View source for Hiragana

{{Short description|Japanese syllabary}}
{{For|the Unicode block|Hiragana (Unicode block)}}

{{Infobox writing system
|name=Hiragana
|altname={{lang|ja|平仮名}}<br/>{{lang|ja-Hira|ひらがな}}
|type=[[Syllabary]]
|languages=[[Japanese language|Japanese]], [[Hachijō language|Hachijō]] and the [[Ryukyuan languages]]
|time={{circa|800}}{{snd}}present
|fam1=[[Oracle bone script]]
|fam2=[[Seal script]]
|fam3=[[Clerical script]]
|fam4=[[Regular script]] ([[kanji]])
|fam5=[[Man'yōgana]]
|sisters=[[Katakana]], [[Hentaigana]]
|iso15924=Hira
|sample=ひ 教科書体.svg
|unicode = {{blist
|Hiragana: [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U3040.pdf U+3040–U+309F] 
|Kana Extended-B: [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1AFF0.pdf U+1AFF0–U+1AFFF]
|Kana Supplement: [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1B000.pdf U+1B000–U+1B0FF] 
||Kana Extended-A: [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1B100.pdf U+1B100–U+1B12F] 
|Small Kana Extension: [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1B130.pdf U+1B130–U+1B16F] 
}}
|imagesize=100px
}} 
{{Japanese writing}}

{{nihongo|'''Hiragana'''|[[wikt:平仮名|平仮名]], [[wikt:ひらがな|ひらがな]]||{{IPA|ja|çiɾaɡaꜜna, çiɾaɡana(ꜜ)|IPA}}}} is a [[Japanese language|Japanese]] [[syllabary]], part of the [[Japanese writing system]], along with ''[[katakana]]'' as well as ''[[kanji]]'' (Chinese characters).

It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' means "common" or "plain" [[kana]] (originally also "easy", as contrasted with kanji).<ref>[http://daijirin.dual-d.net/extra/hiragana.html Dual 大辞林]<br />「平」とは平凡な、やさしいという意で、当時普通に使用する文字体系であったことを意味する。 漢字は書簡文や重要な文章などを書く場合に用いる公的な文字であるのに対して、 平仮名は漢字の知識に乏しい人々などが用いる私的な性格のものであった。<br />Translation: 平 [the "hira" part of "hiragana"] means "ordinary, common" or "easy, simple" since at that time [the time that the name was given] it was a writing system for everyday use. While kanji was the official system used for letter-writing and important texts, hiragana was for personal use by people who had limited knowledge of kanji.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/Japanese-calligraphy#ref1049371 |title=Japanese calligraphy |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=2017-06-22 |language=en }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://soar-ir.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/21282/files/ShinshuStudiesinHumanities_7-2_13.pdf |title=平安期神楽歌謡文献からみる「平仮名」の位置|trans-title=The Position of "Hiragana" As Seen from Kagura Song References of the Heian Period|author=山田 健三 (Yamada Kenzō)
|language=Japanese|access-date=2022-04-18|page=239
|quote=<p>「かたかな」の「かた」は単に「片方」という意味ではなく、本来あるべきものが欠落しているという評価形容語と解すべきことはよく知られているが（亀井孝1941）、(7)としてまとめた対立関係から考えると、「ひらがな」も同様に「かな」の「ひら」という評価位置に存在するものと考えられる。</p><p>本国語大辞典「ひらがな」の説明は「ひら」を「角のない、通俗平易の意」とし、また「ひら」を前部要素とする複合語の形態素説明で、多くの辞書は「ひら」に「たいら」という意味を認める。</p><p>しかし、辞書の意味説明が必ずしも原義説明を欲してはいないことを知りつつも、野暮を承知でいうならば、これは「ひら」の原義（中核的意味）説明としては適当ではない。「ひら」は、「枚」や擬態語「ひらひら」などと同根の情態言とでもいうべき形態素／ pira ／であり、その中核的意味は、物理的／精神的な「薄さ」を示し、「たいら」はそこからの派生義と思われる。となると、「ひらがな」に物理的「薄さ」（thinness）は当然求められないので、「ひら」とはより精神的な表現に傾き、「かたかな」同様、「かな」から見て、ワンランク下であることを示す、いささか差別的・蔑視的ニュアンスを含む表現であったということになる。</p>
|trans-quote=<p>The "''kata''" in "''katakana''" does not mean just "one side", and it is well known (Takashi Kamei 1941) that it should be interpreted as a valuation epithet stating that something that should be there is missing, and considering the oppositional relationship summarized in figure (7), the word "''hiragana''" can be thought of in a valuation position as the "''hira''" kind of "''kana''".</p><p>The explanation of the term ''hiragana'' in the [[Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]] dictionary states that ''hira'' means "unangular, easy for common people", and descriptions of ''hira'' as a prefixing element in compounds as given in many dictionaries explain this ''hira'' as meaning "flat" (''taira'').</p><p>However, knowing that dictionary explanations of meaning do not always drive for the original senses, if we are to be brash, we might point out that this is not a fitting explanation of the original sense (core meaning) of ''hira''.  ''Hira'' is morpheme {{IPA|/pira/}}, cognate with words like {{nihongo_krt||枚|hira|"slip of paper, cloth, or something else flat"}} or {{nihongo_krt||ひらひら|hirahira|"flutteringly"}}, and the core meaning indicates physical or emotional "thinness", and ''taira'' ("flat") appears to be a derived meaning therefrom.  As such, we naturally cannot get physical "thinness" from ''hiragana'', so the ''hira'' leans more towards an emotional expression, and much like for ''katakana'', from the perspective of ''kana'', it indicates a lower relative ranking [relative to the [[kanji]]], and the expression contains a slight nuance of discrimination or contempt.</p>
}}</ref>

Historically, hiragana developed from cursive forms of Kanji ({{nihongo|sōsho|草書}}) via {{nihongo|[[man'yōgana]]|万葉仮名}}, with each sign originating as a simplified cursive rendering of a whole kanji—for example, {{nihongo krt||あ|a}} from {{nihongo krt||安|an}}.<ref name="BritannicaKana">{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/kana |title=Kana |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica|publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.|language=en |quote=Hiragana, a cursive, graceful writing system, is composed of symbols derived by modifying portions of kanji.|access-date=2025-09-22}}</ref><ref name="OxfordHiragana">{{Cite web |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/abstract/10.1093/acref/9780199990009.001.0001/acref-9780199990009-e-5119 |title=Hiragana (Japanese, 'plain kana')|website=Oxford Reference |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |quote=A Japanese system of syllabic writing based on Chinese cursive ideograms.|access-date=2025-09-22}}</ref><ref name="NINJAL">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nijl.ac.jp/activity/img/20170217seminar2-2.pdf|title=Introduction to kuzushiji (cursive Japanese calligraphy)|website=National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics |date=2017-02-17|language=en |quote=For example, the hiragana character a あ is derived from an abbreviated version of the bottom part of the kanji 安. |access-date=2025-09-22}}</ref>

