Hiragana from the beginningJapanese words

*Let's learn HIRAGANA!* Hiragana is one of the *three Japanese character sets*. It was formed by *simplifying* particular *Kanji symbols* during the 9th century. In the beginning, hiragana was used mainly by women because they could not study the Kanji characters, as they were considered to be rather difficult. We use hiragana for *native Japanese words*, *suffixes*, or *grammatical and functional words*. Let's have a look at the *first 5 vowels*: "あ" *a* "い" *i* "う" *u* "え" *e* "お" *o*

*syllable alphabet* Together with the seven consonants *k, s, t, n, h, m, r, y and w*, the *48* basic hiragana and *hiragana syllable* letters are formed. However, there are a few exceptions that must be *noted*. 1.1. when the consonant *s* is followed by "い", it is pronounced "し" *shi* 2.2. when the consonant *t* is followed by "い", it is "ち" and pronounced *chi* 3. consonant *t* followed by "う", pronounced "つ" *tsu* 4.4. consonant *h* followed by "う", is "ふ" and pronounced *fu*. The *y* sequence can only be combined with the vowels "あ" "う" and "お". "や" *ya* "ゆ" *yu* "よ" *yo* The *w* column can be combined with the vowels "あ" and "お". "わ" *wa* Not to be confused with "ね":) "お" When combined with "を" it becomes and is pronounced like *wo*. It is used as a *particle* and is not used in the word. The last of the 46 basic Hiragana letters is a consonant. "ん" It is pronounced as *n*. At first glance, this may seem like a lot, but there is no need to worry. Hiragana has only 48 characters (.

*Let's practice some words with these vowels!*

*Modified forms* In addition to these 46 basic Hiragana letters called *gojūon*, there are modified forms that help us describe more sounds - *dakuon*, *handakuon*, *yōon* and *sokuon*. The first modifier is called *dakuten* which is indicated with *two small commas*. It represents the voiced sound of "か", "さ", "た" and "は" row syllables. *Dakuten* turns an unvoiced consonant into a voiced consonant: *k* becomes *g* *s* becomes *z* *t* becomes *d* *h* becomes *b*

*Handakuten* The second modifier is called *handakuten* which is indicated with a *small circle*. It represents the voiced sound of "は" row syllables. Here the consonant *h* becomes consonant *p*.

*Yōon* The third modified form is called *yōon*. It is a combination of the consonant of *i* column syllables and small "ゃ" "ゅ" "ょ" The first example is the consonant *k* + "ゃ" = "きゃ" *Yōon* is described by *i* column letter plus small "ゃ" "き" + "ゃ" = "きゃ"

*Let's practice some words with the modified forms!*

*Sokuon* Here we are introducing *sokuon* which *represents a pause* between two syllables and doubles the following consonant. It is described by a small "っ". Below we give a few examples to see how it works.

*Prolonging* You probably have already noticed that *vowels* can make the previous syllable *longer*. Below we again give a few examples.