV or C sounds.

Most of the kana represent syllables, rather than letters (single V or C sounds). For this reason, the kana are often referred to as a "syllabary" rather than an "alphabet."

Some linguists get uptight about calling the kana syllables. They prefer the term "mora," which is also a an applicable term. The term "syllable" refers to how vowels and consonants are organized into a speech sound. "Mora" refers to the timing or stress. Think of it like a musical note which describes pitch and duration.

Japanese kana ALL have the same timing. Each Japanese person can hear the metronome with each utterance - every character has the same length of time.

What is the Gojuonzu?

五十音図ごじゅうおんず literally means "table of 50 sounds." It refers to common organization tool the Japanese use to present the hiragana and katakana syllabaries. The gojuonzu is often just called the hiragana (or katakana) table.

There is a table for hiragana and a separate one for katakana. Their organization and structure are the same, however. Each kana table have five rows and ten columns. This is how it gets its name of "fifty sounds" (although its not quite fifty sounds - there are a few strongpty slots). Syllables in the same row has the same vowel sound. Syllables in the same column have the same consonant sound (with a few exceptions).

The basic structure is shown below with consonant phonetic guide across the top and vowel phonetic guides to the right (these are not normally shown). Notice the combination pattern for the syllables.

Phonetic Layout of the 五十音図
W	R	Y	M	H	N	T	S	K	—
wa	ra	ya	ma	ha	na	ta	sa	ka	a	A
	ri		mi	hi	ni	chi	shi	ki	i	I
	ru	yu	mu	fu	nu	tsu	su	ku	u	U
	re		me	he	ne	te	se	ke	e	E
wo	ro	yo	mo	ho	no	to	so	ko	o	O

Notes

The first column (right) shows vowel only characters (a, i, u, e and o)
The Y column does not have sounds for "yi" or "ye" - these disappeared prior to the Heian period
The W column does not have sounds for "wi", "wu" or "we" (these never existed in Japanese)
The "shi", "chi", "tsu" and "fu" sounds depart from the implied patterns (not "si", "ti", "tu" or "hu")
The "wo" sound is always pronounced "o" in modern Japanese
As a particle (助詞) the hiragana "he" sound is pronounced "e"
The "n" sound was not traditionally part of the table. It is usually shown to the left of "wa", in a position considered outside the table
The basic table only shows voiceless syllables. There are five more columns (actually, the existing columns are "recycled") represented voiced consonants: G, Z, D, B and P. These are discussed below.

The basic tables with hiragana and katakana are shown below, with the phonetic cues (top row and right column).

Basic *Hiragana* Table
n	W	R	Y	M	H	N	T	S	K	—
ん	わ	ら	や	ま	は	な	た	さ	か	あ	A
		り		み	ひ	に	ち	し	き	い	I
		る	ゆ	む	ふ	ぬ	つ	す	く	う	U
		れ		め	へ	ね	て	せ	け	え	E
	を	ろ	よ	も	ほ	の	と	そ	こ	お	O

Basic *Katakana* Table
n	W	R	Y	M	H	N	T	S	K	—
ン	ワ	ラ	ヤ	マ	ハ	ナ	タ	サ	カ	ア	A
		リ		ミ	ヒ	ニ	テ	シ	キ	イ	I
		ル	ユ	ム	フ	ヌ	ツ	ス	ク	ウ	U
		レ		メ	ヘ	ネ	テ	セ	ケ	エ	E
	ヲ	ロ	ヨ	モ	ホ	ノ	ト	ソ	コ	オ	O

Voiced Syllables

There are five columns additional columns. These represent syllables created with voiced consonants (those where your vocal cords vibrate). These are G, Z, D, P and B.

These columns are not usually "added" but are "recycled." Additional marks called dakuten　゛are added to existing characters to signal the voiced syllables. In this way K → G, S → Z, T → D, and H → B. In the case of P, a mark called handakuten　゜ is added to H (H → P). Dakuten and handakuten are also called "ten-ten" and "maru" in casual conversation.

