{"id":362,"date":"2017-10-16T17:15:39","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T21:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/?p=362"},"modified":"2022-02-19T20:18:23","modified_gmt":"2022-02-20T01:18:23","slug":"complete-hiragana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/complete\/hiragana","title":{"rendered":"Hiragana"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"basic-modal-content\"><center><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"stroke\" src=\"\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"><audio id=\"clip\" src=\"\" controls=\"true\">Use the latest browsers for audio<\/audio><\/center><\/div>\n<p><audio id=\"clip_inline\" src=\"\"> <\/audio><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/videoseries?list=PLA977767E51B55F1F&amp;hl=en_US\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The table below represents the entire Hiragana syllabary categorized by the consonant and vowel sounds. With the exception of a few sounds (as shown by the pronunciation in parentheses), most sounds in Japanese are easily represented by a vowel or consonant-vowel. There is also one consonant-only sound: \u300c\u3093\u300d.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\">\n<caption>Hiragana &#8211; Click for stroke order and sound<\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>n<\/th>\n<th>w<\/th>\n<th>r<\/th>\n<th>y<\/th>\n<th>m<\/th>\n<th>h<\/th>\n<th>n<\/th>\n<th>t<\/th>\n<th>s<\/th>\n<th>k<\/th>\n<th>&nbsp;<\/th>\n<th>&nbsp;<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align=\"center\">\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('n'); return false;\">\u3093<\/a><br \/>\n<span>(n)<\/span><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('wa'); return false;\">\u308f<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ra'); return false;\">\u3089<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ya'); return false;\">\u3084<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ma'); return false;\">\u307e<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ha'); return false;\">\u306f<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('na'); return false;\">\u306a<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ta'); return false;\">\u305f<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('sa'); return false;\">\u3055<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ka'); return false;\">\u304b<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('a'); return false;\">\u3042<\/a><\/td>\n<th>a<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align=\"center\">\n<td class=\"empty\">&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td class=\"empty\">&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ri'); return false;\">\u308a<\/a><\/td>\n<td class=\"empty\">&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('mi'); return false;\">\u307f<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('hi'); return false;\">\u3072<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ni'); return false;\">\u306b<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('chi'); return false;\">\u3061<\/a><br \/>\n<span>(chi)<\/span><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('shi'); return false;\">\u3057<\/a><br \/>\n<span>(shi)<\/span><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ki'); return false;\">\u304d<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('i'); return false;\">\u3044<\/a><\/td>\n<th>i<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align=\"center\">\n<td class=\"empty\">&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td class=\"empty\">&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ru'); return false;\">\u308b<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('yu'); return false;\">\u3086<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('mu'); return false;\">\u3080<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('fu'); return false;\">\u3075<\/a><br \/>\n<span>(fu)<\/span><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('nu'); return false;\">\u306c<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('tsu'); return false;\">\u3064<\/a><br \/>\n(tsu)<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('su'); return false;\">\u3059<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ku'); return false;\">\u304f<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('u'); return false;\">\u3046<\/a><\/td>\n<th>u<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align=\"center\">\n<td class=\"empty\">&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td class=\"empty\">&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('re'); return false;\">\u308c<\/a><\/td>\n<td class=\"empty\">&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('me'); return false;\">\u3081<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('he'); return false;\">\u3078<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ne'); return false;\">\u306d<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('te'); return false;\">\u3066<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('se'); return false;\">\u305b<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ke'); return false;\">\u3051<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('e'); return false;\">\u3048<\/a><\/td>\n<th>e<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr align=\"center\">\n<td class=\"empty\">&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('wo'); return false;\">\u3092<\/a><br \/>\n(o)<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ro'); return false;\">\u308d<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('yo'); return false;\">\u3088<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('mo'); return false;\">\u3082<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ho'); return false;\">\u307b<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('no'); return false;\">\u306e<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('to'); return false;\">\u3068<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('so'); return false;\">\u305d<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('ko'); return false;\">\u3053<\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"\" onclick=\"showModal('o'); return false;\">\u304a<\/a><\/td>\n<th>o<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"comic\"><a href=\"http:\/\/emhc.tumblr.com\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/images\/comics\/comic1.jpg\" alt=\"Roumaji comic\" title=\"Ironically, those who advocate \u30ed\u30fc\u30de\u5b57 (roumaji) can never seem to spell it correctly.