The Hiragana Alphabet - 46 Basic Characters, 25 Dakuten and Handakuten, 33 Contracted Sounds

Q: How many letters are in Hiragana?

The Hiragana script consists of 104 letters in total , broken down into 46 basic characters , 25 dakuten and handakuten characters , and 33 contracted sounds (yōon) . While Hiragana does not have its own unique numeric system, it can be used to phonetically write native Japanese number words. However, numbers in Japanese are typically written using Kanji (Chinese characters) or Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.). Additionally, Hiragana includes a few special characters for specific purposes.

Q: What's the difference between Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji?

Japanese uses three writing systems together - think of them as teammates: • Hiragana : Curvy, flowing characters for Japanese words and grammar • Katakana : Angular, sharp characters for foreign words like "coffee" or "computer" • Kanji : Complex Chinese characters that represent meanings and ideas It's like using different fonts for different purposes in the same sentence !

Q: Is Hiragana hard to learn?

Actually, Hiragana is pretty beginner-friendly ! Here's why: • Each character makes only one sound - no weird pronunciation rules • Characters are phonetic - they sound exactly like they're written • Many characters look like simple pictures or patterns • Most people can learn the basic 46 characters in a few weeks with practice!

Q: Why does Hiragana look so curvy and flowing?

Great observation! Hiragana's smooth, curvy style came from: • Brush writing - originally written with brushes and ink • Women's writing - historically used by court ladies who wrote poetry • Simplified Kanji - evolved from making Chinese characters simpler and faster to write That's why it looks so elegant and artistic !

The Hiragana alphabet consists of 46 basic characters^[1], making it one of the foundational scripts of the Japanese writing system. Developed around the 9th century, Hiragana is a phonetic script used for native Japanese words, grammatical elements, and words without Kanji equivalents. Unlike Kanji, Hiragana characters represent sounds rather than meanings^[2].

The alphabet includes characters like あ (A), か (Ka), さ (Sa), and た (Ta). Hiragana is often the first script learnt by Japanese children and is essential for reading and writing in Japanese^[3]. It is also used alongside Katakana and Kanji in modern Japanese texts.

あ

[A]

い

[I]

う

[U]

え

[E]

お

[O]

か

[Ka]

き

[Ki]

く

[Ku]

け

[Ke]

こ

[Ko]

さ

[Sa]

し

[Shi]

す

[Su]

せ

[Se]

そ

[So]

た

[Ta]

ち

[Chi]

つ

[Tsu]

て

[Te]

と

[To]

な

[Na]

に

[Ni]

ぬ

[Nu]

ね

[Ne]

の

[No]

は

[Ha]

ひ

[Hi]

ふ

[Fu]

へ

[He]

ほ

[Ho]

ま

[Ma]

み

[Mi]

む

[Mu]

め

[Me]

も

[Mo]

や

[Ya]

ゆ

[Yu]

よ

[Yo]

ら

[Ra]

り

[Ri]

る

[Ru]

れ

[Re]

ろ

[Ro]

わ

[Wa]

を

[Wo]

ん

[N]

が

[Ga]

ぎ

[Gi]

ぐ

[Gu]

げ

[Ge]

ご

[Go]

ざ

[Za]

じ

[Ji]

ず

[Zu]

ぜ

[Ze]

ぞ

[Zo]

だ

[Da]

ぢ

[Ji]

づ

[Zu]

で

[De]

ど

[Do]

ば

[Ba]

び

[Bi]

ぶ

[Bu]

べ

[Be]

ぼ

[Bo]

ぱ

[Pa]

ぴ

[Pi]

ぷ

[Pu]

ぺ

[Pe]

ぽ

[Po]

きゃ

きゅ

きょ

しゃ

しゅ

しょ

ちゃ

ちゅ

ちょ

にゃ

にゅ

にょ

ひゃ

ひゅ

ひょ

みゃ

みゅ

みょ

りゃ

りゅ

りょ

ひと

ふた

み

よ

いつ

む

なな

や

ここの

とお

゛

゜

ー

っ

ゝ

ゞ

How many letters are in Hiragana?

What's the difference between Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji?

Is Hiragana hard to learn?

Why does Hiragana look so curvy and flowing?

References:

[1] Unicode Consortium. "Hiragana Block (U+3040-U+309F)". Retrieved from https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U3040.pdf
[2] Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. "Japanese Writing System - Official Overview". Japanese government official documentation on writing systems (URL no longer accessible)
[3] Japanese Language Proficiency Test. "Hiragana and Katakana Syllabaries". Retrieved from https://www.jlpt.jp/e/about/pdf/samplemondai_all.pdf