Voiced *Hiragana* Columns
P	B	D	Z	G	—
ぱ	ば	だ	ざ	が	A
ぴ	び	ぢ	じ	ぎ	I
ぷ	ぶ	づ	ず	ぐ	U
ぺ	べ	で	ぜ	げ	E
ぽ	ぼ	ど	ぞ	ご	O

Voiced *Katakana* Columns
P	B	D	Z	G	—
パ	バ	ダ	ザ	ガ	A
ピ	ビ	ヂ	ジ	ギ	I
プ	ブ	ヅ	ズ	グ	U
ペ	ベ	デ	ゼ	ゲ	E
ポ	ボ	ド	ゾ	ゴ	O

Additional "Voiced" Syllable Columns
W	R	Y	M	P	B	H	N	D	T	Z	S	G	K	—
wa	ra	ya	ma	pa	ba	ha	na	da	ta	za	sa	ga	ka	a	A
	ri		mi	pi	bi	hi	ni	ji	chi	ji	shi	gi	ki	i	I
	ru	yu	mu	pu	bu	fu	nu	zu	tsu	zu	su	gu	ku	u	U
	re		me	pe	be	he	ne	de	te	ze	se	ge	ke	e	E
wo	ro	yo	mo	po	bo	ho	no	do	to	zo	so	go	ko	o	O

Palatalized Glides (拗音ようおん)

There are a few more speech sounds we need to cover: the palatalized glides. This sounds painful, but it's not that difficult. The initial Y sounds of "yeah" or "you" is what's in focus here.

The tricky part of Japanese palatalized glides is that the Y glide occurs after a consonant. Also, the glide only occurs with a final "a" "u" or "o" vowel sound.

Consonant	Glide	Vowel
	+ y +	a
		u
		o

The palatalized glide sound is called yoon (拗音ようおん) in Japanese. To express yoon, which is a combination of y+a, y+u or y+o, as illustrated above, a smaller sized ゃゅ and ょ are used. Since the yoon sound never happens alone, yoon are always attached to kana from the I-row.

Below is a "hybrid" form of the gojuonzu to illustrate the palatalized glide (yoon) sounds in modern Japanese.

Palatalized 拗音 Sounds
R	M	P	B	H	N	T	Z	S	G	K
rya	mya	pya	bya	hya	nya	cha	ja	sha	gya	kya	(+ya)
ryu	myu	pyu	byu	hyu	nyu	chu	ju	shu	gyu	kyu	(+yu)
ryo	myo	pyo	byo	hyo	nyo	cho	jo	sho	gyo	kyo	(+yo)

Notes

There are no yoon for the A, W or Y columns.
There are no yoon for the voiced D column.

*Yoon* as *Hiragana*
R	M	P	B	H	N	T	Z	S	G	K
りゃ	みゃ	ぴゃ	びゃ	ひゃ	にゃ	ちゃ	じゃ	しゃ	ぎゃ	きゃ
りゅ	みゅ	ぴゅ	びゅ	ひゅ	にゅ	ちゅ	じゅ	しゅ	ぎゅ	きゅ
りょ	みょ	ぴょ	びょ	ひょ	にょ	ちょ	じょ	しょ	ぎょ	きょ

*Yoon* as *Katakana*
R	M	P	B	H	N	T	Z	S	G	K
リャ	ミャ	ピャ	ビャ	ヒャ	ニャ	チャ	ジャ	シャ	ギャ	キャ
リュ	ミュ	ピュ	ビュ	ヒュ	ニュ	チュ	ジュ	シュ	ギュ	キュ
リョ	ミョ	ピョ	ビョ	ヒョ	ニョ	チョ	ジョ	ショ	ギョ	キョ

Geminination

One more speech sound that is represented by a "special" kana is called geminination. This is basically the doubling of a consonant and is typically represented by a small っ in hiragana or a ッ in katakana, these are called sokuon or 促音そくおん. Generally, the consonant that immediately follow sokuon mark is usually doubled, or in the case of "chi" a "t" is added, e.g. matcha.

