No (kana)

の, in hiragana, and ノ, in katakana, are Japanese kana, both representing one mora. In the system of ordering of Japanese morae, it occupies the 25th position, between ね (ne) and は (ha). It occupies the 26th position in the iroha ordering. Both represent the sound . The katakana form is written similar to the Kangxi radical 丿Template:Script/doc/id-unk, radical 4.

Form	Rōmaji	Hiragana	Katakana
Normal n- (な行 na-gyō)	no	の	ノ
	nou noo nō	のう, のぅ のお, のぉ のー	ノウ, ノゥ ノオ, ノォ ノー

Stroke order

Stroke order in writing の Stroke order in writing の

File:の-bw.png

Stroke order in writing ノ Stroke order in writing ノ

File:ノ-bw.png

To write の, begin slightly above the center, stroke downward diagonally, then round upward and continue curve around, leaving a small gap at the bottom. To write ノ, simply do a swooping curve from top-right to bottom left.

Other communicative representations

• Full Braille representation

の / ノ in Japanese Braille
の / ノ no	のう / ノー nō/nou	Other kana based on Braille の
		にょ / ニョ nyo	にょう / ニョー nyō/nyou
Template:Braille cell	Template:Braille cell	Template:Braille cell	Template:Braille cell

• Computer encodings

History

The leftmost, predominantly vertical segment of the man'yōgana was used to create the katakana .

When the kanji is written in the highly cursive, flowing grass script style, it begins to resemble the hiragana .

Hentaigana and gyaru-moji variant kana forms of no can also be found.

Usage

の is a dental nasal consonant, articulated on the upper teeth, combined with a close-mid back rounded vowel to form one mora.

In the Japanese language, as well as forming words, の may be a particle showing possession. For example, the phrase "わたしのでんわ” watashi no denwa means "my telephone."

In Chinese

File:的の in Taiwan.jpg

Usage of の in place of 的 (and 犬 in place of 狗) in Taipei

の has also proliferated on signs and labels in the Chinese-speaking world. It is used in place of the Modern Chinese possessive marker Template:Linktext de or Classical Chinese possessive marker Template:Linktext zhī, and の is pronounced in the same way as the Chinese character it replaces. This is usually done to "stand out" or to give an "exotic/Japanese feel", e.g. in commercial brand names, such as the fruit juice brand , where the の can be read as both 之 zhī, the possessive marker, and as 汁 zhī, meaning "juice". In Hong Kong, the Companies Registry has extended official recognition to this practice, and permits の to be used in Chinese names of registered businesses; it is thus the only non-Chinese symbol to be granted this treatment (aside from punctuation marks with no pronunciation value).

External links

• Information on kana-no from Nuthatch Graphics