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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Does the particle "を" (wo) have a special use when at the end of a sentence?

I thought the character "を" (wo) was only used for the particle whose only job was to indicate the direct object of a verb. But today I saw it at the end of an exclamation on a sign I think on a shop:...
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What does it mean for the 'feel' of a sentence / text when it's written in all hiragana?

When a Japanese-language sentence is written out in all katakana, it's supposed to be either stilted, robot-like speech or something to simulate ALL CAPS. How is that with hiragana? Does it make te ...
Bakabaka's user avatar
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When should I replace kanji with hiragana?

When should I write 海山 and when should I write うみやま?
jim's user avatar
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68 votes
1 answer
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Why are the particles "は" (ha⇒wa), "へ" (he⇒e), and "を" (wo⇒o) not spelled phonetically?

As far as I know only three words (or particles) have irregular, non-phonetic spelling in Japanese: "は" - The topic particle is pronounced "wa" but the kana is otherwise pronounced "ha" "へ" - The ...
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Why is konnichiwa spelt こんにちは?

Why is は used at the end of こんにちは? Is the last letter the particle は, or is there a different explanation? Which is correct: こんばんわ or こんばんは? mentions konnichiwa, but the question is interpreted more ...
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Why using です in katakana?

This question might sound stupid but it got me thinking for some hours. A friend bought me this gel pen from a Japanese store in my country, and it is written in the pen: かわいいデス instead of かわいいです ...
M.K's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
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Why are a high proportion of basic Japanese words written in hiragana?

Sometimes it seems like a lot of basic Japanese words are typically written in hiragana rather than kanji. By "basic", I mean pleasantries that are probably the first thing non-native speakers learn ...
Golden Cuy's user avatar
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13 votes
5 answers
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Is this character a そ?

I'm learning Japanese and decided to pick up some manga in Japanese to improve my reading. I found a preview of a manga I'll be receiving and had a look inside. I found the following character, and ...
Nadav Ben Dov's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
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Why is "Yamata no Orochi" written in katakana?

In the game Okami, the demon Yamata no Orochi is written here, and also in a separate game here as ヤマタノオロチ, not やまたのおろち. Even the particle の is in katakana. I'm curious as to why this is. I know that ...
Lou's user avatar
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42 votes
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Why was both katakana and hiragana created?

Nowadays, katakana tends to be used for gairaigo and onomatopoeia, while hiragana tends to be used for native Japanese words. This is a slight simplification - more information is available here. ...
Golden Cuy's user avatar
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17 votes
3 answers
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Is it standard practice, or acceptable, to connect strokes in certain characters of hiragana?

I've been learning my hiragana from here: http://yosida.com/en/hiragana.html For the characters fu, mu, mo, na, ra, yu, and ya, I see a discrepancy between what's in the little box and what shows up ...
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16 votes
7 answers
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Are there words which consist of katakana and hiragana letters together?

Obviously many Japanese words consist of kanji characters plus hiragana since the latter are used for okurigana: 食べる 水割り 鷹の爪 Recently I'v started to discover a few words that use kanji characters ...
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Font used to create handwriting worksheets by primary teachers to teach Hiragana

I'm confused by all the different of fonts that can be used to learn to write Hiragana (e.g. the end loop of き may be closed or not). I understand that it is usually related to the difference between ...
Pierre's user avatar
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Can I write Japanese name "Midori" this way - 緑?

There is female Japanese name "Midori," and I want to know the ways I can write it. I know it means "green," but maybe the name and "green" are different words sometimes. I used google-translator to ...
cnd's user avatar
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Why is hiragana used in the middle of this compound word? (障害者 vs 障がい者)

I saw this article on Gizmodo Japan: だれもがスマホの便利さを享受できる第一歩。視覚障がい者がiPhone操作を学べるアプリ Obviously, this is 視覚障害者 (or possibly, 視覚障碍者). It is in the title of the article, as well as several places within ...
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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 ...
Tiara's user avatar
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1 answer
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Intuitive or logical way to know when to use a kanji spelling vs hiragana spelling?

A recurring theme on this site is that foreign learners of Japanese use too much kanji. Often the reaction is puzzlement that we can't "just know the right way". Native speakers literally say they don'...
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29 votes
3 answers
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What are the differences/characteristics between katakana, kanji and hiragana?

I know that romaji is the conversion from those to the roman alphabet, but what are the differences or characteristics between katakana, kanji, and hiragana? Are they used on a different context? Is ...
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16 votes
8 answers
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Why are there 3 ways of writing in Japanese?

Why are there kanji, hiragana and katakana? Is there a logical reason behind this or just tradition?
sterz's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
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Is it possible to tell whether a word is kanji or hiragana without reading it?

Is it possible to tell whether a word would be written in kanji or if it would be written in hiragana without actually reading it, like it is reasonably easy to tell if a word is likely to be written ...
Golden Cuy's user avatar
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11 votes
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What are the advantages/disadvantages of writing in romaji instead of in kanji and kana?