Hiragana and katakana are both [[kana]] systems. With few exceptions, each [[mora (linguistics)|mora]] in the [[Japanese language]] is represented by one [[Character (symbol)|character]] (or one [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]]) in each system. This may be a vowel such as {{IPA|/a/}} (hiragana [[wikt:あ|あ]]); a consonant followed by a vowel such as {{IPA|/ka/}} ([[wikt:か|か]]); or the [[Nasalization|nasal]] [[sonorant]] {{IPA|/N/}} ([[wikt:ん|ん]]). Because the characters of the kana do not represent single consonants (except in the case of the aforementioned ん), the kana are referred to as syllabic symbols and not alphabetic letters.<ref>{{cite book |title=An Introduction to Modern Japanese: Book 1 |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontomo01bowr |url-access=limited |year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=United Kingdom |isbn=978-0521548878 |author1=Richard Bowring |author2=Haruko Uryu Laurie |page =[https://archive.org/details/introductiontomo01bowr/page/n27 9]}}</ref>

Hiragana is used to write ''[[okurigana]]'' (kana suffixes following a kanji root, for example to inflect verbs and adjectives), various grammatical and function words including [[Japanese particles|particles]], and miscellaneous other native words for which there are no [[kanji]] or whose kanji form is obscure or too formal for the writing purpose.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Liu |first=Xuexin |title=Japanese Simplification of Chinese Characters in Perspective |journal=Southeast Review of Asian Studies |year=2009 |volume=31 }}</ref> Words that do have common kanji renditions may also sometimes be written instead in hiragana, according to an individual author's preference, for example to impart an informal feel. Hiragana is also used to write ''[[furigana]]'', a reading aid that shows the [[pronunciation]] of kanji characters.

There are two main systems of [[Kana#Collation|ordering hiragana]]: the old-fashioned [[iroha]] ordering and the more prevalent [[gojūon]] ordering.

==Writing system==
{| align=right border="0" cellpadding="0" style="padding:2px;margin-left:1em;"
|-
|
{| class="wikitable" style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center;"
|+ Basic hiragana characters
|-
! !! ''a'' !! ''i'' !! ''u'' !! ''e'' !! ''o''
|-
!title="No lead consonant"|∅
|<big>[[あ]]</big>||<big>[[い]]</big>||<big>[[う]]</big>||<big>[[え]]</big>||<big>[[お]]</big>
|-
!''k''
|<big>[[か]]</big>||<big>[[き]]</big>||<big>[[く]]</big>||<big>[[け]]</big>||<big>[[こ]]</big>
|-
!''s''
|<big>[[さ]]</big>||<big>[[し]]</big>||<big>[[す]]</big>||<big>[[せ]]</big>||<big>[[そ]]</big>
|-
!''t''
|<big>[[た]]</big>||<big>[[ち]]</big>||<big>[[つ]]</big>||<big>[[て]]</big>||<big>[[と]]</big>
|-
!''n''
|<big>[[な]]</big>||<big>[[に]]</big>||<big>[[ぬ]]</big>||<big>[[ね]]</big>||<big>[[の]]</big>
|-
!''h''
|<big>[[は]]</big>||<big>[[ひ]]</big>||<big>[[ふ]]</big>||<big>[[へ]]</big>||<big>[[ほ]]</big>
|-
!''m''
|<big>[[ま]]</big>||<big>[[み]]</big>||<big>[[む]]</big>||<big>[[め]]</big>||<big>[[も]]</big>
|-
!''y''
|<big>[[や]]</big>||<ref name="obsolete">See [[#Obsolete kana|obsolete kana]].</ref>
|<big>[[ゆ]]</big>||<ref name="obsolete" />||<big>[[よ]]</big>
|-
!''r''
|<big>[[ら]]</big>|||<big>[[り]]</big>||<big>[[る]]</big>||<big>[[れ]]</big>||<big>[[ろ]]</big>
|-
!''w''
|<big>[[わ]]</big>||style="background:#DDDDF6"|<big>[[ゐ]]</big>||<ref name="obsolete" />
|style="background:#DDDDF6"|<big>[[ゑ]]</big>||<big>[[を]]</big>
|-
| colspan="6" | <big>[[ん]]</big> '''(''n'')'''
|-
! colspan="6"| Main functional marks <br />and [[diacritics]]
|-
|<big>[[っ]]</big>||<big>[[ゝ]]</big>|| colspan="2" |<big>[[dakuten|゛]]</big>|| colspan="2" |<big>[[dakuten|゜]]</big>
|}
|-
|{{Color box|#DDDDF6;|border=darkgray}} Only used in some proper names
|}

After the [[Japanese script reform#Pre-World War II reforms|1900 script reform]], which deemed hundreds of characters ''[[hentaigana]]'', the hiragana syllabary consists of 48 base characters, of which two ([[ゐ]] and [[ゑ]]) are only used in some proper names:

* 5 singular vowels: [[あ]] /a/, [[い]] /i/, [[う]] /u/, [[え]] /e/, [[お]] /o/ (respectively pronounced {{IPA|ja|a|}}, {{IPA|ja|i|}}, {{IPA|ja|ɯ|}}, {{IPA|ja|e|}} and {{IPA|ja|o|}})
* 42 consonant–vowel unions: for example [[き]] /ki/, [[て]] /te/, [[ほ]] /ho/, [[ゆ]] /yu/, [[わ]] /wa/ (respectively pronounced {{IPA|ja|ki|}}, {{IPA|ja|te|}}, {{IPA|ja|ho|}}, {{IPA|ja|jɯ|}} and {{IPA|ja|wa|}})
* 1 singular consonant ([[ん]]), romanized as ''n''.

These are conceived as a 5×10 grid (''[[gojūon]]'', {{nowrap|{{lang|ja|五十音}}}}, "Fifty Sounds"), as illustrated in the adjacent table, read {{nowrap|あ (''a''),}} {{nowrap|い (''i''),}} {{nowrap|う (''u''),}} {{nowrap|え (''e''),}} {{nowrap|お (''o''),}} {{nowrap|か (''ka''),}} {{nowrap|き (''ki''),}} {{nowrap|く (''ku''),}} {{nowrap|け (''ke''),}} {{nowrap|こ (''ko'')}} and so forth (but ''si''→''shi'', ''ti''→''chi'', ''tu''→''tsu'', ''hu''→''fu'', ''wi''→''i'', ''we''→''e'', ''wo''→''o''). Of the 50 theoretically possible combinations, ''yi'', ''ye'', and ''wu'' are completely unused. On the ''w'' row, [[ゐ]] and [[ゑ]], pronounced {{IPA|ja|i|}} and {{IPA|ja|e|}} respectively, are uncommon in modern Japanese, while [[を]], pronounced {{IPA|ja|o|}}, is common as a [[grammatical particle|particle]] but otherwise rare. Strictly speaking, the singular consonant {{nowrap|ん (''n'')}} is considered to be outside the ''gojūon''.

These basic characters can be modified in various ways. By adding a ''[[dakuten]]'' marker (&nbsp;゛), a [[Obstruent|voiceless consonant]] is turned into a [[sonorant|voiced consonant]]: ''k''→''g'', ''ts/s''→''z'', ''t''→''d'', ''h/f''→''b'' and ''ch''/''sh''→''j'' (also [[U (kana)|''u'']]→''v(u)''). For example, か (''ka'') becomes が (''ga''). Hiragana beginning with an ''h'' (or ''f'') sound can also add a ''[[handakuten]]'' marker (&nbsp;゜) changing the ''h'' (''f'') to a ''p''. For example, は (''ha'') becomes ぱ (''pa'').