\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p>To understand how this chart works, let&#8217;s start by looking at the right-most column, which are all the vowel-only sounds.<\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 50px; border: solid 1px;\" border=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\u3042<\/td>\n<td>a<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u3044<\/td>\n<td>i<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u3046<\/td>\n<td>u<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u3048<\/td>\n<td>e<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u304a<\/td>\n<td>o<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Here are some sample words for reading practice.<br \/>\nExample: \u3042\u3044 &#8211; love <i>(read as &#8220;ai&#8221;)<\/i><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\u3042\u3046 &#8211; to meet<\/li>\n<li>\u3044\u3048 &#8211; house<\/li>\n<li>\u304a\u3044 &#8211; nephew<\/li>\n<li>\u3046\u3048 &#8211; above<\/li>\n<li>\u3044\u3046 &#8211; to say<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Each additional column represents a consonant sound with each of the five vowel sounds. For example, the &#8220;k&#8221; column has the following sounds.<\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 50px; border: solid 1px;\" border=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\u304b<\/td>\n<td>ka<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u304d<\/td>\n<td>ki<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u304f<\/td>\n<td>ku<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u3051<\/td>\n<td>ke<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\u3053<\/td>\n<td>ko<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>\u300c\u3093\u300d is the only character with no vowel sound. It adds an &#8220;n&#8221; sound as shown in the examples below.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u304d\u3093 &#8211; gold <i>(read as &#8220;kin&#8221;)<\/i><\/li>\n<li>\u304a\u3093\u306a &#8211; woman; girl <i>(read as &#8220;on-na&#8221;)<\/i><\/li>\n<li>\u304a\u3093\u304c\u304f &#8211; music <i>(read as &#8220;on-ga-ku&#8221;)<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here are my recommendations for learning how to read, write, hear, and say the characters and sounds in Hiragana.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Reading:<\/b> You&#8217;ll be getting plenty of reading practice with the material in this book.<\/li>\n<li><b>Writing:<\/b> You&#8217;ll need to develop muscle memory so use regular pen and paper. Below are handy PDFs for Hiragana writing practice.\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.guidetojapanese.org\/pdf\/hiragana_trace_sheet.pdf\">Hiragana trace sheets<\/a><\/li>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.guidetojapanese.org\/pdf\/hiragana_trace_sheet.pdf\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.guidetojapanese.org\/pdf\/hiragana_trace_sheet.pdf\"><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/japanese-lesson.com\/characters\/hiragana\/hiragana_writing.html\">japanese-lesson.com<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Hearing:<\/b> You can listen to the pronunciation for each character by clicking on it in the first chart. If your browser doesn&#8217;t support audio, you can also download them at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guidetojapanese.org\/audio\/basic_sounds.zip\">http:\/\/www.guidetojapanese.org\/audio\/basic_sounds.zip<\/a>. There are also other <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tokyowithkids.com\/fyi\/hiragana_chart.html\">free resources<\/a> with audio samples.<\/li>\n<li><b>Speaking:<\/b> Practice repeating the sounds. I recommend recording yourself to get an accurate idea of what you sound like. Pay careful attention to the &#8220;r&#8221; sounds!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While most of the sounds are pretty straightforward, the &#8220;r&#8221; sounds deserve careful attention for English speakers because there is no equivalent sound in English. It is more similar to the <a href=\"http:\/\/spanish.about.com\/od\/spanishpronunciation\/a\/pronouncing_r.htm\">&#8220;r&#8221; sound in Spanish<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>What works for some English speakers (even if it may not be technically correct) is to shape the lips something like the sound that is made for the English &#8220;r,&#8221; but to make the sound with a single trill or flap of the tongue against the front of the palate.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Use the latest browsers for audio The table below represents the entire Hiragana syllabary categorized by the consonant and vowel sounds. With the exception of a few sounds (as shown by the pronunciation in parentheses), most sounds in Japanese are easily represented by a vowel or consonant-vowel. There is also one consonant-only sound: \u300c\u3093\u300d. Hiragana &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/complete\/hiragana\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Hiragana&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"series":[7],"class_list":["post-362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing-systems-and-pronunciation","series-complete-guide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1756,"href":"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362\/revisions\/1756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}