Hiragana, the Basics of Japanese

Clay & Yumi Boutwell

Published by Kotoba Books

Copyright 2003-2012 Kotoba, Inc.

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So you want to learn hiragana?

CONGRATULATIONS!

Everything you need for mastering hiragana is found right here. But if you do need help or have a question, please visit our free site for learning Japanese: www.thejapanesepage.com, discover other books and resources at www.TheJapanShop.com, or email the authors directly at help@thejapanshop.com. (We would love to hear from you and try to answer your questions directly, so don’t be shy.)

Japanese is a fascinating language to study and by learning hiragana you will be well on your way! By the end of this book you should be able to read and write all hiragana and learn some eighty essential words.

Hiragana is one of three writing systems in Japanese. You will need to know all three to be able to read Japanese newspapers, novels, or even manga for example.

However, hiragana—in our opinion—is the most important to learn first.

Once you learn hiragana, you will know all the sounds and sound combinations possible in Japanese. Katakana (hiragana's sister) uses the same format and sounds found in hiragana. This makes learning katakana a breeze. In addition, many books will have small hiragana, called furigana, over kanji (characters incorporated into Japanese from Chinese a long time ago). So, even if you have never seen a kanji before, by knowing hiragana you can "read" its pronunciation.

Like the English alphabet, hiragana and katakana--but not kanji--only convey sound and not meaning. However, hiragana is not an alphabet; it is a syllabary. Each of the 46 basic hiragana characters represent more or less a syllable. So with the English alphabet, we would writeか　ka using two characters: "k" and "a," but just one character in hiragana: か.

If katakana uses the same sounds and format as hiragana, why two syllabaries? Good question. Hiragana, the more fluid and "feminine" of the two, is at the heart of written Japanese. Hiragana fills out where kanji leaves off. It can also be used to write whole words. For example, the word for "new" is atarashiiand can be written asあたらしい (just hiragana) or with kanji新しい　(kanji and hiragana). Notice how the hiragana finishes the word where the kanji leaves off. But if you don't know the kanji, having furigana (small hiragana) is helpful: . All three examples are pronounced exactly the same, atarashii.

Tip: Kanji conveys ideas and sound; hiragana and katakana only convey sounds.

Katakana is used mostly for foreign names, foreign loan words, and for emphasis in certain cases. Your name, for example, would be written in katakana, but let's not jump too far ahead--learn hiragana first and well!

If you look at the chart below, you will notice the hiragana are divided into sections by row. Each row, after the first one, is a consonant plus a vowel. Find the above mentioned in the second row and first column. Notice it is on "k" row and the "a" column. ka.

Tip: Take some time to study the chart above. Understanding the pattern will help you master hiragana more than anything else.

General Information

There are a few “rules” that will help make your learning process easier:

* Written Japanese is made of kanji (Chinese characters), katakana (Hiragana’s sister which is used mainly for foreign words and names), and hiragana.

* You will need to learn 46 basic characters to learn hiragana.

* A few additional sounds are made by combining two hiragana and/or by adding one of two small symbols.

* Except for a few cases, each character's sound is unique. (Unlike English where 5 vowels--a, e, i, o, and u--represent 15 vowel sounds!)

* Every hiragana, katakana, or kanji has a specific stroke order. This book shows the stroke order for all hiragana. Sometimes in the book however, characters with one stroke are shown with two strokes for ease of understanding.

* Stroke order usually starts from the upper left corner down to the lower right. Vertical lines are drawn from top to bottom and horizontal lines are left to right. Knowing this, you can guess how to write *most* characters.

* We believe studying fifteen minutes each day is far more effective than two hours once a week. You may want to record how much time you spend each day to encourage regular study periods. While everyone is different, it seems the average time to learn hiragana is only about two weeks.

About this Book

In the hiragana box (below), you will find its romaji (romanized / alphabet letters) and its sound. Please follow the stroke order shown. Even if your goal is simply to read, knowing the correct stroke order will help you in other areas such as learning kanji and writing better overall.

We also give memory tips for each character. Admittedly some of them are pretty silly; but in our experience, the sillier they are, the easier they stick. Give them a try, but feel free to come up with different memory tricks that work best for you.

Gambarimashou!
(Let’s do our best!)
Clay & Yumi Boutwell
www.TheJapanesePage.com
www.TheJapanShop.com

Chapter 1

This is the first of the vowels. There are only FIVE vowel sounds. All the other characters are made of a consonant + a vowel (except the “n” sound)

You will be tempted to pronounce these vowels by their English name, but sounds like "ah" instead of "eh." When you say these vowels be sure to say them correctly.

Tip: Usually, stroke order goes horizontally and then vertically, from top to bottom--usually.

