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Lesson 1-2 : Lesson Review about Japanese Syllabary

Hi, Konnichiwa!

This post reviews what we've learned on September 15th 2010 at JAS-NJ in Fort Lee.

You can view slideshows and listen to audio files.

1) Basic syllables

There are forty-six basic hiragana (also katakana) syllables, which are listed below. Once you memorize these charts, you will have the skill to transcribe all of the Japanese sounds. The romaji chart is given for general pronunciation reference.

*The syllables 「ふ」,「し」,「ち」, and 「つ」are romanized as fu, shi, chi, and tsu, respectively, which is closer to the English pronunciation.

**「を」is also pronounced as “o“, however, since this「を」is only used as a particle, it is sometimes written and managed as “ wo” in romanized distinctively from the basic syllable「お」.

Basic syllables: Click here for

Audio File

1 2 japanese_syllabary_basicsyllables

2) Syllables with Diacritical Marks

You can transcribe 23 additional sounds by adding diacritical marks.

With a pair of short diagonal strokes ( ” ), the unvoiced consonants k, s, t, and h become voiced consonants g, z, d and b.

The consonant h changes to p with the addition of a small circle ( ° ).

*「ぢ( ji )」and 「づ( zu ) are pronounced the same as 「じ( ji )」and 「ず( zu )」, respectively, and have limited use.

Syllables with Diacritical Marks : Click here forAudio File

1 2 japanese_syllabary_diacriticalmarks

3) Transcribing Contracted Sounds

Small「や」,「ゆ」, and 「よ」followed after letters in the second column i-vowel hiragana/i-Dan ( except「い」) and are used to transcribe contracted sounds. The contracted sound represents a single syllable.