A small version of the hiragana for ''ya'', ''yu'', or ''yo'' (ゃ, ゅ, or ょ respectively) may be added to hiragana ending in ''i''. This changes the ''i'' vowel sound to a glide ([[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalization]]) to ''a'', ''u'' or ''o''. For example, き (''ki'') plus ゃ (small ''ya'') becomes {{nowrap|きゃ}} (''kya''). The addition of the small ''y'' kana is called ''[[yōon]]''.

A small ''tsu'' っ, called a ''[[sokuon]]'', indicates that the following consonant is [[geminated]] (doubled). In Japanese this is an important distinction in pronunciation; for example, compare {{nowrap|さか}}, ''saka'', "hill" with {{nowrap|さっか}}, ''sakka'', "author". However, it cannot be used to double an ''n'' – for this purpose, the singular ''n'' (ん) is added in front of the syllable, as in みんな (''minna'', "all"). The ''sokuon'' also sometimes appears at the end of utterances, where it denotes a [[glottal stop]], as in {{nowrap|いてっ!}} ({{IPA|ja|iteʔ|}}, "Ouch!").

Two hiragana have pronunciations that depend on the context:
* [[は]] is pronounced {{IPA|ja|wa|}} when used as a particle (otherwise, {{IPA|ja|ha|}}).
* [[へ]] is pronounced {{IPA|ja|e|}} when used as a particle (otherwise, {{IPA|ja|he|}}).

Hiragana usually spells [[long vowel]]s with the addition of a second vowel kana; for example, おかあさん (''o-ka-a-sa-n'', "mother"). The ''[[chōonpu]]'' (long vowel mark) (ー) used in katakana is rarely used with hiragana, for example in the word {{nowrap|らーめん}}, ''[[rāmen]]'', but this usage is considered non-standard in Japanese. However, the [[Okinawan language]] uses chōonpu with hiragana. In informal writing, small versions of the five vowel kana are sometimes used to represent trailing off sounds ({{nowrap|はぁ}}, ''haa'', {{nowrap|ねぇ}}, ''nee''). Plain (clear) and voiced [[Iteration mark#Japanese|iteration marks]] are written in hiragana as ゝ and ゞ, respectively. These marks are rarely used nowadays.

==Table of hiragana==
The following table shows the complete hiragana together with the [[Hepburn romanization|modified Hepburn romanization]] and [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] transcription, arranged in four categories, each of them displayed in the ''gojūon'' order.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nhk.or.jp/lesson/english/syllabary/hiragana_english.pdf|title=The Japanese Syllabaries (Hiragana) |website=NHK World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ja:■米国規格(ANSI Z39.11-1972)―要約 |url=http://www.halcat.com/roomazi/doc/ansiz3911.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924024633/http://www.halcat.com/roomazi/doc/ansiz3911.html |archive-date=24 September 2015 |website=halcat.com |language=Japanese}}</ref><ref name="ALA-LC">{{Cite web |year=2022 |title=ALA-LC Japanese Romanization Table |url=https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/japanese.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509160436/https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/japanese.pdf |archive-date=2023-05-09 |access-date=2023-05-09 |website=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary|year=1974|publisher=[[Kenkyūsha]]|edition=Fourth}}</ref> Those whose romanization are in '''bold''' do not use the initial consonant for that row. For all syllables besides ん, the pronunciation indicated is for word-initial syllables; for mid-word pronunciations see below.

{| class="wikitable nowraplinks" border="0" cellpadding="2" style="vertical-align:top;padding:2px;" width="50%"
|+Hiragana syllabograms
|-
!rowspan=2 width=2%|
! style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center; background:#BECFEB;" colspan=5 width="50%"|Monographs ([[gojūon]])
!colspan=3 align=center style="background:#CCCB9A;" width="33%"| Digraphs ([[yōon]])
|-
!width=10%| ''a'' !!width=10%| ''i'' !!width=10%| ''u'' !!width=10%| ''e'' !!width=10%| ''o''