Now we come to our first real word. Let’s put together with and see what happens!

ai which means “love!”

Not a bad first day’s work!

This hiragana is sometimes used to make other characters longer in duration. Actually, all the vowels work in this capacity, but u is probably the most used.

You will see this later so don’t worry about it now but don’t forget it either!

The stroke order box above shows three strokes, but the last two really should be one stroke. Go completely to the bottom left, trace back up, and then finish to the bottom right.

It may seem difficult at first, but these first few hiragana will be the base for your Japanese future! So learn these important vowels well.

Also, learn them in order [a, i, u, e, o] and with their correct pronunciations--not the English names for the English letters they represent as romaji.

Don’t confuse this with ! And don't forget the short, diagonal line in step three.

You are on your last hiragana vowel! Congratulations!

Now, can you figure out what these words are?
You may stop pinching yourself now--you are reading real Japanese words!

Now, try to answer the following questions from memory.

Q&A:

1. means ____________

2. How do you write “blue” in Japanese? ________________

3. How would you say “blue house” in Japanese? [hint “blue” + “house”]

TRUE OR FALSE:

1. means “no” (T F)

2. means “red” (T F)

See Answers in the Back

Chapter 2

Now that you have learned the vowels [], let’s build from them!

Tip: The remaining hiragana (except one) are sounds we would write with two or more letters in English. This chapter begins the “k” row and this one [] is “k” + “a” or “ka.” (Two letters but one hiragana character.)

Continuing with the “k” section and adding the second vowel sound “i” we get “ki.” The sound KI means “tree” in Japanese. If you haven't internalized the pattern in the chart at the front yet, please take a look at the rows and columns. (Tap to View)

The last stroke (looks like a lower case "c") can also be written not touching the rest of the character: . There are other hiragana that have slight variations. We will point them out as we go.

Now we have “k” and the 3rd vowel “u” to make “ku” better known as the “less than” mark. When drawing this character, start at the top (right) go down left then finally down right.

Perhaps now you can see how the rest of hiragana is constructed: a consonant + one of the five vowel sounds. No problem! The sound KE means “hair” in Japanese.

Now that you have learned the vowel sounds and have studied the first consonant + vowel line, you should have a basic understanding of hiragana. But don’t worry if you are still a bit confused… Take it one step at a time.

Now, can you figure out what these words are in hiragana?
Pronounce them and write them out on a piece of paper.

Now, try to answer the following questions from memory.

Q&A:

1. How do you write “big (train) station” [big + station] ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

2. Which writing system is used for foreign names, hiragana or katakana? ________________ [Tap here to review]

TRUE OR FALSE:

1. means “airport” (T F)

2. To make some sounds longer add an (T F)

See Answers in the Back

Chapter 3

This looks similar to [tap here] but with one less line. Also similar to , the last stroke can be written without touching the rest of the character:

Tip: Make drawing hiragana fun! The more you draw them the quicker you will remember them.

This is one of the least complicated to draw! Remember to always start at the top and go down when drawing Japanese characters. You may be expecting “si” but it is pronounced “shi.” However, it is commonly romanized as "si" in Japan. This is because "si" is more logical according to how the sounds are structured. We are using "shi" because that most closely represents how it is pronounced.

For the second stroke: Start from the top and as you go down, loop it to the left and then end with a tail.

Are you writing each character many times? Try to use more than one sense: seeing, speaking, and writing aids memorization more than just seeing.

Another way to write this one is:

Also we showed the stoke order in three strokes, but the last two strokes should be one.

Just remember that they are the same.

Now, can you figure out what these words are in hiragana?
Pronounce them and write them out on a piece of paper.

Now, try to answer the following questions from memory.

Q&A:

1. How do you write sushi in hiragana? ___ ___

2. How is pronounced? ___________

TRUE OR FALSE:

1. is “ki” and is “sa” (T F)

2.       There are two ways to write (T F)

See Answers in the Back

Chapter 4

You are now beginning the "t" row. You will encounter two irregular pronunciations. Until now, it has been pretty easy: one consonant + one vowel with no irregularities. The next hiragana changes things.

You have reached your first irregular hiragana pronunciation. This is pronounced as "chi" and not "ti" as you would think. The chart in the back has the irregular pronunciations in red. (Tap here to view)

TSU. This one is a bit difficult for native English speakers to pronounce. The sound is not found in English, but if you say the words "cat" and "soup" fast you get a caTSOUp. This is the sound you want. Later we will see a small . This causes a short pause between syllables.

If at all possible, finid a native Japanese speaker to pronounce it for you. Or lacking that, please go to http://thejapanesepage.com/hiragana for sound files (free).

Taking a break from the irregular, let's continue on with the regular ones!

