Questions tagged [hiragana]
ひらがな. The cursive form of the syllabary used mostly for (but not restricted to) the grammatical features of written Japanese including verb endings and particles, and for native words written without kanji.
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Partial ひらがな sentences (why ことし, きのう, きょう, あす?)
I was watching a news broadcast on YouTube and when it moved over to the weather report, I noticed that 「今日の天気」was actually written as 「きょうの天気」. Also 「明日の天気」was also written as 「あすの天気」. It wasn't just ...
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Encountered な with ten-ten
I am currently reading a manga for studying Japanese and encountered something strange. A girl exclaims「な゛?!」
The situation is that she has just had water squirted up her nose, so I am guessing it's ...
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Why write「もの」instead of 「物」 or 「者」?
In the following example, it remains unclear to me why the term もの is written in hiragana.
あの真っ黒なものは何
Here is a second example, where 優しい is written in hiragana.
とてもあの人はやさしい
My suppositions:
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Rosetta Stone uses は instead of わ
Just started learning Japanese again. My college offers no class on this so I am learning on my own. I have been using Rosetta Stone on and off again for a while now.
One thing I have noticed is that ...
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Dakuten on る character
I saw a dakuten used on a る, but it doesn't seem to exist in basic rules. My assumption is it's some sort of slang or implied definition as opposed to "proper" Japanese (it was in a manga). Does ...
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Writing the name Harriet in Japanese
Sorry for the trivial question, but I've just started learning Japanese and thought that I should know how to write my name in hiragana. My name is Harriet.
My first guesses were はリえた or はリえと. I ...
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Specific differences to consider between any individual katakana and hiragana?
I already know hiragana and I am teaching myself katakana now. Both are essentially two different versions of each sound, but I am wondering if there are actually any functional differences between ...
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Print with Admiral Matthew Perry flanked by officers
I am interested to know at least the beginning few lines of Hiragana in the attached print. It depicts Admiral Matthew Perry. The print is titled Gasshukoku suishi teitoku kōjōgaki (Oral statement by ...
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How can one review hiragana or kanji in both a computer font and a brushed style? [closed]
Are there any flash cards, apps, or anything else that show at least two versions of each character side by side? (For example, a brush-stroke-like font and a common computer font.)
I'm in the ...
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learning order for kana? [closed]
I'm trying to use some flash cards to learn the kana (hirigana first, but both in time), and there's simply too much for me to learn at once. Is there a recommended or practiced learning "order" or ...
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What does "しぇんぱい" mean?
Does "しぇんぱい" mean someone, who seems to be having a grudge. Or does it mean some who seems to be rehearsing?
I made this assumption since the only words that appear in my dictionary that has the word ...
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Is this 8px height font understandable for japanese knowing people?
I am translating my mobile game from english to japanese. It is pixel art style, so I need pixel art font. I found one with 8px height, but I don't know if it is too small to understand, because I don'...
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I want to know what "marumaru" means
What does marumaru mean?
For example, this anime title ひとりぼっちの○○生活 (Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu). What does marumaru mean here?
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What is this Kanji? I can’t find it anywhere?
I’ve been searching radicals on Jisho and other places but I can’t find a kanji to match this one.
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What is mostly used on signs in Tokyo: Katakana, Hiragana or Kanji?
I am going to travel to japan the next spring and I just want to be able to read most of the signs (and of course speak some Japanese). Any answers on what is the most common to use on signs: Katakana,...
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How to write hiragana and katakana in Windows? [closed]
How to write hiragana and katakana in Windows (XP/Vista/7)? My current locale is Swedish and I have a hard time writing hiragana and katakana characters.
Usually I have a txt-file open in notepad and ...
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Is Japanese に related to the Chinese character 仁?
Is Japanese に (pronounced as "ni") related to the Chinese character 仁 (pronounced as "ren" in Chinese mandarin)?
Does the に have the root from the Chinese character 仁?
They both ...
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How to form the "chi" sound, and others?
I was looking at a chart of hiragana and trying to find the characters to form the name of a song Inochi no Namae. I started with i, then no, but there's no chi. I then started wondering where chu and ...
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Why does the katakana ラ look similar to the hiragana う?
More specifically, is there a historical reason why some katakana characters look similar to the hiragana ones, as the question suggests?
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Why is けしゴム (eraser) half written in hiragana and half in katakana?
Why is the word けしゴム is half written in hiragana and half in katakana?
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Is there a story behind drawing a face with の as eyes, も as a nose and へ as a mouth?
In the first episode of the Zatoichi series there is a scarecrow whose face is drawn using various hiragana.
When I seen it it occurred to me that I've seen that done somewhere else before.
Is there ...
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How to read kanji when they are written together with hiragana or katakana in a sentence?
I am studying japanese have gone through almost all of the hiragana characters and was slowly also learning a bit kanji , and i want to know how to use kanji when i see one with a hiragana character ...
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What does どおし mean in this song?
In the song Chercher by Kotoko there's the line
心配性{しんぱいしょう}と言{い}われても ハラハラのしどおしよ
And in a subtitled video it gets translated to: "Even if you say I'm a worrier, you're anxious with me"
It all ...
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Is my hiragana writing understandable? [closed]
I've started to begin writing hiragana but I've seen many ways of writing them, usually I'm able to read the different ways of writing them but it keeps bothering me sometimes how mine and what I see ...
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How do I alphabetize a list with Hiragana, Katakana and Jukugo?