!width=11%| ''ya'' !!width=11%| ''yu'' !!width=11%| ''yo''
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!title="vowels"|∅
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[あ]]</big><br /> a {{IPA|ja|a|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[い]]</big><br /> i {{IPA|ja|i|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[う]]</big><br /> u {{IPA|ja|ɯ|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[え]]</big><br /> e {{IPA|ja|e|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[お]]</big><br /> o {{IPA|ja|o|}}
|colspan=3 style="background:#E9E9E9"|
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!''K''
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[か]]</big><br /> ka {{IPA|ja|ka|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[き]]</big><br /> ki {{IPA|ja|ki|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[く]]</big><br /> ku {{IPA|ja|kɯ|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[け]]</big><br /> ke {{IPA|ja|ke|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[こ]]</big><br /> ko {{IPA|ja|ko|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[きゃ]]</big><br /> kya {{IPA|ja|kʲa|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[きゅ]]</big><br /> kyu {{IPA|ja|kʲɯ|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[きょ]]</big><br /> kyo {{IPA|ja|kʲo|}}
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!''S''
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[さ]]</big><br /> sa {{IPA|ja|sa|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[し]]</big><br /> '''shi''' {{IPA|ja|ɕi|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[す]]</big><br /> su {{IPA|ja|sɯ|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[せ]]</big><br /> se {{IPA|ja|se|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[そ]]</big><br /> so {{IPA|ja|so|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[しゃ]]</big><br /> '''sha''' {{IPA|ja|ɕa|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[しゅ]]</big><br /> '''shu''' {{IPA|ja|ɕɯ|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[しょ]]</big><br /> '''sho''' {{IPA|ja|ɕo|}}
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!''T''
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[た]]</big><br /> ta {{IPA|ja|ta|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ち]]</big><br /> '''chi''' {{IPA|ja|tɕi|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[つ]]</big><br /> '''tsu''' {{IPA|ja|tsɯ|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[て]]</big><br /> te {{IPA|ja|te|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[と]]</big><br /> to {{IPA|ja|to|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[ちゃ]]</big><br /> '''cha''' {{IPA|ja|tɕa|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[ちゅ]]</big><br /> '''chu''' {{IPA|ja|tɕɯ|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[ちょ]]</big><br /> '''cho''' {{IPA|ja|tɕo|}}
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!''N''
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[な]]</big><br /> na {{IPA|ja|na|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[に]]</big><br /> ni {{IPA|ja|ɲi|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ぬ]]</big><br /> nu {{IPA|ja|nɯ|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ね]]</big><br /> ne {{IPA|ja|ne|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[の]]</big><br /> no {{IPA|ja|no|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[にゃ]]</big><br /> '''nya''' {{IPA|ja|ɲa|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[にゅ]]</big><br /> '''nyu''' {{IPA|ja|ɲɯ|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[にょ]]</big><br /> '''nyo''' {{IPA|ja|ɲo|}}
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!''H''
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[は]]</big><br /> ha {{IPA|ja|ha|}} <br />(wa {{IPA|ja|wa|}} as particle)
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ひ]]</big><br /> hi {{IPA|ja|çi|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ふ]]</big><br /> '''fu''' {{IPA|ja|ɸɯ|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[へ]]</big><br /> he {{IPA|ja|he|}} <br />(e {{IPA|ja|e|}} as particle)
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ほ]]</big><br /> ho {{IPA|ja|ho|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[ひゃ]]</big><br /> '''hya''' {{IPA|ja|ça|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[ひゅ]]</big><br /> '''hyu''' {{IPA|ja|çɯ|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[ひょ]]</big><br /> '''hyo''' {{IPA|ja|ço|}}
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!''M''
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ま]]</big><br /> ma {{IPA|ja|ma|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[み]]</big><br /> mi {{IPA|ja|mi|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[む]]</big><br /> mu {{IPA|ja|mɯ|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[め]]</big><br /> me {{IPA|ja|me|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[も]]</big><br /> mo {{IPA|ja|mo|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[みゃ]]</big><br /> mya {{IPA|ja|mʲa|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[みゅ]]</big><br /> myu {{IPA|ja|mʲɯ|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[みょ]]</big><br /> myo {{IPA|ja|mʲo|}}
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!''Y''
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[や]]</big><br /> ya {{IPA|ja|ja|}}
|style="background:#E9E9E9"|<big>[[𛀆]]</big><ref name="obsolete" /><br /> '''i''' {{IPA|ja|i|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ゆ]]</big><br /> yu {{IPA|ja|jɯ|}}
|style="background:#E9E9E9"|<big>[[𛀁]]</big><ref name="obsolete" /><br /> '''e''' {{IPA|ja|e|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[よ]]</big><br /> yo {{IPA|ja|jo|}}
|colspan=3 style="background:#E9E9E9"|
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!''R''
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ら]]</big><br /> ra {{IPA|ja|ɾa|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[り]]</big><br /> ri {{IPA|ja|ɾi|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[る]]</big><br /> ru {{IPA|ja|ɾɯ|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[れ]]</big><br /> re {{IPA|ja|ɾe|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ろ]]</big><br /> ro {{IPA|ja|ɾo|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[りゃ]]</big><br /> rya {{IPA|ja|ɾʲa|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[りゅ]]</big><br /> ryu {{IPA|ja|ɾʲɯ|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[りょ]]</big><br /> ryo {{IPA|ja|ɾʲo|}}
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!''W''
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[わ]]</big><br /> wa {{IPA|ja|wa|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ゐ]]<ref name="obsolete" /></big><br /> '''i''' {{IPA|ja|i|}}
|style="background:#E9E9E9"|<big>[[𛄟]]<ref name="obsolete" /></big><br /> '''u''' {{IPA|ja|ɯ|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ゑ]]<ref name="obsolete" /></big><br /> '''e''' {{IPA|ja|e|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[を]]</big><br /> '''o'''{{efn|{{lang|ja|を}} is transliterated as ''{{Transliteration|ja|o}}'' in [[Hepburn romanization|Modified Hepburn]] and [[Kunrei]] and as ''{{Transliteration|ja|wo}}'' in Traditional Hepburn and [[Nippon-shiki]].}} {{IPA|ja|o|}}
|colspan=3 style="background:#E9E9E9"|
|-
|colspan=9|
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!rowspan=2|
!colspan=5 style="background:#BECFEB;"|Monographs ([[gojūon]]) with diacritics ([[dakuten]], [[handakuten]])
!colspan=3 style="background:#CCCB9A;"|Digraphs ([[yōon]]) with diacritics ([[dakuten]], [[handakuten]])
|-
! ''a'' !! ''i'' !! ''u'' !! ''e'' !! ''o''

! ''ya'' !! ''yu'' !! ''yo''
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!''G''
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[が]]</big><br /> ga {{IPA|ja|ɡa|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ぎ]]</big><br /> gi {{IPA|ja|ɡi|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ぐ]]</big><br /> gu {{IPA|ja|ɡɯ|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[げ]]</big><br /> ge {{IPA|ja|ɡe|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ご]]</big><br /> go {{IPA|ja|ɡo|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[ぎゃ]]</big><br /> gya {{IPA|ja|ɡʲa|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[ぎゅ]]</big><br /> gyu {{IPA|ja|ɡʲɯ|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[ぎょ]]</big><br /> gyo {{IPA|ja|ɡʲo|}}
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!''Z''
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ざ]]</big><br /> za {{IPA|ja|(d)za|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[じ]]</big><br /> '''ji''' {{IPA|ja|(d)ʑi|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ず]]</big><br /> zu {{IPA|ja|(d)zɯ|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ぜ]]</big><br /> ze {{IPA|ja|(d)ze|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ぞ]]</big><br /> zo {{IPA|ja|(d)zo|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[じゃ]]</big><br /> '''ja''' {{IPA|ja|(d)ʑa|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[じゅ]]</big><br /> '''ju''' {{IPA|ja|(d)ʑɯ|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[じょ]]</big><br /> '''jo''' {{IPA|ja|(d)ʑo|}}
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!''D''
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[だ]]</big><br /> da {{IPA|ja|da|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ぢ]]</big><br /> '''ji''' {{IPA|ja|(d)ʑi|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[づ]]</big><br /> '''zu''' {{IPA|ja|(d)zɯ|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[で]]</big><br /> de {{IPA|ja|de|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ど]]</big><br /> do {{IPA|ja|do|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[ぢゃ]]</big><br /> '''ja''' {{IPA|ja|(d)ʑa|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[ぢゅ]]</big><br /> '''ju''' {{IPA|ja|(d)ʑɯ|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[ぢょ]]</big><br /> '''jo''' {{IPA|ja|(d)ʑo|}}
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!''B''
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ば]]</big><br /> ba {{IPA|ja|ba|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[び]]</big><br /> bi {{IPA|ja|bi|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ぶ]]</big><br /> bu {{IPA|ja|bɯ|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[べ]]</big><br /> be {{IPA|ja|be|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ぼ]]</big><br /> bo {{IPA|ja|bo|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[びゃ]]</big><br /> bya {{IPA|ja|bʲa|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[びゅ]]</big><br /> byu {{IPA|ja|bʲɯ|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[びょ]]</big><br /> byo {{IPA|ja|bʲo|}}
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
!''P''
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ぱ]]</big><br /> pa {{IPA|ja|pa|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ぴ]]</big><br /> pi {{IPA|ja|pi|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ぷ]]</big><br /> pu {{IPA|ja|pɯ|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ぺ]]</big><br /> pe {{IPA|ja|pe|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ぽ]]</big><br /> po {{IPA|ja|po|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[ぴゃ]]</big><br /> pya {{IPA|ja|pʲa|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[ぴゅ]]</big><br /> pyu {{IPA|ja|pʲɯ|}}
|style="background:#F3F5DE"|<big>[[ぴょ]]</big><br /> pyo {{IPA|ja|pʲo|}}
|}
{| class="wikitable nowraplinks" border="0" cellpadding="2" style="vertical-align:top;padding:2px;" width="10%"
|-
!style="background:#BECFEB;"| Final nasal monograph (hatsuon)
!colspan=6 style="background:#BECFEB;"| Polysyllabic monographs (obsolete)
|-
!width=10%| ''n'' !!width=10%| ''[[Kashiko (kana)|kashiko]]'' !!width=10%| ''[[koto (kana)|koto]]'' !!width=10%| ''[[sama (kana)|sama]]'' !!width=10%| ''[[nari (kana)|nari]]'' !!width=10%| ''[[Mairasesoro (kana)|mairasesoro]]'' !!width=10%| ''[[yori (kana)|yori]]''