Tip: "Hand" in Japanese is te. (KaraTE -- empty hand)

You have finished the fourth row. Getting close to the mid-mark. Don't give up. You are doing just fine.

Now, can you figure out what these words are in hiragana?
Pronounce them and write them out on a piece of paper.

Now, try to answer the following questions from memory.

Q&A:

1. Write the two hiragana with irregular pronunciations in this chapter ___ ___

2. How do you write "song" in Japanese? ___________

TRUE OR FALSE:

1. means "2" (T F)

2. means "steak" (T F)

See Answers in the Back

Chapter 5

There are 3 characters that have a as part of the character. They are all in the “n” section.

Try your best to learn to read and write the hiragana. Even Japanese, when they forget a kanji (Chinese character) can always write the word in hiragana.

Here is the second character. We are pointing this out as there are several characters that are somewhat similar.

There will be two more hiragana that look similar to . Be sure to get straight that “ne” is the one with the tail—

This hiragana is used as a particle [grammatical marker] as well as for making words. As a particle, it means the apostrophe S [marks the possessive]

Now, can you figure out what these words are in hiragana?
Pronounce them and write them out on a piece of paper.

See Answers in the Back

Chapter 6

This and “he” are the only hiragana that have two sounds for one character. When “” is used to make up words like hashi (chopsticks) it is pronounced “ha.” However when used as a grammatical marker (as a “topic” or “main idea”) it is pronounced “WA”

Nearly every letter in the English alphabet has two or more possible sounds, but remarkably, Japanese sounds and characters are very regular.

This can also be written as . Just remember that the middle line can be drawn or not.

Also the pronunciation of this is not “hu” as you would expect but “fu.” As in toufu—tofu. Although, the sound is sometimes in-between “hu” and “fu.”

can be pronounced as “he” or “e.” Usually, when used as part of a word, it is pronounced as “he” as in heso (belly button). And when used as a grammatical particle (to show direction) it is pronounced “e” - but not always!

This comes after so it has a top bar. Notice the second bar is slightly longer than the first.

Now, can you figure out what these words are in hiragana?
Pronounce them and write them out on a piece of paper.

Now let’s play a traditional Japanese game—Shiritori.
“shiri” means “butt” and “tori” means “to catch.” Someone starts with a word and the next player says another word that begins with the last letter of the previous word. Let’s play Shiritori with a few words you have studied:

See Answers in the Back

Chapter 7

At first you may have to think of each memory help in order to say each pronunciation, but after a while, you will be able to simply look at the character and, skipping the memory help, your mind will jump right to the sound. This is real progress.

Also, there may be some hiragana you know better than others. Don’t let this worry you. In time as you read more and more, the bumps will be smoothed out.

Getting this far, you have accomplished quite a lot. Go on a treasure hunt on the internet. Start at a Japanese site such as kids.yahoo.co.jp. Find and sound out the hiragana you have studied. Even if you don't understand what's being said, this will help you recognize hiragana.

Tip: Also with Yahoo Japan, when you put your mouse over any link and look at the bottom, you will see the directory name in English!

Here we have the last of the look-a-likes. me looks a lot like nu, no, and even a.

Now that you are finishing your seventh row, be sure to spend some time reviewing what you have studied.

Now, can you figure out what these words are in hiragana?
Pronounce them and write them out on a piece of paper.

Now, try to answer the following questions from memory.

Q&A:

1. How do you pronounce ___ & how do you pronounce ___?

2. Write shimauma [zebra] in Japanese. ___________

TRUE OR FALSE:

1. Hiragana came from kanji (T F)

2. The correct order for the m’s is (T F)

See Answers in the Back

Chapter 8

If you look at the order of hiragana on the front of this booklet, you will see that the row is missing a few sounds.

There is no yi or ye sound. That is why we are on yu now.

It may seem easier to write the down stroke first, but learn it in the correct order from the start. Stroke order is very important to the Japanese and, yes, it can make a difference in the appearance sometimes.

The , , and can be used in two ways:

1. “letters” to make words

2. or…Take a look at the lower back cover (tap here to view) where it says “plus small .” Remember not to panic and then come back here. It looks scary but, really, it isn’t too complicated.

There is a pattern.

In every case a consonant sound is combined with a small ya, yu, or yo. And the consonant sound has already been decided for you! It is always those under the “i” column. Look at the chart again (tap here to view). Starting with the “k” row, we see , , , , , , and are used. (all i’s)

Now notice the sound changes. ki + ya = kya

Easy isn’t it? You can think of the smaller , , or as taking away the “i” sound in the first character. You may be saying, “What is the difference between kiya and kya?” First, the sound is different. “KI YA” (two syllables) versus “KYA” (one syllable). Second, the meaning can be totally different.