I understand that there's the Gojuon order for あいうえお and so forth, but if I had list with Katakana アイウエオ, do I order it all like あいうえおアイウエオ, or do I order it like あアいイうウえエおオ? Consequently if I have ...
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What are the right shapes of kana?
I have been learning Japanese for over a year now, and I have noticed that some people are writing kana differently. For example, I have seen う being written just like how it appears now (looks like a ...
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Is しゃぶしゃぶ typically written in hiragana rather than katakana?
Is しゃぶしゃぶ typically written in hiragana rather than katakana? If so, why is it written in hiragana?
Wikipedia says that it is onomatopoeia:
The term is an onomatopoeia, derived from the sound ...
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っ(sokuon) usage
Can i use the っ to replace the ん in こんにちは, it would still be konnichiwa right? If i can't then please explain to me why.
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Does an international OR standardized phonetic alphabet/notation system exist to depict all the Hiragana/Katakana sounds?
Are there written systems (preferably international & standardized) that you can use to depict how to pronounce any word from Japanese and any language. Something similar to Romaji but one that ...
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Is "入っ" still pronounced "はい" when reading it? (Okurigana question)
I am fairly new to reading kanji and grammar, and I just learned that "入る" is pronounced "はい" because it is an okurigana. My question is, are all okurigana pronounced in their &...
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Pronunciation of the hiragana け and か
I have just started learning hiragana, and am confused about the pronunciation of some of them. I have heard some pronunciation guides for け which say it should sound like kay, and some which say it ...
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What does ちょーなー mean?
ファイナルがんばって!終わったらデートしてちょーなー
In that sentence.
Is the person saying date me or just simply, "go on date"?
And what does cho na mean?
Thanks
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Is there a way to differentiate て and って when transcribing speech?
I was wondering if there was some kind of rules to differentiate them, or if it was something we have to remember, like spelling in English.
The same question can also extend to お vs おう ; I learned ...
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Are personal names spelled in hiragana or katakana if the kanji isn't known? [duplicate]
I understand that a foreigners name is spelled in katakana, but wanted to know the appropriate way of spelling a Japanese persons name. Would hiragana be preferred? Would a choice be made between a ...
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Why "ついてきてください" and not "付いてきてください"
I found some similar questions regarding Japanese switching out relatively "easy" kanji for hiragana, but I still can't seem to understand why it's done.
I saw this sentence from a movie:
参加される方は ...
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Does the second stroke of ち have a break in it when handwritten?
き and さ when handwritten tend to have a break in the "loop" of the second stroke.
But I don't seem to be able to find if it is the same for ち.
Is it ok to have separation of the second stroke ...
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Are surnames only written with kanji?
I wondered about this. I know the first name can be written in Hiragana, Katakata, Kanji (and maybe a mix of it?) but how is it with family names? I think I've never seen one which was mixed, Hiragana ...
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Is it ok to read こみち as komiti?
I think it should probably be pronounced as komichi or komich.
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Why is "Encouragement of Climb" written in katakana instead of hiragana?
I'm just a beginner in Japanese, but I know the difference between the use of katakana and hiragana in sentences. Katakana is used for transliteration of foreign words, onomatopoeia, technical or ...
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Question about Kana writing
Is the name Shinya written as しにゃ or しんや?
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Is hiragana equal to lower case and katakana equal to upper case when comparing Japanese and western writing systems?
In western languages, if we need to emphasize some words, or mark something to be special, we use ALL UPPER CASE to do that even when the word is normally written with lower case. While in Japanese, ...
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Reading and significance of dakuten with kana for which it normally is not used
Came across these while reading a novel.
How do you read this?
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Intentional hiragana transcription for foreign names
Is it possible and acceptable to transcript foreign names into hiragana instead of katakana for aesthetic or other personal purposes?
How would Japanese people judge this choice? Would they perceive ...
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When is "事" used instead of こと for past experiences?
In the "ことがあります" construction about past experiences, when is "事" used, and when is "こと" used?
The textbook used in class uses "こと":
六本木の おんせんに 行った ことがあります。
If it wanted to use "事" instead of "こと"...
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What is the official word for compound syllabaries in Japanese Hiragana?
I am learning Japanese, and of course my first step has been to learn the Hiragana and Katakana. I am at the point to where I feel comfortable writing and reading in Hiragana and I understand that the ...
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Can I use only hiragana when writing words/sentences?
This might seem like a dumb repeated question but I need to confirm 100% so bear with me please.
I started learning Hiragana and I can now write the vowels + the K things. I'm really good at ...
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Positioning of small kana in compound kana
When writing compound kana the small kana is slightly lower than centre.
But is it slightly left of centre as well ?
Take じゃあ
Here we have 3 kana.
Firstly, when writing, is the total width of the ...
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Can personal pronouns be written in hiragana?
Would it be frowned upon to say for example ぼく instead of 僕?Or わたし instead of 私?Is it just a stylistic choice or do these have to be in kanji?
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What is the Japanese Homophonic Group?
Equivalent question: What Japanese letters won't equal 1?
From: the homophonic group: a mathematical diversion
→ This is an exercise from Michael Artin's Algebra on, well, abstract algebra. In this ...
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In what situations would 居る (いる) be read as おる?
I was recently present in a chat room where someone asked:
日本人おるか
I translated this as:
Are there Japanese people (here)?
But in that case, I'd expect it to be:
日本人いるか
I looked up おる in an ...