Japanese Learning - Hiragana

Hiragana - ひらがな

There are 5 vowels in the Japanese language:

(a), pronounced "ahh", (i), pronounced like "e" in "eat", (u), pronounced like "oo" in "soon", (e), pronounced like "e" in "elk", and (o), pronounced "oh". All Hiragana characters end with one of these vowels, with the exception of (n). The only "consonant" that does not resemble that of English is the Japanese "r". It is slightly "rolled" as if it were a combination of a "d", "r", and "l".

あ a い i う u え e お o

か ka き ki く ku け ke こ ko


が ga ぎ gi ぐ gu げ ge ご go

さ sa し shi す su せ se そ so

ざ za じ ji ず zu ぜze ぞ zo

た ta ち chi つ tsu て te と to

だ da ぢ ji づ zu で de ど do

な na に ni ぬ nu ね ne の no

は ha ひ hi ふ fu へ he ほ ho

ば ba び bi ぶ bu べ be ぼ bo

ぱ pa ぴ pi ぷ pu ぺ pe ぽ po

ま ma み mi む mu め me も mo

や ya ゆ yu よ yo

ら ra り ri る ru れ re ろ ro

わ wa を wo ん n/m


Combinations
きゃ kya きゅ kyu きょ kyo

ぎゃ gya ぎゅ gyu ぎょ gyo

しゃ sha しゅ shu しょ sho

じゃ ja じゅ ju じょ jo

ちゃ cha ちゅ chu ちょ cho

にゃ nya にゅ nyu にょ nyo

ひゃ hya ひゅ hyu ひょ hyo

びゃ bya びゅ byu びょ byo

ぴゃ pya ぴゅ pyu ぴょ pyo

みゃ mya みゅ myu みょ myo

りゃ rya りゅ ryu りょ


Exceptions:
1. は (ha) is pronounced "wa" when it immediately follows the topic of the sentence. It is usually only pronounced "ha" when it is part of a word.
2. へ (he) is pronounced "e" when it immediately follows a place or direction. Both of these are very simple to detect.

Note: You probably noticed that there are 2 "zu" and 2 "ji". づ (zu) and ぢ (ji) are very rarely used. づ (zu) only occurs when there is a つ (tsu) in front of it like in つづく (tsuzuku - to continue) or when a Kanji (Chinese character) that starts with つ (tsu) is paired at the end with another character changing the つ (tsu) to a づ (zu). The same applies for ぢ (ji). Since they are used so rarely I wouldn't worry about them too much. I will let you know whenever we come upon a word in which they are used.