Now, can you figure out what these words are in hiragana?
Pronounce them and write them out on a piece of paper.

Copy the following words to make a [not so useful] sentence in Japanese:

Let's Practice the Small

The following table shows all the hiragana you have learned with a small , , or . The last line [r line] will be studied next.

NOTE: We didn’t write the and rows with a “y” in the romaji. If we were to write sya (as many Japanese people do) the sound to the foreigner will be different. Both ways are correct—One being more “correct” to the Japanese understanding of the writing system and the other being more faithful to the pronunciation.

See Answers in the Back

Chapter 9

You will notice there is no sound help given above. That is because the Japanese R sounds are different from any English sound. In this chapter, we will try to explain how to make the sounds, but be sure to listen to the sound files on the web. For example: http://thejapanesepage.com/beginners/pronunciation

The R sound is in between the R and L sounds in English. Sometimes it sounds like a “D” to English ears. Pronunciation-wise this is the most difficult section, so learn it well. But don’t worry too much about it. Once you get the hang of it you will be understood.

If you have Japanese friends, ask them to help you with the “r” sounds. Listen carefully and mimic the sounds.

Don’t confuse this with ne.

You have survived the last of the dreaded “r’s.”

Spend some time listening to the sound files on the web (http://thejapanesepage.com/beginners/pronunciation) and reading the next page to get your pronunciation down.

Now, can you figure out what these words are in hiragana?
Pronounce them and write them out on a piece of paper.

There are two considerations for mastering the R's: Tongue and Mouth

PART ONE: The Tongue...

The sound is made by lightly slapping your tongue just behind your upper teeth. Think of making an L sound, as in "LOVE." That is the approximate place. The only difference between the Japanese R and the English L sound is how long the tongue is held there. In English the tongue is held a while so air can go around it. In Japanese, the tongue is immediately dropped. All of the R sounds are made the same way with the tongue.

PART TWO: The Mouth...

The mouth takes a little practice to make it natural, but it is also easy, really. Very simply, for RA RI & RE the mouth is more open and for RU & RO the mouth is more rounded and shut. [NOTE: actually for perfect pronunciation, ALL five sounds have unique mouth positions -- we will look at this, but remember basically for RA, RI & RE the mouth is more opened and RU & RO it is rounded and smaller.]
With detail to make a linguist laugh, here are the five general positions of the mouth for the five different sounds...

Again the most important thing is that RA, RI & RE have a kind of open, wide mouth and RU & RO have a more rounded, small mouth. Practice saying them in order -- (open mouth) RA RI (round mouth) RU (open mouth) RE (round mouth) RO.

Lastly remember, slap the tongue with a wide mouth for RA, RI, RE and slap the tongue with a round mouth for RU & RO.

See Answers in the Back

Chapter 10

There are only two letters under the “w” section. And this is the only character that actually has a “w” sound. The next hiragana is technically a “wo” but most of the time it is pronounced “o.”

This character is used only as a grammatical particle. It is the only hiragana that can never be used as a part of a word. You have studied the character that does that .

is placed right after the direct object.

Finally the last one! This is the only one that has just one consonant sound—n. Also the cannot be used at the beginning of a word.

Appendix 1

The small

Earlier, we mentioned sometimes a small tsu is used to cause a short pause or break between syllables. For example, in English we have a slight pause after “black” in “black car.” Here is a good example to show how important this small is.

gakki - musical instrument [with a slight pause]
- and -
gaki - brat, annoying kid [without the pause]

Remember:
The small is not pronounced, but causes a short hiccup between sounds

See Answers in the Back

Appendix 2

Before doing the practice below, look at the chart on the back cover until you understand how it works.

When is given a ten ten , it can be a grammatical particle. (it can also be a regular “letter” to make up words…) As a grammatical particle it marks the subject of the sentence. Very often the usage of the particles and are similar. usually covers a broad topic while is more narrow.

Appendix 3

KAIBUN (Japanese palindrome)

This is a word play where a sentence can be read from the left or right and still make sense.

watashi makemashita wa—Reading from either the left or right it means “I lost.” [watashi = I; makemashita = lost; wa = sigh or exclamation sound] Notice this doesn’t work looking at the romaji, but only with hiragana.

takeyabu yaketa—Again reading from the left or the right, it means, “the bamboo grove burned.” [takeyabu = bamboo grove; yaketa = was burned]

Yumi's Challenge

Here is your chance. Yumi has prepared a few sentences based mainly on words found in this booklet. See if you can sound out the words and understand them.

Some hints:

, , and are used also as grammatical particles.
Japanese verbs are at the end of the sentence.
is a copula and acts as “to be” [is, am, are] or shows existence.

Answer Key

Chart

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