|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
|style="background:#EFFAFA" width=10%|<big>[[ん]]</big><br /> n <br />{{IPA|ja|m n ɲ ŋ ɴ ɰ̃|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA" width=10%|<big>[[File:Hiragana kashiko.svg|20px]]</big><br /> kashiko {{IPA|ja|kaɕiko|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA" width=10%|<big>[[File:Hiragana koto.svg|20px]]</big><br /> koto {{IPA|ja|koto|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA" width=10%|<big>[[File:Hiragana sama 1.svg|20px]]/[[File:Hiragana sama 2.svg|20px]]</big><br /> sama {{IPA|ja|sama|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA" width=10%|<big>[[File:Hiragana nari.svg|20px]]</big><br /> nari {{IPA|ja|naɾi|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA" width=10%|<big>[[File:Hiragana mairasesoro 1.svg|20px]]/[[File:Hiragana mairasesoro 2.svg|20px]]</big><br /> mairasesoro {{IPA|ja|maiɾasesoːɾoː|}}
|style="background:#EFFAFA" width=10%|<big>[[ゟ]]</big><br /> yori {{IPA|ja|joɾi|}}
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
| colspan="2" style="background:#E9E9E9" |
|style="background:#EFFAFA" width=10%|<big>[[File:Hiragana koto.svg|20px]]゙</big><br /> goto {{IPA|ja|goto|}}
| colspan="4" style="background:#E9E9E9" |
|}

{| class="wikitable nowraplinks" border="0" cellpadding="2" style="vertical-align:top;padding:2px;" width="50%"
!colspan=4 style="background:#BECFEB;"| Functional graphemes
|-
! sokuonfu !! chōonpu !! odoriji (monosyllable) !! odoriji (polysyllable)

|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[っ]]</big><br /> (indicates a [[geminate]] consonant)
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ー]]</big><br /> (indicates a long vowel)
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ゝ]]</big><br /> (reduplicates and<br />unvoices syllable)
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[〱]]</big><br /> (reduplicates and<br />unvoices syllable)
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
|style="background:#E9E9E9"|
|style="background:#E9E9E9"|
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ゞ]]</big><br /> (reduplicates and<br />voices syllable)
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[〱|〱゙]]</big><br /> (reduplicates and<br />voices syllable)
|- style="vertical-align:top; text-align:center"
|style="background:#E9E9E9"|
|style="background:#E9E9E9"|
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[ゝ|ゝ゚]]</big><br /> (reduplicates and<br />moves a h- or b-row syllable to the p-row) 
|style="background:#EFFAFA"|<big>[[〱|〱゚]]</big><br /> (reduplicates and<br />moves a h- or b-row syllable to the p-row)  
|}
<!--
An early, now obsolete, hiragana-esque form of ''ye'' may have existed ([[𛀁|<big style="color:#808080">𛀁</big>]] {{IPA|ja|je|}}<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1B000.pdf|title=Unicode Kana Supplement|website=unicode.org}}</ref>) in pre-Classical Japanese (prior to the advent of [[kana]]), but is generally represented for purposes of reconstruction by the kanji 江, and its hiragana form is not present in any known orthography.{{Contradiction-inline | Two sentences later it says it *is* known.|date=March 2012}} In modern orthography, ''ye'' can also be written as いぇ (イェ in [[katakana]]).

It's true that in early periods of kana, hiragana and katakana letters for "ye" were used, but soon after the distinction between /ye/ and /e/ went away, and letters and glyphs were not established.

This topic is too much advanced, and it's better to write in [[Early Middle Japanese]].
--><!-- 
Though ''ye'' did appear in some textbooks during the [[Meiji period]] along with another kana for ''yi'' in the form of cursive 以.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/manya-isi/iroha.htm|title='''(ja)'''「いろは と アイウエオ」|website=home.ne.jp}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.jp/itikun01/hibi/zat2.html|title='''(ja)''' 伊豆での収穫 : 日本国語学史上比類なき変体仮名|website=geocities.jp}}</ref>[[File:Hiragana I 01.png|thumb|100px|Cursive 以 (Yi)]]

Original research. Although such "letters" did appear, such simplistic description is wrong. Read [[:ja:五十音]] for the details.

-->

=== Spelling–phonology correspondence ===
{{See also|Japanese phonology}}

In the middle of words, the ''g'' sound (normally {{IPA|[ɡ]}}) may turn into a [[velar nasal]] {{IPA|[ŋ]}} or [[voiced velar fricative|velar fricative]] {{IPA|[ɣ]}}. For example, かぎ (''kagi'', key) is often pronounced {{IPA|[kaŋi]}}. However, じゅうご (''jūgo'', fifteen) is pronounced as if it was ''jū'' and ''go'' stacked end to end: {{IPA|[d͡ʑɯːɡo]}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nhk.or.jp/bunken/research/kotoba/pdf/20170401_6.pdf|title=鼻濁音の位置づけと現況}}</ref>

In many accents, the ''j'' and ''z'' sounds are pronounced as [[affricate]]s ({{IPA|[d͡ʑ]}} and {{IPA|[d͡z]}}, respectively) at the beginning of utterances and fricatives {{IPA|[ʑ, z]}} in the middle of words. For example, {{nowrap|すうじ}} ''sūji'' {{IPA|[sɯːʑi]}} 'number', {{nowrap|ざっし}} ''zasshi'' {{IPA|[d͡zaɕɕi]}} 'magazine'.

The singular ''n'' is pronounced {{IPA|[m]}} before ''m'', ''b'' and ''p'', {{IPA|[n]}} before [[Plosive|plosives]] (''t'', ''d)'', affricates(''ch'', ''ts, j''), ''r'', ''n'', and ''z,'' {{IPA|[ŋ]}} before ''k'' and ''g'', {{IPA|[ɴ]}} at the end of utterances, and some kind of [[Close vowel|high]] [[nasal vowel]] {{IPA|[ɰ̃]}} before vowels, palatal approximants (''y''), and some [[fricative consonant]]s (''s'', ''sh'', ''h'', ''f'' and ''w'').{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

In kanji readings, the grapheme combinations ''ou'' and ''ei'' are usually pronounced {{IPA|[oː]}} (long o) and {{IPA|[eː]}} (long e) respectively. For example, {{nowrap|とうきょう}} (lit. ''toukyou'') is pronounced {{IPA|[toːkʲoː]}} 'Tokyo', and {{nowrap|せんせい}} ''sensei'' is {{IPA|[seɯ̃seː]}} 'teacher'. However, {{nowrap|とう}} ''tou'' is pronounced {{IPA|[toɯ]}} 'to inquire', because the ''o'' and ''u'' are considered distinct, ''u'' being the verb ending in the dictionary form. Similarly, {{nowrap|している}} ''shite iru'' is pronounced {{IPA|[ɕiteiɾɯ]}}, present progressive form of {{nowrap|する}} (''suru'', "to do").