Romaji is somewhat of a conversion from kanji and kana to the Roman alphabet. What are the disadvantages of learning only or mostly romaji aside from being unable to read/write in kanji? I don't ...
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7 votes
3 answers
6k views

How does one transcribe the romaji "ō"?

I use The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary, which describes pronunciation in romaji instead of kana. I never learned romaji in a classroom, and generally only use it when reading this dictionary. ...
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6 votes
2 answers
3k views

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 ...
DaleyPaley's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
301 views

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 ...
Nubcake's user avatar
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1 answer
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Understanding hiragana-only texts in videogames

I've been reading since a long time ago that reading hiragana only texts is quite difficult or frustrating because you don't know where a word begins or ends, I understand that and the importance of ...
jon33's user avatar
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1 answer
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Legal characters for first names include: hiragana, katakana, jinmeiyo and joyo kanji. What about latin letters?

Is it legal for parents to give to their child a first name with latin letters (romaji, I guess), instead of using katakana, hiragana, or kanji? For example, if Japanese parents want to give their ...
Maxim's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
1k views

The role of hiragana when there is a relevant kanji?

If I don't know the kanji of a thing but I know the hiragana of it, can I just write the hiragana if I have to write it down? Is it a free choice? Or some rules or social formalities?
Hao's user avatar
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2 answers
1k views

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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4 votes
3 answers
12k views

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'...
Gintas_'s user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
726 views

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"...
Golden Cuy's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
796 views

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?
mkJohn's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
370 views

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 ...
charlstone24's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
3k views

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 ...
Odalie's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
4k views

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 ...
Tsuna's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Are hiragana letters written with their small nuances?

I'm talking about some nuances that appear to make the symbols look better. I mean everything from small, end of simple line swoops like the KO that has two lines and the first line can either look ...
Shuey's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
2k views

Ocha in Hiragana [duplicate]

I'm pretty early into learning Japanese. I've started learning hiragana, when writing "ocha" in hiragana I've noticed it comes up as おちゃ now I know お is "o" and normally ち is "chi" while ゃ is ya. Now ...
Cody.T's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
17k views

Why is there a "tsu" in Nippon (にっぽん)? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: How did “little tsu” become a lengthener? On Wikipedia and elsewhere, Japan is written like so: Nippon ( にっぽん ). What is that tsu doing in there? Why isn't it ...
temporary_user_name's user avatar
29 votes
2 answers
4k views

Is ま (ma) related to ほ (ho) or は (ha) related to よ (yo)? What does adding a bar to the left mean?

I understand these character similarities might be arbitrary, like M and W being flipped. But it's tripping me up enough times that I thought if I knew a reason, perhaps it would help me memorize ...
ubershmekel's user avatar
14 votes
4 answers
12k views

Does a small tsu double all consonants?

In several sources it's mentioned that a SMALL TSU doubles consonants. My problem is, some websites give almost identical examples with: っ/ッ + (S, T, C, K, G, B, P) But what about the others?: っ/ッ + (...
Pii83's user avatar
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12 votes
2 answers
13k views

Is there any rhyme or reason to hiragana?

I'm just beginning to learn Japanese. The grammar and kanji I can follow along thanks to similarities with Korean, but the hiragana is confusing the heck out of me. There seems to be no pattern at all ...
user3932000's user avatar
12 votes
3 answers
29k views

Long O — when is it OU and when OO?

I am learning hiragana and I've encountered a minor problem. The thing is that my book did mention how to deal with a long "O": just by adding another "O" or "U". However it doesn't explain in which ...
RPAnimation's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
2k views

Why is ゆ written in hiragana on bath houses' noren?

I am informally teaching Japanese to friends and they sometimes ask interesting questions I can't answer. Yesterday, I told them that ゆ could often be seen in front of public bath houses, and someone ...
Gumamori's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
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Why is it spelled やっほー instead of やっほう?

Very beginner question. I often see this spelled in hiragana with a dash. I thought the dash was used to indicate long sounds in katakana, where hiragana should have been spelled やっほう. Why isn't it?
Don Reba's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
12k views

Why is katakana sometimes used to replace hiragana? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: Why “dame” is written as katakana (ダメ) in manga? The question title kinda says it all! This confuses me, as I thought katakana was used exclusively for loan words. ...
user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
3k views

Were women unable to learn kanji during the Heian era?

I've read that The Tale of Genji, and similar Heian-era novels such as The Pillow Book, and The Gossamer Years were predominantly or exclusively hiragana, which is also called "women's writing" (女手). ...
Golden Cuy's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
9k views

Why are there multiple katakana readings for a single kanji?

When I look at a kanji word I see one, or multiple Hiragana pronunciations (or should I call it translation?) - sometimes the pronunciations are for different kanjis, but that's not the question. I'...
Danielson's user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
2k views

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 ...
false_azure's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
32k views

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 ...
dalle's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
1k views

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 ...
Explisam's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
265 views

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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