Summary

The gojuonzu is a way to organize the kana, which represent the speech sounds. The kana table lends itself to showing patterns consonant and vowel groupings.

In summary, you will need to learn 46 sounds for the basic table (45 if you consider wo = o) + 25 more for the voiced syllables + 33 palatalized glide sounds for a grand total of 104 sounds. This means there are 208 kana characters to learn, however, as you have already seen the palatalized glide sounds are not brand new characters.

W	R	Y	M	H	N	T	S	K	—
wa	ra	ya	ma	ha	na	ta	sa	ka	a	A
	ri		mi	hi	ni	chi	shi	ki	i	I
	ru	yu	mu	fu	nu	tsu	su	ku	u	U
	re		me	he	ne	te	se	ke	e	E
wo	ro	yo	mo	ho	no	to	so	ko	o	O

n	W	R	Y	M	H	N	T	S	K	—
ん	わ	ら	や	ま	は	な	た	さ	か	あ	A
		り		み	ひ	に	ち	し	き	い	I
		る	ゆ	む	ふ	ぬ	つ	す	く	う	U
		れ		め	へ	ね	て	せ	け	え	E
	を	ろ	よ	も	ほ	の	と	そ	こ	お	O

n	W	R	Y	M	H	N	T	S	K	—
ン	ワ	ラ	ヤ	マ	ハ	ナ	タ	サ	カ	ア	A
		リ		ミ	ヒ	ニ	テ	シ	キ	イ	I
		ル	ユ	ム	フ	ヌ	ツ	ス	ク	ウ	U
		レ		メ	ヘ	ネ	テ	セ	ケ	エ	E
	ヲ	ロ	ヨ	モ	ホ	ノ	ト	ソ	コ	オ	O

P	B	D	Z	G	—
ぱ	ば	だ	ざ	が	A
ぴ	び	ぢ	じ	ぎ	I
ぷ	ぶ	づ	ず	ぐ	U
ぺ	べ	で	ぜ	げ	E
ぽ	ぼ	ど	ぞ	ご	O

P	B	D	Z	G	—
パ	バ	ダ	ザ	ガ	A
ピ	ビ	ヂ	ジ	ギ	I
プ	ブ	ヅ	ズ	グ	U
ペ	ベ	デ	ゼ	ゲ	E
ポ	ボ	ド	ゾ	ゴ	O

W	R	Y	M	P	B	H	N	D	T	Z	S	G	K	—
wa	ra	ya	ma	pa	ba	ha	na	da	ta	za	sa	ga	ka	a	A
	ri		mi	pi	bi	hi	ni	ji	chi	ji	shi	gi	ki	i	I
	ru	yu	mu	pu	bu	fu	nu	zu	tsu	zu	su	gu	ku	u	U
	re		me	pe	be	he	ne	de	te	ze	se	ge	ke	e	E
wo	ro	yo	mo	po	bo	ho	no	do	to	zo	so	go	ko	o	O

W	R	Y	M	H	N	T	S	K	—
wa	ra	ya	ma	ha	na	ta	sa	ka	a	A
	ri		mi	hi	ni	chi	shi	ki	i	I
	ru	yu	mu	fu	nu	tsu	su	ku	u	U
	re		me	he	ne	te	se	ke	e	E
wo	ro	yo	mo	ho	no	to	so	ko	o	O

n	W	R	Y	M	H	N	T	S	K	—
ん	わ	ら	や	ま	は	な	た	さ	か	あ	A
		り		み	ひ	に	ち	し	き	い	I
		る	ゆ	む	ふ	ぬ	つ	す	く	う	U
		れ		め	へ	ね	て	せ	け	え	E
	を	ろ	よ	も	ほ	の	と	そ	こ	お	O

n	W	R	Y	M	H	N	T	S	K	—
ン	ワ	ラ	ヤ	マ	ハ	ナ	タ	サ	カ	ア	A
		リ		ミ	ヒ	ニ	テ	シ	キ	イ	I
		ル	ユ	ム	フ	ヌ	ツ	ス	ク	ウ	U
		レ		メ	ヘ	ネ	テ	セ	ケ	エ	E
	ヲ	ロ	ヨ	モ	ホ	ノ	ト	ソ	コ	オ	O