In archaic forms of Japanese, there existed the ''kwa'' ({{lang|ja|くゎ}} {{IPA|ojp|kʷa|}}) and ''gwa'' ({{lang|ja|ぐゎ}} {{IPA|ojp|ɡʷa|}}) digraphs. In modern Japanese, these phonemes have been phased out of usage.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}

==Spelling rules==
{{see also|Kanazukai}}

With a few exceptions, such as for the three [[grammatical particles|particles]] は (pronounced {{IPA|ja|wa|}} instead of {{IPA|ja|ha|}}), へ (pronounced {{IPA|ja|e|}} instead of {{IPA|ja|he|}}) and {{IPA|ja|o|}} (written を instead of お), Japanese when written in kana is [[Phonemic principle|phonemically orthographic]], i.e. there is a one-to-one correspondence between kana characters and sounds, leaving only words' [[Japanese pitch accent|pitch accent]] unrepresented. This has not always been the case: a previous system of spelling, now referred to as [[historical kana usage]], differed substantially from pronunciation; the three above-mentioned exceptions in modern usage are the legacy of that system.

There are two hiragana pronounced ''ji'' (じ and ぢ) and two hiragana pronounced ''zu'' (ず and づ), but to distinguish them, particularly when [[Wāpuro rōmaji|typing Japanese]], sometimes ぢ is written as ''di'' and づ is written as ''du''. These pairs are not interchangeable. Usually, ''ji'' is written as じ and ''zu'' is written as ず. There are some exceptions. If the first two syllables of a word consist of one syllable without a ''[[dakuten]]'' and the same syllable with a ''dakuten'', the same hiragana is used to write the sounds. For example, ''chijimeru'' ('to boil down' or 'to shrink') is spelled ちぢめる and ''tsuzuku'' ('to continue') is {{nowrap|つづく}}.

For compound words where the dakuten reflects ''[[rendaku]]'' voicing, the original hiragana is used. For example, ''chi'' ({{lang|ja|血}} 'blood') is spelled ち in plain hiragana. When {{lang|ja|鼻}} ''hana'' ('nose') and {{lang|ja|血}} ''chi'' ('blood') combine to make ''hanaji'' ({{lang|ja|鼻血}} 'nose bleed'), the sound of {{lang|ja|血}} changes from ''chi'' to ''ji''. So ''hanaji'' is spelled {{nowrap|はなぢ}}. Similarly, ''tsukau'' ({{lang|ja|使う/遣う}}; 'to use') is spelled {{nowrap|つかう}} in hiragana, so ''kanazukai'' ({{lang|ja|仮名遣い}}; 'kana use', or 'kana orthography') is spelled {{nowrap|かなづかい}} in hiragana. However, there are cases where ぢ and づ are not used, such as the word for 'lightning', ''inazuma'' ({{lang|ja|稲妻}}). The first component, {{lang|ja|稲}}, meaning 'rice plant', is written いな (''ina''). The second component, {{lang|ja|妻}} (etymologically {{lang|ja|夫}}), meaning 'spouse', is pronounced {{nowrap|つま}} (''tsuma'') when standalone or often as づま (zuma) when following another syllable, such in {{lang|ja|人妻}} (''hitozuma'', 'married woman'). Even though these components of {{lang|ja|稲妻}} are etymologically linked to 'lightning', it is generally arduous for a contemporary speaker to consciously perceive ''inazuma'' as separable into two discrete words. Thus, the default spelling {{nowrap|いなずま}} is used instead of {{nowrap|いなづま}}. Other examples include ''kizuna'' ({{nowrap|きずな}}) and ''sakazuki'' ({{nowrap|さかずき}}). Although these rules were officially established by a Cabinet Notice in 1986 revising the [[modern kana usage]], they have sometimes faced criticism due to their perceived arbitrariness.

Officially, ぢ and づ do not occur word-initially pursuant to modern spelling rules. There were words such as {{nowrap|ぢばん}} ''jiban'' 'ground' in the [[historical kana usage]], but they were unified under じ in the [[modern kana usage]] in 1946, so today it is spelled exclusively {{nowrap|じばん}}. However, {{nowrap|づら}} ''zura'' 'wig' (from {{nowrap|かつら}} ''katsura'') and {{nowrap|づけ}} ''zuke'' (a sushi term for lean tuna soaked in soy sauce) are examples of word-initial づ today.

No standard Japanese words begin with the kana ん (''n''). This is the basis of the word game [[shiritori]]. ん ''n'' is normally treated as its own syllable and is separate from the other ''n''-based kana (''na'', ''ni'' etc.).

ん is sometimes directly followed by a vowel (''a'', ''i'', ''u'', ''e'' or ''o'') or a palatal approximant (''ya'', ''yu'' or ''yo''). These are clearly distinct from the ''na'', ''ni'' etc. syllables, and there are [[minimal pair]]s such as {{nowrap|きんえん}} ''kin'en'' 'smoking forbidden', {{nowrap|きねん}} ''kinen'' 'commemoration', {{nowrap|きんねん}} ''kinnen'' 'recent years'. In Hepburn romanization, they are distinguished with an apostrophe, but not all romanization methods make the distinction. For example, past prime minister [[Junichiro Koizumi]]'s first name is actually {{nowrap|じゅんいちろう}} ''Jun'ichirō'' pronounced {{IPA|[dʑɯɰ̃itɕiɾoː]}}

There are a few hiragana that are rarely used. Outside of [[Okinawan orthography]], [[ゐ]] ''wi'' {{IPA|ja|i|}} and [[ゑ]] ''we'' {{IPA|ja|e|}} are only used in some proper names. 𛀁 ''e'' was an alternate version of え ''e'' before spelling reform, and was briefly reused for ''ye'' during initial spelling reforms, but is now completely obsolete. ゔ ''vu'' is a modern addition used to represent the /v/ sound in foreign languages such as English, but since Japanese from a phonological standpoint does not have a /v/ sound, it is pronounced as /b/ and mostly serves as a more accurate indicator of a word's pronunciation in its original language. However, it is rarely seen because [[loanword]]s and [[Transliteration|transliterated]] words are usually written in [[katakana]], where the corresponding character would be written as ヴ. The digraphs {{nowrap|ぢゃ}}, {{nowrap|ぢゅ}}, {{nowrap|ぢょ}} for ''ja''/''ju''/''jo'' are theoretically possible in [[rendaku]], but are nearly never used in [[modern kana usage]]; for example, the word {{lang|ja|夫婦茶碗}}, ''meoto-jawan'' (couple bowls), spelled {{nowrap|めおとぢゃわん}}, where {{lang|ja|茶碗}} alone is spelled {{nowrap|ちゃわん}} (''chawan'').

The {{nowrap|みゅ}} ''myu'' kana is extremely rare in originally Japanese words; linguist [[Haruhiko Kindaichi]] raises the example of the Japanese family name Omamyūda {{nowrap|({{lang|ja|小豆生田}})}} and claims it is the only occurrence amongst pure Japanese words. Its [[katakana]] counterpart is used in many loanwords, however.

