Language/Japanese/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation

Japanese language uses three ways to express sounds and writing ː Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.

There are simple symbols derived from Chinese characters are called "Hiragana" and "Katakana", Chinese characters called Kanji.

Kana

Hiragana is used for common use. Katakana is used for onomatopoeia, emphasizing, foreign names and words.

There are 3 major types of romanization: Hepburn, Kunrei-shiki, Nihon-shiki.

In these charts, the order is top-to-bottom, right-to-left, which is the traditional one. Hiragana are at upper position, Katakana are at lower position. 3 romanization systems are in the order above, separated by a slash.

五十音 (gojūon)

[n], [m], [ŋ],[ɴ], [ɯ̃], [ĩ]	n	ん ン	[wa]	wa	わ ワ	[ɾa]	ra	ら ラ	[ja]	ya	や ヤ	[ma]	ma	ま マ	[ha], [wa]	ha	は ハ	[na]	na	な ナ	[ta]	ta	た タ	[sa]	sa	さ サ	[ka]	ka	か カ	[a]	a	あ ア
			[ɰᵝi], [i]	i/i/wi	ゐ ヰ	[ɾi]	ri	り リ				[mi]	mi	み ミ	[çi]	hi	ひ ヒ	[ɲi]	ni	に 二	[t͡ɕi]	chi/ti/ti	ち チ	[ɕi]	shi/si/si	し シ	[kʲi]	ki	き キ	[i]	i	い イ
						[ɾɯ]	ru	る ル	[jɯ]	yu	ゆ ユ	[mɯ]	mu	む ム	[ɸɯ]	fu/hu/hu	ふ フ	[nɯ]	nu	ぬ ヌ	[t͡sɯ]	tsu/tu/tu	つ ツ	[sɯ]	su	す ス	[kɯ]	ku	く ク	[ɯ]	u	う ウ
			[ɰᵝe̞], [e̞]	e/e/we	ゑ ヱ	[ɾe]	re	れ レ				[me]	me	め メ	[he], [e]	he	へ へ	[ne]	ne	ね ネ	[te]	te	て テ	[se]	se	せ セ	[ke]	ke	け ケ	[e]	e	え エ
			[(w)o]	o/o/wo	を ヲ	[ɾo]	ro	ろ ロ	[jo]	yo	よ ヨ	[mo]	mo	も モ	[ho]	ho	ほ ホ	[no]	no	の ノ	[to]	to	と ト	[so]	so	そ ソ	[ko]	ko	こ コ	[o]	o	お オ

濁音と半濁音 (dakuon and handakuon)

[pa]	pa	ぱ パ	[ba]	ba	ば バ	[da]	da	だ ダ	[za]	za	ざ ザ	[ɡa]	ga	が ガ
[pi]	pi	ぴ ピ	[bi]	bi	び ビ	[(d)ʑi]	ji/zi/di	ぢ ヂ	[(d)ʑi]	ji/zi/zi	じ ジ	[ɡʲi]	gi	ぎ ギ
[pɯ]	pu	ぷ プ	[bɯ]	bu	ぶ ブ	[(d)zɯ]	zu/zu/du	づ ヅ	(d)zɯ]	zu	ず ズ	[ɡɯ]	gu	ぐ グ
[pe]	pe	ぺ ペ	[be]	be	べ ベ	[de]	de	で デ	[ze]	ze	ぜ ゼ	[ɡe]	ge	げ ゲ
[po]	po	ぽ ポ	[bo]	bo	ぼ ボ	[do]	do	ど ド	[zo]	zo	ぞ ゾ	[ɡo]	go	ご ゴ

拗音 (yōon)

[pʲa]	pya	ぴゃ ピャ	[bʲa]	bya	びゃ ビャ	[d͡ʑa]	ja/zya/zya	じゃ ジャ	[ɡʲa]	gya	ぎゃ ギャ	[ɾʲa]	rya	りゃ リャ	[mʲa]	mya	みゃ ミャ	[ça]	hya	ひゃ ヒャ	[ɲa]	nya	にゃ ニャ	[t͡ɕa]	cha/tya/tya	ちゃ チャ	[ɕa]	sha/sya/sya	しゃ シャ	[kʲa]	kya	きゃ キャ
[pʲɯ]	pyu	ぴゅ ピュ	[bʲɯ]	byu	びゅ ビュ	[d͡ʑɯ]	ju/zyu/zyu	じゅ ジュ	[ɡʲɯ]	gyu	ぎゅ ギュ	[ɾʲɯ]	ryu	りゅ リュ	[mʲɯ]	myu	みゅ ミュ	[çɯ]	hyu	ひゅ ヒュ	[ɲɯ]	nyu	にゅ ニュ	[t͡ɕɯ]	chu/tyu/tyu	ちゅ チュ	[ɕɯ]	shu/syu/syu	しゅ シュ	[kʲɯ]	kyu	きゅ キュ
[pʲo]	pyo	ぴょ ピョ	[bʲo]	byo	びょ ビョ	[d͡ʑo]	jo/zyo/zyo	じょ ジョ	[ɡʲo]	gyo	ぎょ ギョ	[ɾʲo]	ryo	りょ リョ	[mʲo]	myo	みょ ミョ	[ço]	hyo	ひょ ヒョ	[ɲo]	nyo	にょ ニョ	[t͡ɕo]	cho/tyo/tyo	ちょ チョ	[ɕo]	sho/syo/syo	しょ ショ	[kʲo]	kyo	きょ キョ

Notes ː

ゐ/ヰ and ゑ/ヱ are rarely used in modern Japanese. As you can see, for "w" sound, there are only a and o.

Concerning the "y" section, there are only a, u and o.

Also, to form some sounds like z, p or b we have to use some additional symbols to complete basic ones.

゛makes k become g, s become z, t become d, h become b.

゜ makes h become p.

っ/ッ indicates a geminate consonant.

ー means long vowel.

There is a small difficulty in katakana symbols table due to the very similar looking of some ː ノ、ソ、ン、シ、ツ...＋ゾ、ジ、ヅ。

Extended Katakana are not introduced here.

Kanji

Kanji makes homonyms to be understood more precisely. For example, “kami” can mean god, paper or hair. With kanji, one can express the proper meaning.

Authors

briceJ