P	B	D	Z	G	—
ぱ	ば	だ	ざ	が	A
ぴ	び	ぢ	じ	ぎ	I
ぷ	ぶ	づ	ず	ぐ	U
ぺ	べ	で	ぜ	げ	E
ぽ	ぼ	ど	ぞ	ご	O

P	B	D	Z	G	—
パ	バ	ダ	ザ	ガ	A
ピ	ビ	ヂ	ジ	ギ	I
プ	ブ	ヅ	ズ	グ	U
ペ	ベ	デ	ゼ	ゲ	E
ポ	ボ	ド	ゾ	ゴ	O

W	R	Y	M	P	B	H	N	D	T	Z	S	G	K	—
wa	ra	ya	ma	pa	ba	ha	na	da	ta	za	sa	ga	ka	a	A
	ri		mi	pi	bi	hi	ni	ji	chi	ji	shi	gi	ki	i	I
	ru	yu	mu	pu	bu	fu	nu	zu	tsu	zu	su	gu	ku	u	U
	re		me	pe	be	he	ne	de	te	ze	se	ge	ke	e	E
wo	ro	yo	mo	po	bo	ho	no	do	to	zo	so	go	ko	o	O

W	R	Y	M	H	N	T	S	K	—
wa	ra	ya	ma	ha	na	ta	sa	ka	a	A
	ri		mi	hi	ni	chi	shi	ki	i	I
	ru	yu	mu	fu	nu	tsu	su	ku	u	U
	re		me	he	ne	te	se	ke	e	E
wo	ro	yo	mo	ho	no	to	so	ko	o	O

n	W	R	Y	M	H	N	T	S	K	—
ん	わ	ら	や	ま	は	な	た	さ	か	あ	A
		り		み	ひ	に	ち	し	き	い	I
		る	ゆ	む	ふ	ぬ	つ	す	く	う	U
		れ		め	へ	ね	て	せ	け	え	E
	を	ろ	よ	も	ほ	の	と	そ	こ	お	O

n	W	R	Y	M	H	N	T	S	K	—
ン	ワ	ラ	ヤ	マ	ハ	ナ	タ	サ	カ	ア	A
		リ		ミ	ヒ	ニ	テ	シ	キ	イ	I
		ル	ユ	ム	フ	ヌ	ツ	ス	ク	ウ	U
		レ		メ	ヘ	ネ	テ	セ	ケ	エ	E
	ヲ	ロ	ヨ	モ	ホ	ノ	ト	ソ	コ	オ	O

P	B	D	Z	G	—
ぱ	ば	だ	ざ	が	A
ぴ	び	ぢ	じ	ぎ	I
ぷ	ぶ	づ	ず	ぐ	U
ぺ	べ	で	ぜ	げ	E
ぽ	ぼ	ど	ぞ	ご	O

P	B	D	Z	G	—
パ	バ	ダ	ザ	ガ	A
ピ	ビ	ヂ	ジ	ギ	I
プ	ブ	ヅ	ズ	グ	U
ペ	ベ	デ	ゼ	ゲ	E
ポ	ボ	ド	ゾ	ゴ	O

W	R	Y	M	P	B	H	N	D	T	Z	S	G	K	—
wa	ra	ya	ma	pa	ba	ha	na	da	ta	za	sa	ga	ka	a	A
	ri		mi	pi	bi	hi	ni	ji	chi	ji	shi	gi	ki	i	I
	ru	yu	mu	pu	bu	fu	nu	zu	tsu	zu	su	gu	ku	u	U
	re		me	pe	be	he	ne	de	te	ze	se	ge	ke	e	E
wo	ro	yo	mo	po	bo	ho	no	do	to	zo	so	go	ko	o	O