== Obsolete kana ==
{{Contains special characters
| special    = uncommon [[Unicode]] characters
| fix        = Help:Multilingual support
| error      = [[Specials (Unicode block)#Replacement character|question marks, boxes, or other symbols]]
| characters = the intended characters
| image      = Replacement character.svg
| link       = Specials (Unicode block)#Replacement character
| alt        = <?>
| compact    = 
}}

=== Hentaigana ===
{{main|Hentaigana}}

=== Polysyllabic kana ===
{{main|Kana ligature}}

=== ''e'' and ''i'' ===
On the row beginning with わ /wa/, the hiragana ゐ /wi/ and ゑ /we/ are both quasi-obsolete, only used in some names. They are usually respectively pronounced [i] and [e]. In modified Hepburn romanization, they are generally written as ''i'' and ''e''.<ref name="ALA-LC" />

In modern orthography, the phonemes 'wi' and 'we' are transcribed in loanwords and names from other languages, as うぃ (ウィ) and うぇ (ウェ).

=== ''yi'', ''ye'' and ''wu'' ===
==== ''yi'' ====
{{see also|Yi (kana)}}
It has not been demonstrated whether the mora /ji/ existed in old Japanese. Though ''ye'' did appear in some textbooks during the [[Meiji period]] along with another kana for ''yi'' in the form of cursive 以. Today it is considered a [[Hentaigana]] by scholars and is encoded in Unicode 10<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1B000.pdf|title=Unicode 10 Extended Kana Block}}</ref> ({{hentaigana|𛀆}}) <ref name="Walter & Walter 1998">Walter & Walter 1998.</ref><ref name="Harvest in Izu" /> This kana could have a colloquial use, to convert the combo yui (ゆい) into yii ({{hentaigana|𛀆}}い), due to other Japanese words having a similar change.<ref name="Proposal to Encode Missing Japanese Kana" />

==== ''ye'' ====
{{see also|Ye (kana)}}
An early, now obsolete, hiragana-esque form of ''ye'' may have existed ([[𛀁|<big style="color:#808080">𛀁</big>]] {{IPA|ja|je|}}<ref name="Unicode Kana Supplement" />) in pre-Classical Japanese (prior to the advent of [[kana]]), but is generally represented for purposes of reconstruction by the kanji 江, and its hiragana form is not present in any known orthography. In modern orthography, ''ye'' can also be written as いぇ (イェ in [[katakana]]).

{| class="wikitable"
!
!衣
!江
|-
|Hiragana
|え
|𛀁
|-
|Katakana
|𛀀
|エ
|}

While hiragana and katakana letters for "ye" were used for a short period after the advent of kana, the distinction between /ye/ and /e/ disappeared before glyphs could become established.

==== ''wu'' ====
{{see also|Wu (kana)}}
It has not been demonstrated whether the mora /wu/ existed in old Japanese. However, hiragana {{lang|ja-Latn|wu}} also appeared in different Meiji-era textbooks ([[File:Hiragana WU 2.svg|frameless|29x29px]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://glyphwiki.org/wiki/hiragana-wu|title=Glyphwiki Hiraga Wu Reconstructed}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/862200|title=仮名遣|year=1891}}</ref> Although there are several possible source kanji, it is likely to have been derived from a cursive form of the {{lang|ja-Latn|man'yōgana}} {{lang|ja|汙}}, although a related variant sometimes listed ([[File:紆 kana.svg|frameless|29x29px]]) is from a cursive form of {{lang|ja|紆}}.<ref name="hirakanagenji">Iannacone, Jake (2020). [https://kobunworld.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-5.html "Reply to The Origin of Hiragana /wu/ 平仮名のわ行うの字源に対する新たな発見"]</ref> However, it was never commonly used.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hvitumavar.blog.se/japanese-original-50-kana-yi-ye-wu/|title=Japanese full 50 kana: yi, ye, wu}}</ref> This character is included in Unicode 14 as HIRAGANA LETTER ARCHAIC WU (𛄟).<ref name="Proposal to Encode Missing Japanese Kana">{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2019/19381-missing-kana.pdf|title=Proposal to Encode Missing Japanese Kana|first=Abraham|last=Gross|date=2020-01-05}}</ref>

==History==
{{See also|Man'yōgana|Old Japanese#Sources and dating}}
[[File:Origin of Hiragana from Cursive Kanji Chart.png|thumb|right|Hiragana originated from the cursive forms of Kanji.]]
[[File:Treatise on calligraphy 1.png|alt=|thumb|Hiragana character shapes were derived from Chinese [[Cursive script (East Asia)|cursive script]] (''sōsho''). Shown here is a sample of cursive script by 7th century calligrapher [[Sun Guoting]]. Note the character 為 (''wei''), indicated by the red arrow, closely resembles the hiragana character ゐ (''wi''). ]]
Hiragana developed from ''[[man'yōgana]]'', [[Chinese language|Chinese]] characters used for their pronunciations, a practice that started in the 5th century.<ref>''Yookoso! An Invitation to Contemporary Japanese'' 1st edition McGraw-Hill, page 13 "Linguistic Note: The Origins of Hiragana and Katakana"</ref> The oldest examples of Man'yōgana include the [[Inariyama Sword]], an iron sword excavated<!-- in 1968 --> at the Inariyama Kofun. This sword is thought to be made in the year {{nowrap|{{lang|ja|辛亥年}}}} (most commonly taken to be C.E. 471).<ref>Seeley (2000:19–23)</ref>
The forms of the hiragana originate from the [[cursive script (East Asia)|cursive script]] style of [[Chinese calligraphy]]. The table to the right shows the derivation of hiragana from manyōgana via cursive script. The upper part shows the character in the [[regular script]] form, the center character in red shows the cursive script form of the character, and the bottom shows the equivalent hiragana. The cursive script forms are not strictly confined to those in the illustration.

When it was first developed, hiragana was not accepted by everyone. The educated or elites preferred to use only the kanji system. Historically, in Japan, the regular script (''kaisho'') form of the characters was used by men and called {{nihongo|''otokode''|[[wikt:男手|男手]]|}}, "men's writing", while the cursive script (''sōsho'') form of the kanji was used by women. Hence hiragana first gained popularity among women, who were generally not allowed access to the same levels of education as men, thus hiragana was first widely used among court women in the writing of personal communications and literature.<ref>{{cite book|title=An Introduction to Modern Japanese: Book 1|url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontomo01bowr|url-access=limited|year=2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=United Kingdom|isbn=978-0521548878|author=Richard Bowring|author2=Haruko Uryu Laurie|page=[https://archive.org/details/introductiontomo01bowr/page/n26 8]}}</ref> From this comes the alternative name of {{nihongo|''onnade''|[[wikt:女手|女手]]|}} "women's writing".<ref>{{cite book|last=Hatasa|first=Yukiko Abe|title=Nakama 1: Introductory Japanese: Communication, Culture, Context 2nd ed.|year=2010|publisher=Heinle|isbn=978-0495798187|page=2|author2=Kazumi Hatasa |author3=Seiichi Makino }}</ref> For example, ''[[The Tale of Genji]]'' and other early novels by female authors used hiragana extensively or exclusively. Even today, hiragana is felt to have a feminine quality.<ref>p. 108. Kataoka, Kuniyoshi. 1997. "Affect and letter writing: unconventional conventions in casual writing by young Japanese women". ''Language in Society'' 26:103–136.</ref>

Male authors came to write literature using hiragana. Hiragana was used for unofficial writing such as personal letters, while katakana and kanji were used for official documents. In modern times, the usage of hiragana has become mixed with [[katakana]] writing. Katakana is now relegated to special uses such as recently borrowed words (i.e., since the 19th century), names in [[transliteration]], the names of animals, in telegrams, and for emphasis.

Originally, for all syllables there was more than one possible hiragana. In 1900, the system was simplified so each syllable had only one hiragana. The deprecated hiragana are now known as {{nihongo|[[hentaigana]]|変体仮名|}}.

The [[pangram]] poem ''[[Iroha]]-uta'' ("ABC song/poem"), which dates to the 10th century, uses every hiragana once (except ''n'' ん, which was a variant of む before the [[Muromachi era]]).

== Stroke order and direction ==
The following table shows the method for writing each hiragana character. The table is arranged in a traditional manner, beginning top right and reading columns down. The numbers and arrows indicate the [[stroke order]] and direction respectively.<br />
[[File:Table hiragana.svg|center]]

== Unicode ==

{{Main|Hiragana (Unicode block)|Kana Supplement|Kana Extended-A|Kana Extended-B|Small Kana Extension|l2 = Kana Supplement (Unicode block)|l3 = Kana Extended-A (Unicode block)|l4 = Kana Extended-B (Unicode block)|l5 = Small Kana Extension (Unicode block)}}

Hiragana was added to the [[Unicode]] Standard in October, 1991 with the release of version 1.0.

The Unicode block for Hiragana is U+3040–U+309F:

{{Unicode chart Hiragana}}

The Unicode hiragana block contains precomposed characters for all hiragana in the modern set, including small vowels and yōon kana for compound syllables as well as the rare ゐ ''wi'' and ゑ ''we''; the archaic 𛀁 ''ye'' is included in [[plane (Unicode)#Supplementary Multilingual Plane|plane 1]] at U+1B001 (see below). All combinations of hiragana with ''dakuten'' and ''handakuten'' used in modern Japanese are available as precomposed characters (including the rare ゔ ''vu''), and can also be produced by using a base hiragana followed by the combining dakuten and handakuten characters (U+3099 and U+309A, respectively). This method is used to add the diacritics to kana that are not normally used with them, for example applying the dakuten to a pure vowel or the handakuten to a kana not in the h-group.

Characters U+3095 and U+3096 are small か (''ka'') and small け (''ke''), respectively. U+309F is a ligature of [[Yori (kana)|より]] (''yori'') occasionally used in vertical text. U+309B and U+309C are spacing (non-combining) equivalents to the combining dakuten and handakuten characters, respectively.

Historic and variant forms of Japanese kana characters were first added to the [[Unicode]] Standard in October, 2010 with the release of version 6.0, with significantly more added in 2017 as part of Unicode 10.

The Unicode block for Kana Supplement is U+1B000–U+1B0FF, and is immediately followed by the Kana Extended-A block (U+1B100–U+1B12F). These blocks include mainly [[hentaigana]] (historic or variant hiragana):

{{Unicode chart Kana Supplement}}
{{Unicode chart Kana Extended-A}}

The Unicode block for Kana Extended-B is U+1AFF0–U+1AFFF:
{{Unicode chart Kana Extended-B}}

The Unicode block for Small Kana Extension is U+1B130–U+1B16F:

{{Unicode chart Small Kana Extension}}

In the following character sequences a kana from the /k/ row is modified by a ''handakuten'' combining mark to indicate that a syllable starts with an initial nasal, known as ''{{ill|Dakuten#Phonetic shifts|lt=bidakuon|ja|鼻濁音}}''. As of Unicode {{Unicode version|version=17.0}}, these character combinations are explicitly called out as Named Sequences:

{| class="wikitable nounderlines" style="border-collapse:collapse;background:#FFFFFF;font-size:large;text-align:center"
|+Hiragana named sequences<ref>[http://unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/NamedSequences.txt Unicode Named Character Sequences Database]</ref>
|- style="background:#F8F8F8;font-size:small"
! Sequence name || colspan="2" style="width:20pt" | Codepoints || style="width:20pt" | Glyph
|-
| style="text-align:left;font-size:small;"| HIRAGANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGA || style="font-size:small;" | U+304B || style="font-size:small;" | U+309A || か゚
|-
| style="text-align:left;font-size:small;"| HIRAGANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGI || style="font-size:small;" | U+304D || style="font-size:small;" | U+309A || き゚
|-
| style="text-align:left;font-size:small;"| HIRAGANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGU || style="font-size:small;" | U+304F || style="font-size:small;" | U+309A || く゚
|-
| style="text-align:left;font-size:small;"| HIRAGANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGE || style="font-size:small;" | U+3051 || style="font-size:small;" | U+309A || け゚
|-
| style="text-align:left;font-size:small;"| HIRAGANA LETTER BIDAKUON NGO || style="font-size:small;" | U+3053 || style="font-size:small;" | U+309A || こ゚
|}

==See also==
*[[Bopomofo]] (Zhùyīn fúhào, "phonetic symbols"), a phonetic system of 37 characters for writing Chinese developed in the 1900s and which is more common in Taiwan.
*[[Iteration mark]] explains the iteration marks used with hiragana.
*[[Japanese phonology]] explains Japanese pronunciation in detail.
*[[Japanese typographic symbols]] gives other non-kana, non-kanji symbols.
*[[Japanese writing system]]
*[[Katakana]]
*[[Nüshu]], a syllabary writing system used by women in China's [[Hunan]] province
*[[Shodō]], Japanese calligraphy.

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist
|refs =
<ref name="Unicode Kana Supplement">{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1B000.pdf |title=Unicode Kana Supplement |website=unicode.org }}</ref>

<ref name="Harvest in Izu">{{cite web |url=http://www.geocities.jp/itikun01/hibi/zat2.html |script-title=ja:伊豆での収穫 : 日本国語学史上比類なき変体仮名 |language=ja |trans-title=Harvest in Izu: Hentaigana unique in the history of Japanese linguistics |website=geocities.jp }}</ref>
}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* Yujiro Nakata, ''The Art of Japanese Calligraphy'', {{ISBN|0-8348-1013-1}}, gives details of the development of ''onode'' and ''onnade''.
{{refend}}

=== Notes ===
{{notelist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons and category|Hiragana}}
{{Wiktionary|hiragana}}
* [https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U3040.pdf Hiragana unicode chart]
* [https://kanjikana.com/en/hiragana Hiragana table with strokes animations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603015553/https://kanjikana.com/en/hiragana |date=2023-06-03 }}
* [https://learn-scripts.github.io/hiragana.html Practice Hiragana]

{{Japanese language}}
{{list of writing systems}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Japanese writing system terms]]
[[Category:Kana]]
[[Category:Japanese writing system]]
[[Category:Syllabary writing systems]]

[[sv:Kana (skriftsystem)#Hiragana]]